Vidalia Onions Grown in Georgia; Revision of Handler Reporting Requirements

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 955

[Docket No. FV93-955-21FR]

Vidalia Onions Grown in Georgia; Revision of Handler Reporting

Requirements

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This interim final rule revises the administrative rules and

regulations established under the Federal marketing order for Vidalia

onions grown in Georgia. This rule will relax the reporting

requirements on handlers by expanding the period of coverage of the

report for receipts and shipments of onions from one week to one month.

This is the only form handlers are required to file with the Vidalia

Onion Committee (Committee). The reduction in the reporting burden on

handlers will not adversely impact program operations. This rule is

based on a unanimous recommendation of the Committee, which is

responsible for local administration of the order.

DATES: Effective on January 13, 1994. Comments which are received by

February 14, 1994, will be considered prior to any finalization of this

interim 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, Marketing Order Administrative Branch, F&V, AMS,

USDA, room 2523-S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456, FAX

number (202) 720-5698. Comments should reference this docket number,

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: Shoshana Avrishon, Marketing

Specialist, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable

Division, AMS, USDA, room 2536-S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-

6456; telephone (202) 720-3610, or FAX (202) 720-5698; or William G.

Pimental, Marketing Specialist, Southeast Marketing Field Office, Fruit

and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 2276, Winter Haven, Florida

33883-2276; (813) 299-4770, or FAX (813) 299-5169.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under

Marketing Agreement and Order No. 955 (7 CFR part 955) regulating the

handling of Vidalia onions grown in Georgia. The marketing agreement

and order are authorized by 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 rule has been reviewed under the 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

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. A handler is afforded the opportunity for a hearing on the

petition. After a 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 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 145 handlers of Vidalia Onions that are

subject to regulation under the marketing order and approximately 250

producers in the production area. Small agricultural service firms are

defined by the Small Business Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as those

whose annual receipts are less than $3,500,000, and small agricultural

producers have been defined as those having annual receipts of less

than $500,000. The majority of the Vidalia onion handlers and producers

may be classified as small entities.

This action revises Sec. 955.101 of Subpart--Administrative Rules

and Regulations and is based on a unanimous recommendation of the

Committee and other available information.

Currently under Sec. 955.101, Report of Shipments, handlers are

required to provide the Committee with information regarding the volume

of Vidalia onions received and shipped during each week of the shipping

season. The normal shipping season for cured Vidalia onions runs from

April through June, approximately 12 weeks. In addition, green Vidalia

onions usually are shipped beginning in January of each year. Handlers

are required to provide this information to the Committee each week.

The Committee provides a form to assist handlers in providing this

information. The information required includes the name and address of

handler, the period covered for the report, the total weekly receipts

of Vidalia onions and the total fresh market shipments of Vidalia

onions.

The Committee needs such information for the purpose of computing

and collecting assessments, which are necessary to finance the program.

When this reporting requirement was first implemented, the Committee

believed that the best method for obtaining the necessary information

was to require handlers to report to the Committee the volume of fresh

market shipments at the end of each week during the harvesting and

shipping season.

The Committee also uses the information on these reports in

planning and evaluating market development activities and recommending

production research projects. This information is also made available

to the industry on a composite basis to aid growers and handlers in

planning their individual operations and making marketing decisions

during the season. At the time of implementation, the reporting burden

was estimated to be five minutes for a handler to complete each weekly

report.

The Committee has been experiencing problems in receiving the

reports on a timely basis from many handlers. Many of the handlers not

reporting are smaller grower-handlers (2 to 10 acres) who only operate

two or three months of the year and do their bookkeeping at the end of

the season. During the harvest season, these small handlers, mostly

family-run operations, are very busy and have complained that weekly

reporting is burdensome to them.

These reports are used by the Committee in calculating the

assessments owed by each handler. Thus, it is important that the

reports be filed on a timely basis. Because many handlers have filed

reports late, the Committee has experienced difficulty in collecting

all assessments due the Committee. The Committee has expended much time

and effort in identifying and locating these handlers. In addition,

handlers who have filed their reports on a timely basis have complained

to the Committee that others are not being assessed.

The Committee met on August 28, 1993, to discuss these complaints

and reporting problems and unanimously recommended revising the

administrative rules and regulations by expanding the period of

coverage of the reports to be filed from one week to one month. This

will reduce the number of reports filed on an annual basis from

approximately 24 to approximately 6. Prior to the issuance of this

rule, the reporting process for the 24-week period expended

approximately 203 reporting hours annually. This action will reduce the

reporting hours to approximately 93, a reduction of 110 hours on an

annual basis.

The Committee also recommended that the report be required to be

filed no later than seven days after the end of each month.

The Committee believes that this recommendation will decrease the

reporting burden on handlers by eliminating unnecessary reporting while

still providing the Committee with the information it needs to properly

administer the order. This action will bring the reporting requirements

into conformance with current industry operating practices and provide

an acceptable time frame for the submission of reports.

The Committee believes that this relaxation will enable the small

family-run operations to file reports and pay assessments on a timely

basis. This will, in turn, reduce the time and effort the Committee

expends on locating handlers who have not filed reports.

The Committee was concerned about the effect monthly reporting will

have on their marketing efforts. The weekly reporting provided a good

source of information that was used in their marketing decisions. It

was determined that the monthly reporting should provide sufficient

information to assist the Committee in its marketing efforts and if any

problems arise at a later date, alternate sources of obtaining this

information on a weekly basis can be explored. The Committee believes,

at this time, it is more important to ensure that all handlers are

properly filing reports with the Committee and paying assessments that

are due on a timely and equitable basis.

Based on the above, the Administrator of the AMS has determined

that this interim final rule will not have a significant economic

impact on a substantial number of small entities.

The information collection requirements contained in these

regulations have been previously approved by the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) and have been assigned OMB Control Number 0581-0160.

After consideration of all relevant information presented,

including the Committee's unanimous recommendation and other

information, it is found that this regulation, 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 that upon

good cause 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) This action relaxes requirements on handlers; (2)

this action was unanimously recommended at a public meeting; (3) it is

desirable to have this action in place as soon as possible because the

1994 shipping season for green Vidalia onions is expected to begin in

January, and the relaxed reporting requirements should apply to as much

of that crop as possible; and (4) this rule provides a 30-day comment

period and any comments received will be considered prior to

finalization of this rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 955

Marketing agreements, Onions, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 955 is

amended as follows:

PART 955--VIDALIA ONIONS GROWN IN GEORGIA

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 955 is amended to read as

follows:

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

2. Section 955.101 is added to read as follows:

Sec. 955.101 Report of shipments.

Each handler, at the end of each month's operation, but not later

than seven (7) days after the end of the month, shall report to the

Committee, on a form provided to such handler by the Committee, the

following information:

(a) Name of handler;

(b) Address of handler;

(c) Period covered;

(d) Total receipts of Vidalia onions;

(e) Total fresh market shipments of Vidalia onions.

Dated: January 5, 1994.

Robert C. Keeney,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 94-671 Filed 1-12-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P