Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onions; Expenses and Assessment Rate

SUMMARY: This interim final rule authorizes expenditures of $1,020,039

and establishes an assessment rate of $0.10 per hundredweight of onions

under Marketing Order No. 958 for the 1994-95 fiscal period.

Authorization of this budget enables the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion

Committee (Committee) to incur expenses that are reasonable and

necessary to administer the program. Funds to administer this program

are derived from assessments on handlers.

DATES: Effective July 1, 1994, through June 30, 1995. Comments received

by June 13, 1994 will be considered prior to issuance of a final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments

concerning this action. Comments must be sent in triplicate to the

Docket Clerk, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456,

room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, FAX 202-720-5698. Comments

should reference the docket 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martha Sue Clark, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.

Box 96456, room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, telephone number

202-720-9918, or Robert J. Curry, Northwest Marketing Field Office,

Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, Green-Wyatt Federal Building,

room 369, 1220 Southwest Third Avenue, Portland, OR 97204, telephone

number 503-326-2724.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing

Agreement No. 130 and Marketing Order No. 958, both as amended (7 CFR

part 958), regulating the handling of onions grown in designated

counties in Idaho, and Malheur County, Oregon. 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 is issuing this rule in conformance with Executive

Order 12866.

This interim final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order

12778, Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order now in effect

Idaho-Eastern Oregon onions are subject to assessments. Funds to

administer the Idaho-Eastern Oregon onion marketing order are derived

from such assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate as

issued herein will be applicable to all assessable onions during the

1994-95 fiscal period which begins July 1, 1994, and ends June 30,

1995. This interim final 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 8c(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 requesting 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 in equity to review

the Secretary's ruling on the petition, provided a bill in equity is

filed not later than 20 days after the date of the entry of the ruling.

Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility

Act (RFA), the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service

(AMS) has considered the economic impact of this rule on small

entities.

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 450 producers of Idaho-Eastern Oregon

onions under the marketing order and approximately 35 handlers. Small

agricultural producers have been defined by the Small Business

Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as those having annual receipts of less

than $500,000, and small agricultural service firms are defined as

those whose annual receipts are less than $3,500,000. The majority of

Idaho-Eastern Oregon onion producers and handlers may be classified as

small entities.

The budget of expenses for the 1994-95 fiscal period was prepared

by the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee, the agency responsible for

local administration of the marketing order, and submitted to the

Department for approval. The members of the Committee are producers and

handlers of Idaho-Eastern Oregon onions. They are 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. The budget was formulated and discussed in a public meeting.

Thus, all directly affected persons have had an opportunity to

participate and provide input.

The assessment rate recommended by the Committee was derived by

dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of Idaho-Eastern

Oregon onions. Because that rate will be applied to actual shipments,

it must be established at a rate that will provide sufficient income to

pay the Committee's expenses.

The Committee met on March 22, 1994, and unanimously recommended a

1994-95 budget of $1,020,039, $10,161 less than the previous year.

Increases in expenditures, which include $154 for research and $18,500

for promotion and advertising, will be offset by decreases of $18,495

for salary expenses and $10,320 for travel and office expenses. Major

expense items include $113,785 for salary expenses, $57,600 for travel

and office expenses, $60,154 for research, $668,500 for promotion and

advertising, $60,000 for export, and $50,000 for contingencies.

The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of

$0.10 per hundredweight, the same as last season. This rate, when

applied to anticipated shipments of 8,000,000 hundredweight, will yield

$800,000 in assessment income. This, along with $30,000 in interest

income and $190,039 from the Committee's authorized reserve, will be

adequate to cover budgeted expenses. Funds in the reserve at the

beginning of the 1994-95 fiscal period, estimated at $898,928, will be

within the maximum permitted by the order of one fiscal period's

expenses.

While this action will impose some additional costs on handlers,

the costs are in the form of uniform assessments on all handlers. Some

of the additional costs may be passed on to producers. However, these

costs will be offset by the benefits derived by the operation of the

marketing order. Therefore, the Administrator of the AMS has determined

that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

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 is also found and determined upon good

cause that it is impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public

interest to give preliminary notice prior to putting this rule into

effect, and that good cause exists for not postponing the effective

date of this action until 30 days after publication in the Federal

Register because: (1) The Committee needs to have sufficient funds to

pay its expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the

fiscal period begins on July 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires

that the rate of assessment for the fiscal period apply to all

assessable onions handled during the fiscal period; (3) handlers are

aware of this action which was unanimously recommended by the Committee

at a public meeting and is similar to other budget actions issued in

past years; and (4) this interim final rule provides a 30-day comment

period, and all comments timely received will be considered prior to

finalization of this action.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 958

Marketing agreements, Onions, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 958 is

amended as follows:

PART 958--ONIONS GROWN IN CERTAIN DESIGNATED COUNTIES IN IDAHO, AND

MALHEUR COUNTY, OREGON

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 958 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.

2. A new Sec. 958.238 is added to read as follows:

Note: This section will not appear in the Code of Federal

Regulations.

Sec. 958.238 Expenses and assessment rate.

Expenses of $1,020,039 by the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee

are authorized, and an assessment rate of $0.10 per hundredweight of

assessable onions is established for the fiscal period ending June 30,

1995. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a reserve.

Dated: May 5, 1994.

Robert C. Keeney,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 94-11490 Filed 5-11-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P