[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 64 (Monday, April 4, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-7891]


  Federal Register / Vol. 59, No. 64 / Monday, April 4, 1994 /
  
[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 4, 1994]


                                                    VOL. 59, NO. 64

                                              Monday, April 4, 1994
      

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 925

[Docket No. FV93-925-2FIR]

 

Grapes Grown in a Designated Area of Southeastern California; 
Expenses and Assessment Rate for 1994 Fiscal Year

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture (Department) is adopting as a 
final rule, without change, the provisions of the interim final rule 
that authorized expenses and established an assessment rate for the 
California Desert Grape Administrative Committee (Committee) under 
Marketing Order No. 925 for the 1994 fiscal year. Authorization of this 
budget enables the Committee to incur expenses that are reasonable and 
necessary to administer its program. Funds to administer the program 
are derived from assessments on handlers.

EFFECTIVE DATES: Section 925.213 is effective January 1, 1994, through 
December 31, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Britthany E. Beadle, Marketing Order 
Administration Branch, F&V, AMS, USDA, PO Box 96456, room 2524-S, 
Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone: (202) 720-5127; or Peter Parks, 
California Marketing Field Office, Marketing Order Administration 
Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 2202 Monterey Street, 
Suite 102 B, Fresno, CA 93721, telephone: (209) 487-5901.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule is issued under Marketing 
Order and Agreement No. 925 (7 CFR part 925) regulating the handling of 
table grapes grown in a designated area of California. 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 is issuing this rule in conformance with Executive 
Order 12866.
    This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, 
Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order provisions now in 
effect, table grapes grown in California are subject to assessments. It 
is intended that the assessment rate specified herein will be 
applicable to all assessable grapes handled during the 1994 fiscal 
year, which began January 1, 1994, through December 31, 1994. This 
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 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 20 handlers of grapes subject to regulation 
under the marketing order each season. In addition, there are 
approximately 90 producers of table grapes in the regulated area. 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 $3,500,000. The majority of 
these producers and handlers may be classified as small entities.
    The marketing order requires that the assessment rate for a 
particular fiscal year shall apply to all assessable grapes handled 
from the beginning of such year. An annual budget of expenses is 
prepared by the Committee and submitted to the Department for approval. 
The members of the Committee are producers and handlers of the 
regulated commodity. They are familiar with the Committee's needs and 
with the costs for goods, services, and personnel in their local area 
and are thus in a position to formulate an appropriate budget. The 
budget is formulated and discussed in a public meeting. Thus, all 
directly affected persons have an opportunity to participate and 
provide input.
    The assessment rate recommended by the Committee is derived by 
dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of table grapes. 
Because this rate is applied to actual shipments, it must be 
established at a rate which will produce sufficient income to pay the 
Committee's expected expenses. The recommended budgets and rates of 
assessment are usually acted upon by the Committee shortly before a 
season starts, and expenses are incurred on a continuous basis. 
Therefore, the budget and assessment rate approval must be expedited so 
that the Committee will have funds to pay its expenses.
    The California Desert Grape Administrative Committee met on 
November 4, 1993, and unanimously recommended a total expense amount of 
$103,544, which is $75,056 less in expenses than the previous year.
    The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of 
$0.01 per lug for the 1994 fiscal year, which is $0.01 less in the 
assessment rate from the 1993 fiscal year. The assessment rate, when 
applied to anticipated shipments of 9,000,000 lugs, would yield $90,000 
in assessment income. This along with $2,500 in interest income and 
$113,000 from the Committee's authorized reserves will be adequate to 
cover estimated expenses.
    Major expense categories for the 1994 fiscal year include $50,000 
for a U.C. Riverside research grant, $24,000 for the Western Grape Leaf 
Skeletonizer project, $11,704 for salaries, and $4,340 for rent. Funds 
in the reserve at the end of the fiscal year, estimated at $101,956, 
will be within the maximum permitted by the order of one fiscal year's 
expenses.
    This action was issued as an interim final rule on January 13, 
1994, and published in the Federal Register (59 FR 3316, January 21, 
1994). A 30-day comment period was provided for interested persons. No 
comments were received.
    While this action will impose some additional costs on handlers, 
the costs are in the form of uniform assessments on all handlers. Some 
of the additional costs may be passed on to producers. However, these 
costs will be offset by the benefits derived from the operation of the 
marketing orders. 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.
    It is found that the specified expenses for the marketing order 
covered in this rule are reasonable and likely to be incurred and that 
such expenses and the specified assessment rate to cover such expenses 
will tend to effectuate the declared policy of the Act.
    It is further found that good cause exists for not postponing the 
effective date of this action until 30 days after publication in the 
Federal Register (5 U.S.C. 553) because the Committee needs to have 
sufficient funds to pay its expenses which are incurred on a continuous 
basis. The 1994 fiscal year for the program began on January 1, 1994. 
The marketing order requires that the rate of assessment for the fiscal 
year apply to all assessable table grapes handled during the fiscal 
year. In addition, handlers are aware of this action which was 
recommended by the Committee at a public meeting and published in the 
Federal Register as an interim final rule. No comments were received 
concerning the interim final rule that is adopted in this action as a 
final rule without change.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 925

    Grapes, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 925 is hereby 
amended as follows:
    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 925 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    Note: This section will not appear in the annual Code of Federal 
Regulations.

PART 925--GRAPES GROWN IN A DESIGNATED AREA OF SOUTHEASTERN 
CALIFORNIA

    2. For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the interim final 
rule adding Sec. 925.213 which was published at 59 FR 3316, is adopted 
as a final rule without change.

    Dated: March 29, 1994.
Robert C. Keeney,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-7891 Filed 4-1-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P