Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onions; Expenses and Assessment Rate

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

final rule, without change, the provisions of an interim final rule

that authorized expenses and established an assessment rate that

generated funds to pay those expenses. Authorization of this budget

enables the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee (Committee) to incur

expenses that are reasonable and necessary to administer the program.

Funds to administer this program are derived from assessments on

handlers.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martha Sue Clark, Marketing Order

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

Box 96456, room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, telephone 202-720-

9918, or Robert J. Curry, Northwest Marketing Field Office, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, Green-Wyatt Federal Building, room 369,

1220 Southwest Third Avenue, Portland, OR 97204, telephone 503-326-

2724.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing

Agreement No. 130 and Order No. 958, both as amended (7 CFR part 958),

regulating the handling of onions grown in designated counties in

Idaho, and Malheur County, Oregon. 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 is issuing this rule in conformance with Executive

Order 12866.

This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, Civil

Justice Reform. Under the provisions of the marketing order now in

effect, Idaho-Eastern Oregon onions are subject to assessments. It is

intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be applicable

to all assessable onions handled during the 1995-96 fiscal period,

which began July 1, 1995, and ends June 30, 1996. 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 request 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 the 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 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 the 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 450 producers of Idaho-Eastern Oregon

onions under the marketing order and approximately 35 handlers. 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 $5,000,000. The majority of

Idaho-Eastern Oregon onion producers and handlers may be classified as

small entities.

The budget of expenses for the 1995-96 fiscal period was prepared

by the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee, the agency responsible for

local administration of the marketing order, and submitted to the

Department for approval. The members of the Committee are producers and

handlers of Idaho-Eastern Oregon onions. They are familiar with the

Committee's needs and with the costs for goods and services in their

local area and are thus in a position to formulate an appropriate

budget. The budget was formulated and discussed in a public meeting.

Thus, all directly affected persons have had an opportunity to

participate and provide input.

The assessment rate recommended by the Committee was derived by

dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of Idaho-Eastern

Oregon onions. Because that rate will be applied to actual shipments,

it must be established at a rate that will provide sufficient income to

pay the Committee's expenses.

The Committee met on March 21, 1995, and unanimously recommended a

1995-96 budget of $1,111,447, $91,408 more than the previous year.

Budget items for 1995-96 which have increased compared to those

budgeted for 1994-95 (in parentheses) are: Manager's salary, $33,472

($30,429), office salaries, $66,222 ($62,816), payroll taxes, $9,229

($8,642), health and medical insurance, $9,182 ($8,700), workman's

compensation, $1,084 ($929), rent, $11,000 ($10,000), property

insurance, $1,700 ($1,400), miscellaneous, $12,500 ($9,000), promotion,

$724,076 ($668,500), and contingency, $75,000 ($50,000). Items which

have decreased compared to those budgeted for 1994-95 (in parentheses)

are: Salary and disability insurance, $1,072 ($1,099), research,

$59,340 ($60,154), and property tax ($800) for which no funding was

recommended this year.

[[Page 34454]]

All other items are budgeted at last year's amounts.

The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of

$0.10 per hundredweight, the same as last season. This rate, when

applied to anticipated shipments of 8,800,000 hundredweight, will yield

$880,000 in assessment income. This, along with $45,000 in interest

income and $186,447 from the Committee's authorized reserve, will be

adequate to cover budgeted expenses. Funds in the reserve at the end of

the 1994-95 fiscal period, estimated at $921,500, were within the

maximum permitted by the order of one fiscal period's expenses.

An interim final rule was published in the Federal Register on May

9, 1995 (60 FR 24539). That interim final rule added Sec. 958.239 to

authorize expenses and establish an assessment rate for the Committee.

That rule provided that interested persons could file comments through

June 8, 1995. No comments were received.

While this rule will impose some 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 by the operation of the

marketing order. Therefore, the Administrator of the AMS has determined

that this rule will not have a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

After consideration of all relevant material presented, including

the information and recommendation submitted by the Committee 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.

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

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

Federal Register (5 U.S.C. 553) because the Committee needs to have

sufficient funds to pay its expenses which are incurred on a continuous

basis. The 1995-96 fiscal period began on July 1, 1995. The marketing

order requires that the rate of assessment for the fiscal period apply

to all assessable onions handled during the fiscal period. In addition,

handlers are aware of this rule which was recommended by the Committee

at a public meeting and published in the Federal Register as an interim

final rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 958

Marketing agreements, Onions, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 958 is

amended as follows:

PART 958--ONIONS GROWN IN CERTAIN DESIGNATED COUNTIES IN IDAHO, AND

MALHEUR COUNTY, OREGON

Accordingly, the interim final rule adding Sec. 958.239 which was

published at 60 FR 24539, May 9, 1995, is adopted as a final rule

without change.

Dated: June 27, 1995.

Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 95-16225 Filed 6-30-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P