Watermelon Research and Promotion Plan; Rules and Regulations; Realignment of Districts

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7 CFR Part 1210

[FV-93-705FR]

RIN 0581-AB08

Watermelon Research and Promotion Plan; Rules and Regulations;

Realignment of Districts

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule changes the boundaries of five of the seven

districts established under the Watermelon Research and Promotion Plan

(Plan) to apportion membership on the National Watermelon Promotion

Board (Board). This action is necessary to reflect shifts in production

since the original districts were established. The Plan requires the

periodic realignment of the districts based on shifts in production to

ensure equitable representation of producers and handlers on the Board.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 21, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sonia N. Jimenez, Research and

Promotion Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box

96456, room 2535-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone (202) 720-

9916.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule is issued under the

Watermelon Research and Promotion Plan (Plan) (7 CFR part 1210). The

Plan is authorized under the Watermelon Research and Promotion Act (7

U.S.C. 4901-4916), hereinafter referred to as the Act.

This rule has been determined to be non-significant for purposes of

Executive Order 12866 and therefore has not been reviewed by OMB.

This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, Civil

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

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 1650 of the Act, a

person subject to the Plan may file a petition with the Secretary

stating that the Plan or any provision of the Plan, or any obligation

imposed in connection with the Plan, is not in accordance with law and

requesting a modification of the Plan or an exemption from the Plan.

The petitioner is afforded the opportunity for a hearing on the

petition. After such hearing, the Secretary will make a ruling on the

petition. The Act provides that the district courts of the United

States in any district in which a person who is a petitioner resides or

carries on business are vested with jurisdiction to review the

Secretary's ruling on the petition, if a complaint for that purpose is

filed within 20 days after the date of the entry of the ruling.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

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.

There are approximately 750 watermelon handlers and 5,000

watermelon producers in the contiguous 48 States of the United States

who are subject to the Plan. Small agricultural service firms are

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 having annual receipts of less than

$500,000. The majority of watermelon handlers and producers may be

classified as small entities.

Paperwork Reduction

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (40 U.S.C.

chapter 35), the information collection requirements contained in the

Plan have previously been approved by the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) and assigned OMB number 0581-0093, except for the Board

nominee background statement form which is assigned OMB number 0505-

0001. This final rule adds no additional reporting burden.

Background

Under the Plan, the National Watermelon Promotion Board (Board)

administers a nationally coordinated program of research, development,

advertising, and promotion designed to strengthen the watermelon's

position in the market place and to establish, maintain, and expand

markets for domestic watermelons. This program is financed by

assessments on all producers, except those persons engaged in the

growing of less than five acres of watermelons, and handlers of

watermelons. The Plan specifies that handlers are responsible for

collecting and submitting both the producer and handler assessments to

the Board, reporting their handling of watermelons, and maintaining

records necessary to verify their reportings.

Membership on the Board is determined on the basis of two producers

and two handlers for each of seven districts established under the

Plan. The districts are required to have approximately equal annual

production volume. The current districts were based on a three-year

average production derived from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Crop Production Annual Summary Reports for 1979, 1980, and 1981.

These districts are:

District 1--South Florida, including all areas south of State

Highway 50.

District 2--North Florida, including all areas north of State

Highway 50.

District 3--The States of Alabama and Georgia.

District 4--The States of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland,

Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North

Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont,

Virginia, and West Virginia.

District 5--The States of Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana,

Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Minnesota, Missouri,

Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee,

and Wisconsin.

District 6--The State of Texas.

District 7--The States of Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana,

Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

The Plan provides that two years after its effective date (June 8,

1989) and at least every five years thereafter, the Board should review

the districts to determine whether realignment of districts is

necessary.

When making such reviews, the Plan specifies that the Board should

consider such factors as the most recent three-year USDA production

reports or Board assessment reports, if USDA production reports are

unavailable, shifts and trends in quantities of watermelons produced,

and any other relevant factors.

The Plan further specifies that, as a result of such reviews, the

Board may realign the districts subject to the approval of the

Secretary. Any such alignment should be recommended by the Board at

least six months prior to the date of the call for nominations and

should become effective at least 30 days prior to such date.

In accordance with the Plan, the Board appointed a subcommittee to

review production and assessment collections in the current districts.

