[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 15, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38894-38897]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14150]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 1214

[Document Number AMS-SC-15-0072]


Christmas Tree Promotion, Research, and Information Order; Late 
Payment and Interest Charges on Past Due Assessments

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This rule prescribes late payment and interest charges on past 
due assessments under the Christmas Tree Promotion, Research, and

[[Page 38895]]

Information Order (Order). The Order is administered by the Christmas 
Tree Promotion Board (Board) with oversight by the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA). Under the Order, assessments are collected from 
domestic producers and importers and used for research and promotion 
projects designed to maintain and expand the market for fresh cut 
Christmas trees. This rule implements authority contained in the Order 
that allows the Board to collect late payment and interest charges on 
past due assessments. Late payment and interest charges will begin to 
accrue on unpaid assessments beginning 30 days after the effective date 
of this rule. This action contributes to effective administration of 
the program. This rule also provides authority for the crop year and 
fiscal period to be changed through administrative action. These 
changes were unanimously recommended by the Board.

DATES: Effective June 16, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Carpenter, Marketing 
Specialist, Promotion and Economics Division, Specialty Crops Program, 
AMS, USDA, Stop 0244, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Room 1406-S, 
Washington, DC 20250-0244; telephone: (202) 720-9915; facsimile: (202) 
205-2800; or electronic mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under the Order (7 CFR 
part 1214). The Order is authorized under the Commodity Promotion, 
Research, and Information Act of 1996 (1996 Act)(7 U.S.C. 7411-7425).

Executive Order 12866 and Executive Order 13563

    Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess all 
costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if 
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize 
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public 
health and safety effects, distributive impacts and equity). Executive 
Order 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and 
benefits, reducing costs, harmonizing rules and promoting flexibility. 
This action has been designated as a ``non-significant regulatory 
action'' under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866. Accordingly, the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has waived the review process.

Executive Order 13175

    This action has been reviewed in accordance with the requirements 
of Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian 
Tribal Governments. The review reveals that this regulation will not 
have substantial and direct effects on Tribal governments and will not 
have significant Tribal implications.

Executive Order 12988

    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil 
Justice Reform. It is not intended to have retroactive effect. Section 
524 of the 1996 Act provides that it shall not affect or preempt any 
other Federal or State law authorizing promotion or research relating 
to an agricultural commodity.
    Under section 519 of the 1996 Act (7 U.S.C. 7418), a person subject 
to an order may file a written petition with USDA stating that an 
order, any provision of an order, or any obligation imposed in 
connection with an order, is not established in accordance with the 
law, and request a modification of an order or an exemption from an 
order. Any petition filed challenging an order, any provision of an 
order, or any obligation imposed in connection with an order, shall be 
filed within two years after the effective date of an order, provision, 
or obligation subject to challenge in the petition. The petitioner will 
have the opportunity for a hearing on the petition. Thereafter, USDA 
will issue a ruling on the petition. The 1996 Act provides that the 
district court of the United States for any district in which the 
petitioner resides or conducts business shall have the jurisdiction to 
review a final ruling on the petition, if the petitioner files a 
complaint for that purpose not later than 20 days after the date of the 
entry of USDA's final ruling.

Background

    This rule prescribes late payment and interest charges on past due 
assessments. The Order is administered by the Board with oversight by 
USDA. Under the Order, assessments are collected from domestic 
producers and importers and used for research and promotion projects 
designed to maintain and expand the market for fresh cut Christmas 
trees. This rule implements authority contained in the Order and the 
1996 Act that allows the Board to collect late payment and interest 
charges on past due assessments. This action was unanimously 
recommended by the Board and will contribute to effective 
administration of the program.
    Section 1214.52(a) of the Order specifies that the funds to cover 
the Board's expenses shall be paid from assessments on producers and 
importers, donations from persons not subject to assessments, and from 
other funds available to the Board. Paragraphs (b) and (c) specify that 
the collection of assessments on Christmas trees that are cut and sold 
or imported will be the responsibility of the producer who produces the 
Christmas trees or causes them to be cut, or the importer who imports 
Christmas trees for marketing in the United States.
    Section 1214.52(e) specifies that ``a late payment charge, may be 
imposed on any producer or importer who fails to remit to the Board, 
the total amount for which any such producer or importer is liable on 
or before the due date established by the Board. In addition to the 
late payment charge, an interest charge may be imposed on the 
outstanding amount for which the producer or importer is liable. The 
rate for late payment and interest charges shall be specified by the 
Secretary through rulemaking.''
    The Order was implemented in November 2011, but immediately stayed. 
The stay was lifted on April 7, 2014, and the program is currently in 
effect. Domestic assessments were due February 15, 2016. This will be 
the first assessment collection by the Board. Importers will be 
responsible for paying the assessment directly to the Board 30 calendar 
days after importation. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Customs) 
will not be collecting on imports for the 2015 season. Producers or 
importers who domestically produce or import less than 500 trees 
annually are exempt from assessment.
    This rule implements authority contained in the Order and the 1996 
Act that allows the Board to collect late payment and interest charges 
on past due assessments.
    Late payment and interest charges will begin to accrue on unpaid 
assessments beginning 30 days after the effective date of the final 
rule. A late payment charge of $250 will be applied to any unpaid 
assessments for producers and importers that are delinquent in paying 
their assessment. If the assessment is paid after February 15, but up 
to 29 days after the effective date of this final rule, no late payment 
charge will be imposed. The late payment charge will be increased to 
$500 after 90 days after the effective date of this final rule. 
Additionally, a 1.5 percent interest charge per month will be imposed 
on unpaid assessments and fees owed, beginning 30 days after the 
effective date of this final rule. The delay of the imposition of late 
payment and interest charges only applies to the initial period of 
assessment collection. Assessment funds are used by the Board for 
activities designed to benefit all industry members. Thus, it is 
important that all assessed entities pay their

