[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 154 (Thursday, August 11, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-19566]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: August 11, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 985
[Docket No. FV94-985-1FIR]
Spearmint Oil Produced in the Far West; Expenses and Assessment
Rate for the 1994-95 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 changes, the provisions of the interim final rule
which authorized expenditures and established an assessment rate for
the Spearmint Oil Administrative Committee (Committee) under Marketing
Order 985 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.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 1, 1994, through May 31, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Britthany Beadle, Marketing Order
Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.
Box 96456, room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, telephone: (202)
720-5127; or Robert Curry, Northwest Marketing Field Office, Fruit and
Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 1220 SW. Third Avenue, room 369,
Portland, Oregon 97204, telephone: (503) 326-2724.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule is issued under Marketing
Agreement and Order No. 985 [7 CFR Part 985] regulating the handling of
spearmint oil produced in the Far West. 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 of Agriculture (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, spearmint oil produced in the Far West is subject to
assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate specified herein
will be applicable to all assessable oil produced during the 1994-95
fiscal year, beginning June 1, 1994, through May 31, 1995. 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 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 8 handlers of spearmint oil regulated under
the marketing order each season and approximately 260 producers of
spearmint oil in the Far West. 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 marketing order, administered by the Department, requires that
the assessment rate for a particular fiscal year apply to all
assessable oil 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 handlers and
producers of spearmint oil. 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 oil. 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 February 23, 1994, and unanimously recommended
a total expense amount of $228,705, which is $30,705 more in expenses
than in the 1993-94 fiscal year.
The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of
$0.09 per pound for the 1994-95 fiscal year, which is a $0.01 increase
in the assessment rate from the previous fiscal year. The assessment
rate, when applied to anticipated shipments of 1,727,388 pounds, would
yield $155,464.92 in assessment income. This along with $8,000 in
interest income and $65,240.08 from the Committee's authorized reserves
will be adequate to cover estimated expenses.
Major expense categories for the 1994-95 fiscal year include
$94,200 for salaries, $30,000 for market development, and $20,000 for
travel. Funds in the reserve at the end of the fiscal year, estimated
at $169,166.84, will be within the maximum permitted by the order of
one fiscal year's expenses.
An interim final rule was published in the Federal Register [59 FR
18948, April 21, 1994] and provided a 30-day comment period for
interested persons. One comment was received.
The comment states that the interim final rule should be revised to
comply with Executive Order 12770 directing preferential use of the
metric system of measurement by Federal departments and agencies.
Projects or programs that directly affect individual farmers or farm
programs have been granted a general exemption from this directive. The
Department has determined that Marketing Agreements and Orders fall
under this exemption. The industries involved do not use the metric
system in the marketing of their products. To convert their trading
practices to the metric system would disrupt trade and inflate costs.
Changing order regulations to accommodate the metric system would not
benefit the industry or consumers.
Therefore, for the reasons stated, the Department is not making any
changes in this final rule.
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.
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 1994-95 fiscal year for the program began June 1, 1994. The
marketing order requires that the rate of assessment apply to all
assessable oil 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. One comment was 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 985
Marketing Agreements, Oils and fats, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Spearmint oil.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 985 is
amended as follows:
PART 985--MARKETING ORDER REGULATING THE HANDLING OF SPEARMINT OIL
PRODUCED IN THE FAR WEST
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 985 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
Note: This section will not appear in the Code of Federal
Regulations.
2. The interim final rule adding Sec. 985.314 which was published
at 59 FR 18949, is adopted as a final rule without change.
Dated: August 4, 1994.
Robert C. Keeney,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-19566 Filed 8-10-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P