[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 155 (Friday, August 12, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-19784]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 12, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 987

[Docket No. FV94-987-1IFR]

 

Domestic Dates Produced or Packed in Riverside County, CA; 
Expenses and Assessment Rate

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 under Marketing Order No. 987 for the 
1994-95 crop year. Authorization of this budget enables the California 
Date Administrative Committee (Committee) to incur expenses that are 
reasonable and necessary to administer the program. Funds to administer 
this program are derived from assessments on handlers.

DATES: Effective October 1, 1994, through September 30, 1995. Comments 
received by September 12, 1994, will be considered prior to issuance of 
a final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments 
concerning this action. Comments must be sent in triplicate to the 
Docket Clerk, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, 
Room 2523-S, Washington, DC 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: Martha Sue Clark, Marketing Order 
Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. 
Box 96456, room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, telephone 202-720-
9918; or Maureen Pello, California Marketing Field Office, Fruit and 
Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 2202 Monterey Street, suite 102B, 
Fresno, California 93721, telephone 209-487-5901.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing 
Agreement and Order No. 987, both as amended (7 CFR part 987), 
regulating the handling of dates produced or packed in Riverside 
County, 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 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 now in effect, 
California dates are subject to assessments. Funds to administer the 
California date marketing order are derived from such assessments. It 
is intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be 
applicable to all assessable dates during the 1994-95 crop year which 
begins October 1, 1994, and ends September 30, 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 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. 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 the 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 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 the 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 producers of California dates under the 
marketing order and approximately 25 handlers. 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 California date 
producers and handlers may be classified as small entities.
    The budget of expenses for the 1994-95 crop year was prepared by 
the California Date Administrative Committee, the agency responsible 
for local administration of the marketing order, and submitted to the 
Department for approval. The members of the Committee are producers and 
handlers of California dates. They are familiar with the Committee's 
needs and with the costs for goods and services in their local area and 
are thus in a position to formulate an appropriate budget. The budget 
was formulated and discussed in a public meeting. Thus, all directly 
affected persons have had an opportunity to participate and provide 
input.
    The assessment rate recommended by the Committee was derived by 
dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of California 
dates. Because that rate will be applied to actual shipments, it must 
be established at a rate that will provide sufficient income to pay the 
Committee's expenses.
    The Committee met on March 17, 1994, and by a vote of 6 to 2 with 
one abstention recommended a 1994-95 budget and assessment rate. The 
Committee again met on July 7, 1994, and unanimously recommended the 
line item operating expenses and by a vote of 6 to 2 recommended the 
line item promotional expenses in the budget. The 1994-95 budget of 
$571,000 is $101,440 less than the previous year. Included in the 
budgeted expenditures is an operating budget of $135,135, $13,335 more 
than last year, with a 26 percent surplus account allocation, for a net 
operating budget of $100,000, or $2,560 more than last year. Budget 
items for 1994-95 which have increased compared to those budgeted for 
1993-94 (in parentheses) are: Executive Director's salary, $57,500 
($55,000), Administrative Assistant's salary, $18,500 ($15,000), health 
and related benefits, $8,500 ($7,500), utilities, $1,500 ($1,200), 
telephone, $5,000 ($3,000), office supplies, $3,600 ($1,500), furniture 
and equipment, $7,400 ($1,000), printing, $1,600 ($1,000), and 
insurance, $2,500 ($2,300). Items which have decreased compared to the 
amount budgeted for 1993-94 (in parentheses) are: payroll taxes, $5,814 
($6,000), postage and meter rental, $1,700 ($2,000), repair and 
maintenance $500 ($600), travel and mileage, $1,500 ($2,000), 
contingency, $221 ($4,000), and market promotion, $450,000 ($575,000). 
The Committee also eliminated funding for a clerk, unemployment 
reserve, and USDA compliance audits for which $6,000, $1,000, and 
$1,900 were recommended last year, respectively. All other items are 
budgeted at last year's amounts.
    The assessment rate of $1.50 per hundredweight is $0.25 more than 
last season. This rate, when applied to anticipated date shipments of 
38,000,000 pounds, will yield $570,000 in assessable income. This, 
along with $1,000 in interest income, will result in $21,000 in excess 
income which the Committee recommended be allocated to its reserve. 
These reserve funds, which the Committee estimates would be $121,000 as 
of September 30, 1995, would be within the maximum amount permitted by 
the order of not to exceed 50 percent of the average of expenses 
incurred during the most recent five preceding crop years, except that 
an established reserve need not be reduced to conform to any recomputed 
average. Funds held by the Committee at the end of the crop year, 
including the reserve, which are in excess of the crop year's expenses 
may be used to defray expenses for four months and thereafter the 
Committee shall refund or credit the excess funds to the handlers.
    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 by 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 material presented, including 
the information and recommendation 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 because: (1) The Committee needs to have sufficient funds to pay 
its expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the crop 
year begins on October 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires that 
the rate of assessment for the crop year apply to all assessable dates 
handled during the crop year; (3) handlers are aware of this action 
which was unanimously recommended by the Committee at a public meeting 
and is similar to other budget actions 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 987

    Dates, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 987 is 
amended as follows:

PART 987--DOMESTIC DATES PRODUCED OR PACKED IN RIVERSIDE COUNTY, 
CALIFORNIA

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 987 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. A new Sec. 987.337 is added to read as follows:

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


Sec. 987.337  Expenses and assessment rate.

    Expenses of $571,000 by the California Date Administrative 
Committee are authorized, and an assessment rate of $1.50 per 
hundredweight of assessable dates is established for the crop year 
ending September 30, 1995. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a 
reserve within the limitations specified in Sec. 987.72(c) and (d).

    Dated: August 8, 1994.
Eric M. Forman,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-19784 Filed 8-11-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P