Cranberries Grown in the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Long Island in the State of New York; Change in Reporting Requirements

SUMMARY: This proposal invites comments on a change to the reporting

requirements currently prescribed under the cranberry marketing order.

This rule also announces the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS)

intention to request a revision to the currently approved information

collection requirements issued under the marketing order. The marketing

order regulates the handling of cranberries grown in 10 States and is

administered locally by the Cranberry Marketing Committee (committee).

This rule would allow the committee to collect receipt and inventory

information from handlers on a different species of cranberries. This

rule would provide more accurate information to the cranberry industry

to be used in making marketing decisions.

DATES: Comments must be received by September 20, 1996. Pursuant to the

Paperwork Reduction Act, comments to the information collection burden

must be received by October 21, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments

concerning this proposal. Comments must be sent in triplicate to the

Docket Clerk, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, room 2525-S,

P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456, Fax # (202) 720-5698. All

comments should reference the docket number and the date and page

number of this issue of the Federal Register and will be made available

for public inspection in the Office of the Docket Clerk during regular

business hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia A. Petrella or Kathleen M.

Finn, Marketing Specialists, Marketing Order Administration Branch,

F&V, AMS, USDA, room 2522-S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456:

telephone: (202) 720-1509, Fax # (202) 720-5698.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This proposal is issued under Marketing

Order No. 929 (7 CFR Part 929), as amended, regulating the handling of

cranberries grown in 10 States, hereinafter referred to as the

``order.'' The order is 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 proposal has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil

Justice Reform. This rule is not intended to have retroactive effect.

This proposal 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. A 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 requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility

Act (RFA), the AMS has considered the economic impact of this action 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 25 handlers of cranberries who are subject

to regulation under the marketing order and approximately 1,400

producers of cranberries in the regulated area. Small agricultural

service firms, which includes handlers, have been defined by the Small

Business Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as those having annual

receipts of less than $5,000,000, and small agricultural producers are

defined as those having annual receipts of less than $500,000. The

majority of handlers and producers of cranberries may be classified as

small entities. Interested persons are invited to submit information on

the regulatory and informational impacts of this action on small

businesses.

Handlers are already required to complete a form four times a year

reporting all regulated cranberries on hand for a specified period, all

cranberries acquired and sold, and the new balance of cranberries on

hand. This rule would necessitate adding data to this form requiring

information on a new variety of cranberries not regulated under the

order. The form has an estimated burden time of two hours. No

additional burden time would be added to this form to acquire this

information. In addition, because the industry relies on the

comprehensive information provided by the committee, it is critical

that the committee obtain accurate information. This information would

be used in making marketing decisions and the additional burden on

handlers, if any, would not be significant.

Therefore, the AMS has determined that this action would not have a

significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

This proposal invites comments on a change to the reporting

requirements currently prescribed under the cranberry marketing order.

This rule would allow the committee to collect receipt and inventory

information from

[[Page 43187]]

handlers on a different species of cranberries. This rule would provide

more accurate information to the cranberry industry to be used in

making marketing decisions. The committee unanimously recommended the

above change.

This request for this information would be incorporated on the

handler inventory report, a form already used by the committee. The

request of this information should not constitute a significant burden

on a business unit, large or small. Currently, the estimated reporting

burden per response for the handler inventory report is two hours. The

burden time will not change with the additional data request.

Section 929.62(e) of the cranberry marketing order provides

authority to require handlers to furnish to the committee information

with respect to acquisitions and dispositions of cranberries. This

section also provides authority to require handlers to file reports to

the committee as to the quantity of cranberries handled by such handler

during any designated period.

Under the marketing order, cranberries are defined as all varieties

of the fruit Vaccinium macrocarpon grown in the production area. In

1995, the cranberry industry experienced a short crop coupled with

increased demand. To replace the shortage of Vaccinium macrocarpon,

handlers have supplemented their inventories with Vaccinium oxycoccus

which is a European species of cranberry, recognized by the Food and

Drug Administration as a cranberry. Because of the increase in volume

of this species of cranberry, it is important to the cranberry industry

to know the amount of Vaccinium oxycoccus that is being acquired and

utilized by handlers.

