[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 27, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49748-49749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-23895]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 906

[Docket No. FV95-906-2-FIR]


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: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture (Department) is adopting as a 
final rule, with appropriate modifications, the provisions of an 
interim final rule that authorized expenses and established an 
assessment rate for the Texas Valley Citrus Committee (TVCC) under 
Marketing Order 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.

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, D.C. 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 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 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 
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), 

[[Page 49749]]
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 15 handlers of oranges and grapefruit 
regulated under the marketing order each season and approximately 750 
orange and grapefruit producers in Texas. 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 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 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.
    The TVCC met again on August 15, 1995, and unanimously recommended 
revised expenses of $1,008,643. The recommended assessment rate remains 
at $0.10 per \7/10\ bushel carton.
    The TVCC's reduced expenses are a result of the signing of a joint 
management agreement with the Texas Citrus and Vegetable Association.
    Major expense categories for the 1995-96 fiscal year include 
$500,000 for advertising, $180,000 for compliance operations, 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 
$167,143 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 $315,433. These reserve funds will be within the maximum 
permitted by the order of one fiscal year's expenses.
    The TVCC budget was authorized by an interim final rule issued on 
June 15, 1995, and published in the Federal Register [60 FR 32257, June 
21, 1995]. A 30-day comment period was provided for interested persons. 
No comments were received. Although no comments were received, the TVCC 
met subsequent to the issuance of the interim final rule and 
recommended a reduction in budgeted expenses for the 1995-96 fiscal 
year. The recommended reduction from $1,035,000 to $1,008,643 is 
incorporated in this final rule.
    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.
    It is found that the specified expenses for the marketing order 
covered in this rule are reasonable and likely to be incurred and that 
such expenses and the specified assessment rate to cover such expenses 
will tend to effectuate the declared policy of the Act.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is also found and determined 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 began 
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; and (3) handlers are aware 
of this action which was recommended by the TVCC at a public meeting 
and published in the Federal Register as an interim final rule that is 
adopted in this action as a final rule with a minor modification.

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 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 action will not appear in the annual Code of Federal 
Regulations.

    2. The interim amendment to 7 CFR part 906 which was published at 
60 FR 32257 on June 21, 1995, is adopted as a final rule with the 
following change:


Sec. 906.235  [Corrected]

    On page 32258, second column, in the regulatory text, the reference 
to ``$1,035,000'' is corrected to read ``$1,008,643.''

    Dated: September 20, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-23895 Filed 9-26-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P