Irish Potatoes Grown in Colorado; 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 will

generate funds to pay those expenses. Authorization of this budget

enables the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, San Luis Valley

Office (Area II) (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: September 1, 1995, through August 31, 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 Dennis L. West, Northwest Marketing Field Office, Fruit and

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

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

2724.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing

Agreement No. 97 and Marketing Order No. 948, both as amended (7 CFR

part 948), regulating the handling of Irish potatoes grown in Colorado.

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 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, Colorado potatoes are subject to assessments. It is intended

that the assessment rate as issued herein will be applicable to all

assessable potatoes during the 1995-96 fiscal period, which begins

September 1, 1995, and ends August 31, 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 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 provisions 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. 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 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 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 285 producers of Colorado Area II potatoes

under the marketing order and approximately 118 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

Colorado Area II potato producers and handlers may be classified as

small entities.

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

by the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, San Luis Valley Office

(Area II), 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 Colorado Area II

potatoes. 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 Colorado Area II

potatoes. 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.

In Colorado, both a State and a Federal marketing order operate

simultaneously. The State order authorizes promotion, including paid

advertising, which the Federal order does not. All expenses in this

category are financed under the State order. The jointly operated

programs consume about equal administrative time and the two orders

continue to split administrative costs equally.

The Committee met on May 18, 1995, and unanimously recommended a

1995-96 budget of $62,328, which is $3,596 less than the previous year.

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

budgeted for 1994-95 (in parentheses) are: Audit fee, $975 ($900),

other office, $625 ($500), and utilities, $3,000 ($2,000). Items which

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

are: Assistant's salary, $8,256 ($10,320), part-time salary,

[[Page 40260]]

$3,640 ($3,822), major purchase, $2,125 ($2,250), and ($2,425) for

property tax, for which no funding was recommended this year. All other

items are budgeted at last year's amounts.

The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of

$0.0030 per hundredweight, $0.0006 less than last season. This rate,

when applied to anticipated potato shipments of 16,500,000

hundredweight, will yield $49,500 in assessment income. This, along

with $12,828 from the Committee's authorized reserve, will be adequate

to cover budgeted expenses. Funds of $101,064 in the Committee's

authorized reserve at the beginning of the 1994-95 fiscal period were

within the maximum permitted by the order of two fiscal periods'

expenses.

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

21, 1995 (60 FR 32260). That interim final rule added Sec. 948.214 to

authorize expenses and establish an assessment rate for the Committee.

That rule provided that interested persons could file comments through

July 21, 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 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 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.

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 Committee needs to have

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

basis. The 1995-96 fiscal period begins on September 1, 1995. The

marketing order requires that the rate of assessment for the fiscal

period apply to all assessable potatoes handled during the fiscal

period. In addition, handlers are aware of this action which was

unanimously 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 948

Marketing agreements, Potatoes, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

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

Regulations.

PART 948--IRISH POTATOES GROWN IN COLORADO

Accordingly, the interim final rule amending 7 CFR part 948, which

was published at 60 FR 32260 on June 21, 1995, is adopted as a final

rule without change.

Dated: August 1, 1995.

Martha B. Ransom,

Acting Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 95-19460 Filed 8-7-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P