[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 151 (Monday, August 7, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 40061-40063]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-19327]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 982
[Docket No. FV95-982-1IFR]
Filberts/Hazelnuts Grown in Oregon and Washington; Expenses and
Assessment Rate
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 under Marketing Order No. 982 for the
1995-96 marketing year. Authorization of this budget enables the
Filbert/Hazelnut Marketing Board (Board) to incur expenses that are
reasonable and necessary to administer the program. Funds to administer
this program are derived from assessments on handlers.
DATES: Effective July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1996. Comments received
by September 6, 1995, will be considered prior to issuance of a final
rule.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning this action. 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.
[[Page 40062]]
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 and Order No. 982, both as amended (7 CFR part 982),
regulating the handling of filberts/hazelnuts grown in Oregon and
Washington. 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 now in effect,
Oregon-Washington filberts/hazelnuts are subject to assessments. Funds
to administer the Oregon-Washington filbert/hazelnut order are derived
from such assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate as
issued herein will be applicable to all assessable filberts/hazelnuts
during the 1995-96 marketing year which began July 1, 1995, and ends
June 30, 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 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 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 1,000 producers of Oregon and Washington
filberts/hazelnuts under this marketing order, and approximately 25
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 and Washington filbert/hazelnut producers and
handlers may be classified as small entities.
The budget of expenses for the 1995-96 marketing year was prepared
by the Filbert/Hazelnut Marketing Board, the agency responsible for
local administration of the marketing order, and submitted to the
Department for approval. The members of the Board are producers and
handlers of filberts/hazelnuts. They are familiar with the Board'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 assessment rate recommended by the Board was derived by
dividing anticipated expenses by the expected quantity of assessable
filberts/hazelnuts handled. Because that rate will be applied to the
actual quantity of filberts/hazelnuts, it must be established at a rate
that will provide sufficient income to pay the Board's expenses.
The Board, in a mail vote, unanimously recommended a 1995-96 budget
of $483,685, $23,325 less than the previous year. Budget items for
1995-96 which have increased compared to those budgeted for 1994-95 (in
parentheses) are: Personal services (salaries), $50,735 ($48,000),
postage, $3,000 ($1,800), communications, $1,200 ($1,100), printing and
publishing, $2,400 ($2,300), insurance, $700 ($650), rent, $5,650
($5,560), utilities, $850 ($800), equipment maintenance and rental,
$1,500 ($1,400), and office supplies, $2,000 ($1,500). Items which have
decreased compared to those budgeted for 1994-95 (in parentheses) are:
Computer services, $750 ($1,500), furniture, $250 ($1,500), equipment,
$250 ($1,500), and research ($25,000) for which no funding was
recommended this year. All other items are budgeted at last year's
amounts, including $250,000 for promotion.
The Board also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of $0.007
per pound, the same as last year. This rate, when applied to
anticipated shipments of 60,000,000 pounds, will yield $420,000 in
assessment income. This, along with $5,000 in interest income, $2,572
from the Nut Growers Society in payment for services performed by the
Board under an agreement with the Society, and $56,113 from the Board's
authorized reserve, will be adequate to cover budgeted expenses. Funds
in the reserve at the beginning of the 1995-96 marketing year,
estimated at $235,691, were within the maximum permitted by the order
of one marketing year's expenses.
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 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 Board 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 Board needs to have sufficient funds to pay its
expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the marketing
year began on July 1, 1995, and the marketing order requires that the
rate of assessment for the marketing year apply to all assessable
filberts/hazelnuts handled during the marketing year; (3) handlers are
aware of this action which was unanimously recommended by the Board in
a mail vote and is similar to other budget actions issued in past
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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 action.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 982
Filberts, Hazelnuts, Marketing agreements, Nuts, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 982 is
amended as follows:
PART 982--FILBERTS/HAZELNUTS GROWN IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 982 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
Note: This section will not appear in the Code of Federal
Regulations.
2. A new Sec. 982.339 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 982.339 Expenses and assessment rate.
Expenses of $483,685 by the Filbert/Hazelnut Marketing Board are
authorized, and an assessment rate of $0.007 per pound of assessable
filberts/hazelnuts is established for the marketing year ending June
30, 1996. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a reserve.
Dated: July 31, 1995.
Martha B. Ransom,
Acting Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-19327 Filed 8-4-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P