This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

71273 

Vol. 88, No. 198 

Monday, October 16, 2023 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 989 

[Doc. No. AMS–SC–23–0007] 

Raisins Produced From Grapes Grown 

in California; Temporary Suspension 

of Continuance Referendum 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Interim final rule with request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: This rule temporarily 

suspends the continuance referendum 

requirement under the Federal 

marketing order for California raisins. 

The continuance referendum scheduled 

between November 2023 and November 

2025 overlaps with the timeframe the 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) 

plans to conduct a formal rulemaking to 

amend the marketing order. This 

suspension delays the enforcement of 

the continuance referendum 

requirement to give precedence to the 

formal rulemaking process, which may 

include a producer referendum. In 

addition, if the marketing order is 

amended, this temporary suspension 

provides industry time to operate under 

the amended marketing order before the 

next scheduled continuance 

referendum. 

DATES: Effective October 16, 2023, 7 

CFR 989.91(c) is stayed through 

November 26, 2029. Comments received 

by November 15, 2023 to be assured of 

consideration. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments 

concerning this rule. Comments must be 

sent to the Docket Clerk, Market 

Development Division, Specialty Crops 

Program, AMS, USDA, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, STOP 0237, 

Washington, DC 20250–0237; Fax: (202) 

720–8938; or via internet at: https://

www.regulations.gov. Comments should 

reference the document number and the 

date and page number of this issue of 

the Federal Register. All comments 

submitted in response to this rule will 

be included in the record and will be 

made available to the public on the 

internet at the address provided above. 

Please be advised that the identity of the 

individuals or entities submitting the 

comments will be made public. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christy Pankey, Marketing Specialist, or 

Matthew Pavone, Branch Chief, 

Rulemaking Services Branch, Market 

Development Division, Specialty Crops 

Program, AMS, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW, Stop 0237, Washington, DC 

20250–0237; Telephone: (202) 720–2491 

Fax: (202) 720–8938, or Email: 

MarketOrderComment@usda.gov. 

Small businesses may request 

information on complying with this 

regulation by contacting Richard Lower, 

Market Development Division, Specialty 

Crops Program, AMS, USDA, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, STOP 0237, 

Washington, DC 20250–0237; 

Telephone: (202) 720–2491, or Email: 

Richard.Lower@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

action, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, 

amends regulations issued to carry out 

a marketing order as defined in 7 CFR 

900.2(j). This rule is issued under 

Marketing Order No. 989, both as 

amended (7 CFR part 989), hereinafter 

referred to as the ‘‘Order,’’ and the 

applicable provisions of the Agricultural 

Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as 

amended (7 U.S.C. 601–674), hereinafter 

referred to as the ‘‘Act.’’ The Raisin 

Administrative Committee (Committee) 

locally administers the Order and is 

comprised of growers and handlers of 

raisins operating within the area of 

production and a public member. The 

Committee consists of 47 members of 

whom 35 shall represent producers, 10 

shall represent handlers, 1 shall 

represent the cooperative bargaining 

association(s) and 1 shall be a public 

member. 

The Agricultural Marketing Service 

(AMS) is issuing this rule in 

conformance with Executive Orders 

12866, 13563, and 14094. Executive 

Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies 

to assess costs and benefits of available 

regulatory alternatives and, if regulation 

is necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). Executive Order 13563 

emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits, 

reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and 

promoting flexibility. Executive Order 

14094 directs agencies to conduct 

proactive outreach to engage interested 

and affected parties through a variety of 

means, such as through field offices, 

and alternative platforms and media. 

This action falls within a category of 

regulatory actions that the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

exempted from Executive Order 12866 

review. 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 13175—Consultation 

and Coordination with Indian Tribal 

Governments, which requires agencies 

to consider whether their rulemaking 

actions would have Tribal implications. 

AMS has determined that this rule is 

unlikely to have substantial direct 

effects on one or more Indian Tribes, on 

the relationship between the Federal 

Government and Indian Tribes, or on 

the distribution of power and 

responsibilities between the Federal 

Government and Indian Tribes. 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform. This rule is not intended to 

have retroactive effect. 

