[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.


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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