Irish Potatoes Grown in Colorado; Expenses and Assessment Rate

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7 CFR Part 948

[Docket No. FV94-948-2IFR]

Irish Potatoes Grown in Colorado; Expenses and Assessment Rate

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 under Marketing Order No. 948 for the

1994-95 fiscal period. Authorization of this budget enables the

Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, San Luis Valley Office (Area

II) (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 September 1, 1994, through August 31, 1995. Comments

received by October 24,1994, will be considered prior to issuance of a

final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments

concerning this action. 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: Martha Sue Clark, Marketing Order

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

Box 96456, room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, telephone number

202-720-9918, or Dennis L. West, Northwest Marketing Field Office,

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

room 369, 1220 Southwest Third Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204,

telephone number 503-326-2724.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing

Agreement No. 97 and Marketing Order No. 948, both as amended (7 CFR

part 948), regulating the handling of Irish potatoes grown in Colorado.

The marketing 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 now in effect,

Colorado potatoes are subject to assessments. Funds to administer the

Colorado potato marketing order are derived from such assessments. It

is intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be

applicable to all assessable potatoes during the 1994-95 fiscal period

which began September 1, 1994, and ends 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 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 the 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 the 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 285 producers of Colorado Area II potatoes

under the marketing order and approximately 118 handlers. 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

Colorado Area II potato producers and handlers may be classified as

small entities.

The budget of expenses for the 1994-95 fiscal period was prepared

by the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, San Luis Valley Office

(Area II), the agency responsible for local administration of the

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

members of the Committee are producers and handlers of Colorado Area II

potatoes. They are familiar with the Committee's needs and with the

costs for goods and services in their local area and are thus in a

position to formulate an appropriate budget. The budget was formulated

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

have had an opportunity to participate and provide input.

The assessment rate recommended by the Committee was derived by

dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of Colorado Area II

potatoes. Because that rate will be applied to actual shipments, it

must be established at a rate that will provide sufficient income to

pay the Committee's expenses.

In Colorado, both a State and a Federal marketing order operate

simultaneously. The State order authorizes promotion, including paid

advertising, which the Federal order does not. All expenses in this

category are financed under the State order. The jointly operated

programs consume about equal administrative time and the two orders

continue to split administrative costs equally.

The Committee met and unanimously recommended a 1994-95 budget of

$65,924, which is $6,818 more than the previous year. Budget items for

1994-95 which have increased compared to those budgeted for 1993-94 (in

parentheses) are: Executive Director's salary, $25,082 ($20,888),

assistant's salary, $10,320 ($9,828), part-time salary, $3,822

($3,640), telephone, $1,750 ($1,500), major purchase $2,250 ($1,250),

utilities, $2,000 ($700), and $750 for insurance, $2,425 for property

tax, $1,000 for maintenance, and $500 for miscellaneous, for which no

funding was recommended last year. Items which have decreased compared

to those budgeted for 1993-94 (in parentheses) are: Compliance $1,500

($2,000), and $3,000 for employee benefits, $1,500 for rent, and $275

for repairs, for which no funding was recommended this year.

The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of

$0.0036 per hundredweight, the same as last season. This rate, when

applied to anticipated potato shipments of 14,250,000 hundredweight,

will yield $51,300 in assessment income. This, along with $14,624 from

the Committee's authorized reserve, will be adequate to cover budgeted

expenses. Funds of $88,203 in the Committee's authorized reserve at the

beginning of the 1993-94 fiscal period were within the maximum

permitted by the order of two fiscal periods' 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 by 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 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 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 period began on September 1, 1994, and the marketing order

requires that the rate of assessment for the fiscal period apply to all

assessable potatoes handled during the fiscal period; (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 948

Marketing agreements, Potatoes, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 948 is

amended as follows:

PART 948--IRISH POTATOES GROWN IN COLORADO

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 948 continues to read as

follows:

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

2. A new Sec. 948.212 is added to read as follows:

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

Regulations.

Sec. 948.212 Expenses and assessment rate.

Expenses of $65,924 by the Colorado Potato Administrative

Committee, San Luis Valley Office (Area II) are authorized, and an

assessment rate of $0.0036 per hundredweight of assessable potatoes is

established for the fiscal period ending August 31, 1995. Unexpended

funds may be carried over as a reserve.

Dated: September 19, 1994.

Eric M. Forman,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 94-23612 Filed 9-22-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-W