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[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 200 (Monday, October 16, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 61080-61083]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-26487]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 956

[Docket No. FV00-956-1 IFR]

Sweet Onions Grown in the Walla Walla Valley of Southeast 
Washington and Northeast Oregon; Revision of Administrative Rules and 
Regulations

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

[[Page 61081]]

ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This rule modifies the handler assessment and reporting 
requirements under the Walla Walla sweet onion marketing order. The 
marketing order regulates the handling of sweet onions grown in the 
Walla Walla Valley and is administered locally by the Walla Walla Sweet 
Onion Marketing Committee (Committee). For sweet onions handled during 
the period September 1 through May 31 of each fiscal period, this rule 
provides dates by which handlers must pay assessments and furnish 
reports to the Committee that reflect new cultural and storage 
practices that have extended the traditional mid-summer marketing 
season.

DATES: Effective October 17, 2000; comments received by December 15, 
2000 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 to the Docket Clerk, Fruit 
and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, room 2525-S, P.O. Box 96456, 
Washington, DC 20090-6456; Fax: (202) 720-5698, or E-mail: 
[email protected]. 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, or can be viewed at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/moab.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert J. Curry, Northwest Marketing 
Field Office, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and 
Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1220 SW Third Avenue, suite 385, 
Portland, Oregon 97204-2807; telephone: (503) 326-2724, Fax: (503) 326-
7440; or George Kelhart, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit 
and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, room 2525-S, P.O. Box 96456, 
Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone: (202) 720-2491, Fax: (202) 720-
5698.
    Small businesses may request information on complying with this 
regulation by contacting Jay Guerber, Marketing Order Administration 
Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, room 2525-S, P.O. Box 
96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone: (202) 720-2491, Fax: (202) 
720-5698, or E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing 
Agreement and Order No. 956, as amended (7 CFR part 956), regulating 
the handling of sweet onions grown in the Walla Walla Valley of 
Southeast Washington and Northeast Oregon, 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 rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil 
Justice Reform. This rule provides dates by which handlers must pay 
assessments and furnish reports to the Committee that reflect new 
cultural and storage practices for sweet onions handled during the 
period September 1 through May 31 of each fiscal period. This 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 to review the 
Secretary's ruling on the petition, provided an action is filed not 
later than 20 days after the date of the entry of the ruling.
    Section 956.41 of the order provides the Committee with the 
authority to establish an annual budget of expenditures and Sec. 956.42 
provides authority for the Committee to levy assessments upon handlers 
of Walla Walla sweet onions to provide adequate funds to defray such 
expenditures. Section 956.202 establishes the current assessment rate 
of $0.21 per 50-pound bag of Walla Walla sweet onions handled. Section 
956.42 also provides the Committee with the authority to impose an 
interest charge on any handler who fails to pay any assessment in a 
timely manner, and Sec. 956.142 of the order's administrative rules and 
regulations establishes rate of interest and the date such interest 
charge begins to accrue. Section 956.80 establishes the authority for 
the Committee to require handler reports, while Sec. 956.180 provides 
the rules and regulations necessary for the Committee to implement and 
administer such reporting requirements.
    For sweet onions handled on or after September 1, this rule 
modifies the date handlers must pay assessments and furnish reports to 
the Committee. These changes recognize new cultural and storage 
practices that have extended the traditional mid-summer marketing 
season. The changes provide dates by which handlers must pay 
assessments and submit reports on shipments made in September or later. 
This rule was unanimously recommended by the Committee on August 15, 
2000.
    Sections 956.142 (interest charges) and 956.180 (reports) were 
established in August 1996 to foster prompt assessment payments and to 
ensure that adequate funds would be available to cover budgeted 
expenses incurred by the Committee under the order. Section 956.180 
established reporting requirements for providing the Committee with 
statistical information regarding total industry shipments and is used 
as a basis for assessment collection. This information also is useful 
for the development of a budget and in making marketing and promotion 
plans for the upcoming season. Section 956.142 establishes an 
assessment due date and an interest charge on any handler who fails to 
pay his or her assessments within thirty days of the due date. The 
assessment due date is September 1, and the monthly interest charge on 
delinquent assessments is 1.5 percent.
    Historically, Walla Walla sweet onions have been planted in the 
fall, then harvested and marketed from late June to early August. Due 
to the short shelf life of this traditionally non-storage, summer 
onion, the marketing season has closely followed the annual harvest. 
However, recent changes in cultural and storage practices within the 
Walla Walla sweet onion industry are lengthening the marketing season 
for some of the sweet onions produced in the Walla Walla Valley. A few 
producers have been planting sweet onions in the spring, thereby 
extending the traditional mid-summer harvest into late summer or early 
fall. In addition, Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage has been 
introduced this season, and the potential now exists for extending the 
marketing season further into the fall and early winter season.
    By extending the due dates for assessments and reports on sweet 
onions handled on or after September 1, this action provides Walla 
Walla sweet

