[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 169 (Thursday, September 1, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-21674]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: September 1, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 947

[Docket No. FV94-947-2FIR]

 

Oregon-California Potatoes; Expenses and Assessment Rate

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 change, the provisions of an interim final rule 
that authorized expenses and established an assessment rate that will 
generate funds to pay those expenses. Authorization of this budget 
enables the Oregon-California Potato 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.

EFFECTIVE DATES: July 1, 1994, through June 30, 1995.

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 Teresa L. Hutchinson, Northwest Marketing Field Office, Fruit 
and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, Green-Wyatt Federal Building, room 
369, 1220 Southwest Third Avenue, Portland, OR 97204, telephone 503-
326-2724.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing 
Agreement No. 114 and Order No. 947, both as amended (7 CFR part 947), 
regulating the handling of Irish potatoes grown in Oregon-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 is issuing this rule in conformance with Executive 
Order 12866.
    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, Civil 
Justice Reform. Under the marketing order now in effect Oregon-
California potato handlers are subject to assessments. Funds to 
administer the Oregon-California potato order are derived from such 
assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate as issued herein 
will be applicable to all assessable potatoes during the 1994-95 fiscal 
period, which began July 1, 1994, and ends June 30, 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 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 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 action of essentially small 
entities acting on their own behalf. Thus, both statutes have small 
entity orientation and compatibility.
    There are approximately 550 producers of Oregon-California potatoes 
under this marketing order, and approximately 40 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 
Oregon-California potato producers and handlers may be classified as 
small entities.
    The budget of expenses for the 1994-95 fiscal period was prepared 
by the Oregon-California Potato 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 Oregon-California potatoes. 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 Oregon-
California potatoes. 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 unanimously recommended a budget of $45,100, $1,500 
more than last season. Increases in expenditures, which include $150 
for the Committee's annual report, $50 for the Committee's audit, 
$1,000 for inspection fees, $500 for investigation and compliance, and 
$50 for miscellaneous, will be partially offset by a decrease of $250 
in staff travel. Major expense items include $24,000 for the Oregon 
Potato Commission (Commission) contract agreement, $4,500 for Committee 
expenses, $3,000 each for investigation and compliance and staff 
travel, $2,000 for inspection fees, $1,500 for telephone, $1,400 for 
the annual report, $1,250 for postage, and $1,000 each for Committee 
compensation and office supplies. The Commission provides certain 
services to the Committee as specified in a memorandum of 
understanding.
    The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of 
$0.006 per hundredweight, $0.001 more than last season. This rate, when 
applied to anticipated shipments of 7,500,000 hundredweight, will yield 
$45,000 in assessment income. This, along with $100 from the 
Committee's authorized reserve, will be adequate to cover budgeted 
expenses. Funds in the reserve at the beginning of the 1994-95 fiscal 
period, estimated at $6,561, will be within the maximum permitted by 
the order of one fiscal period's expenses.
    An interim final rule was published in the Federal Register on July 
1, 1994 (59 FR 33900). That interim final rule added Sec. 947.245 to 
authorize expenses and establish an assessment rate for the Committee. 
That rule provided that interested persons could file comments through 
August 1, 1994. 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, those 
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.
    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 period began on July 1, 1994. The marketing 
order requires that the rate of assessment for the fiscal period apply 
to all assessable potatoes handled during the fiscal period. In 
addition, handlers are aware of this action which was unanimously 
recommended by the Committee at a public meeting and confirmed by a 
mail vote and published in the Federal Register as an interim final 
rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 947

    Marketing agreements, Potatoes, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 947 is 
amended as follows:

PART 947--IRISH POTATOES GROWN IN MODOC AND SISKIYOU COUNTIES, 
CALIFORNIA, AND IN ALL COUNTIES IN OREGON, EXCEPT MALHEUR COUNTY

    Accordingly, the interim final rule amending 7 CFR part 947 which 
was published at 59 FR 33900 on July 1, 1994, is adopted as a final 
rule without change.

    Dated: August 25, 1994.
Martha B. Ransom,
Acting Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 94-21674 Filed 8-31-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P