[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 156 (Monday, August 15, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-19895]
Federal Register / Vol. 59, No. 156 / Monday, August 15, 1994 /
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: August 15, 1994]
VOL. 59, NO. 156
Monday, August 15, 1994
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 967
[Docket No. FV94-967-1IFR]
Celery Grown in Florida; Expenses and Assessment Rate
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This interim final rule authorizes expenditures and
establishes an assessment rate under Marketing Order No. 967 for the
1994-95 fiscal year. Authorization of this budget enables the Florida
Celery Committee (Committee) to incur expenses that are reasonable and
necessary to administer the program. Funds to administer this program
are derived from assessments on handlers.
DATES: Effective August 1, 1994, through July 31, 1995. Comments
received by September 14, 1994, will be considered prior to issuance of
a final rule.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning this action. Comments must be sent in triplicate to the
Docket Clerk, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456,
Room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, FAX 202-720-5698. Comments
should reference the docket number and the date and page number of this
issue of the Federal Register and will be available for public
inspection in the Office of the Docket Clerk during regular business
hours.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martha Sue Clark, Marketing Order
Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.
Box 96456, room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-9456, telephone 202-720-
9918, or William G. Pimental, Southeast Marketing Field Office, Fruit
and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 2276, Winter Haven, FL
33883-2276, telephone 813-299-4770.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing
Agreement No. 149 and Order No. 967, both as amended (7 CFR part 967),
regulating the handling of celery grown in Florida. The marketing
agreement and order are effective under the Agricultural Marketing
Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601-674), hereinafter
referred to as the Act.
The Department of Agriculture (Department) is issuing this rule in
conformance with Executive Order 12866.
This interim final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order
12778, Civil Justice Reform. Under the provisions of the marketing
order now in effect, Florida celery is subject to assessments. It is
intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be applicable
to all assessable celery handled during the 1994-95 fiscal year, which
begins August 1, 1994, and ends July 31, 1995. This interim final rule
will not preempt any State or local laws, regulations, or policies,
unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with this rule.
The Act provides that administrative proceedings must be exhausted
before parties may file suit in court. Under section 608c(15)(A) of the
Act, any handler subject to an order may file with the Secretary a
petition stating that the order, any provision of the order, or any
obligation imposed in connection with the order is not in accordance
with law and requesting a modification of the order or to be exempted
therefrom. Such handler is afforded the opportunity for a hearing on
the petition. After the hearing the Secretary would rule on the
petition. The Act provides that the district court of the United States
in any district in which the handler is an inhabitant, or has his or
her principal place of business, has jurisdiction in equity to review
the Secretary's ruling on the petition, provided a bill in equity is
filed not later than 20 days after the date of the entry of the ruling.
Pursuant to the requirements set forth in the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (RFA), the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing
Service (AMS) has considered the economic impact of this rule on small
entities.
The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of
business subject to such actions in order that small businesses will
not be unduly or disproportionately burdened. Marketing orders issued
pursuant to the Act, and the rules issued thereunder, are unique in
that they are brought about through group actions of essentially small
entities acting on their own behalf. Thus, both statutes have small
entity orientation and compatibility.
There are seven producers of Florida celery under this marketing
order, and seven handlers. Small agricultural producers have been
defined by the Small Business Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as those
having annual receipts of less than $500,000, and small agricultural
service firms are defined as those whose annual receipts are less than
$5,000,000. The majority of Florida celery producers and handlers may
be classified as small entities.
The budget of expenses for the 1994-95 fiscal year was prepared by
the Florida Celery Committee, the agency responsible for local
administration of the marketing order, and submitted to the Department
for approval. The members of the Committee are producers and handlers
of Florida celery. They are familiar with the Committee's needs and
with the costs of goods and services in their local area and are thus
in a position to formulate an appropriate budget. The budget was
formulated and discussed in a public meeting. Thus, all directly
affected persons have had an opportunity to participate and provide
input.
The assessment rate recommended by the Committee was derived by
dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of Florida celery.
Because that rate will be applied to actual shipments, it must be
established at a rate that will provide sufficient income to pay the
Committee's expenses.
The Committee met June 15, 1994, and unanimously recommended a
1994-95 budget of $42,000, $3,000 less than the previous year. The
budget item for 1994-95 which has increased compared to 1993-94 is $200
for the contingency reserve for which no funding was recommended last
year. Budget items which have decreased compared to the amount budgeted
for 1993-94 (in parentheses) are: Travel for Committee personnel,
$1,000 ($2,000), telephone and telegraph, $500 ($600), postage, $200
($300), and promotion, merchandising, and public relations, $13,000
($15,000). All other items are budgeted at last year's amounts.
The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of
$0.01 per crate, the same as last season. This rate, when applied to
anticipated shipments of 4,200,000 crates, will yield $42,000 in
assessment income. Funds in the Committee's authorized reserve as of
June 15, 1994, estimated at $15,000, were within the maximum permitted
by the order of one marketing year's expenses.
While this action will impose some additional costs on handlers,
the costs are in the form of uniform assessments on handlers. Some of
the additional costs may be passed on to producers. However, these
costs will be offset by the benefits derived by the operation of the
marketing order. Therefore, the Administrator of the AMS has determined
that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
After consideration of all relevant matter presented, including the
information and recommendations submitted by the Committee and other
available information, it is hereby found that this rule, as
hereinafter set forth, will tend to effectuate the declared policy of
the Act.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is also found and determined upon good
cause that it is impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public
interest to give preliminary notice prior to putting this rule into
effect and that good cause exists for not postponing the effective date
of this action until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register
because: (1) The Committee needs to have sufficient funds to pay its
expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the fiscal year
begins on August 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires that the
rate of assessment for the fiscal year apply to all assessable Florida
celery handled during the fiscal year; (3) handlers are aware of this
action which was unanimously recommended by the Committee at a public
meeting and which is similar to budgets issued in past years; and (4)
this interim final rule provides a 30-day comment period, and all
comments timely received will be considered prior to finalization of
this action.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 967
Celery, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 967 is
amended as follows:
PART 967--CELERY GROWN IN FLORIDA
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 967 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
2. A new Sec. 967.229 is added to read as follows:
Note: This section will not appear in the Code of Federal
Regulations.
Sec. 967.229 Expenses and assessment rate.
Expenses of $42,000 by the Florida Celery Committee are authorized,
and an assessment rate of $0.01 per crate of assessable celery is
established for the fiscal year ending July 31, 1995. Unexpended funds
may be carried over as a reserve.
Dated: August 8, 1994.
Robert C. Keeney,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-19895 Filed 8-12-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
