Navel and Valencia Oranges Grown in Arizona and Designated Parts of California; Expenses and Assessment Rates for the 1993-94 Fiscal Year

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Parts 907 and 908

[Docket No. FV93-907-3FIR]

Navel and Valencia Oranges Grown in Arizona and Designated Parts

of California; Expenses and Assessment Rates for the 1993-94 Fiscal

Year

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture (Department) is adopting as a

final rule, without change, the provisions of the interim final rule

that authorized expenses and established assessment rates for the Navel

Orange Administrative Committee and the Valencia Orange Administrative

Committee (Committees) under Marketing Order Nos. 907 and 908,

respectively, for the 1993-94 fiscal year. Authorization of these

budgets enables the Committees to incur expenses that are reasonable

and necessary to administer their respective programs. Funds to

administer these programs are derived from assessments on handlers.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Sections 907.231 and 908.232 are effective November 1,

1993, through October 31, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Britthany E. Beadle, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, F&V, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2524-S,

Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone: (202) 720-5127; or Maureen Pello,

California Marketing Field Office, Marketing Order Administration

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 2202 Monterey Street,

suite 102 B, Fresno, CA 93721, telephone: (209) 487-5901.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule is issued under Marketing

Order Nos. 907 and 908 (7 CFR Parts 907 and 908), both as amended,

regulating the handling of California-Arizona navel and Valencia

oranges. The marketing orders 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 final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778,

Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order provisions now in

effect, navel and Valencia oranges grown in California and Arizona are

subject to assessments. It is intended that the assessment rates

specified herein will be applicable to all assessable oranges handled

during the 1993-94 fiscal year, beginning November 1, 1993, through

October 31, 1994. This 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 requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility

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

(AMS) has considered the economic impact of this action 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 140 handlers of navel oranges and 125

handlers of Valencia oranges subject to regulation under their

respective marketing orders each season. In addition, there are

approximately 3,750 producers of navel oranges and 3,700 producers of

Valencia oranges in the regulated areas. 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 the navel and Valencia orange

producers and handlers may be classified as small entities.

The respective marketing orders require that the assessment rates

for a particular fiscal year shall apply to all assessable oranges

handled from the beginning of such year. An annual budget of expenses

is prepared by each Committee and submitted to the Department for

approval. The members of the Committees are producers and handlers of

the regulated commodities. They are familiar with the Committees' needs

and with the costs for goods, services, and personnel in their local

areas and are thus in a position to formulate appropriate budgets. The

budgets are formulated and discussed in public meetings. Thus, all

directly affected persons have an opportunity to participate and

provide input.

The assessment rates recommended by the Committees are derived by

dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of oranges. Because

these rates are applied to actual shipments, they must be established

at rates which will produce sufficient income to pay the Committees'

expected expenses. The recommended budgets and rates of assessment are

usually acted upon by the Committees shortly before a season starts,

and expenses are incurred on a continuous basis. Therefore, the budget

and assessment rate approval must be expedited so that the Committees

will have funds to pay their expenses.

The Navel Orange Administrative Committee (NOAC) met on August 31,

1993, and unanimously recommended 1993-94 fiscal year expenditures of

$1,589,768 and an assessment rate of $0.0260 per carton of navel

oranges. Assessment income for 1993-94 is expected to total $1,235,000

based on shipments of 47.5 million cartons of oranges. Interest and

incidental income is estimated at $11,000. The NOAC plans on utilizing

$343,768 from its reserve to cover the difference between income and

expenses. In comparison, 1992-93 fiscal year budgeted expenditures were

$1,463,270, and the assessment rate was $0.0316 per carton.

Major expenditure categories in the 1993-94 budget are $682,975 for

program administration, $134,463 for compliance activities, $567,355

for the field department, $199,975 for direct expenses, and $5,000 for

a salary reserve. This compares to $496,010, $206,800, $591,360,

$165,700, and $3,400, respectively, for the 1992-93 fiscal year.

The Valencia Orange Administrative Committee (VOAC) also met on

August 31, 1993, and unanimously recommended 1993-94 fiscal year

expenditures of $722,936 and an assessment rate of $0.0270 per carton

of Valencia oranges. Assessment income for 1993-94 is expected to total

$540,000 based on shipments of 20 million cartons of oranges. Interest

and miscellaneous income is estimated at $4,800. The VOAC plans on

utilizing $178,136 from its reserve to cover the difference between

income and expenses. In comparison, 1992-93 fiscal year budgeted

expenditures were $724,330, and the assessment rate was $0.032 per

carton on Valencia oranges.

Major expenditure categories in the 1993-94 budget are $287,712 for

program administration, $56,644 for compliance activities, $239,005 for

the field department, $137,075 for direct expenses, and $2,500 for a

salary reserve. This compares to $228,090, $95,100, $271,940, $127,600

and $1,600, respectively, for the 1992-93 fiscal year.

This action was issued as an interim final rule on October 22,

1993, and published in the Federal Register (58 FR 57955, October 28,

1993). A 30-day comment period was provided for interested persons. No

comments were received.

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 from the operation of the

marketing orders. 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.

It is found that the specified expenses for the marketing orders

covered in this rule are reasonable and likely to be incurred and that

such expenses and the specified assessment rates to cover such expenses

will tend to effectuate the declared policy of the Act.

It is further found that good cause exists for not postponing the

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

Federal Register (5 U.S.C. 553) because the Committees need to have

sufficient funds to pay their expenses which are incurred on a

continuous basis. The 1993-94 fiscal years for the programs began on

November 1, 1993. The marketing orders require that the rates of

assessment for the fiscal year apply to all assessable oranges handled

during the fiscal year. In addition, handlers are aware of these

actions which were recommended by the Committees at public meetings and

published in the Federal Register as an interim final rule. No comments

were received concerning the interim final rule that is adopted in this

action as a final rule without change.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Parts 907 and 908

Marketing agreements, Oranges, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR parts 907 and 908

are hereby amended as follows:

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR parts 907 and 908 continues to

read as follows:

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

PART 907--NAVEL ORANGES GROWN IN ARIZONA AND DESIGNATED PART OF

CALIFORNIA

2. The interim final rule amending 7 CFR part 907 which was

published at 58 FR 57955 on October 28, 1993, is adopted as a final

rule without change.

PART 908--VALENCIA ORANGES GROWN IN ARIZONA AND DESIGNATED PART OF

CALIFORNIA

3. The interim final rule amending 7 CFR part 908 which was

published at 58 FR 57955 on October 28, 1993, is adopted as a final

rule without change.

Dated: January 24, 1994.

Robert C. Keeney,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 94-2010 Filed 1-28-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P