[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
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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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