[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 6 (Monday, January 10, 1994)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 1268-1269]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-428]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: January 10, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Parts 907 and 908

[FV93-907-4IFR]

 

Navel and Valencia Oranges Grown in Arizona and Designated Parts 
of California; Suspension of Form 8 and Form 3

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule; suspension.

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SUMMARY: This rule invites comments on changes to the reporting 
requirements currently prescribed under the California-Arizona navel 
and Valencia orange marketing orders. This rule suspends language in 
the orders and in the orders' rules and regulations to discontinue the 
use of Form 8 (Certificate of Assignment of Allotment) and Form 3 
(Daily Manifest Report of Oranges Subject to Allotment), and will 
reduce the burden of information collection requirements currently 
provided for under the marketing orders.

DATES: Effective Date: January 10, 1994.
    Comments received by February 9, 1994, will be considered prior to 
issuance of a final action.

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, room 2525-S, 
P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456. All comments should 
reference the docket number and the date and page number of this issue 
of the Federal Register and will be made available for public 
inspection in the Office of the Docket Clerk during regular business 
hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maureen Pello, California Marketing 
Field Office, Marketing Order Administration Branch, F&V, AMS, USDA, 
2202 Monterey Street, suite 102B, Fresno, California 93721; telephone: 
(209) 487-5901; or Christian Nissen, Marketing Specialist, Marketing 
Order Administration Branch, F&V, AMS, USDA, room 2522-S, P.O. Box 
96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone: (202) 720-5127.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document is issued under Marketing 
Order Nos. 907 and 908 [7 CFR parts 907 and 908], as amended, 
regulating the handling of navel and Valencia oranges grown in Arizona 
and designated parts of California, hereinafter referred to as the 
``orders.'' These orders 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 is issuing this rule in conformance 
with Executive Order 12866.
    This action has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, Civil 
Justice Reform. This action is not intended to have retroactive effect. 
This action will not preempt any state or local laws, regulations, or 
policies, unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with this 
action.
    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 request a modification of the order or to be exempted 
therefrom. A 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 date of the entry of the ruling.
    Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (RFA), the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service 
(AMS) has considered the economic impact of this action 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 rules issued thereunder, are unique in that 
they are brought about through group action of essentially small 
entities acting on their own behalf. Thus, both statutes have small 
entity orientation and compatibility.
    There are approximately 140 handlers of navel oranges and 125 
handlers of Valencia oranges who are subject to regulation under the 
respective marketing order and approximately 3,750 producers of navel 
oranges and 3,700 producers of Valencia oranges in the regulated areas. 
Small agricultural service firms have been defined by the Small 
Business Administration [13 CFR 121.601] as those having annual 
receipts of less than $3,500,000, and small agricultural producers are 
defined as those whose annual receipts are less than $500,000. The 
majority of handlers and producers of California-Arizona navel and 
Valencia oranges may be classified as small entities.
    This rule invites comments on two changes to the reporting 
requirements currently prescribed under the California-Arizona orange 
marketing orders. This rule suspends language in the orders and in the 
orders' rules and regulations to discontinue the use of Form 8 
(Certificate of Assignment of Allotment) and Form 3 (Daily Manifest 
Report of Oranges Subject to Allotment). These changes were unanimously 
recommended by the committees.
    Currently, sections 907.58 and 908.58 of the navel and Valencia 
orange marketing orders specify that, for the handling of oranges other 
than by rail car (primarily truck shipments), handlers issue to the 
consignee an assignment of allotment certificate covering each quantity 
of oranges so handled. Sections 907.112 and 908.112 of the orders' 
rules and regulations require handlers to submit such information on 
Form 8. Handlers are also required to segregate the information on Form 
8 by size of oranges shipped and destination (i.e., U.S. and Alaska or 
Canada).
    Since the inception of the orders, the committees have utilized 
Form 8 primarily for tracking and verifying truck shipments of oranges 
that were subject to volume regulation. However, with the volume 
regulation features of the orders suspended [58 FR 53,114; October 14, 
1993], the committees believe that continued submission of Form 8 
creates an additional burden on handlers that is unnecessary.