The order authorizes the committee to recommend limiting the

quantities of cranberries which may be handled during any fiscal

period. The Secretary would establish a volume regulation based on

information received from the committee if the Secretary found that

such regulation would effectuate the declared policy of the Act. The

committee is considered by the industry as the source for comprehensive

cranberry related data, primarily data relating to production,

supplies, utilization and inventories. Therefore, it is critical to the

committee to receive comprehensive information on cranberries.

The committee would be able to use this information on Vaccinium

oxycoccus when considering its decisions to implement volume regulation

within the industry. Since this species is not regulated under the

order, the committee would need to know the quantities and which

handlers have acquired Vaccinium oxycoccus in order to keep the data on

the non-regulated species separate and apart from the data on the

regulated species, Vaccinium macrocarpon.

Therefore, the committee recommended that section 929.105 be

revised by adding a new subparagraph (c) that would require that

handlers should also report on the same form as currently filed with

the committee, the total quantity of Vaccinium oxycoccus cranberries

the handler acquired and the disposition of such cranberries. Also, the

handler would be required to report the respective quantities of

Vaccinium oxycoccus cranberries and cranberry products held by the

handler.

The committee and its staff are responsible for keeping information

on individual handlers' inventories and receipt confidential.

Information gathered by the committee, including information relating

to supplies of this non-regulated species of cranberries, would only be

reported in the aggregate, along with other pertinent cranberry data.

A 30-day comment period is provided to allow interested persons to

respond to this proposal. All written comments timely received will be

considered before a final determination is made on this matter.

Paperwork Reduction Act

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35), the AMS announces its intention to request a revision to a

currently approved information collection for cranberries.

Title: Cranberries Grown in the States of Massachusetts, Rhode

Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon,

Washington, and Long Island in the State of New York, Marketing Order

No. 929.

OMB Number: 0581-0103.

Expiration Date of Approval: March 31, 1998.

Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved information

collection.

Abstract: The information collection requirements in this request

are essential to carry out the intent of the Act, to provide the

respondents the type of service they request, and to administer the

program.

This proposed rule would establish a requirement that each handler

report four times a year, on a revised report provided by the

committee, showing receipt and inventory information on a different

species of cranberries. This information collection would provide more

accurate information to the cranberry industry to be used in making

marketing decisions.

The information collected is used only by authorized

representatives of the USDA, including AMS, Fruit and Vegetable

Division regional and headquarters staff, and employees of the

committee. Committee employees are the primary users of the information

and AMS employees are the secondary users.

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting for this proposed collection

of information will not change the current form's estimated burden time

of two hours.

Respondents: Handlers of cranberries grown in the States of

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin,

Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Long Island in the State

of New York.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 1083.

Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 4.

Estimated Total Burden on Respondents: 874 hours.

Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the proposed collection of

information is necessary for the functioning of the cranberry marketing

order and the USDA's oversight of the program; (2) the accuracy of the

collection burden estimate and the validity of methodology and

assumptions used in estimating the burden on respondents; (3) ways to

enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information requested;

and (4) ways to minimize the burden, including use of automated or

electronic technologies.

Comments must be received by October 21, 1996. Comments should

reference OMB No. 0581-0103 and the Cranberry Marketing Order No. 929,

and be submitted to Kathleen M. Finn at the above address. All comments

received will be available for public inspection during regular

business hours at the same address. All responses to this note will be

summarized and included in the request for OMB approval.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 929

Marketing agreements, Cranberries, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 929 is

proposed to be amended as follows:

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 929 continues to read as

follows:

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

[[Page 43188]]

PART 929--CRANBERRIES GROWN IN THE STATES OF MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE

ISLAND, CONNECTICUT, NEW JERSEY, WISCONSIN, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA,

OREGON, WASHINGTON, AND LONG ISLAND IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Sec. 929.105 [Amended]

2. Section 929.105 is amended in paragraph (b) by adding the words

``and Vaccinium oxycoccus cranberries'' after the word ``cranberries''

everywhere the word appears and by adding the words ``and Vaccinium

oxycoccus cranberry products'' after the words ``cranberry products.''

Dated: August 14, 1996.

Robert C. Keeney,

Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 96-21211 Filed 8-20-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P