[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 73 (Friday, April 16, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 18800-18802]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-9515]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 981

[Docket No. FV99-981-1 FR]


Almonds Grown in California; Revision of Reporting Requirements

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This rule revises the administrative rules and regulations of 
the California almond marketing order (order) pertaining to reporting 
requirements. The almond marketing order regulates the handling of 
almonds grown in California and is administered locally by the Almond 
Board of California (Board). Under the terms of the order, almond 
handlers are required to report to the Board, on ABC Form 1, the total 
adjusted kernel weight of almonds received by them for their own 
account within seven prescribed reporting periods per year. This rule 
changes the reporting procedures to require handlers to report this 
information to the Board monthly, or 12 times per year. Additional, 
more accurate and timely information will thus be available to the 
Board and industry, facilitating improved decision making and program 
administration.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 19, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martin Engeler, Assistant Regional 
Manager, California Marketing Field Office, Marketing Order 
Administration Branch, F&V, AMS, USDA, 2202 Monterey Street, suite 
102B, Fresno, California 93721; telephone: (559) 487-5901, Fax: (559) 
487-5906; or George Kelhart, Technical Advisor, Marketing Order 
Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, room 
2525-S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone: (202) 
720-2491, Fax: (202) 720-5698. Small businesses may request information 
on complying with this regulation, or obtain a guide on complying with 
fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop marketing agreements and orders by 
contacting Jay Guerber, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit 
and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2525-S, 
Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone (202) 720-2491, Fax: (202) 720-
5698, or E-mail: Jay__N__G[email protected]. You may view the marketing 
agreement and order small business compliance guide at the following 
web site: http://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/moab.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing Order 
No. 981, as amended (7 CFR part 981), regulating the handling of 
almonds grown in California, hereinafter referred to as the ``order.'' 
The marketing order is 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 rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil 
Justice Reform. This rule is not intended to have retroactive effect. 
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. A 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 to review the Secretary's 
ruling on the petition, provided an action is filed not later than 20 
days after date of the entry of the ruling.
    This final rule revises the administrative rules and regulations 
pertaining to reporting requirements under the California almond order. 
This rule changes the reporting procedures to require handlers to 
report their receipts of almonds from growers on a monthly basis rather 
than seven times per year as currently prescribed. This change was 
unanimously recommended by the Board at a meeting on September 16, 
1998.
    Section 981.72 of the order provides authority for the Board to 
require handlers to report to the Board their receipts of almonds from 
growers. Section 981.472 of the order's administrative rules and 
regulations currently requires that each handler report to the Board, 
on ABC Form 1, the total adjusted kernel weight of almonds, by variety, 
received by it for its own account within seven prescribed reporting 
periods per year. The report must be submitted to the Board by the 5th 
calendar day after the close of the following applicable periods--
August 1 to August 31; September 1 to September 30; October 1 to 
October 31; November 1 to November 30; December 1 to December 31; 
January 1 to March 31; and April 1 to July 31.
    The crop year under the almond order runs from August 1 through 
July 31 of the following year. Most almonds are harvested by growers 
and received by handlers during the fall months. Thus, handlers have 
been required to report their almond receipts to the Board on a monthly 
basis from August through December, and then just twice for the 
remainder of the crop year.
    California almond production has increased significantly in recent 
years. Between 1983 and 1992, the average size of the almond crop was 
about 465 million pounds. Since 1992, the average size of the almond 
crop has grown to about 570 million pounds. With the increase in crop 
size, more almonds than anticipated are being received by handlers from 
January through July. Information collected from handlers on

[[Page 18801]]

