This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

86287 

Vol. 89, No. 210 

Wednesday, October 30, 2024 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 983 

[Doc. No. AMS–SC–24–0021] 

Pistachios Grown in California, 

Arizona and New Mexico; Decreased 

Assessment Rate 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would 

implement a recommendation from the 

Administrative Committee for 

Pistachios (Committee) to decrease the 

assessment rate established for the 

2024–2025 and subsequent production 

years from $0.0007 to $0.0003 per 

pound of assessable pistachios handled 

under the marketing order. The 

proposed assessment rate would remain 

in effect indefinitely unless modified, 

suspended, or terminated. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

November 29, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments 

concerning this proposed rule. 

Comments can be sent to the Docket 

Clerk, Market Development Division, 

Specialty Crops Program, AMS, USDA, 

1400 Independence Avenue SW, STOP 

0237, Washington, DC 20250–0237. 

Comments can also be sent to the 

Docket Clerk electronically by Email: 

MarketingOrderComment@usda.gov or 

internet: https://www.regulations.gov. 

Comments should reference the 

document number and the date and 

page number of this issue of the Federal 

Register. Comments submitted in 

response to this proposed rule will be 

included in the record, will be made 

available to the public and can be 

viewed at: https://www.regulations.gov. 

Please be advised that the identity of the 

individuals or entities submitting the 

comments will be made public on the 

internet at the address provided above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Peter Sommers, Marketing Specialist, or 

Abigail Maharaj, Chief, West Region 

Branch, Market Development Division, 

Specialty Crops Program, AMS, USDA; 

Telephone: (559) 487–5901; or Email: 

PeterR.Sommers@usda.gov or 

Abigail.Maharaj@usda.gov. 

Small businesses may request 

information on complying with this 

regulation by contacting Richard Lower, 

Marketing Development Division, 

Specialty Crops Program, AMS, USDA, 

1400 Independence Avenue SW, STOP 

0237, Washington, DC 20250–0237; 

Telephone: (202) 720–8085, or Email: 

Richard.Lower@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

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

proposes to amend regulations issued to 

carry out a marketing order as defined 

in 7 CFR 900.2(j). This proposed rule is 

issued under Marketing Order No. 983, 

as amended (7 CFR part 983), regulating 

the handling of pistachios grown in 

California, Arizona, and New Mexico. 

Part 983 (referred to as 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 Committee 

locally administers the Order and is 

comprised of producers and handlers of 

pistachios operating within the area of 

production, and a public member. 

The Agricultural Marketing Service 

(AMS) is issuing this proposed rule in 

conformance with Executive Orders 

12866, 13563, and 14094. Executive 

Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies 

to assess all 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 reaffirms, supplements, and 

updates Executive Order 12866 and 

further directs agencies to solicit and 

consider input from a wide range of 

affected and interested parties through a 

variety of means. This proposed action 

falls within a category of regulatory 

actions that the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) exempted from 

Executive Order 12866 review. 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 13175— 

Consultation and Coordination with 

Indian Tribal Governments, which 

requires Federal agencies to consider 

whether their rulemaking actions would 

have Tribal implications. AMS has 

determined this proposed 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 proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988—Civil 

Justice Reform. Under the Order now in 

effect, pistachio handlers are subject to 

assessments. Funds to administer the 

Order are derived from such 

assessments. It is intended that the 

assessment rate would be applicable to 

all assessable pistachios for the 2024– 

2025 production year, and continue 

until amended, suspended, or 

terminated. 

The Act provides that administrative 

proceedings must be exhausted before 

parties may file suit in court. Under 

section 8c(15)(A) of the Act (7 U.S.C. 

608(c)(15)(A)), any handler subject to an 

order may file with U. S. 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 proposed rule would decrease 

the assessment rate for pistachios 

handled under the Order from $0.0007 

per pound, the rate that was established 

for the 2021–2022 and subsequent 

production years, to $0.0003 per pound 

for the 2024–2025 and subsequent 

production years. 

