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

16590 

Vol. 80, No. 60 

Monday, March 30, 2015 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 932 

[Doc. No. AMS–FV–14–0105; FV15–932–1 

PR] 

Olives Grown in California; Increased 

Assessment Rate 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would 

implement a recommendation from the 

California Olive Committee (committee) 

to increase the assessment rate 

established for the 2015 and subsequent 

fiscal years from $15.21 to $26.00 per 

assessable ton of olives handled. The 

committee locally administers the 

marketing order and is comprised of 

producers and handlers of olives grown 

in California. Assessments upon olive 

handlers are used by the committee to 

fund reasonable and necessary expenses 

of the program. The fiscal year begins 

January 1 and ends December 31. The 

assessment rate would remain in effect 

indefinitely unless modified, 

suspended, or terminated. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

April 29, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments 

concerning this proposed rule. 

Comments must be sent to the Docket 

Clerk, Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Fruit and Vegetable Program, 

AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW., STOP 0237, Washington, 

DC 20250–0237; Fax: (202) 720–8938; or 

Internet: http://www.regulations.gov. 

Comments should reference the 

document 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.regulations.gov. All 

comments submitted in response to this 

proposed rule will be included in the 

record and will be made available to the 

public. 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: 

Terry Vawter, Senior Marketing 

Specialist or Martin Engeler, Regional 

Manager, California Marketing Field 

Office, Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Fruit and Vegetable Program, 

AMS, USDA; Telephone: (559) 487– 

5901, Fax: (559) 487–5906, or Email: 

Terry.Vawter@ams.usda.gov or 

Martin.Engeler@ams.usda.gov. 

Small businesses may request 

information on complying with this 

regulation by contacting Jeffrey Smutny, 

Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Fruit and Vegetable Program, 

AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW., STOP 0237, Washington, 

DC 20250–0237; Telephone: (202) 720– 

2491, Fax: (202)720–8938, or Email: 

Jeffrey.Smutny@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

proposed rule is issued under Marketing 

Agreement No. 148 and Order No. 932, 

both as amended (7 CFR part 932), 

regulating the handling of olives grown 

in California, 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 

(USDA) is issuing this proposed rule in 

conformance with Executive Orders 

12866, 13563, and 13175. 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. Under the marketing 

order now in effect, California olive 

handlers are subject to assessments. 

Funds to administer the order are 

derived from such assessments. It is 

intended that the assessment rate 

increase proposed herein would be 

applicable to all assessable olives 

beginning on January 1, 2015, 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 608c(15)(A) of the Act, any 

handler subject to an order may file 

with 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 not later than 

20 days after the date of the entry of the 

ruling. 

This proposed rule would increase 

the assessment rate established for the 

committee for the 2015 and subsequent 

fiscal years from $15.21 to $26.00 per 

ton of assessable olives. 

The California olive marketing order 

provides authority for the committee, 

with the approval of USDA, to formulate 

an annual budget of expenses and 

collect assessments from handlers to 

administer the program. The members 

of the committee are producers and 

handlers of California olives. They are 

familiar with the committee’s needs and 

with the costs for goods and services in 

their local area and are thus in a 

position to formulate an appropriate 

budget and assessment rate. 

The assessment rate is formulated and 

discussed in a public meeting. Thus, all 

directly affected persons have an 

opportunity to participate and provide 

input. 

For the 2014 and subsequent fiscal 

years, the committee recommended, and 

USDA approved, an assessment rate that 

would continue in effect from fiscal year 

to fiscal year unless modified, 

suspended, or terminated by USDA 

upon recommendation and information 

submitted by the committee or other 

information available to USDA. 

The committee met on December 9, 

2014, and unanimously recommended 

2015 fiscal year expenditures of 

$1,374,072, and an assessment rate of 

$26.00 per ton of assessable olives. 

Olives are an alternate-bearing crop: a 

large crop followed by a smaller crop. 

Olive growers and handlers are 

accustomed to wide swings in crop 

yields, which necessarily result in 

fluctuations in the assessment rate from 

year to year. In comparison, last year’s 

budgeted expenditures were $1,262,460. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 60 / Monday, March 30, 2015 / Proposed Rules 16591 

The assessment rate of $26.00 is $10.79 

higher than the rate currently in effect. 

The committee recommended the 

higher assessment rate because of a 

substantial decrease in assessable olive 

tonnage for the 2014 crop year. The 

olive tonnage available for the 2014 crop 

year was less than 40,000 tons, which 

compares to the 91,000 tons reported for 

the 2013 crop year, as reported by the 

California Agricultural Statistics Service 

(CASS). 

The reduced crop is due to olives 

being an alternate-bearing fruit. The 

2014 crop was what is called the ‘‘off’’ 

crop: The smaller of the two bearingyear crops. 

