Expenses and Assessment Rate for the Marketing Order Covering Oranges and Grapefruit Grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas

SUMMARY: This interim final rule authorizes expenditures and

establishes an assessment rate for the Texas Valley Citrus Committee

(TVCC) under M.O. No. 906 for the 1995-96 fiscal year. Authorization of

this budget enables the TVCC to incur expenses that are reasonable and

necessary to administer this program. Funds to administer this program

are derived from assessments on handlers.

DATES: Effective beginning August 1, 1995, through July 31, 1996.

Comments received by July 21, 1995 will be considered prior to issuance

of a 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, 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: Charles L. Rush, Marketing Order

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

Box 96456, room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, telephone: (202)

690-3670; or Belinda G. Garza, McAllen, Marketing Field Office, Fruit

and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 1313 East Hackberry, McAllen, Texas

78501, telephone: (210) 682-2833.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under

Marketing Agreement and Order No. 906 (7 CFR part 906) regulating the

handling of oranges and grapefruit grown in the lower Rio Grande Valley

in Texas. 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 provisions now

in effect, Texas oranges and grapefruit are subject to assessments. It

is intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be

applicable to all assessable oranges and grapefruit handled during the

1995-96 fiscal year, which begins August 1, 1995, and ends July 31,

1996. 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 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 the 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 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 135 handlers of oranges and grapefruit

regulated under the marketing order each season and approximately 2,500

orange and grapefruit producers in Texas. Small agricultural producers

have been defined by the Small Business Administration (13 CFR

Sec. 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 these handlers and

producers may be classified as small entities.

The Texas orange and grapefruit marketing order, administered by

the Department, requires that the assessment rate for a particular

fiscal year apply to all assessable oranges and grapefruit handled from

the beginning of such year. Annual budgets of expenses are prepared by

the TVCC, the agency responsible for local administration of this

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

members of the TVCC are handlers and producers of Texas oranges and

grapefruit. They are familiar with the TVCC's 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 TVCC's budget is

formulated and discussed in a public meeting. Thus, all directly

affected persons have an opportunity to participate and provide input.

The assessment rate recommended by the TVCC is derived by dividing

the anticipated expenses by expected shipments of oranges and

grapefruit. Because that rate is applied to actual shipments, it must

be established at a rate which will provide sufficient

[[Page 32258]] income to pay the TVCC's expected expenses.

The TVCC met on May 16, 1995, and unanimously recommended expenses

of $1,035,000 and an assessment rate of $0.10 per 7/10 bushel carton.

In comparison, budgeted expenses for the 1994-95 fiscal year were

$1,161,244, which is $126,244 more than the $1,035,000 recommended for

the 1995-96 fiscal year. The assessment rate of $0.10 is $0.06 less

than last season's assessment rate of $0.16.

Major expense categories for the 1995-96 fiscal year include

$500,000 for advertising, $180,000 for road guard station operation,

and $174,000 for the Mexican Fruit Fly support program.

Assessment income for the 1995-96 fiscal year is estimated at

$832,500 based upon anticipated fresh domestic shipments of 8,325,000

cartons of oranges and grapefruit. This, in addition to a withdrawal of

$193,500 from the TVCC's reserve fund, and $9,000 estimated interest

income should be adequate to cover budgeted expenses. In comparison,

the assessment income for the 1994-95 fiscal year was estimated at

$960,000 based upon anticipated fresh domestic shipments of 6 million

cartons of oranges and grapefruit.

Funds in the reserve at the end of the 1995-96 fiscal year are

estimated at $143,890. These reserve funds will be within the maximum

permitted by the order of one fiscal year's expenses.

While this action will impose 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 from 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 recommendations submitted by the TVCC 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 TVCC needs to have sufficient funds to pay its

expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the 1995-96

fiscal year for the TVCC begins August 1, 1995, and the marketing order

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

assessable oranges and grapefruit handled during the fiscal year; (3)

handlers are aware of this action which is similar to budgets 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 rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 906

Grapefruit, Marketing agreements and orders, Oranges, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 906 is

amended as follows:

PART 906--ORANGES AND GRAPEFRUIT GROWN IN THE LOWER RIO GRANDE

VALLEY IN TEXAS

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 906 continues to read as

follows:

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

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

Regulations.

2. A new Sec. 906.235 is added to read as follows:

Sec. 906.235 Expenses and assessment rate.

Expenses of $1,035,000 by the Texas Valley Citrus Committee are

authorized and an assessment rate of $0.10 per 7/10 bushel carton on

assessable oranges and grapefruit is established for the 1995-96 fiscal

year ending on July 31, 1996. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a

reserve.

Dated: June 15, 1995.

Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 95-15110 Filed 6-20-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P