Expenses and Assessment Rate for the 1995-96 Fiscal Year for the Marketing Order Covering Cranberries Grown in States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Long Island in the State of New York

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7 CFR Part 929

[Docket No. FV95-929-2FIR]

Expenses and Assessment Rate for the 1995-96 Fiscal Year for the

Marketing Order Covering Cranberries Grown in States of Massachusetts,

Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota,

Oregon, Washington, and Long Island in the State of New York

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture (Department) is adopting as a

final rule, without change, the provisions of the interim final rule

which authorized expenses and established an assessment rate for the

Cranberry Marketing Committee (Committee) under Marketing Order No. 929

for the 1995-96 fiscal year. Authorization of this budget enables the

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 beginning September 1, 1995, through August 31, 1996.

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

Finn, Marketing Order Administration Branch, F&V, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box

96456, Room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone: (202) 720-

5127.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule is issued under Marketing

Agreement and Order No. 929 (7 CFR Part 929), as amended, regulating

the handling of cranberries grown in Massachusetts, Rhode Island,

Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon,

Washington, and Long Island in the State of New York, 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 is issuing this rule in conformance with Executive

Order 12866.

[[Page 50080]]

This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778,

Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order provisions now in

effect, cranberries grown in 10 states are subject to assessments. It

is intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be

applicable to all assessable cranberries during the 1995-96 fiscal year

beginning September 1, 1995, through 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 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 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 30 handlers of cranberries who are subject

to regulation under the cranberry marketing order and approximately

1,050 producers of cranberries in the regulated area. 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

cranberry producers and handlers may be classified as small entities.

The cranberry marketing order, administered by the Department,

requires that the assessment rate for a particular fiscal year apply to

all assessable cranberries handled from the beginning of such year. The

budget of expenses for the 1995-96 fiscal year was 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 producers of cranberries. 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 an appropriate budget.

The assessment rate recommended by the Committee was derived by

dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of cranberries.

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

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

Committee's expected expenses. The recommended budget and rate of

assessment are usually acted upon by the Committee shortly before a

season starts, and expenses are incurred on a continuous basis.

Therefore, the budget and assessment rate approval must be expedited so

that the Committee will have funds to pay its expenses.

The Committee conducted a mail vote and unanimously recommended

1995-96 marketing order expenses of $201,336 and an assessment rate of

$0.03 per 100-pound barrel of cranberries. In comparison, 1994-95

budgeted expenses were $164,690. The 1995-96 marketing year budgeted

expenditures of $210,336 are $36,646 more than the previous fiscal

year. The increase is due to the funding of two new research projects

for the 1995-96 season. The assessment rate will remain unchanged from

the previous fiscal year.

Assessment income for 1995-96 is estimated to total $136,320 based

on anticipated fresh domestic shipments of $4,544,000 barrels of

cranberries. The assessment income, plus $4,375 in interest income and

a withdrawal of $60,641 from the Committee's authorized reserve fund

will be adequate to cover budgeted expenses. Funds in the reserve at

the end of the 1994-95 fiscal year are estimated to be

$150,000. The reserve fund will be within the maximum permitted by

the order of one fiscal year's expenses.

Major expense categories for the 1995-96 fiscal year include

$71,345 for operating expenses, $41,000 for travel expenses, and

$35,788 for research projects.

An interim final rule regarding this action was published in the

August 10, 1995, Federal Register (60 FR 40745), with a 30-day comment

period ending September 11, 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 from 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.

It is found that the specified expenses for the marketing order

covered in this rule are reasonable and likely to be incurred and that

such expenses and the specified assessment rate to cover such expenses

will tend to effectuate the declared policy of the Act.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, 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 because: (1) The

Committee needs to have sufficient funds to pay its expenses which are

incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the 1995-96 fiscal year for the

program began September 1, 1995, and the marketing order requires that

the rate of assessment apply to all assessable cranberries handled

during the fiscal year; and (3) an interim final rule was published on

this action and provided for a 30-day comment period; no comments were

received.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 929

Cranberries, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

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

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

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

Accordingly, the interim final rule amending 7 CFR Part 929 which

was published at 60 FR 40745 on August 10, 1995, is adopted as a final

rule without change.

Dated: September 22, 1995.

Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 95- 24045 Filed 9-27-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P