[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 21, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 32257-32258]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-15110]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed
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Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 119 / Wednesday, June 21, 1995 /
Rules and Regulations
[[Page 32257]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 906
[Docket No. FV95-906-2-IFR]
Expenses and Assessment Rate for the Marketing Order Covering
Oranges and Grapefruit Grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas
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 for the Texas Valley Citrus Committee
(TVCC) under M.O. No. 906 for the 1995-96 fiscal year. Authorization of
this budget enables the TVCC to incur expenses that are reasonable and
necessary to administer this program. Funds to administer this program
are derived from assessments on handlers.
DATES: Effective beginning August 1, 1995, through July 31, 1996.
Comments received by July 21, 1995 will be considered prior to issuance
of a final rule.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning this interim final rule. 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: Charles L. Rush, Marketing Order
Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.
Box 96456, room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, telephone: (202)
690-3670; or Belinda G. Garza, McAllen, Marketing Field Office, Fruit
and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 1313 East Hackberry, McAllen, Texas
78501, telephone: (210) 682-2833.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under
Marketing Agreement and Order No. 906 (7 CFR part 906) regulating the
handling of oranges and grapefruit grown in the lower Rio Grande Valley
in Texas. 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 provisions now
in effect, Texas oranges and grapefruit are subject to assessments. It
is intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be
applicable to all assessable oranges and grapefruit handled during the
1995-96 fiscal year, which begins August 1, 1995, and ends July 31,
1996. 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 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 135 handlers of oranges and grapefruit
regulated under the marketing order each season and approximately 2,500
orange and grapefruit producers in Texas. 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 Texas orange and grapefruit marketing order, administered by
the Department, requires that the assessment rate for a particular
fiscal year apply to all assessable oranges and grapefruit handled from
the beginning of such year. Annual budgets of expenses are prepared by
the TVCC, the agency responsible for local administration of this
marketing order, and submitted to the Department for approval. The
members of the TVCC are handlers and producers of Texas oranges and
grapefruit. They are familiar with the TVCC'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 TVCC'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 TVCC is derived by dividing
the anticipated expenses by expected shipments of oranges and
grapefruit. Because that rate is applied to actual shipments, it must
be established at a rate which will provide sufficient
[[Page 32258]] income to pay the TVCC's expected expenses.
The TVCC met on May 16, 1995, and unanimously recommended expenses
of $1,035,000 and an assessment rate of $0.10 per 7/10 bushel carton.
In comparison, budgeted expenses for the 1994-95 fiscal year were
$1,161,244, which is $126,244 more than the $1,035,000 recommended for
the 1995-96 fiscal year. The assessment rate of $0.10 is $0.06 less
than last season's assessment rate of $0.16.
Major expense categories for the 1995-96 fiscal year include
$500,000 for advertising, $180,000 for road guard station operation,
and $174,000 for the Mexican Fruit Fly support program.
Assessment income for the 1995-96 fiscal year is estimated at
$832,500 based upon anticipated fresh domestic shipments of 8,325,000
cartons of oranges and grapefruit. This, in addition to a withdrawal of
$193,500 from the TVCC's reserve fund, and $9,000 estimated interest
income should be adequate to cover budgeted expenses. In comparison,
the assessment income for the 1994-95 fiscal year was estimated at
$960,000 based upon anticipated fresh domestic shipments of 6 million
cartons of oranges and grapefruit.
Funds in the reserve at the end of the 1995-96 fiscal year are
estimated at $143,890. These reserve funds will be within the maximum
permitted by the order of one fiscal year's expenses.
While this action will impose 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 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.
After consideration of all relevant matter presented, including the
information and recommendations submitted by the TVCC 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 TVCC needs to have sufficient funds to pay its
expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the 1995-96
fiscal year for the TVCC begins August 1, 1995, and the marketing order
requires that the rate of assessment for the fiscal year apply to all
assessable oranges and grapefruit handled during the fiscal year; (3)
handlers are aware of this action 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 rule.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 906
Grapefruit, Marketing agreements and orders, Oranges, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 906 is
amended as follows:
PART 906--ORANGES AND GRAPEFRUIT GROWN IN THE LOWER RIO GRANDE
VALLEY IN TEXAS
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 906 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
Note: This section will not appear in the annual Code of Federal
Regulations.
2. A new Sec. 906.235 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 906.235 Expenses and assessment rate.
Expenses of $1,035,000 by the Texas Valley Citrus Committee are
authorized and an assessment rate of $0.10 per 7/10 bushel carton on
assessable oranges and grapefruit is established for the 1995-96 fiscal
year ending on July 31, 1996. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a
reserve.
Dated: June 15, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-15110 Filed 6-20-95; 8:45 am]
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