Increase in Expenses and Assessment Rates for Marketing Orders Covering Limes and Avocados Grown in Florida

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Parts 911 and 915

[Docket No. FV93-911-1FIR]

Increase in Expenses and Assessment Rates for Marketing Orders

Covering Limes and Avocados Grown in Florida

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture (Department) is adopting as a

final rule, with appropriate changes, the provisions of the interim

final rule that authorized expenses and established assessment rates

for the Florida Lime Administrative Committee and the Avocado

Administrative Committee (Committees) under Marketing Order Nos. 911

and 915 for the 1994-95 fiscal year. This final rule authorizes

increased levels of expenses for the 1994-95 fiscal year. Authorization

of these budgets enables the Committees to incur expenses that are

reasonable and necessary to administer their respective programs. Funds

to administer these programs are derived from assessments on handlers.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Sections 911.232 and 915.232 are effective April 1,

1994, through March 31, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Britthany E. Beadle, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, F&V, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2524-S,

Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone: (202) 720-5127; or Aleck Jonas,

Southeast Marketing Field Office, Marketing Order Administration

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 2276, Winter

Haven, Florida 33883, telephone: (813) 299-4770.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule is issued under Marketing

Agreement and Order No. 911 (7 CFR part 911), as amended, regulating

the handling of limes grown in Florida; and Marketing Agreement and

Order No. 915 (7 CFR part 915), as amended, regulating the handling of

avocados grown in Florida. The marketing agreements and 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 is issuing this rule in conformance with Executive

Order 12866.

This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778,

Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order provisions now in

effect, limes and avocados grown in Florida are subject to assessments.

It is intended that the assessment rates specified herein will be

applicable to all assessable limes and avocados handled during the

1994-95 fiscal year, which began April 1, 1994, through March 31, 1995.

This 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 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 40 producers of limes grown in Florida, and

45 handlers who are subject to regulation under the lime marketing

order each season. Also, there are approximately 95 producers of

avocados grown in south Florida, and approximately 65 handlers who are

subject to regulation under the avocado marketing order. 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 $3,500,000. The majority of

the lime and avocado producers and handlers may be classified as small

entities.

The marketing orders require that the assessment rates for a

particular fiscal year shall apply to all assessable limes and avocados

handled from the beginning of such year. An annual budget of expenses

is prepared by each Committee and submitted to the Department for

approval. The members of the Committees are producers and handlers of

the regulated commodities. They are familiar with the Committees' 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

budgets are formulated and discussed in public meetings. Thus, all

directly affected persons have an opportunity to participate and

provide input.

The assessment rates recommended by the Committees are derived by

dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of limes and

avocados. Because these rates are applied to actual shipments, they

must be established at rates which will produce sufficient income to

pay the Committees' expected expenses. The recommended budgets and

rates of assessment are usually acted upon by the Committees shortly

before a season starts, and expenses are incurred on a continuous

basis. Therefore, the budget and assessment rate approvals must be

expedited so that the Committees will have funds to pay their expenses.

The Florida Lime Administrative Committee met on December 8, 1993,

and unanimously recommended 1994-95 marketing order expenditures of

$89,697 and an assessment rate of $0.16 per 55-pound bushel of limes.

In comparison, 1993-94 marketing year budgeted expenditures were

$113,846, which is $24,149 more than the $89,697 recommended for this

fiscal year. The assessment rate of $0.16 per bushel remains the same

as last year's assessment rate of $0.16. The major budget categories

for 1994-95 are $28,000 for administrative staff salaries and $10,100

for employee benefits.

Assessment income for 1994-95 is estimated to total $64,000 based

on anticipated fresh domestic shipments of 400,000 55-pound bushels of

limes. Interest on savings is expected to add an additional $2,000 to

income. The assessment and interest income will have to be augmented by

$23,697 from the Committee's reserves to provide adequate funds to

cover budgeted expenses. Sufficient reserve funds are available to

cover the projected deficit. Funds in the reserve at the end of the

1994-95 fiscal year are estimated to be $250,000. These reserve funds

will be within the maximum permitted by the order of three fiscal

years' expenses.