[[Page 38896]]

assessments in a timely manner. Entities who fail to pay their 
assessments on time would be able to reap the benefits of Board 
programs at the expense of others. In addition, they would be able to 
utilize funds for their own use that should otherwise be paid to the 
Board to finance Board programs.

Board Recommendation

    The Board met on July 17, 2015, and unanimously recommended 
specifying rates of late payment charges and interest on past due 
assessments in the Order's regulations. Specifically, the Board 
recommended that a late payment charge of $250 be applied to late 
assessments for producers and importers that are delinquent in paying 
their assessment 30 days after the due date. The late payment charge 
will increase to $500 after 90 days of delinquency. Additionally, a 1.5 
percent interest charge per month will be imposed on late assessments 
and fees owed, beginning 30 days after the assessment due date. This 
fee structure is not overtly burdensome on small producers or 
importers, but does create the incentive to promote timely payment of 
assessments due. This action contributes to the efficient 
administration of the program.
    This action will help facilitate program administration by 
providing an incentive for entities to remit assessments in a timely 
manner, with the intent of creating a fair and equitable process among 
all assessed entities. Accordingly, a new Subpart C is added to the 
Order for rules and regulations, and a new section 1214.520 is added to 
Subpart C.
    This rule also makes one additional change to the Order. This rule 
revises the definition of crop year and fiscal period as defined in 
sections 1214.5 and 1214.8, respectively. The Board recommended this 
change because USDA revised the crop year and fiscal period during the 
promulgation process from what was originally proposed by the industry. 
The Board wants the flexibility to change these dates if necessary. The 
terms crop year and fiscal period will be revised by adding language to 
allow the Board to change the crop year or fiscal period 
administratively through Board action.

Final Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis

    In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 
601-612), AMS is required to examine the impact of this rule on small 
entities. Accordingly, AMS has considered the economic impact of this 
action on such entities.
    The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of 
businesses subject to such actions so that small businesses will not be 
disproportionately burdened. The Small Business Administration (SBA) 
defines, in 13 CFR part 121, small agricultural producers as those 
having annual receipts of no more than $750,000 and small agricultural 
service firms (producers and importers) as those having annual receipts 
of no more than $7.5 million.
    According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture published by the 
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), it is estimated that 
there are 15,494 farms that sold cut Christmas trees in the United 
States. According to NASS, the value of cut Christmas trees sold in 
2012 was $808,644,000. Dividing that value by the number of farms 
yields an average annual producer revenue of $52,191. Therefore it is 
estimated that all farms that sold Christmas trees had revenue under 
$750,000.
    Likewise, based on Customs data, it is estimated there are 153 
importers of Christmas trees. Using 2014 Customs data, all importers 
import less than $7.5 million worth of Christmas trees annually. Thus, 
all domestic producers and importers of Christmas trees would be 
considered small entities.
    Regarding the value of the commodity, as mentioned above, based on 
2012 NASS Census of Agriculture data, the value of the domestic cut 
Christmas trees was about $808.6 million. According to Customs data, 
the value of 2014 imports was about $25.8 million.
    This rule prescribes late payment and interest charges on past due 
assessments under the Order. The Order is administered by the Board 
with oversight by USDA. Under the Order, assessments are collected from 
producers and importers of Christmas trees that are cut and sold or 
imported.
    This rule will add a new section 1214.520 that will specify a late 
payment charge of $250 to be applied to late assessments for producers 
and importers that are delinquent in paying their assessment 30 days 
after the due date. The late payment charge will be increased to $500 
after 90 days of delinquency. Additionally, a 1.5 percent interest 
charge per month will be imposed on late assessments and fees owed, 
beginning 30 days after the assessment due date. This section will be 
included in a new Subpart C--Provisions Implementing the Christmas Tree 
Promotion, Research, and Information Order. This action was unanimously 
recommended by the Board and is authorized under section 1214.52(e) of 
the Order and section 517(e) of the 1996 Act.
    In addition, one other change is being made to the Order. It will 
revise the definition of crop year and fiscal period as defined in 
sections 1214.5 and 1214.8, respectively. The Board recommended this 
change because USDA revised the crop year and fiscal period during the 
promulgation process from what was originally proposed by the industry. 
The Board wants the flexibility to change these dates if necessary. The 
terms crop year and fiscal period will be revised by adding language to 
allow the Board to change the crop year or fiscal period 
administratively through Board action.
    Regarding the economic impact of this rule on affected entities, 
this action imposes no costs on producers and importers who pay their 
assessments on time. It merely provides an incentive for entities to 
remit their assessments in a timely manner. For all entities who are 
delinquent in paying assessments, both large and small, the charges 
will be applied uniformly. As for the impact on the industry as a 
whole, this action will help facilitate program administration by 
providing an incentive for entities to remit their assessments in a 
timely manner, with the intent of creating a fair and equitable process 
among all assessed entities.
    Additionally, as previously mentioned, the Order provides for an 
exemption for entities that produce or import less than 500 Christmas 
trees.
    Regarding alternatives, one option to the action is to maintain the 
status quo and not prescribe late payment and interest charges for past 
due assessments. However, the Board determined that implementing such 
charges would help facilitate program administration by encouraging 
entities to pay their assessments in a timely manner. The Board 
reviewed rates of late payment and interest charges prescribed in other 
research and promotion programs and concluded that the late payment 
charge and the interest charge contained in this rule are appropriate.
    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35), the information collection and recordkeeping requirements 
that are imposed by the Order have been approved under OMB control 
number 0581-0093. This rule results in no changes to the information 
collection and recordkeeping requirements previously approved and 
imposes no additional reporting and recordkeeping burden on domestic 
producers and importers of Christmas trees.

