[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 191 (Tuesday, October 3, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51667-51669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-24571]



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[[Page 51668]]


DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 982

[Docket No. FV95-982-1FIR]


Filberts/Hazelnuts Grown in Oregon and Washington; 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, with appropriate changes, the provisions of an interim 
final rule that authorized expenses and established an assessment rate 
that generated funds to pay those expenses 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.

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 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 is issuing this rule in conformance with Executive 
Order 12866.
    This 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 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 conducted last April, unanimously 
recommended a 1995-96 budget of $483,685, $23,325 less than the 
previous year. Budget items for 1995-96 which had 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 had 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 were 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. At the time of the mail vote, 
assessable shipments were estimated at 60,000,000 pounds. This rate, 
when applied to anticipated shipments of 60,000,000 pounds, yields 
$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, was adequate to cover budgeted 
expenses. Funds in the reserve as of July 31, 1995, were $286,673, 
which is within the maximum permitted by the order of one marketing 
year's expenses.
    An interim final rule was published in the Federal Register on 
August 7, 1995 (60 FR 40061). That interim final rule added 
Sec. 982.339 to authorize expenses and establish an assessment rate for 
the Board. That rule provided that interested persons could file 
written comments through September 6, 1995. The manager informed the 
Department of the Board's August 28, 1995, meeting recommendation to 
increase the level of authorized expenses.

[[Page 51669]]

    Subsequent to the recommendation of the initial budget, a new Board 
employee was hired, necessitating increased funding for personal 
services. At its August 28, 1995, meeting the Board recommended this 
increase, plus changes in five other line item categories. Budget items 
for 1995-96, which have increased compared to the interim budget (in 
parentheses) are: Personal services, $60,735 ($50,735), auditing, 
$4,000 ($3,500), furniture, $750 ($250), equipment, $2,250 ($250), and 
emergency fund $202,800 ($140,000). The item which has decreased 
compared to the interim budget (in parentheses) is: Promotion, $244,200 
($250,000). These changes will result in a total budget of $553,685, 
$70,000 more than the interim budget, and $46,675 more than the 1994-95 
budget.
    Based on current crop information, the Board anticipates a 
10,000,000 pound increase in assessable shipments to 70,000,000 pounds. 
This will result in an additional $70,000 in assessment income. As a 
consequence, total assessment income will total $490,000. This together 
with funds from the sources mentioned earlier will provide adequate 
funds to cover the increased expenses, so no change in the assessment 
rate was recommended.
    While this action 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 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.
    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.
    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 Board 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 filberts/hazelnuts handled during the fiscal period. 
In addition, handlers are aware of this rule which was unanimously 
recommended by the Board in a mail vote, published in the Federal 
Register as an interim final rule, and subsequently reviewed at a 
public meeting.

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:
    Accordingly, the interim final rule adding Sec. 982.339 which was 
published at 60 FR 40061 on August 7, 1995, is adopted as a final rule 
with the following change:

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.

    2. Section 982.339 is revised to read as follows:

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


Sec. 959.339  Expenses and assessment rate.

    Expenses of $553,685 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: September 27, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-24571 Filed 10-2-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P