Expenses and Assessment Rate for the 1994-95 Fiscal Year; Winter Pears Grown in Oregon, Washington, and California

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7 CFR Part 927

[Docket No. FV94-927-1IFR]

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

Pears Grown in Oregon, Washington, and California

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This interim final rule authorizes expenses and establishes an

assessment rate for the Winter Pear Control Committee (Committee) under

Marketing Order No. 927 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 the

program are derived from assessments on handlers.

DATES: Effective beginning July 1, 1994, through June 30, 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, 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 E. 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 Teresa L. Hutchinson, Northwest Marketing Field Office,

Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, Green-Wyatt Federal Building, Room

369, Portland, Oregon, telephone: (503) 326-2724.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under

Marketing Agreement and Order No. 927 [7 CFR Part 927] regulating the

handling of winter pears grown in Oregon, Washington, and California.

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, winter pears grown in Oregon, Washington, and California are

subject to assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate

specified herein will be applicable to all assessable pears handled

during the 1994-95 fiscal year, which began July 1, 1994, and ends June

30, 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 90 handlers of winter pears regulated under

the marketing order each season and approximately 1,850 winter pear

producers in Oregon, Washington, and California. 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 these handlers and

producers may be classified as small entities.

The Oregon, Washington, and California winter pear marketing order,

administered by the Department, requires that the assessment rate for a

particular fiscal year apply to all assessable winter pears handled

from the beginning of such year. Annual budgets of expenses are

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 handlers and producers

of Oregon, Washington, and California winter pears. 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 Committee's 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 the anticipated expenses by expected shipments of pears.

Because this rate is applied to actual shipments, it must be

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

Committee's expected expenses.

The Committee met on June 3, 1994, and unanimously recommended

total expenses of $6,835,926 for the 1994-95 fiscal year. In

comparison, the 1993-94 fiscal year expense amount was $6,933,615,

which is $97,689 more than the amount recommended for the current

fiscal year.

The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of

$0.43 per standard box, or equivalent for winter pears. The Committee

did not recommend a supplemental assessment rate for Anjou variety

pears this fiscal year. In comparison, the 1993-94 winter pear

assessment rate was $0.45 per standard box, or equivalent and $0.04 for

the supplemental assessment rate on Anjou variety pears. This

represents a $0.02 decrease in the assessment rate recommended for this

fiscal year.

This rate, when applied to anticipated winter pear shipments of

13,817,000 boxes or equivalent, will yield a total of $5,941,310 in

assessment income. Assessment income, along with $401,324 from other

income sources, and $493,292 from the Committee's authorized reserve,

will be adequate to cover budgeted expenses. The $493,292 withdrawal of

funds from the Committee's authorized reserve will result in no reserve

remaining at the end of the 1994-95 fiscal period.

Major expense categories for the 1994-95 fiscal year include

$5,572,500 for advertising, $276,340 for SOPP data research, $276,340

for winter pear improvement, $142,310 for salaries and benefits, and

$612,442 for unshared contingency.

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 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 year

for the Committee began July 1, 1994, and the marketing order requires

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

winter pears handled during the fiscal year; (3) handlers are aware of

this action which was recommended by the Committee at public meetings

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 927

Marketing agreements and orders, Pears, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 927 is

amended as follows:

PART 927--WINTER PEARS GROWN IN OREGON, WASHINGTON, AND CALIFORNIA

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 927 continues to read as

follows:

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

2. A new Sec. 927.234 is added to read as follows:

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

Regulations.

Sec. 927.234 Expenses and assessment.

Expenses of $6,835,926 by the Winter Pear Control Committee are

authorized and an assessment rate of $0.43 per standard box, or

equivalent, on assessable winter pears is established for the fiscal

year ending June 30, 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. 94-21091 Filed 8-25-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P