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 Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) 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, USDA 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 to 

review USDA’s ruling on the petition, 

provided an action is filed no later than 

20 days after the date of the entry of the 

ruling. 

This rule temporarily suspends the 

continuance referendum requirement 

under section 989.91(c). On October 20, 


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71274 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 198 / Monday, October 16, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

2022, the Committee recommended 

amending the marketing order through 

formal rulemaking and, in a separate 

request, recommended the suspension 

of the continuance referendum 

scheduled to occur sometime between 

November 2023 and November 2025. 

The Committee believes the suspension 

would eliminate any potential 

confusion among producers voting in 

two referendums in a two-year period. 

Section 989.91(b) states that the 

Secretary shall terminate or suspend the 

operation of any or all provisions of the 

Order, whenever the Secretary finds that 

such provisions do not tend to 

effectuate the declared policy of the Act. 

Section 989.91(c) specifies the Secretary 

shall conduct a referendum no less than 

five crop years and no later than six 

crop years from November 26, 2018, to 

ascertain whether continuance of the 

Order is favored by producers. The 

requirement also specifies that 

subsequent referenda be conducted 

every six crop years thereafter. By this 

requirement, the timing of the next 

continuance referendum is scheduled to 

occur sometime between November 

2023 and November 2025. AMS 

identifies this period as the same period 

when the formal rulemaking process 

would occur, which may also include 

its own referendum vote. In view of the 

anticipated time necessary to complete 

the proposed formal rulemaking action 

and the likelihood of an amendatory 

referendum being conducted within two 

years of the scheduled continuance 

referendum, AMS determined that the 

continuance referendum requirement 

should be suspended to minimize 

confusion among voters. Secondly, AMS 

determined that to conduct a 

continuance referendum during the 

same period for when the formal 

rulemaking is expected to occur would 

not allow the industry time to fully 

consider the impact of potentially new 

amendments to the Order. For these 

reasons, the continuance referendum 

requirement would not tend to 

effectuate the declared policy of the Act 

for that period of time, and therefore, 

AMS has determined not to conduct the 

continuance referendum at the time 

required by the Order. 

Alternatively, AMS considered 

suspending the continuance referendum 

until immediately after the conclusion 

of the formal rulemaking. However, this 

timing would still result in multiple 

referenda occurring within the same 2- 

year period, which may cause voter 

confusion, and would prevent 

producers from having adequate time to 

evaluate any potential results of the 

amendatory process before voting on the 

continuance of the Order. To address 

these temporal concerns, AMS 

determined that the suspension of the 

continuance referendum requirement 

should extend until 2029, which is on 

course with the original structure of the 

timeframe under the Order as discussed 

in the preceding paragraph. This 

suspension would provide industry and 

the Committee time to assess the 

benefits of amendments resulting from 

the formal rulemaking, if any, prior to 

the continuance referendum, prevent 

any voter confusion, and also maintain 

the structure of the timetable in the 

Order. Based on that timetable, a 

continuance referendum would be 

conducted to determine if California 

raisin producers sufficiently support the 

Order as amended. 

This rule suspends the continuance 

referendum requirement under section 

989.91(c). The next scheduled 

continuance referendum will be 

conducted sometime between November 

2029 and November 2030. 

A 30-day comment period is provided 

to allow interested persons to respond 

to this interim final rule. AMS will 

consider all written comments received 

prior to the issuance of a final rule. 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Pursuant to requirements set forth in 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 

U.S.C. 601–612), AMS considered the 

economic impact of this action on small 

entities. Accordingly, AMS prepared 

this regulatory flexibility analysis. The 

purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory 

actions to the scale of businesses that 

are subject to such actions so that small 

businesses will not be unduly or 

disproportionately burdened by the 

action. Marketing orders issued 

pursuant to the Act, and the rules issued 

thereunder, are unique in that they are 

brought through group action of 

essentially small entities acting on their 

own behalf. 

Presently, there are approximately 18 

handlers of raisins subject to regulation 

under the Order and approximately 

2,000 raisin producers in the regulated 

area. 

