[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 115 (Thursday, June 16, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-14587]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: June 16, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 926

[Docket No. FV94-926-1IFR]

 

Tokay Grapes Grown in San Joaquin County, California; Expenses 
and Assessment Rate for 1994-95 Fiscal Year

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 for the Tokay Grape Industry Committee 
(committee) under Marketing Order (M.O.) No. 926 for the 1994-95 fiscal 
year. Authorization of this budget enables the committee to incur 
expenses that are reasonable and necessary to administer this program. 
Funds to administer this program are derived from assessments on 
handlers.

DATES: Effective beginning April 1, 1994, through March 31, 1995. 
Comments received by July 18, 1994, will be considered prior to 
issuance of a 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, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 
96456, Room 2523-S, Washington, D.C. 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: Britthany Beadle, Marketing Order 
Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. 
Box 96456, Room 2523-S, Washington, D.C. 20090-6456, telephone:(202) 
720-5127; or Peter I. Parks, California Marketing Field Office, Fruit 
and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 2202 Monterey Street, Suite 102 B, 
Fresno, California 93721, telephone: (209) 487-5901.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under 
Marketing Agreement and Order No. 926 [7 CFR Part 926] regulating the 
handling of Tokay grapes grown in San Joaquin County, California. The 
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 marketing order provisions now 
in effect, Tokay grapes grown in California are subject to assessments. 
It is intended that the assessment rate specified herein will be 
applicable to all assessable Tokay grapes handled during the 1994-95 
fiscal year, beginning April 1, 1994, through March 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 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 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 three handlers of Tokay grapes regulated under the 
marketing order each season and approximately 15 Tokay grape producers 
in San Joaquin County, California. 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 these handlers and producers 
may be classified as small entities.
    The Tokay grape marketing order, administered by the Department, 
requires that the assessment rate for a particular fiscal year apply to 
all assessable grapes handled from the beginning of such year. Annual 
budgets of expenses are prepared by the committee, the agency 
responsible for local administration of this marketing order, and 
submitted to the Department for approval. The members of the committee 
are grape handlers and producers. 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 
appropriate budgets. The committee's 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 the anticipated expenses by expected shipments of grapes. 
Because that rate is applied to actual shipments, it must be 
established at a rate which will provide sufficient income to pay the 
committee's expected expenses.
    The committee met on April 29, 1994, and unanimously recommended 
total expenditures of $5,150 with an assessment rate of $0.07 per 
carton for the 1994-95 fiscal year. In comparison, the expenditure 
amount and the assessment rate are remaining unchanged from the 1993-94 
fiscal year.
    Funds in the reserve at the end of the 1994-95 fiscal year, 
estimated at $4,500, will be within the maximum permitted by the order 
of one fiscal year's expenses.
    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 should be significantly offset by the benefits derived from 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 
for the committee began April 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires 
that the rate of assessment for the fiscal year apply to all assessable 
grapes 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 926

    Grapes, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 926 is 
amended as follows:

PART 926--TOKAY GRAPES GROWN IN SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, CA

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 926 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. A new Sec. 926.233 is added to read as follows:

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

Sec. 926.233  Expenses and assessment rate.

    Expenses of $5,150 by the Tokay Grape Industry Committee are 
authorized and an assessment rate of $0.07 per carton of assessable 
grapes is established for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1995. 
Unexpended funds may be carried over as a reserve.

    Dated: June 9, 1994.
Eric M. Forman,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-14587 Filed 6-15-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P