[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 156 (Monday, August 15, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-19895]


  Federal Register / Vol. 59, No. 156 / Monday, August 15, 1994 /
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[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 15, 1994]


                                                   VOL. 59, NO. 156

                                            Monday, August 15, 1994

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 967

[Docket No. FV94-967-1IFR]

 

Celery Grown in Florida; 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. 967 for the 
1994-95 fiscal year. Authorization of this budget enables the Florida 
Celery 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 August 1, 1994, through July 31, 1995. Comments 
received by September 14, 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 20090-9456, telephone 202-720-
9918, or William G. Pimental, Southeast Marketing Field Office, Fruit 
and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 2276, Winter Haven, FL 
33883-2276, telephone 813-299-4770.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing 
Agreement No. 149 and Order No. 967, both as amended (7 CFR part 967), 
regulating the handling of celery grown in Florida. 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 provisions of the marketing 
order now in effect, Florida celery is subject to assessments. It is 
intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be applicable 
to all assessable celery handled during the 1994-95 fiscal year, which 
begins August 1, 1994, and ends 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 the 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 the rules issued thereunder, are unique in 
that they are brought about through group actions of essentially small 
entities acting on their own behalf. Thus, both statutes have small 
entity orientation and compatibility.
    There are seven producers of Florida celery under this marketing 
order, and seven 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 Florida celery producers and handlers may 
be classified as small entities.
    The budget of expenses for the 1994-95 fiscal year was prepared by 
the Florida Celery 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 Florida celery. They are familiar with the Committee's needs and 
with the costs of 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 Florida celery. 
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 June 15, 1994, and unanimously recommended a 
1994-95 budget of $42,000, $3,000 less than the previous year. The 
budget item for 1994-95 which has increased compared to 1993-94 is $200 
for the contingency reserve for which no funding was recommended last 
year. Budget items which have decreased compared to the amount budgeted 
for 1993-94 (in parentheses) are: Travel for Committee personnel, 
$1,000 ($2,000), telephone and telegraph, $500 ($600), postage, $200 
($300), and promotion, merchandising, and public relations, $13,000 
($15,000). All other items are budgeted at last year's amounts.
    The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of 
$0.01 per crate, the same as last season. This rate, when applied to 
anticipated shipments of 4,200,000 crates, will yield $42,000 in 
assessment income. Funds in the Committee's authorized reserve as of 
June 15, 1994, estimated at $15,000, were within the maximum permitted 
by the order of one marketing year's expenses.
    While this action will impose some additional costs on handlers, 
the costs are in the form of uniform assessments on 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 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 
begins on August 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires that the 
rate of assessment for the fiscal year apply to all assessable Florida 
celery 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 967

    Celery, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 967 is 
amended as follows:

PART 967--CELERY GROWN IN FLORIDA

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 967 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. A new Sec. 967.229 is added to read as follows:

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


Sec. 967.229  Expenses and assessment rate.

    Expenses of $42,000 by the Florida Celery Committee are authorized, 
and an assessment rate of $0.01 per crate of assessable celery is 
established for the fiscal year ending July 31, 1995. Unexpended funds 
may be carried over as a reserve.

    Dated: August 8, 1994.
Robert C. Keeney,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-19895 Filed 8-12-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P