[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 127 (Monday, July 3, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34453-34454]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-16225]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 127 / Monday, July 3, 1995 / Rules 
and Regulations  


[[Page 34453]]


DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 958

[Docket No. FV95-958-1FIR]


Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onions; 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 
generated funds to pay those expenses. Authorization of this budget 
enables the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion 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 DATE: July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1996.

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 Robert J. Curry, 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. 130 and Order No. 958, both as amended (7 CFR part 958), 
regulating the handling of onions grown in designated counties in 
Idaho, and Malheur County, Oregon. 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 provisions of the marketing order now in 
effect, Idaho-Eastern Oregon onions are subject to assessments. It is 
intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be applicable 
to all assessable onions handled during the 1995-96 fiscal period, 
which began July 1, 1995, and ends June 30, 1996. 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 request 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 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 450 producers of Idaho-Eastern Oregon 
onions under the marketing order and approximately 35 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 
Idaho-Eastern Oregon onion producers and handlers may be classified as 
small entities.
    The budget of expenses for the 1995-96 fiscal period was prepared 
by the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion 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 Idaho-Eastern Oregon onions. They are familiar with the 
Committee's needs and with the costs for 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 Idaho-Eastern 
Oregon onions. 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 on March 21, 1995, and unanimously recommended a 
1995-96 budget of $1,111,447, $91,408 more than the previous year. 
Budget items for 1995-96 which have increased compared to those 
budgeted for 1994-95 (in parentheses) are: Manager's salary, $33,472 
($30,429), office salaries, $66,222 ($62,816), payroll taxes, $9,229 
($8,642), health and medical insurance, $9,182 ($8,700), workman's 
compensation, $1,084 ($929), rent, $11,000 ($10,000), property 
insurance, $1,700 ($1,400), miscellaneous, $12,500 ($9,000), promotion, 
$724,076 ($668,500), and contingency, $75,000 ($50,000). Items which 
have decreased compared to those budgeted for 1994-95 (in parentheses) 
are: Salary and disability insurance, $1,072 ($1,099), research, 
$59,340 ($60,154), and property tax ($800) for which no funding was 
recommended this year. 

[[Page 34454]]
All other items are budgeted at last year's amounts.
    The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of 
$0.10 per hundredweight, the same as last season. This rate, when 
applied to anticipated shipments of 8,800,000 hundredweight, will yield 
$880,000 in assessment income. This, along with $45,000 in interest 
income and $186,447 from the Committee's authorized reserve, will be 
adequate to cover budgeted expenses. Funds in the reserve at the end of 
the 1994-95 fiscal period, estimated at $921,500, were within the 
maximum permitted by the order of one fiscal period's expenses.
    An interim final rule was published in the Federal Register on May 
9, 1995 (60 FR 24539). That interim final rule added Sec. 958.239 to 
authorize expenses and establish an assessment rate for the Committee. 
That rule provided that interested persons could file comments through 
June 8, 1995. No comments were received.
    While this rule 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 will be offset by the benefits derived by the operation of the 
marketing order. Therefore, the Administrator of the AMS has determined 
that this rule will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.
    After consideration of all relevant material presented, including 
the information and recommendation 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 rule 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 1995-96 fiscal period began on July 1, 1995. The marketing 
order requires that the rate of assessment for the fiscal period apply 
to all assessable onions handled during the fiscal period. In addition, 
handlers are aware of this rule which was recommended by the Committee 
at a public meeting and published in the Federal Register as an interim 
final rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 958

    Marketing agreements, Onions, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 958 is 
amended as follows:

PART 958--ONIONS GROWN IN CERTAIN DESIGNATED COUNTIES IN IDAHO, AND 
MALHEUR COUNTY, OREGON

    Accordingly, the interim final rule adding Sec. 958.239 which was 
published at 60 FR 24539, May 9, 1995, is adopted as a final rule 
without change.

    Dated: June 27, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-16225 Filed 6-30-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P