[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 8, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 40259-40260]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-19460]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 152 / Tuesday, August 8, 1995 / Rules 
and Regulations  


[[Page 40259]]


DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 948

[Docket No. FV95-948-2FIR]


Irish Potatoes Grown in Colorado; 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 will 
generate funds to pay those expenses. Authorization of this budget 
enables the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, San Luis Valley 
Office (Area II) (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: September 1, 1995, through August 31, 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 Dennis L. West, Northwest Marketing Field Office, Fruit and 
Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, Green-Wyatt Federal Building, room 369, 
1220 Southwest Third Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204, telephone 503-326-
2724.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing 
Agreement No. 97 and Marketing Order No. 948, both as amended (7 CFR 
part 948), regulating the handling of Irish potatoes grown in Colorado. 
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 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, Colorado potatoes are subject to assessments. It is intended 
that the assessment rate as issued herein will be applicable to all 
assessable potatoes during the 1995-96 fiscal period, which begins 
September 1, 1995, and ends August 31, 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 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 provisions 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. 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 285 producers of Colorado Area II potatoes 
under the marketing order and approximately 118 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 
Colorado Area II potato producers and handlers may be classified as 
small entities.
    The budget of expenses for the 1995-96 fiscal period was prepared 
by the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, San Luis Valley Office 
(Area II), 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 Colorado Area II 
potatoes. 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 Colorado Area II 
potatoes. 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.
    In Colorado, both a State and a Federal marketing order operate 
simultaneously. The State order authorizes promotion, including paid 
advertising, which the Federal order does not. All expenses in this 
category are financed under the State order. The jointly operated 
programs consume about equal administrative time and the two orders 
continue to split administrative costs equally.
    The Committee met on May 18, 1995, and unanimously recommended a 
1995-96 budget of $62,328, which is $3,596 less than the previous year. 
Budget items for 1995-96 which have increased compared to those 
budgeted for 1994-95 (in parentheses) are: Audit fee, $975 ($900), 
other office, $625 ($500), and utilities, $3,000 ($2,000). Items which 
have decreased compared to those budgeted for 1994-95 (in parentheses) 
are: Assistant's salary, $8,256 ($10,320), part-time salary, 

[[Page 40260]]
$3,640 ($3,822), major purchase, $2,125 ($2,250), and ($2,425) for 
property tax, for which no funding was recommended this year. All other 
items are budgeted at last year's amounts.
    The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of 
$0.0030 per hundredweight, $0.0006 less than last season. This rate, 
when applied to anticipated potato shipments of 16,500,000 
hundredweight, will yield $49,500 in assessment income. This, along 
with $12,828 from the Committee's authorized reserve, will be adequate 
to cover budgeted expenses. Funds of $101,064 in the Committee's 
authorized reserve at the beginning of the 1994-95 fiscal period were 
within the maximum permitted by the order of two fiscal periods' 
expenses.
    An interim final rule was published in the Federal Register on June 
21, 1995 (60 FR 32260). That interim final rule added Sec. 948.214 to 
authorize expenses and establish an assessment rate for the Committee. 
That rule provided that interested persons could file comments through 
July 21, 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 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 matter presented, including the 
information and recommendations 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 action 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 begins on September 1, 1995. The 
marketing order requires that the rate of assessment for the fiscal 
period apply to all assessable potatoes handled during the fiscal 
period. In addition, handlers are aware of this action which was 
unanimously 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 948

    Marketing agreements, Potatoes, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    Note: This section will not appear in the Code of Federal 
Regulations.

PART 948--IRISH POTATOES GROWN IN COLORADO

    Accordingly, the interim final rule amending 7 CFR part 948, which 
was published at 60 FR 32260 on June 21, 1995, is adopted as a final 
rule without change.

    Dated: August 1, 1995.
Martha B. Ransom,
Acting Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-19460 Filed 8-7-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P