The Avocado Administrative Committee also met on December 8, 1993,

and unanimously recommended 1994-95 marketing order expenditures of

$97,000 and an assessment rate of $0.16 per 55-pound bushel of

avocados. In comparison, 1993-94 marketing year budgeted expenditures

were $113,846, which is $16,846 more than the $97,000 recommended for

this fiscal year. The assessment rate of $0.16 per bushel remains the

same as last year's assessment rate of $0.16. The major budget

categories for 1994-95 are $28,000 for administrative staff salaries,

$15,600 for compliance, and $10,100 for employee benefits.

Assessment income for 1994-95 is estimated to total $96,000 based

on anticipated fresh domestic shipments of 600,000 55-pound bushels of

avocados. Interest on savings is expected to add an additional $1,000

to income. Sufficient reserve funds are available to cover any

unexpected shortfall in projected income. Funds in the reserve at the

end of the 1994-95 fiscal year are estimated to be $100,000. These

reserve funds will be within the maximum permitted by the order of

three fiscal years' expenses.

The expenses and assessment rates were authorized by an interim

final rule issued on January 25, 1994, and published in the Federal

Register (59 FR 5073, February 3, 1994). A 30-day comment period was

provided for interested persons. No comments were received.

Each Committee met again on March 9, 1994, and unanimously

recommended to increase expenses from $89,697 to $92,197, and from

$97,000 to $99,500, for limes and avocados respectively, an increase of

$2,500 in expenses for each Committee from the previously authorized

amounts.

Neither Committee recommended an increase in their respective

assessment rates despite projected deficits of $25,697 and $2,500, for

limes and avocados respectively, that will be incurred. Sufficient

reserve funds are available, $277,179 and $131,312, for limes and

avocados respectively, to cover the increased expenses.

Each Committee budgeted an additional $2,500 for a total of $7,500

for increased monitoring of the water table levels in South Florida.

The Committees deem the increase in expenses necessary for the research

because of the high cost incurred in obtaining information by an

industry that is still recovering from Hurricane Andrew.

While the interim final rule imposed some additional costs on

handlers, the costs were 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 from the

operation of the marketing orders. Therefore, the Administrator of the

AMS has determined that finalizing the interim final rule will not have

a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small

entities.

It is found that the specified expenses for the marketing orders

covered in this rule are reasonable and likely to be incurred and that

such expenses and the specified assessment rates to cover such expenses

will tend to effectuate the declared policy of the Act.

It is further found that good cause exists for not postponing the

effective date of this action until 30 days after publication in the

Federal Register (5 U.S.C. 553) because the Committees need to have

sufficient funds to pay their expenses which are incurred on a

continuous basis. The 1994-95 fiscal year for the programs began on

April 1, 1994. The marketing orders require that the rates of

assessment for the fiscal year apply to all assessable limes and

avocados handled during the fiscal year. In addition, handlers are

aware of this action which was recommended by the Committees at public

meetings and published in the Federal Register as an interim final

rule. No comments were received concerning the interim final rule that

is adopted in this action, with appropriate changes, as a final rule.

List of Subjects

7 CFR Part 911

Limes, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

7 CFR Part 915

Avocados, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR parts 911 and 915

are hereby amended as follows:

PART 911--LIMES GROWN IN FLORIDA

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR parts 911 and 915 continues to

read as follows:

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

2. Section 911.232 is revised to read as follows:

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

Regulations.

Sec. 911.232 Expenses and assessment rate.

Expenses of $92,197 by the Florida Lime Administrative Committee

are authorized and an assessment rate of $0.16 per bushel on assessable

limes are established for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1995.

Unexpended funds may be carried over as a reserve.

PART 915--AVOCADOS GROWN IN SOUTH FLORIDA

3. Section 915.232 is revised to read as follows:

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

Regulations.

Sec. 915.232 Expenses and assessment rate.

Expenses of $99,500 are authorized and an assessment rate of $0.16

per bushel on assessable avocados is established for the fiscal year

ending March 31, 1995. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a

reserve.

Dated: April 15, 1994.

Robert C. Keeney,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 94-9591 Filed 4-20-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P