[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-671]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: January 13, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 955

[Docket No. FV93-955-21FR]

 

Vidalia Onions Grown in Georgia; Revision of Handler Reporting 
Requirements

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This interim final rule revises the administrative rules and 
regulations established under the Federal marketing order for Vidalia 
onions grown in Georgia. This rule will relax the reporting 
requirements on handlers by expanding the period of coverage of the 
report for receipts and shipments of onions from one week to one month. 
This is the only form handlers are required to file with the Vidalia 
Onion Committee (Committee). The reduction in the reporting burden on 
handlers will not adversely impact program operations. This rule is 
based on a unanimous recommendation of the Committee, which is 
responsible for local administration of the order.

DATES: Effective on January 13, 1994. Comments which are received by 
February 14, 1994, will be considered prior to any finalization of this 
interim final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments 
concerning this interim final rule. Comments must be sent in triplicate 
to the Docket Clerk, Marketing Order Administrative Branch, F&V, AMS, 
USDA, room 2523-S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456, FAX 
number (202) 720-5698. Comments should reference this docket number, 
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: Shoshana Avrishon, Marketing 
Specialist, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable 
Division, AMS, USDA, room 2536-S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-
6456; telephone (202) 720-3610, or FAX (202) 720-5698; or William G. 
Pimental, Marketing Specialist, Southeast Marketing Field Office, Fruit 
and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 2276, Winter Haven, Florida 
33883-2276; (813) 299-4770, or FAX (813) 299-5169.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under 
Marketing Agreement and Order No. 955 (7 CFR part 955) regulating the 
handling of Vidalia onions grown in Georgia. The marketing agreement 
and order are authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 
1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601-674), hereinafter referred to as the 
Act.
    The Department is issuing this rule in conformance with Executive 
Order 12866.
    This rule has been reviewed under the 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 
rule.
    The Act provides that administrative proceedings must be exhausted 
before parties may file suit in court. Under section 8c(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. A handler is afforded the opportunity for a hearing on the 
petition. After a 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 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 145 handlers of Vidalia Onions that are 
subject to regulation under the marketing order and approximately 250 
producers in the production area. Small agricultural service firms are 
defined by the Small Business Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as those 
whose annual receipts are less than $3,500,000, and small agricultural 
producers have been defined as those having annual receipts of less 
than $500,000. The majority of the Vidalia onion handlers and producers 
may be classified as small entities.
    This action revises Sec. 955.101 of Subpart--Administrative Rules 
and Regulations and is based on a unanimous recommendation of the 
Committee and other available information.
    Currently under Sec. 955.101, Report of Shipments, handlers are 
required to provide the Committee with information regarding the volume 
of Vidalia onions received and shipped during each week of the shipping 
season. The normal shipping season for cured Vidalia onions runs from 
April through June, approximately 12 weeks. In addition, green Vidalia 
onions usually are shipped beginning in January of each year. Handlers 
are required to provide this information to the Committee each week. 
The Committee provides a form to assist handlers in providing this 
information. The information required includes the name and address of 
handler, the period covered for the report, the total weekly receipts 
of Vidalia onions and the total fresh market shipments of Vidalia 
onions.
    The Committee needs such information for the purpose of computing 
and collecting assessments, which are necessary to finance the program. 
When this reporting requirement was first implemented, the Committee 
believed that the best method for obtaining the necessary information 
was to require handlers to report to the Committee the volume of fresh 
market shipments at the end of each week during the harvesting and 
shipping season.
    The Committee also uses the information on these reports in 
planning and evaluating market development activities and recommending 
production research projects. This information is also made available 
to the industry on a composite basis to aid growers and handlers in 
planning their individual operations and making marketing decisions 
during the season. At the time of implementation, the reporting burden 
was estimated to be five minutes for a handler to complete each weekly 
report.
    The Committee has been experiencing problems in receiving the 
reports on a timely basis from many handlers. Many of the handlers not 
reporting are smaller grower-handlers (2 to 10 acres) who only operate 
two or three months of the year and do their bookkeeping at the end of 
the season. During the harvest season, these small handlers, mostly 
family-run operations, are very busy and have complained that weekly 
reporting is burdensome to them.
    These reports are used by the Committee in calculating the 
assessments owed by each handler. Thus, it is important that the 
reports be filed on a timely basis. Because many handlers have filed 
reports late, the Committee has experienced difficulty in collecting 
all assessments due the Committee. The Committee has expended much time 
and effort in identifying and locating these handlers. In addition, 
handlers who have filed their reports on a timely basis have complained 
to the Committee that others are not being assessed.
    The Committee met on August 28, 1993, to discuss these complaints 
and reporting problems and unanimously recommended revising the 
administrative rules and regulations by expanding the period of 
coverage of the reports to be filed from one week to one month. This 
will reduce the number of reports filed on an annual basis from 
approximately 24 to approximately 6. Prior to the issuance of this 
rule, the reporting process for the 24-week period expended 
approximately 203 reporting hours annually. This action will reduce the 
reporting hours to approximately 93, a reduction of 110 hours on an 
annual basis.
    The Committee also recommended that the report be required to be 
filed no later than seven days after the end of each month.
    The Committee believes that this recommendation will decrease the 
reporting burden on handlers by eliminating unnecessary reporting while 
still providing the Committee with the information it needs to properly 
administer the order. This action will bring the reporting requirements 
into conformance with current industry operating practices and provide 
an acceptable time frame for the submission of reports.
    The Committee believes that this relaxation will enable the small 
family-run operations to file reports and pay assessments on a timely 
basis. This will, in turn, reduce the time and effort the Committee 
expends on locating handlers who have not filed reports.
    The Committee was concerned about the effect monthly reporting will 
have on their marketing efforts. The weekly reporting provided a good 
source of information that was used in their marketing decisions. It 
was determined that the monthly reporting should provide sufficient 
information to assist the Committee in its marketing efforts and if any 
problems arise at a later date, alternate sources of obtaining this 
information on a weekly basis can be explored. The Committee believes, 
at this time, it is more important to ensure that all handlers are 
properly filing reports with the Committee and paying assessments that 
are due on a timely and equitable basis.
    Based on the above, the Administrator of the AMS has determined 
that this interim final rule will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities.
    The information collection requirements contained in these 
regulations have been previously approved by the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) and have been assigned OMB Control Number 0581-0160.
    After consideration of all relevant information presented, 
including the Committee's unanimous recommendation and other 
information, it is found that this regulation, 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 that upon 
good cause 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) This action relaxes requirements on handlers; (2) 
this action was unanimously recommended at a public meeting; (3) it is 
desirable to have this action in place as soon as possible because the 
1994 shipping season for green Vidalia onions is expected to begin in 
January, and the relaxed reporting requirements should apply to as much 
of that crop as possible; and (4) this rule provides a 30-day comment 
period and any comments received will be considered prior to 
finalization of this rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 955

    Marketing agreements, Onions, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 955 is 
amended as follows:

PART 955--VIDALIA ONIONS GROWN IN GEORGIA

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 955 is amended to read as 
follows:

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

    2. Section 955.101 is added to read as follows:


Sec. 955.101  Report of shipments.

    Each handler, at the end of each month's operation, but not later 
than seven (7) days after the end of the month, shall report to the 
Committee, on a form provided to such handler by the Committee, the 
following information:
    (a) Name of handler;
    (b) Address of handler;
    (c) Period covered;
    (d) Total receipts of Vidalia onions;
    (e) Total fresh market shipments of Vidalia onions.

    Dated: January 5, 1994.
Robert C. Keeney,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-671 Filed 1-12-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P