Cherries (tart) grown in Michigan,
[Federal Register: November 17, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 221)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 63803-63804]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17no98-13]
Proposed Rules Federal Register
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 930
[Docket No. AO-370-A6; FV98-930-2]
Tart Cherries Grown in the States of Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin; Hearing on Proposed Amendment of Marketing Agreement and Order No. 930
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of hearing on proposed rulemaking.
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of a public hearing to consider amending Marketing Agreement and Order No. 930, hereinafter referred to as the ``order.'' The order regulates the handling of tart cherries grown in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. The purpose of the hearing is to receive evidence on two proposals to amend the order. The proposals were submitted by the Cherry Industry Administrative Board (Board), which is responsible for local administration of the order. One proposed amendment would clarify the current limitation on the number of Board members that may represent a single ``sales constituency.'' The second would simplify the method used to establish volume regulations for tart cherries.
DATES: The hearing will begin at 9:00 a.m. in Grand Rapids, Michigan on December 1, 1998, and, if necessary, will continue the next day beginning at 9:00 a.m. A second hearing session will begin at 9:00 a.m. in Salt Lake City, Utah on December 3, 1998, and, if necessary, will continue the next day beginning at 9:00 a.m.
ADDRESSES: The Grand Rapids hearing will be held at the Hilton Grand Rapids Hotel, 4747 28th Street SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 99512. The Salt Lake City hearing will be held in the Conference Room at the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, 350 North Redwood Road, Salt Lake City, Utah 84116.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth G. Johnson or Anne M. Dec, 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) 205-6632. Small businesses may request information on this proceeding by contacting Jay Guerber, 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) 205-6632.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This administrative action is taken pursuant to the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601-674), hereinafter referred to as the ``Act.'' This action is governed by the provisions of sections 556 and 557 of title 5 of the United States Code and, therefore, is excluded from the requirements of Executive Order 12866.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) seeks to ensure that within the statutory authority of a program, the regulatory and informational requirements are tailored to the size and nature of small businesses. Interested persons are invited to present evidence at the hearing on the possible regulatory and informational impacts of the proposals on small businesses.
The amendments proposed herein have been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. They are not intended to have retroactive effect. If adopted, the proposed amendments would not preempt any State or local laws, regulations, or policies, unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with the proposals.
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. 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 filednot later than 20 days after the date of the entry of the ruling.
The hearing is called pursuant to the provisions of the Act and the applicable rules of practice and procedure governing the formulation of marketing agreements and orders (7 CFR part 900).
The Board submitted a proposal to clarify the current limitation on the number of Board members that may represent a single ``sales constituency.'' The definition of that term would be clarified to reduce uncertainty over which types of industry organizations are intended to be included under that definition. A second Board proposal would simplify its method of calculating the optimum supply of tart cherries used in establishing annual volume regulations.
The Board works with the Department in administering the order. These proposals have not received the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture.
The Board believes that the proposed changes would improve the administration, operation, and functioning of the order.
Also, the Fruit and Vegetable Programs of the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) proposes to allow such conforming changes to the order which may be necessary as a result of the hearing.
The public hearing is held for the purpose of: (i) Receiving evidence about the economic and marketing conditions which relate to the proposed amendments of the order; (ii) determining whether there is a need for the proposed amendments to the order; and (iii) determining whether the proposed amendments or appropriate modifications thereof will tend to effectuate the declared policy of the Act.
All persons wishing to submit written material as evidence at the hearing should be prepared to submit four copies of such material at the hearing and should have prepared testimony available for presentation at the hearing.
From the time the notice of hearing is issued and until the issuance of a final decision in this proceeding, Department employees involved in the decisional
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process are prohibited from discussing the merits of the hearing issues on an ex parte basis with any person having an interest in the proceeding. The prohibition applies to employees in the following organizational units: Office of the Secretary of Agriculture; Office of the Administrator, AMS; Office of the General Counsel, except any designated employees of the General Counsel assigned to represent the Board in this rulemaking proceeding; and the Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS.
Procedural matters are not subject to the above prohibition and may be discussed at any time.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 930
Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Tart cherries.
PART 930--TART CHERRIES GROWN IN THE STATES OF MICHIGAN, NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, OREGON, UTAH, WASHINGTON AND WISCONSIN
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The authority citation for 7 CFR part 930 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
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Testimony is invited on the following proposals or appropriate alternatives or modifications to such proposals.
Proposals submitted by the Cherry Industry Administrative Board:
Proposal No. 1
Revise Sec. 930.16 to read as follows:
Sec. 930.16 Sales constituency.
Sales constituency means a common marketing organization or brokerage firm or individual representing a group of handlers or growers. An organization which receives consignments of cherries and does not direct where the consigned cherries are sold is not a sales consituency.
Proposal No. 2
In Sec. 930.50, revise paragraph (a) to read as follows:
Sec. 930.50 Marketing policy.
(a) Optimum Supply. On or about July 1 of each crop year, the Board shall hold a meeting to review sales data, inventory data, current crop forecasts and market conditions in order to establish an optimum supply level for the crop year. The optimum supply volume shall be calculated as 100 percent of the average sales of the prior three years, reduced by the sales that represent dispositions of restricted cherries qualifying for diversion credit, unless the Board votes to do otherwise, to which shall be added a desirable carryout inventory not to exceed 20 million pounds or such other amount as the Board, with the approval of the Secretary, may establish. This optimum supply volume shall be announced by the Board in accordance with paragraph (h) of this section. * * * * *
The Fruit and Vegetable Programs, Agricultural Marketing Service, submitted the following proposal:
Proposal No. 3
Make such changes as may be necessary to the order to conform with any amendment thereto that may result from the hearing.
Dated: November 12, 1998. Enrique E. Figueroa, Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 98-30828Filed11-13-98; 12:58 pm]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