the amount of almonds received reflects crop size which provides a 
basis for the industry's marketing decisions. Thus, the Board 
recommended that handlers be required to report the amount of almonds 
received on a monthly basis, or 12 times per year. This reporting 
change will provide the Board with additional, more accurate and timely 
information which will facilitate improved decision making and program 
administration. Appropriate changes will be made to Sec. 981.472 of the 
order's administrative rules and regulations.
    Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (RFA), the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has considered the 
economic impact of this action on small entities. Accordingly, AMS has 
prepared this final regulatory flexibility analysis.
    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 115 handlers of California almonds who are 
subject to regulation under the order and approximately 7,000 almond 
producers in the regulated area. Small agricultural service firms have 
been defined by the Small Business Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as 
those having annual receipts of less than $5,000,000, and small 
agricultural producers are defined as those having annual receipts of 
less than $500,000.
    Currently, about 58 percent of the handlers ship under $5,000,000 
worth of almonds and 42 percent ship over $5,000,000 worth on an annual 
basis. In addition, based on acreage, production, and grower prices 
reported by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, and the total 
number of almond growers, the average annual grower revenue is 
approximately $156,000. In view of the foregoing, it can be concluded 
that the majority of handlers and producers of California almonds may 
be classified as small entities.
    This rule revises Sec. 981.472 of the order's administrative rules 
and regulations to specify that handlers must submit reports concerning 
receipts of almonds, on ABC Form 1, on a monthly basis, as opposed to 
seven times per year. Additional, more accurate and timely information 
will thus be available to the Board and industry, facilitating improved 
decision making and program administration.
    Requiring handlers to submit this information monthly imposes an 
additional reporting burden on both small and large handlers. It is 
estimated that it takes a handler 15 minutes to complete a receipt 
report, or ABC Form 1. Currently, handlers must submit seven such 
reports annually creating an estimated total burden per handler of 1.75 
hours per year, or a total industry burden of approximately 201.25 
hours per year. Requiring handlers to submit five additional reports 
per year will create an additional burden per handler of 1.25 hours per 
year, or an additional total industry burden of approximately 143.75 
hours per year. Although this action creates an additional burden on 
California almond handlers, the benefits of collecting additional, more 
accurate and timely information far outweigh the estimated increased 
reporting burden. The Board will be able to utilize this information to 
make improved marketing decisions. This rule places no additional 
burden on almond growers. Finally, as with all Federal marketing order 
programs, reports and forms are periodically reviewed to reduce 
information requirements and duplication by industry and public sector 
agencies.
    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35), the information collection requirements that are contained 
in this rule have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) and have been assigned OMB No. 0581-0071. In addition, the 
Department has not identified any relevant Federal rules that 
duplicate, overlap or conflict with this proposed rule.
    Other alternatives to this action include not changing the 
reporting requirement concerning almond receipts. However, this 
alternative would leave the Board with less timely information. Another 
alternative would be to revert back to the reporting requirement prior 
to 1993 when handlers were required to report almond receipts twice a 
month during harvest (July through November), once during December, and 
then twice for the remainder of the crop year. However, the Board 
believes that requiring handlers to submit the receipt report monthly 
best meets the industry's informational needs at this time.
    The Board's meeting was widely publicized throughout the almond 
industry and all interested persons were invited to attend the meeting 
and participate in Board deliberations. Like all Board meetings, the 
September 16, 1998, meeting was a public meeting and all entities, both 
large and small, were able to express their views on this issue. The 
Board itself is composed of ten members, of which five are producers 
and five are handlers.
    Also, the Board has a number of appointed committees to review 
certain issues and make recommendations to the Board. The Board's 
Administrative and Finance Committee met on September 16, 1998, prior 
to the Board meeting, and discussed this issue. That committee meeting 
was also a public meeting, and both large and small entities were able 
to participate and express their views.
    A proposed rule concerning this action was published in the Federal 
Register on January 5, 1999 (64 FR 430). The proposal also announced 
AMS's intent to request a revision to the currently approved 
information collection requirements issued under the order. Copies of 
the rule were mailed to all Board members and almond handlers. The 
proposal was also made available through the Internet by the Office of 
the Federal Register. A 60-day comment period was provided for 
interested persons to respond to the proposal, including the additional 
information collection requirements. The comment period ended March 8, 
1999. No comments were received.
    After consideration of all relevant matter presented, including the 
information and recommendation 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 would like to begin 
collecting ABC Form 1 from handlers on a monthly basis as soon as 
possible to facilitate program administration and decision making. 
Handlers are aware of this action which was unanimously recommended by 
the Board at a public meeting. Finally, a 60-day comment period was 
provided for in the proposed rule, and no comments were received.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 981

    Almonds, Marketing agreements, Nuts, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 981 is to be 
amended as follows:

[[Page 18802]]

PART 981--ALMONDS GROWN IN CALIFORNIA

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 981 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.

    2. In Sec. 981.472, paragraph (a) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 981.472  Report of almonds received.

    (a) Each handler shall report to the Board, on or before the 5th 
calendar day of each month, on ABC Form 1, the total adjusted kernel 
weight of almonds, by variety, received by it for its own account for 
the preceding month.
* * * * *
    Dated: April 9, 1999.
Robert C. Keeney,
Deputy Administrator, Fruit and Vegetable Programs.
[FR Doc. 99-9515 Filed 4-15-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P