In addition to the funds from handler 

assessments, the committee also plans 

to use available reserve funds to help 

meet its 2015 fiscal year expenses. 

The major expenditures 

recommended by the committee for the 

2015 fiscal year include $259,231 for 

research, $450,000 for marketing 

activities, $122,000 for inspection 

equipment and electronic reporting 

development, and $393,500 for 

administration. The major expenditures 

for the 2014 fiscal year included 

$312,560 for research, $565,600 for 

marketing activities, $37,800 for 

inspection equipment and electronic 

reporting development, and $346,500 

for administration. 

Overall 2015 expenditures include an 

increase in inspection equipment and 

electronic reporting development 

expenses due to the need to purchase, 

test, install, and link new sizers to the 

electronic reporting system. 

Additionally, the research budget 

contains a contingency of $41,000 for 

new opportunities that may arise during 

the fiscal year, and the administrative 

budget includes a $31,000 contingency 

for unforeseen issues. 

The assessment rate recommended by 

the committee resulted from 

consideration of anticipated fiscal year 

expenses, actual olive tonnage received 

by handlers during the 2014 crop year, 

and additional pertinent information. 

As reported by CASS, actual assessable 

tonnage for the 2014 crop year is under 

40,000 tons or less than half of the 

91,000 assessable tons in the 2013 crop 

year, which is a result of the alternatebearing characteristics of olives. 

Income derived from handler 

assessments, along with interest income 

and funds from the committee’s 

authorized reserve would be adequate to 

cover budgeted expenses. Funds in the 

reserve would be kept within the 

maximum permitted by the order of 

approximately one fiscal year’s 

expenses (§ 932.40). 

The proposed assessment rate would 

continue in effect indefinitely unless 

modified, suspended, or terminated by 

USDA 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 would continue to meet prior 

to or during each fiscal 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 

USDA. Committee meetings are open to 

the public and interested persons may 

express their views at these meetings. 

USDA would 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 2015 fiscal year budget and 

those for subsequent fiscal years would 

be reviewed and, as appropriate, 

approved by USDA. 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Pursuant to requirements set forth in 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 

U.S.C. 601–612), the Agricultural 

Marketing Service (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 approximately 1000 

producers of olives in the production 

area and 2 handlers subject to regulation 

under the marketing order. The Small 

Business Administration (13 CFR 

121.201) defines small agricultural 

producers as those having annual 

receipts of less than $750,000, and small 

agricultural service firms as those whose 

annual receipts are less than $7,000,000 

(13 CFR 121.210). 

Based upon information from the 

industry and CASS, the average grower 

price for the 2014 crop year was 

approximately $1,027 per ton, and total 

assessable volume was less than 40,000 

tons. Based on production, producer 

prices, and the total number of 

California olive producers, the average 

annual producer revenue is less than 

$750,000. Thus, the majority of olive 

producers may be classified as small 

entities. Both of the handlers may be 

classified as large entities. 

This proposed rule would increase 

the assessment rate established for the 

committee and collected from handlers 

for the 2015 and subsequent fiscal years 

from $15.21 to $26.00 per ton of 

assessable olives. The committee 

unanimously recommended 2015 fiscal 

year expenditures of $1,374,072, and an 

assessment rate of $26.00 per ton. The 

higher assessment rate is necessary 

because assessable olive receipts for the 

2014 crop year were reported by CASS 

to be less than 40,000 tons, compared to 

91,000 tons for the 2013 crop year. 

Income derived from the $26.00 per 

ton assessment rate, along with funds 

from the authorized reserve and interest 

income, should be adequate to meet this 

fiscal year’s expenses. 

The major expenditures 

recommended by the committee for the 

2015 fiscal year include $259,231 for 

research, $450,000 for marketing 

activities, $122,000 for inspection 

equipment development, and $393,500 

for administration. Budgeted expenses 

for these items in 2014 were $312,560 

for research, $565,600 for marketing 

activities, $37,800 for inspection 

equipment and electronic reporting 

development, and $346,500 for 

administration. 

The committee deliberated many of 

the expenses, weighing the relative 

value of various programs or projects, 

and decreased their costs for research 

and marketing, while increasing their 

costs for inspection equipment and 

electronic reporting development, as 

well as their administrative expenses. 

Prior to arriving at this budget, the 

committee considered information from 

various sources such as the committee’s 

Executive, Marketing, Inspection, and 

Research Subcommittees. Alternate 

expenditure levels were discussed by 

these groups based upon the relative 

value of various projects to the olive 

industry and the reduced olive 

production. The assessment rate of 

$26.00 per ton of assessable olives was 

derived by considering anticipated 

expenses, the volume of assessable 

olives, and additional pertinent factors. 

