Pears (Bartlett) grown in Oregon and Washington,
[Federal Register: September 28, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 187)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 52214-52216]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28se99-3]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 931
[Docket No. FV99-931-1 FR]
Fresh Bartlett Pears Grown in Oregon and Washington; Increased Assessment Rate
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY: This rule increases the assessment rate established for the Northwest Fresh Bartlett Pear Marketing Committee (Committee) under Marketing Order No. 931 for the 1999-2000 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.02 to $0.025 per standard box of fresh Bartlett pears handled. The Committee is responsible for local administration of the marketing order which regulates the handling of fresh Bartlett pears grown in Oregon and Washington. Authorization to assess fresh Bartlett pear handlers enables the Committee to incur expenses that are reasonable and necessary to administer the program. The 1999-2000 fiscal period began July 1 and ends June 30. The assessment rate will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 29, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Teresa L. Hutchinson, Northwest Marketing Field Office, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1220 SW Third Avenue, room 369, Portland, OR 97204; telephone: (503) 326- 2724, Fax: (503) 326-7440 or George J. Kelhart, 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 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) 720-5698, or E-mail: Jay.Guerber@usda.gov.
[[Page 52215]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing Agreement No. 141 and Order No. 931 (7 CFR part 931), regulating the handling of fresh Bartlett pears grown in Oregon and Washington, hereinafter referred to as the ``order.'' The marketing agreement and order are 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. Under the marketing order now in effect, fresh Bartlett pear handlers are subject to assessments. Funds to administer the order are derived from such assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be applicable to all assessable fresh Bartlett pears beginning July 1, 1999, and continue until modified, suspended, or terminated. 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. Such 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 filednot later than 20 days after the date of the entry of the ruling.
This rule increases the assessment rate established for the Committee for the 1999-2000 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.02 to $0.025 per standard box of fresh Bartlett pears handled.
The fresh Bartlett pear marketing order provides authority for the Committee, with the approval of the Department, to formulate an annual budget of expenses and collect assessments from handlers to administer the program. The Committee consists of eight grower members and six handler members, each of whom is familiar with the Committee's needs and with the costs for goods and services in their local area and are thus in a position to formulate an appropriate budget and assessment rate. The budget and assessment rate were discussed at a public meeting and all directly affected persons have an opportunity to participate and provide input.
For the 1998-99and subsequent fiscal periods, the Committee recommended, and the Department approved, an assessment rate of $0.02 per standard box that would continue in effect from fiscal period to fiscal period indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated by the Secretary upon recommendation and information submitted by the Committee or other information available to the Secretary.
The Committee met on June 3, 1999, and unanimously recommended 1999-2000 expenditures of $77,231 and an assessment rate of $0.025 per standard box of fresh Bartlett pears handled. In comparison, last year's budgeted expenditures were $97,000. The assessment rate of $0.025 is $0.005 higher than the rate currently in effect. The Committee recommended an increased assessment rate because assessable 1999-2000 tonnage is expected to be less than the five-year average of 2,910,048 standard boxes, and the current rate will not generate enough income to adequately administer the program.
Major expenses recommended by the Committee for the 1999-2000 fiscal period include $40,433 for salaries, $5,323 for office rent, and $4,048 for health insurance. Budgeted expenses for these items in 1998- 99were $38,878, $5,323, and $4,062, respectively.
The assessment rate recommended by the Committee was derived by dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of fresh Bartlett pears. Fresh Bartlett pear shipments for the year are estimated at 2,630,450 standard boxes, which should provide $65,761 in assessment income. Income derived from handler assessments, along with funds from the Committee's authorized reserve and miscellaneous income, should be adequate to cover budgeted expenses. Funds in the reserve (currently $23,604) will be kept within the maximum permitted by the order of approximately one fiscal year's operational expenses (Sec. 931.42).
The assessment rate established in this rule will continue in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated by the Secretary upon recommendation and information submitted by the Committee or other available information.
Although this assessment rate will be in effect for an indefinite period, the Committee will continue to meet prior to or during each fiscal period to recommend a budget of expenses and consider recommendations for modification of the assessment rate. The dates and times of Committee meetings are available from the Committee or the Department. Committee meetings are open to the public and interested persons may express their views at these meetings. The Department will evaluate Committee recommendations and other available information to determine whether modification of the assessment rate is needed. Further rulemaking will be undertaken as necessary. The Committee's 1999-2000 budget and those for subsequent fiscal periods would be reviewed and, as appropriate, approved by the Department.
Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has considered the economic impact of this rule on small entities. Accordingly, the 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 the 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 1,800 producers of fresh Bartlett pears in the production area and approximately 65 handlers subject to regulation under the marketing order. Small agricultural producers have been defined by the Small Business Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as those having annual receipts less than $500,000 and small agricultural service firms are defined as those whose annual receipts are less than $5,000,000.