Small agricultural producers are 

defined by the Small Business 

Administration (SBA) as those having 

annual receipts of less than $4,000,000 

(NAICS code 111332, Grape Vineyards). 

Small agricultural service firms are 

defined by the SBA as those having 

annual receipts of less than $34,000,000 

(NAICS code 115114, Postharvest Crop 

Activities) (13 CFR 121.201). 

Using USDA National Agricultural 

Statistics Service (NASS) data, the 2021 

season average value of utilized 

production of California processed 

raisin-type grapes (most of which are 

dried into raisins) is $393.649 million. 

Dividing that figure by 2,000 producers 

yields an annual average revenue per 

producer of $196,825, well below the 

SBA large farm size of threshold of 

$4,000,000. In terms of annual sales of 

processed raisin-type grapes, the 

majority of producers may be classified 

as small entities. 

Dividing the $393.649 million crop 

value figure by 18 handlers yields an 

average annual sales per handler 

estimate of $21,869,389. This annual 

average sales figure is measured at the 

producer-level crop value, and to draw 

conclusions about the proportion of 

small handlers, a handler margin 

estimate is needed. 

There is no current publicly available 

estimate of an average raisin handler 

margin, but a 1988 economic study of 

the California raisin industry estimated 

producer-handler average margins of 

about 30 percent for bulk raisin 

shipments and about 60 percent for 

packaged shipments. Current handler 

margins are likely somewhat smaller, 

since the study was completed more 

than three decades ago, and current bulk 

handling and packaging technologies 

are more efficient. 

An alternative method to compute an 

average handler margin for packaged 

raisins is to compare the NASS season 

average grower price per ton for 

processed raisin-type grapes (converted 

to its dried weight equivalent) with an 

average price per ton for packaged 

raisins that USDA paid under its 

Commodity Procurement Program in 

recent years ($1.41 per pound, $2,820 

per ton). The NASS 2021 season average 

grower price for raisin-type grapes was 

$369 per ton. Using a standard 

conversion factor of 4.62 to convert to 

a dried-weight equivalent, the price per 

ton for raisins is $1,705 ($369 × 4.62). 

A computed handler margin estimate is 

65 percent ($2,820/$1,705¥1). Since the 

Commodity Procurement average price 

includes shipping cost to recipient 

locations, the 65 percent margin is 

moderately overstated. 

If a handler had annual raisin sales of 

exactly $34 million (the SBA large firm 

size threshold) that would mean a 

handler margin of 55 percent above the 

producer level ($34,000,000/ 

$21,869,389). 

Since both abovementioned margin 

estimates for packaged raisin shipments 

(60 and 65 percent) are close to the 55 

percent margin implied by the $34 

million SBA size threshold, it can be 

concluded that there are raisin handlers 

with annual sales both above and below 

the size threshold. It is reasonable to 

assume that fewer than 9 of the 18 

handlers have annual raisin sales well 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 198 / Monday, October 16, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 71275 

above $34 million. Therefore, more than 

9, a majority of handlers, have raisin 

sales below $34 million and may be 

classified as small entities. 

On October 20, 2022, the Committee 

recommended that AMS postpone the 

scheduled continuance referendum to 

avoid the referendum period 

overlapping with a formal rulemaking to 

amend the Order and any potential 

confusion it would otherwise cause 

producers. After considering the 

Committee’s request, AMS determined 

that the scheduled continuance 

referendum should be suspended while 

AMS conducts a formal rulemaking to 

amend the Order and, if effectuated, 

while the industry operates under such 

amended Order. 

Section 989.91(b) authorizes the 

Secretary to terminate or suspend the 

operation of any or all provisions of the 

Order, whenever the Secretary finds that 

such provisions do not tend to 

effectuate the declared policy of the act. 

This interim final rule suspends the 

continuance referendum requirement 

under section 989.91(c) of the Federal 

marketing order regulating the handling 

of raisins produced from grapes grown 

in California. The next scheduled 

continuance referendum will be 

conducted no earlier than November 26, 

2029. AMS will consider all comments 

received prior to publication of a final 

rule in the Federal Register. 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35), the Order’s information 

collection requirements have been 

previously approved by OMB and 

assigned OMB No. 0581–0178, 

Vegetable and Specialty Crops. No 

changes are necessary in those 

requirements as a result of this rule. 