A review of preliminary information 

indicates that average grower prices for 

2014 crop olives was approximately 

$1,027 per ton. Therefore, utilizing the 

proposed assessment rate of $26.00 per 

ton, the estimated assessment revenue 

for the 2015 fiscal year as a percentage 

of total grower revenue would be 

approximately 2.5 percent. 

This action would increase the 

assessment obligation imposed on 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
16592 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 60 / Monday, March 30, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

handlers. While assessments impose 

some additional costs on handlers, the 

costs are minimal and uniform on all 

handlers. Some of the additional costs 

may be passed on to producers. 

However, these costs would be offset by 

the benefits derived from the operation 

of the marketing order. In addition, the 

committee’s meeting was widely 

publicized throughout the California’s 

olive industry and all interested persons 

were invited to attend the meeting and 

participate in committee deliberations 

on all issues. Like all committee 

meetings, the December 9, 2014, 

meeting was a public meeting and all 

entities, both large and small, were 

encouraged to express views on this 

issue. Finally, interested persons are 

invited to submit comments on this 

proposed rule including the regulatory 

and informational 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 the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) and 

assigned OMB No. 0581–0178. No 

changes in those requirements as a 

result of this action are necessary. 

Should any changes become necessary, 

they would be submitted to OMB for 

approval. 

This proposed rule would impose no 

additional reporting or recordkeeping 

requirements on either small or large 

California olive 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. 

USDA has not identified any relevant 

Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or 

conflict with this action. 

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/ 

MarketingOrdersSmallBusinessGuide. 

Any questions about the compliance 

guide should be sent to Jeffrey Smutny 

at the previously-mentioned address in 

the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section. 

A 30-day comment period is provided 

to allow interested persons to respond 

to this proposed rule. Thirty days is 

deemed appropriate because: (1) The 

2015 fiscal year began on January 1, 

2015, and the marketing order requires 

that the rate of assessment for each 

fiscal year apply to all assessable olives 

handled during such fiscal year; (2) the 

committee needs to have sufficient 

funds to pay its expenses, which are 

incurred on a continuous basis; and (3) 

both regulated handlers were present at 

the December 9, 2014, meeting, and are 

aware of this action, which was 

unanimously recommended by the 

committee at a public meeting, and is 

similar to other assessment rate actions 

issued in past years. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 932 

Olives, Marketing agreements, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 932 is proposed to 

be amended as follows: 

PART 932—OLIVES GROWN IN 

CALIFORNIA 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 932 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

■ 2. Section 932.230 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 932.230 Assessment rate. 

On and after January 1, 2015, an 

assessment rate of $26.00 per ton is 

established for California olives. 

Dated: March 24, 2015. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–07116 Filed 3–27–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

9 CFR Parts 1 and 2 

[Docket No. APHIS–2014–0050] 

Petition To Define Alternatives to 

Procedures That May Cause Pain or 

Distress and To Establish Standards 

Regarding Consideration of These 

Alternatives 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of petition. 

SUMMARY: We are notifying the public 

that the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service has received a 

petition requesting that we amend the 

Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulations 

to define the term alternatives, clarify 

the existing definition of painful 

procedure, and establish standards 

governing the consideration of such 

alternatives at research facilities that are 

registered under the AWA regulations. 

We are making this petition available to 

the public and soliciting comments 

regarding the petition and any issues 

raised by the petition that we should 

take into account as we consider this 

petition. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before May 29, 

2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-0050. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2014–0050, Regulatory Analysis 

and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 

3A–03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

Supporting documents and any 

comments we receive on this docket 

may be viewed at http://

www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-0050 or 

in our reading room, which is located in 

room 1141 of the USDA South Building, 

14th Street and Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington, DC. Normal reading 

room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except 

holidays. To be sure someone is there to 

help you, please call (202) 799–7039 

before coming. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Carol Clarke, Research Program 

Manager, USDA, APHIS, Animal Care, 

4700 River Road Unit 84, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1234; (301) 851–3751. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Animal Welfare Act (AWA, 7 U.S.C. 

2131 et seq.) authorizes the Secretary of 

Agriculture to promulgate standards and 

other requirements governing research 

facilities. The Secretary has delegated 

the responsibility for enforcing the 

AWA to the Administrator of the 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS). Within APHIS, the 

responsibility for administering the 

AWA has been delegated to the Deputy 

Administrator for Animal Care. 

Regulations and standards 

promulgated under the AWA are 

contained in Title 9 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations, parts 1, 2, and 3 

(referred to collectively below as the 

AWA regulations). Part 1 contains 

definitions of terms used within parts 2 

and 3. Part 2 contains licensing and 

registration regulations, regulations 

specific to research facilities, and 

regulations governing veterinary care, 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS