Oranges and Grapefruit Grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas; Expenses and Assessment Rate for the 1994-95 Fiscal Year

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 906

[Docket No. FV94-906-1IFR]

Oranges and Grapefruit Grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of

Texas; Expenses and Assessment Rate for the 1994-95 Fiscal Year

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 for the Texas Valley Citrus Committee

(TVCC) under Marketing Order (M.O.) No. 906 for the 1994-95 fiscal

year. Authorization of this budget enables the TVCC to incur expenses

that are reasonable and necessary to administer this program. Funds to

administer this program are derived from assessments on handlers.

DATES: Effective beginning August 1, 1994, through July 31, 1995.

Comments received by September 2, 1994, will be considered prior to

issuance of a final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments

concerning this interim final rule. Comments must be sent in triplicate

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

96456, Room 2523-S, Washington, D.C. 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: Britthany Beadle, Marketing Order

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

Box 96456, Room 2523-S, Washington, D.C. 20090-6456, telephone: (202)

720-5127; or Belinda Garza, McAllen Marketing Field Office, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 1313 East Hackberry, McAllen, Texas

78501, telephone: (210) 682-2833.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under

Marketing Agreement and Order No. 906 [7 CFR Part 906] regulating the

handling of oranges and grapefruit grown in the lower Rio Grande Valley

in Texas. The 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 interim final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order

12778, Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order provisions now

in effect, oranges and grapefruit grown in Texas are subject to

assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate specified herein

will be applicable to all assessable citrus fruit handled during the

1994-95 fiscal year, beginning August 1, 1994, through July 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 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 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 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 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 135 handlers of oranges and grapefruit

regulated under the marketing order each season and approximately 2,500

orange and grapefruit producers in Texas. Small agricultural producers

have been defined by the Small Business Administration [13 CFR

Sec. 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 these handlers and

producers may be classified as small entities.

The Texas orange and grapefruit marketing order, administered by

the Department, requires that the assessment rate for a particular

fiscal year apply to all assessable citrus fruit handled from the

beginning of such year. Annual budgets of expenses are prepared by the

TVCC, the agency responsible for local administration of this marketing

order, and submitted to the Department for approval. The members of the

TVCC are handlers and producers of Texas oranges and grapefruit. They

are familiar with the TVCC's needs and with the costs for goods,

services, and personnel in their local area, and are thus in a position

to formulate appropriate budgets. The TVCC's budget is formulated and

discussed in a public meeting. Thus, all directly affected persons have

an opportunity to participate and provide input.

The assessment rate recommended by the TVCC is derived by dividing

the anticipated expenses by expected shipments of oranges and

grapefruit. Because that rate is applied to actual shipments, it must

be established at a rate which will provide sufficient income to pay

the TVCC's expected expenses.

The TVCC met on May 10, 1994, and unanimously recommended total

expenses of $1,141,944 and an assessment rate of $0.16 per \7/10\

bushel carton for the 1994-95 fiscal year. In comparison, the 1993-94

fiscal year expense amount was $984,319, which is $157,625 less than

the recommended $1,141,944 for this season and the assessment rate was

$0.15, which is $0.01 less than that recommended for the 1993-94 fiscal

year.

Assessment income for the 1994-95 fiscal year is expected to amount

to $960,000 based upon estimated fresh domestic shipments of 6 million

cartons of oranges and grapefruit. This, in addition to a withdrawal of

$181,944 from the TVCC's reserve fund, should be adequate to cover

budgeted expenses. In comparison, the assessment income for the 1993-94

fiscal year was estimated at $825,000 based upon anticipated fresh

domestic shipments of 5.5 million cartons of oranges and grapefruit.

Funds in the reserve at the end of the fiscal year, estimated at

$276,468, will be within the maximum permitted by the order of one

fiscal year's expenses.

Major expense categories for the 1994-95 fiscal year include

$132,444 for shared administrative expenses with the South Texas Onion

and Melon Committees, $650,000 for advertising, compared to $723,425

for the 1993-94 fiscal year, and $174,000 for the Mexican Fruit Fly

support program.

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 should be significantly offset by the benefits derived from 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 TVCC 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 TVCC needs to have sufficient funds to pay its

expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the fiscal year

for the TVCC begins August 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires

that the rate of assessment for the fiscal year apply to all assessable

oranges and grapefruit handled during the fiscal year; (3) handlers are

aware of this action which was recommended by the TVCC at a public

meeting and which is similar to budgets 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 906

Grapefruit, Marketing agreements, Oranges, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 906 is

amended as follows:

PART 906--ORANGES AND GRAPEFRUIT GROWN IN LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY

IN TEXAS

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 906 continues to read as

follows:

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

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

Regulations.

2. A new Sec. 906.234 is added to read as follows:

Sec. 906.234 Expenses and assessment rate.

Expenses of $1,141,944 by the Texas Valley Citrus Committee are

authorized and an assessment rate of $0.16 per \7/10\ carton on

assessable oranges and grapefruit is established for the fiscal year

ending July 31, 1995. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a

reserve.

Dated: July 28, 1994.

Robert C. Keeney,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 94-18881 Filed 8-2-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P