Expenses and Assessment Rate for the 1994-95 Fiscal Year for the Marketing Order Covering Cranberries Grown in States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Long Island in the State of New York

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7 CFR Part 929

[Docket No. FV94-929-2IFR]

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

Marketing Order Covering Cranberries Grown in States of Massachusetts,

Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota,

Oregon, Washington, and Long Island in the State of New York

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This interim final authorizes expenses and establishes an

assessment rate for the Cranberry Marketing Committee (Committee) under

Marketing Order No. 929 for the 1994-95 fiscal year. Authorization of

this budget enables the 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 beginning September 1, 1994, through August 31, 1995.

Comments received by September 26, 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, 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: Britthany Beadle or Mark Hessel,

Marketing Order Administration Branch, F&V, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456,

Room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone: (202) 720-5127.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under

Marketing Agreement and Order No. 929 [7 CFR Part 929], as amended,

regulating the handling of cranberries grown in Massachusetts, Rhode

Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota,

Oregon, Washington, and Long Island in the State of New York,

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, cranberries grown in 10 states are subject to assessments.

It is intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be

applicable to all assessable cranberries during the 1994-95 fiscal year

beginning September 1, 1994, through August 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 request a modification of the order or to be exempted

therefrom. A 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 30 handlers of cranberries grown in

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin,

Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Long Island in the State

of New York who are subject to regulation under the cranberry marketing

order and approximately 1,050 producers of cranberries in the regulated

area. 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 cranberry producers and handlers may be classified as

small entities.

The cranberry marketing order, administered by the Department,

requires that the assessment rate for a particular fiscal year apply to

all assessable cranberries handled from the beginning of such year. The

budget of expenses for the 1994-95 fiscal year was prepared by the

Committee, the agency responsible for local administration of this

marketing order, and submitted to the Department for approval. The

members of the Committee are producers of cranberries. 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 an appropriate budget.

The assessment rate recommended by the Committee was derived by

dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of cranberries.

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 recommended budget and rate of

assessment are usually acted upon by the Committee 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 Committee will have funds to pay its expenses.

The Committee conducted a mail vote and unanimously recommended

1994-95 marketing order expenses of $164,690 and an assessment rate of

$0.03 per 100-pound barrel of cranberries. In comparison, 1993-94

budgeted expenses were $155,000, with an approved assessment rate of

$0.03 per 100-pound barrel of cranberries. This represents an increase

of $9,690 in expenses recommended for this fiscal year, with the

assessment rate remaining unchanged.

Assessment income for 1994-95 is estimated to total $122,580 based

on anticipated fresh domestic shipments of 4,086,000 barrels of

cranberries. The assessment income, plus $3,750 in interest income and

a withdrawal of $38,360 from the Committee's authorized reserve fund

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

the end of the 1994-95 fiscal year are estimated to be $150,000. The

reserve fund 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

$70,110 for operating expenses, $40,500 for travel expenses, and

$33,241 for administrative 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 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 Committee's recommendation, and other available information, it is

found that this interim final 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 1994-95

fiscal year begins September 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires

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

cranberries handled during the fiscal year; and (3) 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 929

Cranberries, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 929 continues

to read as follows:

PART 929--CRANBERRIES GROWN IN STATES OF MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE

ISLAND, CONNECTICUT, NEW JERSEY, WISCONSIN, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA,

OREGON, WASHINGTON, AND LONG ISLAND IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 929 continues to read as

follows:

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

2. A new Sec. 929.234 is added to read as follows:

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

Regulations.

Sec. 929.234 Expenses and assessment rate.

Expenses of $164,690 by the Cranberry Administrative Committee are

authorized, and an assessment rate of $0.03 per 100-pound barrel

assessable cranberries is established for the 1994-95 fiscal year

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

reserve.

Dated: August 22, 1994.

Eric M. Forman,

Acting Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 94-21086 Filed 8-25-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P