Oranges, Grapefruit, Tangerines, and Tangelos Grown in Florida; Expenses and Assessment Rate for 1994-95 Fiscal Year

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7 CFR Part 905

[Docket No. FV94-905-1IFR]

Oranges, Grapefruit, Tangerines, and Tangelos Grown in Florida;

Expenses and Assessment Rate for 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 expenses and establishes an

assessment rate for the 1994-95 fiscal year under Marketing Order No.

905. Authorization of this budget enables the Citrus Administrative

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 August 1, 1994, through July 31, 1995. Comments

received by September 12, 1994, will be considered prior to any

finalization on this interim final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments

concerning this rule to: Docket Clerk, Fruit and Vegetable Division,

AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, Room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456 or by

Fax: (202) 720-5698. Three copies of all written material shall be

submitted, and they will be made available for public inspection in the

office of the Docket Clerk during regular business hours.

All comments should reference the docket number, date, and page

number of this issue of the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Britthany Beadle, Marketing Order

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

Box 96456, Room 2525-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone: (202)

720-5127; or William Pimenthal, Southeast Marketing Field Office, Fruit

& Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 2276, Winter Haven, Florida

33883-2276; telephone: (813) 299-4770.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under

Marketing Agreement and Marketing Order No. 905, as amended [7 CFR Part

905], regulating the handling of oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, and

tangelos grown in Florida, hereinafter referred to as the order. The

order is 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, grapefruit, tangerines, and tangelos grown in

Florida are subject to assessments. It is intended that the assessment

rate as issued herein will be applicable to all assessable citrus fruit

during the 1994-95 fiscal year, beginning August 1, 1994, through July

31, 1995. 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 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 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 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 100 citrus handlers subject to regulation

under the marketing order covering fresh oranges, grapefruit,

tangerines, and tangelos grown in Florida, and approximately 10,200

producers of these fruits in Florida. 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. A minority of these handlers and a majority

of these producers may be classified as small entities.

This marketing order, administered by the Department, requires that

the assessment rate for a particular fiscal period shall apply to all

assessable citrus fruit handled from the beginning of such period. An

annual budget of expenses and assessment rate is prepared by the

Committee and submitted to the Department for approval. The Committee

members are handlers and producers of Florida citrus. They are familiar

with the Committee'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 budget is formulated and discussed in public

meetings. Thus, all directly affected persons have an opportunity to

participate and provide input.

The assessment rate recommended by the Committee is derived by

dividing anticipated expenses by the expected cartons (\4/5\ bushels)

of fruit shipped. Because that rate is applied to actual shipments, it

must be established at a rate which will produce sufficient income to

pay the Committee's expected expenses. The annual budget and assessment

rate are usually recommended by the Committee shortly before a season

starts, and expenses are incurred on a continuous basis. Therefore,

budget and assessment rate approvals must be expedited so that the

Committee will have funds to pay its expenses.

The Committee met June 21, 1994, and unanimously recommended

expenses of $210,000 for the 1994-95 fiscal year, with an assessment

rate of $0.003 per \4/5\ bushel carton of fresh fruit shipped.

In comparison, 1993-94 budget expenses were $200,000 with an

approved assessment of $0.00285. This represents increases of $10,000

in expenses and of $0.00015 in the assessment rate from the amounts

recommended for the current fiscal year.

The assessment rate, when applied to anticipated shipments of

66,000,000 cartons of assessable fruit, will yield a total of $198,000

in assessment income. Interest income for 1994-95 is estimated at

$2,000. This, along with $10,000 from the Committee's authorized

reserve fund, will be adequate to cover additional expenses. Funds in

the reserve at the end of the 1994-95 fiscal year, estimated at

$125,000, will be within the maximum permitted by the order of

approximately one-half of one fiscal year's expenses.

Major expense categories for the current fiscal year include

$98,300 for salaries, $36,000 for the Manifest department, and $12,600

for insurance and bonds.

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 would 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 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 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) this

fiscal year begins on August 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires

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

oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, and tangelos handled during the fiscal

year; (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 905

Grapefruit, Marketing agreements, Oranges, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Tangelos, Tangerines.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 905 is

amended as follows:

PART 905--ORANGES, GRAPEFRUIT, TANGERINES, AND TANGELOS, GROWN IN

FLORIDA

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 905 continues to read as

follows:

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

2. A new Sec. 905.233 is added to read as follows:

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

Regulations.

Sec. 905.233 Expenses and assessment rate.

Expenses of $210,000 by the Citrus Administrative Committee are

authorized and an assessment rate of $0.003 per 4/5 bushel carton of

assessable fruit is established for the fiscal year ending July 31,

1995. Any unexpended funds may be carried over as a reserve.

Dated: August 8, 1994.

Eric M. Forman,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 94-19805 Filed 8-11-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P