Raisins Produced From Grapes Grown in California; Borrowing Authority Under Marketing Order 989

Citation86 FR 26347
Record Number2021-10148
Published date14 May 2021
SectionRules and Regulations
CourtAgricultural Marketing Service
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains regulatory documents having general
applicability and legal effect, most of which
are keyed to and codified in the Code of
Federal Regulations, which is published under
50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by
the Superintendent of Documents.
Rules and Regulations Federal Register
26347
Vol. 86, No. 92
Friday, May 14, 2021
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 989
[AMS–SC–21–0027; SC21–989–1]
Raisins Produced From Grapes Grown
in California; Borrowing Authority
Under Marketing Order 989
AGENCY
: Agricultural Marketing Service,
USDA.
ACTION
: Direct final rule.
SUMMARY
: This rule amends Marketing
Order 989 (referred to as the ‘‘Order’’),
which regulates the handling of raisins
produced from grapes grown in
California. This action reinserts Order
language that authorizes the Raisin
Administrative Committee (RAC) to
borrow from commercial lending
institutions. The publication on October
26, 2018, of a final rule to amend the
marketing order unintentionally
removed this borrowing authority. This
document is necessary to inform the
public of this amendment.
DATES
: This direct final rule is effective
June 14, 2021, without further action or
notice, unless significant adverse
comments are received by June 1, 2021.
If significant adverse comments are
received, the Agricultural Marketing
Service (AMS) will publish a timely
withdrawal of the amendment in the
Federal Register.
ADDRESSES
: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments
concerning this direct final rule.
Comments must be sent to the Docket
Clerk, Marketing Order and Agreement
Division, Specialty Crops Program,
AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence
Avenue SW, STOP 0237, Washington,
DC 20250–0237; or internet: https://
www.regulations.gov. Comments should
reference the document number and the
date and page number of this issue of
the Federal Register and will be
available for public inspection in the
Office of the Docket Clerk during regular
business hours, or can be viewed at:
https://www.regulations.gov. All
comments submitted in response to this
rule will be included in the record and
will be made available to the public.
Please be advised that the identity of the
individuals or entities submitting the
comments will be made public on the
internet at the address provided above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Kathie Notoro, Marketing Specialist or
Andrea Ricci, Regional Director,
California Marketing Field Office,
Marketing Order and Agreement
Division, Specialty Crops Program,
AMS, USDA; Telephone: (559) 514–
1275, Fax: (559) 487–5906, or Email:
kathie.notoro@usda.gov or
Andrea.Ricci@usda.gov.
Small businesses may request
information on complying with this
regulation by contacting Richard Lower,
Marketing Order and Agreement
Division, Specialty Crops Program,
AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence
Avenue SW, STOP 0237, Washington,
DC 20250–0237; Telephone: (202) 720–
2491, or Email: Richard.Lower@
usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: The
Department of Agriculture (USDA) is
issuing this rule in conformance with
Executive Orders 13563 and 13175. In
accordance with Executive Order 13175,
AMS has not identified any tribal
implications as a result of this rule. This
rule falls within a category of regulatory
actions that the Office of Management
and Budget exempted from Executive
Order 12866 review.
This rule has been reviewed under
Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice
Reform.
Borrowing authority was originally
added to the Order as a result of an
amendatory rulemaking in a 2016 final
rule (81 FR 44761, July 11, 2016) with
unanimous support of RAC members
and overwhelming support from
industry members. This support is
indicated by the results of the producer
referendum (81 FR 11678) conducted
March 9–16, 2016, with 93 percent of
voters in support of this provision.
In 2018, a final rule amending the
Order was published in the Federal
Register (83 FR 53965). The 2018
amendments established and revised
several provisions of the Order;
however, AMS inadvertently omitted a
provision in 7 CFR 989.80(c) that
authorizes RAC to borrow money from
financial institutions. AMS identified
the missing provision during a routine
file review of the Order and through this
action will reinstate the omitted
provision.
During the referendum on the 2018
amendments conducted by AMS
December 4–15, 2017 (82 FR45517),
voters did not notice the borrowing
authority provision was missing from
§ 989.80(c). AMS reviewed
administrative records from 2016–2018
and reaffirmed that no comments from
industry or RAC members addressed the
missing provision or expressed the
desire to remove borrowing authority
from the Order. As well, AMS
confirmed that removal of borrowing
authority was not discussed at the
hearing for the 2018 rulemaking and did
not appear as a question on the
referendum ballot. RAC confirmed to
AMS that having borrowing authority in
the Order is in the best interest of the
raisin industry and asked for this error
to be rectified as soon as possible.
Accordingly, this action restores the
borrowing authority provision, which
provides the RAC operational flexibility
to continue conducting business affairs
in the event of interrupted cash flow
due to circumstances affecting the
collection of assessments.
This correction does not require
action by any person or entity regulated
by the Order.
Overview of Changes
Currently, as a result of the
inadvertent omission, the Order does
not authorize RAC to borrow from a
commercial lending institution. This
final rule reinserts the following
language into § 989.80(c): ‘‘In the event
cash flow needs of the committee are
above cash available generated by
handler assessments, the committee
may borrow from a commercial lending
institution.’’ This action restores RAC
borrowing authority to the Order.