[[Page 38897]]

    As with all Federal promotion programs, reports and forms are 
periodically reviewed to reduce information requirements and 
duplication by industry and public sector agencies. Finally, USDA has 
not identified any relevant Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or 
conflict with this rule.
    AMS is committed to complying with the E-Government Act, to promote 
the use of the Internet and other information technologies to provide 
increased opportunities for citizen access to Government information 
and services, and for other purposes.
    Regarding outreach efforts, the Board met on July 17, 2015, and 
unanimously recommended these changes to the Order. All of the Board's 
meetings, including meetings held via teleconference, are open to the 
public and interested persons are invited to participate and express 
their views.
    A proposed rule concerning this action was published in the Federal 
Register on March 1, 2016 (81 FR 10530). The proposal was made 
available through the Internet by USDA and the Office of the Federal 
Register. A 15-day comment period ending March 16, 2016, was provided 
to allow interested persons to submit comments. No comments were 
received.
    After consideration of all relevant matters 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, is consistent with and will effectuate the 
purposes of the 1996 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 this is the initial year for 
the collection of assessments under the Order, on the 2015 harvest, and 
assessments were due on February 15, 2016. Importers are responsible 
for paying assessments directly to the Board 30 calendar days after 
importation. The Board would like to implement this incentive as soon 
as possible to facilitate the initial collection of assessments. 
Additionally, this action was unanimously recommended by the Board. 
Further, a 15-day comment period was provided for in the proposed rule 
and no comments were received.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1214

    Administrative practice and procedure, Advertising, Consumer 
information, Christmas trees, Marketing agreements, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 1214 is 
amended as follows:

PART 1214--CHRISTMAS TREE PROMOTION, RESEARCH, AND INFORMATION 
ORDER

0
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 1214 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7411-7425; 7 U.S.C. 7401.


0
2. Section 1214.5 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  1214.5  Crop year.

    Crop year means the period August 1 through July 31 or such other 
period approved by the Secretary.

0
3. Section 1214.8 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  1214.8  Fiscal period.

    Fiscal period means the period August 1 through July 31 or such 
other period approved by the Secretary.

0
4. Subpart C, consisting of Sec.  1214.520, is added to read as 
follows:

Subpart C--Provisions Implementing the Christmas Tree Promotion, 
Research, and Information Order


Sec.  1214.520  Late payment and interest charges for past due 
assessments.

    (a) A late payment charge shall be imposed on any producer or 
importer who fails to make timely remittance to the Board of the total 
assessments for which such producer or importer is liable. The late 
payment charge will be imposed on any assessments not received within 
30 calendar days of the date they are due. This one-time late payment 
charge shall be $250 and will be increased to $500 after 90 days of 
delinquency.
    (b) In addition to the late payment charge, 1.5 percent per month 
interest on the outstanding balance, including any late payment charge 
and accrued interest, will be added to any accounts for which payment 
has not been received by the Board within 30 calendar days after the 
date the assessments are due. Such interest will continue to accrue 
monthly until the outstanding balance is paid to the Board.

    Dated: June 10, 2016.
Elanor Starmer,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2016-14150 Filed 6-14-16; 8:45 am]
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