Navel and Valencia Oranges Grown in Arizona and Designated Parts of California; Suspension of Form 8 and Form 3

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7 CFR Parts 907 and 908

[FV93-907-4IFR]

Navel and Valencia Oranges Grown in Arizona and Designated Parts

of California; Suspension of Form 8 and Form 3

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule; suspension.

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

SUMMARY: This rule invites comments on changes to the reporting

requirements currently prescribed under the California-Arizona navel

and Valencia orange marketing orders. This rule suspends language in

the orders and in the orders' rules and regulations to discontinue the

use of Form 8 (Certificate of Assignment of Allotment) and Form 3

(Daily Manifest Report of Oranges Subject to Allotment), and will

reduce the burden of information collection requirements currently

provided for under the marketing orders.

DATES: Effective Date: January 10, 1994.

Comments received by February 9, 1994, will be considered prior to

issuance of a final action.

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, room 2525-S,

P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456. All comments should

reference the docket number and the date and page number of this issue

of the Federal Register and will be made available for public

inspection in the Office of the Docket Clerk during regular business

hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maureen Pello, California Marketing

Field Office, Marketing Order Administration Branch, F&V, AMS, USDA,

2202 Monterey Street, suite 102B, Fresno, California 93721; telephone:

(209) 487-5901; or Christian Nissen, Marketing Specialist, Marketing

Order Administration Branch, F&V, AMS, USDA, room 2522-S, P.O. Box

96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone: (202) 720-5127.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document is issued under Marketing

Order Nos. 907 and 908 [7 CFR parts 907 and 908], as amended,

regulating the handling of navel and Valencia oranges grown in Arizona

and designated parts of California, hereinafter referred to as the

``orders.'' These 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 of Agriculture is issuing this rule in conformance

with Executive Order 12866.

This action has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, Civil

Justice Reform. This action is not intended to have retroactive effect.

This action will not preempt any state or local laws, regulations, or

policies, unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with this

action.

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 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 who are subject to regulation under the

respective marketing order and approximately 3,750 producers of navel

oranges and 3,700 producers of Valencia oranges in the regulated areas.

Small agricultural service firms have been defined by the Small

Business Administration [13 CFR 121.601] as those having annual

receipts of less than $3,500,000, and small agricultural producers are

defined as those whose annual receipts are less than $500,000. The

majority of handlers and producers of California-Arizona navel and

Valencia oranges may be classified as small entities.

This rule invites comments on two changes to the reporting

requirements currently prescribed under the California-Arizona orange

marketing orders. This rule suspends language in the orders and in the

orders' rules and regulations to discontinue the use of Form 8

(Certificate of Assignment of Allotment) and Form 3 (Daily Manifest

Report of Oranges Subject to Allotment). These changes were unanimously

recommended by the committees.

Currently, sections 907.58 and 908.58 of the navel and Valencia

orange marketing orders specify that, for the handling of oranges other

than by rail car (primarily truck shipments), handlers issue to the

consignee an assignment of allotment certificate covering each quantity

of oranges so handled. Sections 907.112 and 908.112 of the orders'

rules and regulations require handlers to submit such information on

Form 8. Handlers are also required to segregate the information on Form

8 by size of oranges shipped and destination (i.e., U.S. and Alaska or

Canada).

Since the inception of the orders, the committees have utilized

Form 8 primarily for tracking and verifying truck shipments of oranges

that were subject to volume regulation. However, with the volume

regulation features of the orders suspended [58 FR 53,114; October 14,

1993], the committees believe that continued submission of Form 8

creates an additional burden on handlers that is unnecessary.

According to the committees, many handlers have long questioned the

value of Form 8 (commonly referred to in the industry as ``the daily

truck ticket'') during periods of no volume regulation. Shipment

information from Form 8 is transferred to Form 4 (Weekly Report).

Handlers maintain their own manifest records of these shipments and,

without weekly volume regulation, Form 4 provides similar data with the

exception of number of cartons shipped by size. The committees plan on

requesting size information from handlers as needed on a voluntary

basis and anticipate revising the weekly Form 4 at a later time to

provide for the collection of size information.

Thus, the committees believe that continued submission of Form 8,

particularly during periods of no volume regulation, is not necessary.

Accordingly, the committees have recommended suspending sections 907.58

and 908.58 of the orders and Secs. 907.112 and 908.112 of the orders'

rules and regulations so that Form 8 will be discontinued.

The second change that the committees recommended concerns Form 3

(Daily Manifest Report of Oranges Subject to Allotment). Currently,

sections 907.71 and 908.71 of the orange orders provide that handlers

furnish to the committees information regarding cartons of oranges

handled, segregated by size, within 24 hours of shipment. Handlers must

also indicate whether the shipments were destined to points in the U.S.

and Alaska or Canada. Sections 907.141 and 908.141 of the orders' rules

and regulations require handlers to submit this information for rail

car shipments on Form 3.

The information collected on Form 3 is similar to the information

collected on Form 8 described earlier, but pertains to rail car

shipments rather than truck shipments. Again, this information has

historically been utilized primarily for tracking and verifying

shipments of oranges that were subject to volume regulation. However,

with the volume regulation features of the orders suspended, the

committees believe that continued submission of Form 3, like Form 8,

creates an additional burden on handlers that is unnecessary. Handlers

are also required to submit similar information on rail car shipments

on the weekly Form 4. As with size information pertaining to truck

shipments, the committees plan on requesting size information from

handlers for rail car shipments on a voluntary basis until the weekly

Form 4 is appropriately revised.

Like Form 8, the committees believe that continued submission of

Form 3, particularly during periods of no volume regulation, is not

necessary. Accordingly, the committees have recommended suspending

Secs. 907.71 and 908.71 of the orders and Secs. 907.141 and 908.141 of

the orders' rules and regulations so that Form 3 will be discontinued.

Based on these considerations, the Administrator of the AMS has

determined that this action will not have a significant economic impact

on a substantial number of small entities.

The information collection requirements contained in the referenced

sections have been previously approved by the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) under the provisions of 44 U.S.C. chapter 35 and have been

assigned OMB numbers 0581-0116 for navel oranges and 0581-0121 for

Valencia oranges. This rule will reduce the reporting burden on

approximately 265 handlers of navel and Valencia oranges who have been

completing Form 8, taking about .40 hour to complete each report. This

rule will also reduce the reporting burden on about 80 orange handlers

who ship by rail at some point during a season and utilize Form 3,

taking about 0.20 hours to complete each report.

After consideration of all relevant material presented, including

the committee's recommendation, and other available information, it is

found that the provisions detailed below, at this time, do not tend to

effectuate the declared policy of the Act.

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 action 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)

Handlers are currently shipping navel oranges and these actions will

reduce the burden of information collection placed on such handlers;

(2) the committees unanimously recommended these actions at public

meetings and all interested persons had an opportunity to provide

input; (3) these actions relax reporting requirements; (4) California-

Arizona orange handlers are aware of this action and need no additional

time to comply with the relaxed requirements; and (5) this action

provides a 30-day comment period and any comments received will be

considered prior to finalization of this action.

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 amended as follows:

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

CALIFORNIA

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

continues to read as follows:

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

2. Sections 907.58, 907.71, 907.112, and 907.141 are suspended in

their entirety.

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

CALIFORNIA

3. Sections 908.58, 908.71, 908.112, and 908.141 are suspended in

their entirety.

Dated: January 3, 1994.

Patricia Jensen,

Acting Assistant Secretary, Marketing and Inspection Services.

[FR Doc. 94-428 Filed 1-7-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P