[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-18881]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 3, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 906

[Docket No. FV94-906-1IFR]

 

Oranges and Grapefruit Grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of 
Texas; Expenses and Assessment Rate for the 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 Texas Valley Citrus Committee 
(TVCC) under Marketing Order (M.O.) No. 906 for the 1994-95 fiscal 
year. Authorization of this budget enables the TVCC 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 August 1, 1994, through July 31, 1995. 
Comments received by September 2, 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 Belinda Garza, McAllen Marketing Field Office, Fruit and 
Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 1313 East Hackberry, McAllen, Texas 
78501, telephone: (210) 682-2833.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under 
Marketing Agreement and Order No. 906 [7 CFR Part 906] regulating the 
handling of oranges and grapefruit grown in the lower Rio Grande Valley 
in Texas. 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, oranges and grapefruit grown in Texas are subject to 
assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate specified herein 
will be applicable to all assessable citrus fruit handled during the 
1994-95 fiscal year, beginning August 1, 1994, through 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 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 approximately 135 handlers of oranges and grapefruit 
regulated under the marketing order each season and approximately 2,500 
orange and grapefruit producers in Texas. Small agricultural producers 
have been defined by the Small Business Administration [13 CFR 
Sec. 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 Texas orange and grapefruit marketing order, administered by 
the Department, requires that the assessment rate for a particular 
fiscal year apply to all assessable citrus fruit handled from the 
beginning of such year. Annual budgets of expenses are prepared by the 
TVCC, the agency responsible for local administration of this marketing 
order, and submitted to the Department for approval. The members of the 
TVCC are handlers and producers of Texas oranges and grapefruit. They 
are familiar with the TVCC'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 TVCC'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 TVCC is derived by dividing 
the anticipated expenses by expected shipments of oranges and 
grapefruit. Because that rate is applied to actual shipments, it must 
be established at a rate which will provide sufficient income to pay 
the TVCC's expected expenses.
    The TVCC met on May 10, 1994, and unanimously recommended total 
expenses of $1,141,944 and an assessment rate of $0.16 per \7/10\ 
bushel carton for the 1994-95 fiscal year. In comparison, the 1993-94 
fiscal year expense amount was $984,319, which is $157,625 less than 
the recommended $1,141,944 for this season and the assessment rate was 
$0.15, which is $0.01 less than that recommended for the 1993-94 fiscal 
year.
    Assessment income for the 1994-95 fiscal year is expected to amount 
to $960,000 based upon estimated fresh domestic shipments of 6 million 
cartons of oranges and grapefruit. This, in addition to a withdrawal of 
$181,944 from the TVCC's reserve fund, should be adequate to cover 
budgeted expenses. In comparison, the assessment income for the 1993-94 
fiscal year was estimated at $825,000 based upon anticipated fresh 
domestic shipments of 5.5 million cartons of oranges and grapefruit.
    Funds in the reserve at the end of the fiscal year, estimated at 
$276,468, will be within the maximum permitted by the order of one 
fiscal year's expenses.
    Major expense categories for the 1994-95 fiscal year include 
$132,444 for shared administrative expenses with the South Texas Onion 
and Melon Committees, $650,000 for advertising, compared to $723,425 
for the 1993-94 fiscal year, and $174,000 for the Mexican Fruit Fly 
support program.
    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 TVCC 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 TVCC needs to have sufficient funds to pay its 
expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the fiscal year 
for the TVCC begins August 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires 
that the rate of assessment for the fiscal year apply to all assessable 
oranges and grapefruit handled during the fiscal year; (3) handlers are 
aware of this action which was recommended by the TVCC 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 906

    Grapefruit, Marketing agreements, Oranges, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 906 is 
amended as follows:

PART 906--ORANGES AND GRAPEFRUIT GROWN IN LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY 
IN TEXAS

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 906 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.

    2. A new Sec. 906.234 is added to read as follows:


Sec. 906.234  Expenses and assessment rate.

    Expenses of $1,141,944 by the Texas Valley Citrus Committee are 
authorized and an assessment rate of $0.16 per \7/10\ carton on 
assessable oranges and grapefruit is established for the fiscal year 
ending July 31, 1995. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a 
reserve.

    Dated: July 28, 1994.
Robert C. Keeney,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-18881 Filed 8-2-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P