    According to the committees, many handlers have long questioned the 
value of Form 8 (commonly referred to in the industry as ``the daily 
truck ticket'') during periods of no volume regulation. Shipment 
information from Form 8 is transferred to Form 4 (Weekly Report). 
Handlers maintain their own manifest records of these shipments and, 
without weekly volume regulation, Form 4 provides similar data with the 
exception of number of cartons shipped by size. The committees plan on 
requesting size information from handlers as needed on a voluntary 
basis and anticipate revising the weekly Form 4 at a later time to 
provide for the collection of size information.
    Thus, the committees believe that continued submission of Form 8, 
particularly during periods of no volume regulation, is not necessary. 
Accordingly, the committees have recommended suspending sections 907.58 
and 908.58 of the orders and Secs. 907.112 and 908.112 of the orders' 
rules and regulations so that Form 8 will be discontinued.
    The second change that the committees recommended concerns Form 3 
(Daily Manifest Report of Oranges Subject to Allotment). Currently, 
sections 907.71 and 908.71 of the orange orders provide that handlers 
furnish to the committees information regarding cartons of oranges 
handled, segregated by size, within 24 hours of shipment. Handlers must 
also indicate whether the shipments were destined to points in the U.S. 
and Alaska or Canada. Sections 907.141 and 908.141 of the orders' rules 
and regulations require handlers to submit this information for rail 
car shipments on Form 3.
    The information collected on Form 3 is similar to the information 
collected on Form 8 described earlier, but pertains to rail car 
shipments rather than truck shipments. Again, this information has 
historically been utilized primarily for tracking and verifying 
shipments of oranges that were subject to volume regulation. However, 
with the volume regulation features of the orders suspended, the 
committees believe that continued submission of Form 3, like Form 8, 
creates an additional burden on handlers that is unnecessary. Handlers 
are also required to submit similar information on rail car shipments 
on the weekly Form 4. As with size information pertaining to truck 
shipments, the committees plan on requesting size information from 
handlers for rail car shipments on a voluntary basis until the weekly 
Form 4 is appropriately revised.
    Like Form 8, the committees believe that continued submission of 
Form 3, particularly during periods of no volume regulation, is not 
necessary. Accordingly, the committees have recommended suspending 
Secs. 907.71 and 908.71 of the orders and Secs. 907.141 and 908.141 of 
the orders' rules and regulations so that Form 3 will be discontinued.
    Based on these considerations, the Administrator of the AMS has 
determined that this action will not have a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities.
    The information collection requirements contained in the referenced 
sections have been previously approved by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under the provisions of 44 U.S.C. chapter 35 and have been 
assigned OMB numbers 0581-0116 for navel oranges and 0581-0121 for 
Valencia oranges. This rule will reduce the reporting burden on 
approximately 265 handlers of navel and Valencia oranges who have been 
completing Form 8, taking about .40 hour to complete each report. This 
rule will also reduce the reporting burden on about 80 orange handlers 
who ship by rail at some point during a season and utilize Form 3, 
taking about 0.20 hours to complete each report.
    After consideration of all relevant material presented, including 
the committee's recommendation, and other available information, it is 
found that the provisions detailed below, at this time, do not tend to 
effectuate the declared policy of the Act.
    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 action 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) 
Handlers are currently shipping navel oranges and these actions will 
reduce the burden of information collection placed on such handlers; 
(2) the committees unanimously recommended these actions at public 
meetings and all interested persons had an opportunity to provide 
input; (3) these actions relax reporting requirements; (4) California-
Arizona orange handlers are aware of this action and need no additional 
time to comply with the relaxed requirements; and (5) this action 
provides a 30-day comment period and any comments received will be 
considered prior to finalization of this action.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Parts 907 and 908

    Marketing agreements, Oranges, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR parts 907 and 908 
are amended as follows:

PART 907--NAVEL ORANGES GROWN IN ARIZONA AND DESIGNATED PARTS OF 
CALIFORNIA

    1. The authority citation for both 7 CFR parts 907 and 908 
continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.

    2. Sections 907.58, 907.71, 907.112, and 907.141 are suspended in 
their entirety.

PART 908--VALENCIA ORANGES GROWN IN ARIZONA AND DESIGNATED PARTS OF 
CALIFORNIA

    3. Sections 908.58, 908.71, 908.112, and 908.141 are suspended in 
their entirety.

    Dated: January 3, 1994.
Patricia Jensen,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Marketing and Inspection Services.
[FR Doc. 94-428 Filed 1-7-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P