Sections 983.70 and 983.71 of the 

Order authorize the Committee, with the 

approval of AMS, to formulate an 


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86288 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 210 / Wednesday, October 30, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

annual budget of expenses and collect 

assessments from handlers to administer 

the program. The members of the 

Committee are familiar with the 

Committee’s needs and with the costs of 

goods and services in their local area 

and are able to formulate an appropriate 

budget and assessment rate. The 

assessment rate is formulated and 

discussed in a public meeting, and all 

directly affected persons have an 

opportunity to participate and provide 

input. 

For the 2021–2022 and subsequent 

production years, the Committee 

recommended, and AMS approved, an 

assessment rate of $0.0007 per pound of 

assessable pistachios within the 

production area (87 FR 22105). That rate 

continues in effect from production year 

to production year unless modified, 

suspended, or terminated by AMS upon 

recommendation and information 

submitted by the Committee or other 

information available to AMS. This rule 

would decrease the assessment rate 

from $0.0007 to $0.0003 per pound of 

assessable pistachios for the 2024–2025 

and subsequent production years. 

The Committee held a public meeting 

on April 9, 2024, and unanimously 

recommended an assessment rate of 

$0.0003 per pound of assessable 

pistachios for the 2024–2025 and 

subsequent production years. The 

Committee also met on July 10, 2024, 

and unanimously recommended 2024– 

2025 production year expenditures of 

$956,700. In comparison, last period’s 

budgeted expenses were $1,145,161. 

The proposed assessment rate of 

$0.0003 is $0.0004 less than the rate 

currently in effect. The Committee 

recommended decreasing the 

assessment rate to help ensure the 

Committee’s compliance with § 983.74, 

which stipulates that assessments will 

be reduced to bring reserve funds to an 

amount that is less than or equal to two 

production years’ budgeted expenses. 

The major expenditures 

recommended by the Committee for the 

2024–2025 production year include 

$512,900 for salaries and related 

expenses, $125,000 for research, 

$100,000 for a contingency fund, 

$73,500 for administrative expenses, 

and $10,000 for compliance expenses. 

By comparison, budgeted expenses for 

these items during the 2023–24 

production year were $631,900, 

$125,000, $200,000, $76,450 and 

$10,000, respectively. 

The Committee derived the 

recommended assessment rate by 

considering anticipated expenses, 

anticipated production of assessable 

pistachios, and the amount of funds 

available in the authorized reserve. The 

expected 1 billion pounds of pistachios 

for the 2024–2025 production year 

would generate $300,000 in assessment 

revenue at the proposed assessment rate 

(1,000,000,000 pounds multiplied by 

$0.0003 assessment rate). Income 

derived from handler assessments, along 

with the California Pistachio Research 

Board (CPRB) management income of 

approximately $220,200 and funds from 

the Committee’s authorized reserve of 

approximately $436,500, should be 

adequate to cover budgeted expenses of 

$956,700. Funds available in the reserve 

(currently about $844,000) would be 

kept within the maximum level of 

approximately two production years’ 

budgeted expenses as authorized by the 

Order. 

The proposed assessment rate would 

continue in effect indefinitely unless 

modified, suspended, or terminated by 

AMS upon recommendation and 

information submitted by the 

Committee or other available 

information. Although this assessment 

rate would be in effect for an indefinite 

period, the Committee will continue to 

meet prior to or during each production 

year to recommend a budget of expenses 

and consider recommendations for 

modification of the assessment rate. The 

dates and times of Committee meetings 

are available from the Committee or 

AMS. Committee meetings are open to 

the public and interested persons may 

express their views at these meetings. 

AMS will evaluate Committee 

recommendations and other available 

information to determine whether 

modification of the assessment rate is 

needed. Further rulemaking would be 

undertaken as necessary. The 

Committee’s 2024–2025 budget, and 

those for subsequent production years 

would be reviewed and, as appropriate, 

approved by AMS. 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Pursuant to requirements set forth in 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 

U.S.C. 601–612), AMS has considered 

the economic impact of this proposed 

rule on small entities. Accordingly, 

AMS has prepared this initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis. 

