Continuance Referendum: Tart Cherries Grown in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin
Federal Register: February 25, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 37)
Proposed Rules
Page 9965
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
DOCID:fr25fe08-12
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.
Page 9965
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service 7 CFR Part 930
Docket No. AMS-FV-07-0137; FV08-930-1
Tart Cherries Grown in the States of Michigan, New York,
Pennsylvania, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin; Continuance
Referendum
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Referendum order.
SUMMARY: This document directs that a continuance referendum be conducted among eligible growers and processors of tart cherries in the
States of Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin to determine whether they favor continuance of the marketing order regulating the handling of tart cherries grown in the production area.
DATES: The referendum will be conducted from March 17 through March 31, 2008. To vote in this referendum, growers and processors must have been engaged in producing or processing tart cherries within the production area during the period July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the marketing order may be obtained from USDA,
Washington DC Marketing Field Office, 4700 River Road, Unit 155,
Riverdale, Maryland 20737, or the Office of the Docket Clerk, Marketing
Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Stop 0237, Washington, DC 20250-0237.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia A. Petrella or Kenneth G.
Johnson, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable
Programs, AMS, USDA, Unit 155, 4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737; telephone: (301) 734-5243, Fax: (301) 734-5275, or E-mail:
Patricia.Petrella@usda.gov or Kenneth.Johnson@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Marketing Order No. 930 (7 CFR part 930), hereinafter referred to as the ``order,'' and the applicable provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601-674), hereinafter referred to as the ``Act,'' it is hereby directed that a referendum be conducted to ascertain whether continuance of the order is favored by growers and processors. The referendum shall be conducted during the period March 17 through March 31, 2008, among eligible tart cherry growers and processors in the production area. Only growers and processors that were engaged in the production or processing of tart cherries in the States of Michigan,
New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin during the period of July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007, may participate in the continuance referendum.
USDA has determined that continuance referenda are an effective means for determining whether growers and processors favor continuation of marketing order programs. USDA would consider termination of the order if continuance is favored by fewer than 50 percent of the growers and processors who vote in the referendum, and growers and processors of less than 50 percent of the volume of tart cherries represented in the referendum favor continuance.
In evaluating the merits of continuance versus termination, USDA will consider the results of the continuance referendum and other relevant information concerning the operation of the order. USDA will evaluate the order's relative benefits and disadvantages to growers, processors, and consumers in order to determine whether continued operation of the order would tend to effectuate the declared policy of the Act.
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35), the ballot materials used in the referendum herein ordered are currently approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB No. 0581-0177, Tart Cherries Grown in the States of Michigan,
New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. It has been estimated that it will take an average of 20 minutes for each of the approximately 40 processors and 900 growers of tart cherries in the production area to cast a ballot. Participation is voluntary. Ballots postmarked after March 31, 2008, will be marked invalid and not included in the vote tabulation.
Kenneth G. Johnson, Patricia A. Petrella, and Dawana Clark of the
Washington, DC, Marketing Field Office, Fruit and Vegetable Programs,
Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA, are hereby designated as the referendum agents of the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct such referendum. The procedure applicable to the referendum shall be the
``Procedure for the Conduct of Referenda in Connection With Marketing
Orders for Fruits, Vegetables, and Nuts Pursuant to the Agricultural
Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as Amended'' (7 CFR 900.400 et seq.).
Ballots will be mailed to all growers and processors of record and may also be obtained from the referendum agents and from their appointees.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 930
Tart Cherries, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
Dated: February 19, 2008.
Lloyd C. Day,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
FR Doc. E8-3494 Filed 2-22-08; 8:45 am
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