Classification
This final rule reflects an amendatory
change to the Order following an
unintentional error. This final rule
restores language that was added in a
2016 rulemaking and that was
inadvertently omitted in a subsequent
rulemaking. AMS believes that this
action is not controversial and will not
generate adverse comments. However, if
AMS does receive significant adverse
comments during the comment period,
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26348
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 92 / Friday, May 14, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
it will publish, in a timely manner, a
document in the Federal Register
withdrawing this direct final rule.
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
Pursuant to requirements set forth in
the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5
U.S.C. 601–612), AMS considered the
economic impact of this action on small
entities. Accordingly, AMS prepared
this regulatory flexibility analysis.
The purpose of the RFA is to fit
regulatory actions to the scale of
businesses that are subject to such
actions so that small businesses will not
be unduly or disproportionately
burdened by the action. Marketing
orders issued pursuant to the Act, and
the rules issued thereunder, are unique
in that they are brought through group
action of essentially small entities acting
on their own behalf.
Presently, there are approximately 22
handlers of raisins subject to regulation
under the Order and approximately
2,000 raisin producers in the regulated
area.
Small agricultural service firms are
defined by the Small Business
Administration (SBA) as those having
annual receipts of less than $30,000,000,
and small agricultural producers are
defined as those having annual receipts
of less than $1,000,000 (13 CFR
121.201).
AMS multiplied RAC estimated
shipments of 327,323 tons for the 2020
season by the average handler price of
$2,000 per ton to derive total estimated
annual handler receipts of
$474,646,000. Dividing the total
estimated handler receipts by the
number of handlers (22) results in
estimated average handler receipts of
$21,574,818.
According to RAC estimates for the
most recent year, the average raisin
grower price was $1,300 per ton.
Multiplying the average grower price by
total 2020 production of 211,115 tons
results in $274,449,500 estimated
returns to growers. Dividing estimated
grower returns by the total number of
growers (2,000) provides an estimated
return per grower of $137,225 for the
2020 season. Thus, the majority of raisin
handlers and growers may be classified
as small entities according to SBA
definitions.
There are no known negative impacts
or additional costs incurred by small
handlers because of this action.
This rule contains no information
collection or recordkeeping
requirements under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.).
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.
USDA has not identified any relevant
Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or
conflict with this final rule.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 989
Grapes, Marketing agreements,
Raisins, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, 7 CFR part 989 is amended as
follows:
PART 989—RAISINS PRODUCED
FROM GRAPES GROWN IN
CALIFORNIA
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR
part 989 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.
2. In § 989.80, revise paragraph (c) to
read as follows:
§ 989.80 Assessments.
* * * * *
(c) The Secretary shall fix the rate of
assessment to be paid by all handlers on
the basis of a specified rate per ton. At
any time during or after a crop year, the
Secretary may increase the rate of
assessment to obtain sufficient funds to
cover any later finding by the Secretary
relative to the expenses of the
committee. Each handler shall pay such
additional assessment to the committee
upon demand. In order to provide funds
to carry out the functions of the
committee, the committee may accept
advance payments from any handler to
be credited toward such assessments as
may be levied pursuant to this section
against such handler during the crop
year. In the event cash flow needs of the
committee are above cash available
generated by handler assessments, the
committee may borrow from a
commercial lending institution. The
payment of assessments for the
maintenance and functioning of the
committee, and for such purposes as the
Secretary may pursuant to this subpart
determine to be appropriate, may be
required under this part throughout the
period it is in effect, irrespective of
whether particular provisions thereof
are suspended or become inoperative.
* * * * *
Erin Morris,
Associate Administrator, Agricultural
Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2021–10148 Filed 5–13–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Business-Cooperative Service
7 CFR Part 4280
[Docket No. RBS–20–BUSINESS–0044]
RIN 0570–AB02
Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance
Program
AGENCY
: Rural Business-Cooperative
Service, USDA,
ACTION
: Final rule; request for
comments.
SUMMARY
: The Rural Business-
Cooperative Service (RBCS or the
Agency), a Rural Development (RD)
agency of the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA or the
Department), is issuing a final rule with
comment for the Rural
Microentrepreneur Assistance Program
(RMAP or the Program). This final rule
modifies the interim rule published in
the Federal Register on May 28, 2010,
as amended by the correcting
amendments published in the Federal
Register on July 19, 2010, and
incorporates amendments to the
Consolidated Farm and Rural
Development Act (ConAct) made by the
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018
(2018 Farm Bill). The Agency is
implementing other changes to make the
Program run more efficiently, be more
user-friendly and be more consistent
with other RBCS programs.
DATES
:
Effective date: This final rule is
effective May 14, 2021.
Comment date: Comments due on or
before July 13, 2021.
ADDRESSES
: You may submit comments,
identified by docket number RBS–20–
BUSINESS–0044 and Regulatory
Information Number (RIN) number
0570–AB02 through https://
www.regulations.gov.
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the Agency name and
docket number or RIN for this
rulemaking. All comments received will
be posted without change to https://
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read background documents or
comments received, go to https://
www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
: For
general inquiries, contact David
Chestnut, Program Management
Division, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue
SW, Washington, DC 20250–3201;
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