Nectarines, pears, and peaches grown in California,
[Federal Register: November 23, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 225)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 64653-64654]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23no98-27]
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 64653]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Parts 916 and 917
[Docket No. FV99-916-1]
Nectarines, Pears, and Peaches Grown in California; Continuance Referenda
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Referenda order.
SUMMARY: This document directs that referenda be conducted among eligible growers of California nectarines, pears, and peaches to determine whether they favor continuance of the marketing orders regulating the handling of nectarines, pears, and peaches grown in the production area.
DATES: The referenda will be conducted from January 5 through January 29, 1999. To vote in these referenda, growers must have been producing California nectarines, pears, and peaches during the period April 1 through November 30, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the marketing orders may be obtained from the office of the referenda agents at 2202 Monterey Street, suite 102B, Fresno, California 93721, or the Office of the Docket Clerk, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2525-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kurt J. Kimmel or Terry Vawter, California Marketing Field Office, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, Agricultural Marketing Service, Department of Agriculture, 2202 Monterey Street, suite 102B, Fresno, California 93721; telephone (209) 487-5901; fax (209) 487-5906; or Anne M. Dec, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, Agricultural Marketing Service, Department of Agriculture, room 2525-S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone (202) 720-2491; fax (202) 205-6632.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Marketing Order No. 916 (7 CFR part 916) and Marketing Order No. 917 (7 CFR part 917), hereinafter referred to as the ``orders,'' 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 referenda be conducted to ascertain whether continuance of the orders is favored by the growers. The referenda shall be conducted during the period January 5-29, 1999, among California nectarine, pear, and peach growers in the production area. Only growers that were engaged in the production of California nectarines, pears, and peaches during the period of April 1 through November 30, 1998, may participate in the continuance referenda.
Although pears are included under the provisions of M.O. 917, those provisions have been suspended since April 1994. The Pear Commodity Committee unanimously recommended suspension of the pear provisions because such provisions were no longer needed. The California Bartlett pear industry is now functioning under a California Pear Marketing Program (State pear program) and is no longer using the pear order provisions. The State pear program, developed by the California Bartlett pear industry of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is similar to the Federal pear program.
The Secretary of Agriculture has determined that continuance referenda are an effective means for determining whether growers favor continuation of marketing order programs. The Secretary would consider termination of the orders if less than two-thirds of the growers voting in the referenda and growers of less than two-thirds of the volume of California nectarines, pears, and peaches represented in the referenda favor continuance. In evaluating the merits of continuance versus termination, the Secretary will not only consider the results of the continuance referenda. The Secretary will also consider all other relevant information concerning the operation of the orders and the relative benefits and disadvantages to growers, handlers, and consumers in order to determine whether continued operation of the order would tend to effectuate the declared policy of the Act.
In any event, section 8c(16)(B) of the Act requires the Secretary to terminate an order whenever the Secretary finds that a majority of all growers affected by the order favor termination, and such majority produced for market more than 50 percent of the commodity covered under such order.
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the ballot materials to be used in the referenda herein ordered have been submitted to and approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and have been assigned OMB No. 0581-0072 for nectarines and OMB No. 0581-0080 for pears and peaches. It has been estimated that it will take an average of 30 minutes for each of the approximately 2,130 growers of California nectarines, pears, and peaches to cast a ballot. Participation is voluntary. Ballots postmarked after January 29, 1999, will not be included in the vote tabulation.
Kurt J. Kimmel and Terry Vawter of the California Marketing Field Office, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA, are hereby designated as the referenda agents of the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct such referenda. The procedure applicable to the referenda 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 Part 900.400 et. seq).
Ballots will be mailed to all growers of record and may also be obtained from the referenda agents and from their appointees.
List of Subjects
7 CFR Part 916
Marketing agreements, Nectarines, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
7 CFR Part 917
Marketing agreements, Peaches, Pears, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
[[Page 64654]]
Dated: November 16, 1998. Enrique E. Figueroa, Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 98-31184Filed11-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