[[Page 61082]]

onion handlers more time to comply with these requirements. This will 
enable them to take advantage of the expanding marketing season. The 
Committee will continue to require that assessments be paid and reports 
submitted by September 1 for onions handled in June, July, and August.
    For assessments due on sweet onions handled prior to September 1, 
the monthly interest charge of 1.5 percent will continue to accrue 
after September 30. For assessments due on sweet onions handled during 
the period September 1 through May 31 of each fiscal period, interest 
charges will begin accruing 30 days after the handler's report of 
shipments is due.
    Handlers marketing their sweet onions prior to September 1 will 
continue to submit reports (Committee Form No. 1's) showing weekly and 
seasonal totals by September 1, and assessments for their shipments to 
the Committee no later than September 30 to avoid late payment interest 
charges. For shipments during the period September 1 through May 31 of 
each fiscal period, handlers will submit a separate report, along with 
the appropriate assessment payment, for each monthly period that they 
continue to make shipments. Such report will be due at the office of 
the Committee no later than 30 days following the end of the month in 
which shipments were made. Assessments will be due within thirty (30) 
days of the last day of the month in which the shipments are made. For 
example, a handler shipping Walla Walla sweet onions anytime during the 
month of September would furnish the shipment report to the Committee 
no later than October 30. In this example, the report would contain the 
number of 50-pound equivalents of Walla Walla sweet onions shipped by 
such handler during each week in September, along with the monthly 
total of shipments and a check for the appropriate assessment amount. 
This reporting and payment schedule continues for each monthly period 
Walla Walla sweet onions are handled after September 1.
    With the introduction of spring planting and CA storage for Walla 
Walla sweet onions and the associated extension of the traditional 
marketing season, this action is necessary to ensure that adequate 
Committee operating funds are obtained in a timely manner, that 
producers and handlers are treated equitably and have the needed 
flexibility to produce and market their crop as they desire, and that 
consumers have an extended season in which to purchase Walla Walla 
sweet onions.
    Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (RFA), the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has considered the 
economic impact of this action on small entities. Accordingly, the AMS 
has prepared this initial regulatory flexibility analysis.
    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 30 handlers of Walla Walla sweet onions who 
are subject to regulation under the order and approximately 60 sweet 
onion producers in the regulated production area. Small agricultural 
service firms are defined by the Small Business Administration (13 CFR 
121.201) 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 Committee estimates that all of the handlers of Walla Walla 
sweet onions ship under $5,000,000 worth of sweet onions on an annual 
basis. In addition, based on acreage, production, and producer prices 
reported by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, and the total 
number of onion producers in the regulated production area, the average 
gross annual producer revenue from sweet onions was about $117,000 in 
1999, the most recent year statistics are available. Based on this 
information, it can be concluded that the majority of Walla Walla sweet 
onion handlers and producers may be classified as small entities, 
excluding receipts from other sources.
    Based on authority in Secs. 956.42 and 956.80, the Committee 
unanimously recommended this action at a public meeting on August 15, 
2000. Specifically, for sweet onions handled on or after September 1, 
this rule modifies the date handlers must pay assessments 
(Sec. 956.142) and furnish reports (Sec. 956.180) to the Committee. 
These changes are being made to recognize new cultural and storage 
practices that will extend the traditional mid-summer marketing season 
to mid-winter, and would provide handlers more time to pay assessments 
and file reports on these later shipments.
    Regarding the impact of this action on affected entities, sweet 
onion handlers will not be forced into noncompliance because they will 
be able to pay assessments and submit shipment reports later than 
currently provided. When the current deadlines were established, the 
Committee did not envision shipments being made in September or later. 
Walla Walla sweet onions have a relatively high market value, but 
generally must be harvested and sold within a short time period between 
late June and early August. By extending the marketing season, 
producers and handlers hope to increase their returns while providing 
consumers with unique, highly demanded sweet onions during a period of 
time such onions are usually not available.
    The Committee estimates that during the current marketing season 
only a limited amount of sweet onions may be handled on or after 
September 1 and into early winter. The Committee has been informed, 
however, that an additional 1,300 acres of sweet onions may be planted 
for the 2001 marketing season with many of the onions possibly going 
into CA storage. Approximately 800 acres of Walla Walla sweet onions 
were planted for the 2000 season.
    The Committee discussed alternatives to the recommendation, 
including leaving the regulations unmodified. However, the Committee 
decided that it did not have the option of leaving the regulations 
unmodified because some handler assessment obligations are expected to 
accrue during the period September 1 through May 31 of each fiscal 
period. Another alternative discussed would have changed the 
regulations to require the submission of reports and assessments for 
the entire crop, regardless of when marketed, within 30 to 60 days of 
the date of shipment. The Committee rejected this option because it 
felt that the bulk of the Walla Walla sweet onion crop will continue to 
be marketed during the traditional mid-summer season, and it wants to 
ensure that an adequate income is received early in the fiscal period 
to offset expenditures. The fiscal period begins June 1 and ends May 
31.
    The Committee uses Form No. 1, Handler's Statement of Walla Walla 
Sweet Onion Shipments, for collecting assessments and statistical data. 
This form has traditionally been mailed to handlers in mid-August with 
the requirement that it be returned by September 1. Handler assessments 
are due within 30 days of September 1 to avoid imposition of the 1.5 
percent per month interest charge for overdue assessments. The 
Committee has revised Form No. 1 to reflect the changes made herein.
    The Committee estimates that only two of the currently regulated 
handlers in the Walla Walla sweet onion