The purpose of the RFA is to fit 

regulatory actions to the scale of 

businesses 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. 

There are 19 handlers subject to 

regulation under the Order, and 

approximately 1,871 producers of 

pistachios in the production area. Small 

agricultural producers of pistachios are 

defined by the Small Business 

Administration (SBA) as those having 

annual receipts equal to or less than 

$3.75 million (NAICS code 111335, Tree 

Nut Farming). Small agricultural service 

firms (handlers) have been defined as 

those whose annual receipts are equal to 

or less than $34 million (NAICS code 

115114, Postharvest Crop Activities) (13 

CFR 121.201). 

Data from USDA’s National 

Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) 

can be used to characterize the 

proportion of small versus large 

pistachio producers and handlers 

according to the SBA standards. Due to 

the significant year-to-year variation in 

pistachio production and crop value, it 

is helpful to use two-year averages. The 

average value for crop years 2022 and 

2023 ($1.861 and $2.98 billion, 

respectively) is $2.42 billion. Dividing 

$2.42 billion by 1,871 producers yields 

an estimated average sales receipt per 

producer estimate of about $1.29 

million, which is well below the $3.75 

million threshold for small producers. 

Assuming a normal distribution, the 

majority of pistachio producers may be 

classified as small entities. 

Estimating the proportion of small 

handlers requires an additional 

computation. An average price per 

handler can be estimated using AMS 

Market News prices for pistachio 

packages at the San Francisco terminal 

market. The average terminal market 

price for 12 one-pound packages of 

pistachios at the San Francisco terminal 

market from January to July 2024 was 

$41 per package. Dividing $41 by the 

weight of the package (12 pounds) 

yields a handler average price estimate 

of $3.417 per pound. Dividing the SBA 

size standard of $34 million by $3.417 

yields an estimate of 9.951 million 

pounds per year (just under 10 million 

pounds). 

The Committee reported that 12 out of 

19 handlers (63 percent) handled under 

10 million pounds per year. Therefore, 

63 percent of the pistachio handlers 

would be considered small handlers 

under the SBA standard. 

The Committee’s recommended 

assessment rate of $0.0003 per pound of 

assessable pistachios complies with 

section 983.71(b) of the Order, which 

states that any proposed assessment rate 

must not exceed one-half of one percent 

of the average price received by 

producers in the preceding production 

year. The proposed decreased 

assessment rate of $0.0003 per pound is 

well below the computed maximum 

allowable rate of $0.01 per pound (0.5 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 210 / Wednesday, October 30, 2024 / Proposed Rules 86289 

percent times $2.00, the 2023 average 

producer price reported by NASS). 

Using the proposed new rate, the 

2024–2025 annual Committee 

assessment as a percent of producer 

revenue (crop value) can be 

approximated using average production 

and crop value for the two prior years. 

NASS reported utilized inshell 

pistachio production of 882 million 

pounds and 1.49 billion pounds, 

respectively, for the 2022 and 2023 crop 

years, with an average of 1.186 billion 

pounds. Multiplying 1.186 billion 

pounds by $0.0003 per pound yields 

estimated annual Committee revenue of 

$355,800. Dividing estimated 

Committee revenue of $355,800 by the 

two-year average crop value of $2.42 

billion crop yields an estimate of 0.01 

percent. That is, the $355,800 estimated 

annual assessment total represents one 

hundredth of one percent of estimated 

producer revenue. 

This proposal decreases the 

assessment rate collected from handlers 

for the 2024–2025 and subsequent 

production years from $0.0007 to 

$0.0003 per pound of assessable 

pistachios. The Committee unanimously 

recommended 2024–2025 production 

year expenditures of $956,700 and an 

assessment rate of $0.0003 per pound of 

assessable pistachios. The proposed 

assessment rate of $0.0003 is $0.0004 

lower than the rate currently in effect. 

The volume of assessable pistachios for 

the 2024–2025 production year is 

estimated at one billion pounds. Thus, 

the $0.0003 per pound of assessable 

pistachios should provide $300,000 in 

assessment income (1,000,000,000 

pounds multiplied by $0.0003 

assessment rate). Income derived from 

handler assessments, along with CPRB 

management income of approximately 

$220,200 and funds from the 

Committee’s authorized reserve of 

approximately $436,500, should be 

adequate to cover budgeted expenses. 

The major expenditures 

recommended by the Committee for the 

2024–2025 production year include 

$512,900 for salaries and related 

expenses, $125,000 for research, 

$100,000 for a contingency fund, 

$73,500 for administrative expenses, 

and $10,000 for compliance expenses. 

By comparison, budgeted expenses for 

these activities for the 2023–24 

production year were $631,900, 

$125,000, $200,000, $76,450 and 

$10,000, respectively. 

The Committee recommended 

decreasing the assessment rate in 

conjunction with utilization of funds 

from the authorized reserve to cover 

Committee expenditures and ensure the 

financial reserve remains at a level in 

compliance with Order requirements. 

Prior to arriving at this budget and 

assessment rate, the Committee 

considered alternate potential 

expenditure levels and the impact of 

reducing the assessment rate more and/ 

or less than the rate proposed herein. 

However, the Committee determined 

that the recommended assessment rate 

would achieve its goals of both 

adequately funding Committee 

operations and reducing the reserve to 

an appropriate level. 

A review of historical information and 

preliminary information pertaining to 

the upcoming production year indicates 

the average producer price for the 2024– 

2025 season should be approximately $2 

per pound. Therefore, the estimated 

assessment revenue for the 2024–2025 

production year as a percentage of total 

producer revenue would be about .015 

percent ($0.0003 divided by $2 

multiplied by 100). 

This proposed rule would decrease 

the assessment obligation imposed on 

pistachio handlers. Assessments are 

applied uniformly on all handlers, and 

some of the cost may be passed on to 

producers. However, these costs are 

expected to be offset by the benefits 

derived by the operation of the Order. 

The Committee’s meetings are widely 

publicized throughout the pistachio 

industry and all interested persons are 

invited to attend the meetings and 

participate in Committee deliberations 

on all issues. Like all Committee 

meetings, the April 9, 2024, and July 10, 

2024, meetings were public and all 

entities, both large and small, were able 

to express views on this issue. Finally, 

interested persons are invited to submit 

comments on this proposed rule, 

including the regulatory and 

information collection impacts of this 

action on small businesses. 

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. 0581–0215, 

Pistachios. No changes in those 

requirements are necessary as a result of 

this proposed rule. Should any changes 

become necessary, they would be 

submitted to OMB for approval. 

This proposed rule would not impose 

any additional reporting or 

recordkeeping requirements on either 

small or large pistachio 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 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. 

AMS has not identified any relevant 

Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or 

conflict with this proposed rule. 

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/smallbusinesses. 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, AMS has 

determined that this proposed rule is 

consistent with and would effectuate 

the purposes of the Act. 

A 30-day comment period is provided 

to allow interested persons to respond 

to this proposed rule. All written 

comments timely received will be 

considered before a final determination 

is made on this rulemaking. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 983 

Marketing agreements, Nuts, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Agricultural Marketing 

Service proposes to amend 7 CFR part 

983 as follows: 

PART 983—PISTACHIOS GROWN IN 

CALIFORNIA, ARIZONA, AND NEW 

MEXICO 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 983 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

■ 2. Section 983.253 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 983.253 Assessment rate. 

On and after September 1, 2024, an 

assessment rate of $0.0003 per pound is 

established for California, Arizona, and 

New Mexico pistachios covered under 

the Order. 

Erin Morris, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24733 Filed 10–29–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 


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