Currently, about 98.5 percent of the fresh Bartlett pear handlers ship less that $5,000,000 worth of fresh Bartlett pears and 1.5 percent ship more than $5,000,000 worth on an annual basis. In addition, based on acreage, production, and producer prices reported by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, and the total number of fresh Bartlett pear producers, the average annual producer revenue is approximately $12,250. In view of the foregoing, it can be concluded that the majority of fresh Bartlett pear producers and handlers may be classified as small entities.
[[Page 52216]]
This rule increases the assessment rate established for the Committee and collected from handlers for the 1999-2000 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.02 to $0.025 per standard box of fresh Bartlett pears handled. The Committee met on June 3, 1999, and unanimously recommended 1999-2000 expenditures of $77,231 and an assessment rate of $0.025 per standard box of fresh Bartlett pears handled. In comparison, last year's budgeted expenditures were $97,000. The assessment rate of $0.025 is $0.005 more than the rate currently in effect. The Committee recommended an increased assessment rate because assessable 1999-2000 tonnage is expected to be smaller than the five-year average of 2,910,048 standard boxes, and the current rate will not generate enough income to adequately administer the program.
Major expenses recommended by the Committee for the 1999-2000 fiscal period include $40,433 for salaries, $5,323 for office rent, and $4,048 for health insurance. Budgeted expenses for these items in 1998- 99were $38,878, $5,323, and $4,062, respectively.
The assessment rate recommended by the Committee was derived by dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of fresh Bartlett pears. Fresh Bartlett pear shipments for the year are estimated at 2,630,450 standard boxes, which should provide $65,761 in assessment income. Income derived from handler assessments, along with funds from the Committee's authorized reserve and miscellaneous income, should be adequate to cover budgeted expenses. The reserve is within the maximum permitted by the order of approximately one fiscal period's operational expenses (Sec. 931.42).
The Committee considered alternative levels of assessment but determined that, with the reduced estimate of assessable tonnage, increasing the assessment rate to $0.025 per standard box would be appropriate. The Committee decided that an assessment rate of more than $0.025 per standard box would generate income in excess of that needed to adequately administer the program.
A review of historical information and preliminary information pertaining to the upcoming crop indicates that the producer price for the 1999-2000 marketing season could range between $8.56 and $12.72 per standard box of fresh Bartlett pears handled. Therefore, the estimated assessment revenue for the 1999-2000 fiscal period as a percentage of total producer revenue should range between 0.29 and 0.20 percent.
This action increases the assessment obligation imposed on handlers. While assessments impose some additional costs on handlers, the costs are minimal and uniform on all handlers. Some of the additional costs may be passed on to producers. However, these costs would be offset by the benefits derived by the operation of the marketing order. In addition, the Committee's meeting was widely publicized throughout the fresh Bartlett pear industry and all interested persons were invited to attend the meeting and participate in Committee deliberations on all issues. Like all Committee meetings, the June 3, 1999, meeting was a public meeting and all entities, both large and small, were able to express views on this issue.
This rule imposes no additional reporting or recordkeeping requirements on either small or large fresh Bartlett pear handlers. 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.
The Department has not identified any relevant Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this rule.
A proposed rule concerning this action was published in the Federal Register on August 6, 1999 (64 FR 42858). The proposal was made available through the Internet by the Office of the Federal Register. A copy of the proposed rule was also mailed to the Committee's administrative office for distribution to producers and handlers. A 30- day comment period ending September 7, 1999, was provided for interested persons to respond to the proposal. No comments were received.
A small business guide on complying with fruit, vegetable, and speciality crop marketing agreements and orders may be viewed at the following web site: http://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/moab.html. Any questions about the compliance guide should be sent to Jay Guerber at the previously mentioned address in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
After consideration of all relevant material presented, including the information and recommendation submitted by the Committee 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.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it also found and determined that good cause exists for not postponing the effective date of this rule until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register because: (1) The 1999-2000 fiscal period began on July 1, 1999, and the order requires that the rate of assessment for each fiscal period apply to all assessable fresh Bartlett pears handled during such fiscal period; (2) the Committee needs to have sufficient funds to pay its expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (3) handlers are aware of this action which was unanimously recommended by the Committee at a public meeting and is similar to other assessment rate actions issued in past years. Also, a 30-day comment period was provided for in the proposed rule.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 931
Marketing agreements, Pears, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 931 is amended as follows:
PART 931--FRESH BARTLETT PEARS GROWN IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON
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The authority citation for 7 CFR part 931 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
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Section 931.231 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 931.231 Assessment rate.
On and after July 1, 1999, an assessment rate of $0.025 per western standard pear box is established for the Northwest Fresh Bartlett Pear Marketing Committee.
Dated: September 21, 1999. Larry B. Lace, Acting Deputy Administrator, Fruit and Vegetable Programs.
[FR Doc. 99-25092Filed9-27-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
