Olives Grown in California; Expenses and Assessment Rate for 1995 Fiscal Year

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 932

[Docket No. FV94-932-2IFR]

Olives Grown in California; Expenses and Assessment Rate for 1995

Fiscal Year

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This interim final rule authorizes expenses and establishes an

assessment rate for the California Olive Committee (Committee) under

Marketing Order No. 932 for the 1995 fiscal year. Authorization of this

budget enables the Committee 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 January 1, 1995, through December 31, 1995.

Comments received by February 23, 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, D.C. 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: Britthany Beadle, Marketing Order

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

Box 96456, Room 2523-S, Washington, D.C. 20090-6456, telephone: (202)

720-5127; or Terry Vawter, California Marketing Field Office, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 2202 Monterey Street, Suite 102 B,

Fresno, California 93721, telephone: (209) 487-5901.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under

Marketing Agreement and Order No. 932 [7 CFR Part 932], as amended,

regulating the handling of olives grown in California. 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, olives grown in California are subject to assessments. It is

intended that the assessment rate specified herein will be applicable

to all assessable olives handled during the 1995 fiscal year, beginning

January 1, 1995, through December 31, 1995. 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 5 handlers of olives regulated under the

marketing order each season and approximately 1,350 olive producers in

California. 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.

None of the handlers may be classified as small entities. The majority

of the producers may be classified as small entities.

The marketing order, administered by the Department, requires that

the assessment rate for a particular fiscal year apply to all

assessable olives handled from the beginning of such year. Annual

budgets of expenses are prepared by the Committee, the agency

responsible for local administration of this marketing order, and

submitted to the Department for approval. The members of the Committee

are handlers and producers of California olives. They are familiar with

the Committee'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 Committee'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 Committee is derived by

dividing the anticipated expenses by expected shipments of olives.

Because that rate is applied to actual shipments, it must be

established at a rate which will provide sufficient income to pay the

Committee's expected expenses.

The California Olive Committee met on December 8, 1994, and

unanimously recommended a total expense amount of $2,881,650, for its

1995 budget. This is $866,640 less in expenses than the previous year.

The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of

$30.04 per ton for the 1995 fiscal year, which is $2.83 more in the

assessment rate from the 1994 fiscal year. The assessment rate, when

applied to anticipated shipments of 69,300 tons from the 1994 olive

crop, would yield $2,081,772 in assessment income. This, along with

approximately $800,000 from the Committee's authorized reserves will be

adequate to cover estimated expenses.

Major expense categories for the 1995 fiscal year include

$1,479,000 for marketing expenses, $682,000 for food service industry

promotion, $251,000 for public relations and administration, and

$178,630 for salaries. Funds in the reserve at the end of the fiscal

year, estimated at $200,000 will be within the maximum permitted by the

order of one fiscal year's expenses.

While this action 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 should be significantly offset by the benefits

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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 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.

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 Committee needs to have sufficient funds to pay its

expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the fiscal year

for the Committee begins January 1, 1995, and the marketing order

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

assessable olives handled during the fiscal year; (3) handlers are

aware of this action which was recommended by the Committee at a public

meeting; 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 action.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 932

Marketing agreements, Olives, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 932 is

amended as follows:

PART 932--OLIVES GROWN IN CALIFORNIA

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 932 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. 932.228 is added to read as follows:

Sec. 932.228 Expenses and assessment rate.

Expenses of $2,881,650 by the California Olive Committee are

authorized and an assessment rate of $30.04 per ton of assessable

olives is established for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1995.

Unexpended funds may be carried over as a reserve.

Dated: January 18, 1995.

Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 95-1750 Filed 1-23-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P