[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 165 (Friday, August 26, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-21092]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 26, 1994]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 926

[Docket No. FV94-926-1FIR]

 

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

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture (Department) is adopting as a 
final rule, without changes, the provisions of the interim final rule 
which authorized expenses and established an assessment rate for the 
Tokay Grape Industry Committee (Committee) under Marketing Order 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.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 1, 1994, through March 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 Rose Aguayo, 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 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 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 
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 3 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 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 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.
    An interim final rule was published in the Federal Register [59 FR 
30872, June 16, 1994] and provided a 30-day comment period for 
interested persons. No comments were received.
    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 April 1, 1994. The 
marketing order requires that the rate of assessment apply to all 
assessable grapes 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. No comments were 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 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

    Accordingly, the interim final rule amending 7 CFR Part 926 which 
was published at 59 FR 30872 on June 16, 1994, is adopted as a final 
rule without change.

    Dated: August 22, 1994.
Eric M. Forman,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-21092 Filed 8-25-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P