Southeastern Potatoes; Expenses and Assessment Rate

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7 CFR Part 953

[Docket No. FV94-953-1IFR]

Southeastern Potatoes; Expenses and Assessment Rate

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This interim final rule authorizes expenditures and

establishes an assessment rate under Marketing Order No. 953 for the

1994-95 fiscal period. Authorization of this budget enables the

Southeastern Potato 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 June 1, 1994, through May 31, 1995. Comments received

by June 27, 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 202-720-

9918.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing

Agreement No. 104 and Order No. 953, both as amended (7 CFR part 953),

regulating the handling of Irish potatoes grown in Southeastern States

(Virginia and North Carolina). 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,

Virginia-North Carolina potato handlers are subject to assessments. It

is intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be

applicable to all assessable potatoes during the 1994-95 fiscal period,

which begins June 1, 1994, and ends May 31, 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 the 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 150 producers of Southeastern potatoes

under this marketing order, and approximately 60 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 $5,000,000. The majority of

Southeastern potato producers and handlers may be classified as small

entities.

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

by the Southeastern Potato 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 Southeastern potatoes. They are familiar with the Committee's needs

and with the costs of 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 Southeastern

potatoes, based on last season's crop of approximately 1,335,000

hundredweight. 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 April 20, 1994, and unanimously recommended a

1994-95 budget of $11,000, the same as last year. Major expense items

include $6,800 for Committee staff salaries and $900 for travel

expenses.

The Committee also recommended an assessment rate of $0.0075 per

hundredweight, $0.0025 less than last season's rate. Planting for the

1994-95 crop season has not been completed. However, the manager

estimates shipments will generate about $7,000 in assessment income.

This, along with funds from the Committee's $15,000 reserve, will be

adequate to cover the expenses incurred. Funds remaining at the end of

the 1994-95 fiscal period should be about the maximum permitted by the

order of approximately 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 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 matter presented, including the

information and recommendations 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 June 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires that

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

Irish potatoes 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 953

Marketing agreements, Potatoes, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 953 is

amended as follows:

PART 953--IRISH POTATOES GROWN IN SOUTHEASTERN STATES

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 953 continues to read as

follows:

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

2. A new Sec. 953.251 is added to read as follows:

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

Regulations.

Sec. 953.251 Expenses and assessment rate.

Expenses of $11,000 by the Southeastern Potato Committee are

authorized, and an assessment rate of $0.0075 per hundredweight of

assessable potatoes is established for the fiscal period ending May 31,

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

Dated: May 20, 1994.

Eric M. Forman,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 94-12883 Filed 5-25-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P