Should any changes become necessary, 

they would be submitted to OMB for 

approval. 

This interim final rule does not 

impose any additional reporting or 

recordkeeping requirements on either 

small or large raisin handlers. As with 

all Federal marketing order programs, 

reports and forms are periodically 

reviewed to reduce information 

requirements and duplication by 

industry and public sector agencies. 

AMS has not identified any relevant 

Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or 

conflict with this interim final rule. 

AMS is committed to complying with 

the E-Government Act, to promote the 

use of the internet and other 

information technologies to provide 

increased opportunities for citizen 

access to Government information and 

services, and for other purposes. 

A small business guide on complying 

with fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop 

marketing agreements and orders may 

be viewed at: https://

www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/ 

moa/small-businesses. Any questions 

about the compliance guide should be 

sent to Richard Lower at the previously 

mentioned address in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section. 

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 section 989.91(c) does not tend 

to effectuate the declared policy of the 

Act for the period specified herein and 

should be stayed for that period. 

This interim final rule invites 

comments on the temporary suspension 

of the continuance referendum 

requirement under Marketing Order 

989, which regulates the handling of 

raisins produced from grapes grown in 

California. A 30-day comment period is 

provided to allow interested persons to 

respond to this rule. All written 

comments timely received will be 

considered before a final rule is 

published in the Federal Register. 

Good Cause Analysis 

Pursuant to section 553(b)(B) of the 

Administrative Procedure Act, notice 

and comment are not required prior to 

the issuance of a final rule if an agency, 

for good cause, finds that ‘‘notice and 

public procedure thereon are 

impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary 

to the public interest.’’ 

AMS has 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 

this rule should be implemented as soon 

as possible since the continuance 

referendum period was originally 

scheduled during this time period and 

the potential formal rulemaking will 

likely begin soon, the Committee 

discussed this issue at public meetings 

and unanimously recommended a 

suspension of the continuance 

referendum, and the rule provides a 

comment period and any comments 

received will be considered prior to 

finalization of this rule. 

For the reasons stated above, AMS 

also finds that good cause exists for the 

interim final rule to be effective upon 

publication in the Federal Register. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 989 

Grapes, Marketing agreements, 

Raisins, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Agricultural Marketing 

Service amends 7 CFR part 989 as 

follows: 

PART 989—RAISINS PRODUCED 

FROM GRAPES GROWN IN 

CALIFORNIA 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 989 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

§ 989.91 Suspension or termination. 

■ 2. In § 989.91, paragraph (c) is stayed 

from October 16, 2023 through 

November 26, 2029. 

Erin Morris, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22334 Filed 10–13–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture 

7 CFR Part 3434 

RIN 0524–AA39 

Hispanic-Serving Agricultural Colleges 

and Universities (HSACU) Certification 

Process 

AGENCY: National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture (NIFA), Department of 

Agriculture (USDA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This amendment to NIFA 

regulations updates the list of 

institutions that are granted HispanicServing Agricultural Colleges and 

Universities (HSACU) certification by 

the Secretary and are eligible for 

HSACU programs for the period starting 

July 1, 2023, and ending July 1, 2024. 

DATES: This rule is effective October 16, 

2023, and applicable July 1, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amanda Sahinovic; Financial Policy 

Specialist; National Institute of Food 

and Agriculture; U.S. Department of 

Agriculture; 805 Pennsylvania Ave.; 

Kansas City, MO 64105; Voice: 816– 

266–9905; Email: HSACU@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

HSACU Institutions, 2023–2024: This 

rule makes changes to the existing list 

of institutions in appendix B of 7 CFR 

part 3434. The list of institutions is 

amended to reflect the institutions that 

are granted HSACU certification by the 

Secretary and are eligible for HSACU 

programs for the period starting July 1, 

2023, and ending July 1, 2024. 

Certification Process: As stated in 7 

CFR 3434.4, an institution must meet 


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