Sweet Onions Grown in the Walla Walla Valley of Southeast Washington and Northeast Oregon; 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 under Marketing Order No. 956 for

the 1995-96 fiscal period. Authorization of this budget enables the

Walla Walla Sweet 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: June 1, 1995, through May 31, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martha Sue Clark, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, PO 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 and Order No. 956 (7 CFR part 956) regulating the handling of

Sweet Onions grown in the Walla Walla Valley of Southeast Washington

and Northeast 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 marketing order now in effect Walla Walla

Sweet Onion handlers are subject to assessments. Funds to administer

the Walla Walla Sweet Onion order are derived from such assessments. It

is intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be

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

which began June 1, 1995, and ends May 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 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 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 50 producers of Walla Walla Sweet Onions

under this marketing order, and approximately 9 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

Walla Walla Sweet Onion producers and handlers may be classified as

small entities.

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

by the Walla Walla Sweet 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 Walla Walla Sweet Onions. They are familiar with the

Committee's needs and with the costs of 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 Walla Walla

Sweet 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 order became effective May 19, 1995, and the Committee met on

June 7, 1995, and unanimously recommended an initial budget of $72,000.

Expense items include $12,000 for a manager or management services,

$15,000 for management support services, $1,000 for a financial audit,

$1,000 for staff travel, $2,500 for Committee travel, $10,000 for

research projects, $12,000 for promotion projects, $3,000 for

compliance, $6,000 for Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act

expenses, and $9,500 for a miscellaneous fund for contingency and

reserve.

The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of

$0.12 per 50-pound bag or equivalent.

[[Page 45326]]

This rate when applied to anticipated onion shipments of 600,000 bags

will yield $72,000 in assessment income, which will be adequate to

cover budgeted expenses.

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

5, 1995 (60 FR 34843). That interim final rule added Sec. 956.201 to

authorize expenses and establish an assessment rate for the Committee.

That rule provided that interested persons could file comments through

August 4, 1995. No comments were received.

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 will be offset by the benefits derived by 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 material 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 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 June 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 956

Marketing agreements, Onions, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 956 is

amended as follows:

PART 956--SWEET ONIONS GROWN IN THE WALLA WALLA VALLEY OF SOUTHEAST

WASHINGTON AND NORTHEAST OREGON

Accordingly, the interim final rule adding Sec. 956.201 which was

published at 60 FR 34843 on July 5, 1995, is adopted as a final rule

without change.

Dated: August 25, 1995.

Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 95-21652 Filed 8-30-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P