During the review, the subcommittee used USDA and State production and

marketing reports, as well as data derived from Board assessment

reports and field notes. The subcommittee focused on information

collected between 1990 and 1992.

After reviewing the available information, the subcommittee

recommended that the boundaries of Districts 3 through 7 be changed and

that Districts 1 and 2 remain unchanged. In order for each district to

represent approximately 3.3 million hundredweights of annual watermelon

production, the subcommittee recommended the following: move

Mississippi from District 5 to District 3; move Indiana, Kentucky, and

Tennessee from District 5 to District 4; move Wyoming, Montana, Idaho,

Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, and California north of San Luis

Obispo, Kern, and San Bernadino counties from District 7 to District 5;

move Arkansas and Louisiana from District 5 to District 6; and move New

Mexico from District 5 to District 7.

The subcommittee's recommendation was approved by the Board's

executive committee, and the full Board voted by mail ballot. In the

mail ballot, 19 members voted ``yes,'' 4 members voted ``no,'' and 5

members did not return a ballot.

The Board submitted its recommendation to the Department.

Subsequently, the Department published a proposed rule with request for

comments on changing the boundaries of five of the seven districts

established under the Plan. The proposed rule was published in the

January 28, 1994 issue of the Federal Register (59 FR 4013). The

comment period ended on February 28, 1994. No comments were received on

this proposed rule.

Therefore, this final rule realigns the districts as follows:

District 1--South Florida, including all areas south of State

Highway 50.

District 2--North Florida, including all areas north of State

Highway 50.

District 3--The States of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi.

District 4--The States of Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky,

Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey,

New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South

Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

District 5--The States of California--north of San Luis Obispo,

Kern, and San Bernardino counties, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa,

Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota,

Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and

Wyoming.

District 6--The States of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.

District 7--The State of Arizona, the remainder of the State of

California, including San Luis Obispo, Kern, and San Bernardino

counties, and the State of New Mexico.

In addition, this rule makes a conforming change to Sec. 1210.401.

Section 1210.401 currently states that the districts are defined in

Sec. 1210.320 of the Plan. Since this rule defines new district

boundaries in a new Sec. 1210.501, this rule also changes

Sec. 1210.401(b) to reflect this new section number.

This final rule will realign the districts for the terms of office

that begin on January 1, 1995. This rule affects the eligibility of

three current Board members and will necessitate Board member

nomination meetings for the realigned Districts 4, 5, 6, and 7 in

spring 1994. In the normal cycle of nominating, approximately one-third

of the Board members' terms expire each year. Spring 1994 nomination

meetings were already planned for Districts 2 and 3.

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

that the issuance of this final rule will not have a significant

economic effect on a substantial number of small entities.

After consideration of all relevant material presented, it is found

that this rule, as set forth herein, tends to effectuate the declared

policy of the Act.

Pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C., it is found and determined

that good cause exists for not postponing the effective date of this

action until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register because

it is necessary that the new district boundaries be used for the

nomination meetings for members for the term of office beginning on

January 1, 1995.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1210

Agricultural promotion, Agricultural research, Market development,

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Watermelons.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, part 1210, chapter XI of

title 7 is amended as follows:

PART 1210--WATERMELON RESEARCH AND PROMOTION PLAN

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 1210 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 4901-4916.

2. In Sec. 1210.401(b), the words ``1210.320'' in the last sentence

are revised to read ``1210.501''.

3. Section 1210.501 is added to read as follows:

Sec. 1210.501 Realignment of districts.

Pursuant to Sec. 1210.320(c) of the Plan, the districts shall be as

follows:

District 1--South Florida, including all areas south of State

Highway 50.

District 2--North Florida, including all areas north of State

Highway 50.

District 3--The States of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi.

District 4--The States of Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky,

Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey,

New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South

Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

District 5--The States of California--north of San Luis Obispo,

Kern, and San Bernardino counties, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa,

Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota,

Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and

Wyoming.

District 6--The States of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.

District 7--The State of Arizona, the remainder of the State of

California, including San Luis Obispo, Kern, and San Bernardino

counties, and the State of New Mexico.

Dated: April 15, 1994.

Lon Hatamiya,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 94-9590 Filed 4-20-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P