[[Page 61083]]

production area may initially ship sweet onions on or after September 
1. The Committee also estimates that the revised Form No. 1 will 
continue to take approximately 25 minutes to complete. With only two 
handlers submitting reports on October 31 and possibly again on 
November 30, for example, the total additional burden on the industry 
for the information reporting requirements for sweet onions shipped on 
or after September 1 would approximate 100 minutes per year. Thus, 
while this rule will impose some additional reporting requirements, the 
burden is currently approved under OMB No. 0581-0078 by the Office of 
Management and Budget in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). The Agricultural Marketing Service has 
notified the Office of Management and Budget of this change in burden.
    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. In addition, the 
Department has not identified any relevant Federal rules that 
duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this rule.
    The Committee's meeting was widely publicized throughout the Walla 
Walla sweet onion industry and all interested persons were invited to 
attend the meeting and participate in Committee deliberations on all 
issues. Like all Committee meetings, the August 15, 2000, meeting was a 
public meeting and all entities, both large and small, were able to 
express views on this issue. Further, interested persons are invited to 
submit information on the regulatory and informational impacts of this 
action on small businesses.
    A small business guide on complying with fruit, vegetable, and 
specialty crop marketing agreements and orders may be viewed at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/moab.html. Any questions about the compliance 
guide should be sent to Jay Guerber at the previously mentioned address 
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
    After consideration of all relevant material presented, including 
the Committee's recommendation, and other information, it is found that 
this interim final rule, as hereinafter set forth, will tend to 
effectuate the declared policy of the Act.
    This rule invites comments on providing handlers more time to meet 
assessment and reporting requirements for Walla Walla sweet onions 
handled during the period September 1 through May 31 of each fiscal 
period. Any comments received will be considered prior to finalization 
of this rule.
    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 and that good cause exists for not postponing the effective date 
of this rule until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register 
because: (1) This rule provides relaxed assessment and reporting 
requirements for Walla Walla sweet onions handled during the period 
September 1 through May 31 of each fiscal period; (2) this rule needs 
to be effective promptly so handlers will be able to market their sweet 
onions on or after September 1, 2000, and be in compliance with order 
requirements; (3) the Committee unanimously recommended this change at 
a public meeting, and interested parties had an opportunity to provide 
input; and (4) this rule provides a 60-day comment period, and any 
comments received will be considered prior to finalization of this 
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

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 956 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. Section 956.142 is revised to read as follows:

Sec. 956.142  Interest charges.

    For Walla Walla Sweet Onions handled prior to September 1, the 
Committee shall impose an interest charge on any handler who fails to 
pay his or her annual assessments within thirty (30) days of the due 
date of September 1. For Walla Walla Sweet Onions handled during the 
period September 1 through May 31 of each fiscal period, the Committee 
shall impose an interest charge on any handler who fails to pay his or 
her assessments within thirty (30) days of the last day of the month in 
which such shipments are made. The interest charge shall be 1\1/2\ 
percent of the unpaid assessment balance. In the event the handler 
fails to pay the delinquent assessment amount within 60 days following 
the due date, the 1\1/2\ percent interest charge shall be applied 
monthly thereafter to the unpaid balance, including any accumulated 
interest. Any amount paid by a handler as an assessment, including any 
charges imposed pursuant to this paragraph, shall be credited when the 
payment is received in the Committee office.

    3. In Sec. 956.180, the introductory text is revised to read as 
follows:

Sec. 956.180  Reports.

    Each handler shall furnish to the Committee a report containing the 
information in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this section, except 
that gift box and roadside stand sales shall be exempt from paragraph 
(b) of this section: Provided, That for Walla Walla Sweet Onions 
handled prior to September 1, such report shall be furnished to the 
Committee by September 1, and that for Walla Walla Sweet Onions handled 
during the period September 1 through May 31 of each fiscal period, 
such report shall be furnished to the Committee no later than thirty 
(30) days after the end of the month in which such sweet onions were 
handled:
* * * * *

    Dated: October 10, 2000.
Robert C. Keeney,
Deputy Administrator, Fruit and Vegetable Programs.
[FR Doc. 00-26487 Filed 10-13-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
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