Irish Potatoes Grown in Washington; Expenses and Assessment Rate

SUMMARY: This interim final rule authorizes expenditures and

establishes an assessment rate under Marketing Order No. 946 for the

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

of Washington Potato 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.

DATES: Effective July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1996. Comments received

by May 8, 1995, will be considered prior to issuance of a final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments

concerning this 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: 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, OR 97204, telephone 503-326-

2724.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing

Agreement No. 113 and Order No. 946, both as amended (7 CFR part 946),

regulating the handling of Irish potatoes grown in Washington. 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 interim final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order

12778, Civil Justice Reform. Under the provisions of the marketing

order now in effect, Washington potatoes are subject to assessments. It

is intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be

applicable to all assessable potatoes handled during the 1995-96 fiscal

period, which begins July 1, 1995, and ends June 30, 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 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 the 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 Washington potatoes under

this marketing order, and approximately 50 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 Washington potato

producers and handlers may be classified as small entities.

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

by the State of Washington Potato 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 Washington potatoes. 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 Washington

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.

The Committee met February 22, 1995, and unanimously recommended a

1995-96 budget of $42,300, $4,200 more than the previous year. Budget

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

1994-95 (in parentheses) are: Miscellaneous, $2,000 ($1,500), audit,

$1,500 ($1,000), and compliance audits, $6,000 ($5,200).

[[Page 17434]] The Committee also recommended workman's compensation

tax expenses of $400 for which no funding was recommended last year and

$17,400 for an agreement with the Washington State Potato Commission to

provide certain services to the Committee as specified in the

agreement. Included in the $17,400 for this year are salaries and

salary expenses which were budgeted separately last year at $11,200 and

$1,800 and other expenses which were $2,400 for last year. In this

year's budget, these items are included under the Commission agreement.

The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of

$0.003 per hundredweight, $0.002 less than last season. This rate, when

applied to anticipated shipments of 9 million hundredweight, will yield

$27,000 in assessment income. This, along with $15,300 from the

Committee's authorized reserve will be adequate to cover budgeted

expenses. Funds in the reserve as of January 31, 1995, were $75,025,

which is within the maximum permitted by the order of two fiscal

periods' expenses.

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.

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 because: (1) The Committee needs to have sufficient funds to pay

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

period begins on July 1, 1995, and the marketing order requires that

the rate of assessment for the fiscal period apply to all assessable

potatoes handled during the fiscal period; (3) handlers are aware of

this rule which was unanimously recommended by the Committee at a

public meeting and is similar to other budget rules 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 946

Marketing agreements, Potatoes, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 946 is

amended as follows:

PART 946--IRISH POTATOES GROWN IN WASHINGTON

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 946 continues to read as

follows:

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

2. A new Sec. 946.247 is added to read as follows:

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

Regulations.

Sec. 946.247 Expenses and assessment rate.

Expenses of $42,300 by the State of Washington Potato Committee are

authorized, and an assessment rate of $0.003 per hundredweight of

assessable potatoes is established for the fiscal period ending June

30, 1996. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a reserve.

Dated: March 31, 1995.

Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 95-8425 Filed 4-5-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P