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.

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new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

11757

Vol. 62, No. 49

Thursday, March 13, 1997

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 906

[Docket No. FV96–906–4FR]

Oranges and Grapefruit Grown in the

Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas;

Reapportionment of Membership on

the Texas Valley Citrus Committee

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule reapportions

the membership of the 15-member

Texas Valley Citrus Committee

(committee) established under the

Federal marketing order regulating the

handling of oranges and grapefruit

grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley

in Texas. This action provides for more

equitable representation between

cooperative and independent producers

and handlers. This reapportionment

reduces the number of cooperative

producer member positions from four to

two and provides independent

producers with those two positions,

thus, increasing independent producer

membership to seven positions. In

addition, the number of cooperative

handler member positions will be

reduced from two to one, thereby

increasing independent handler

membership to five positions.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 14, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Belinda G. Garza, McAllen Marketing

Field Office, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, 1313 E. Hackberry,

McAllen, Texas 78501; telephone: (210)

682–2833, Fax # (210) 682–5942; or

Charles L. Rush, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.

Box 96456, room 2525–S, Washington,

DC 20090–6456; telephone: (202) 690–

3670, Fax # (202) 720–5698. Small

businesses may request information on

compliance with this regulation by

contacting: Jay Guerber, Marketing

Order Administration Branch, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.

Box 96456, room 2525–S, Washington,

DC 20090–6456; telephone: (202) 720–

2491, Fax # (202) 720–5698.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final

rule is issued under Marketing

Agreement and Order No. 906 (7 CFR

part 906), as amended, regulating the

handling of oranges and grapefruit

grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley

in Texas, hereinafter referred to as the

‘‘order.’’ This 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 final rule has been reviewed

under Executive Order 12988, Civil

Justice Reform. This rule is not intended

to have retroactive effect. 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 to

review the Secretary’s ruling on the

petition, provided an action 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

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

has considered the economic impact of

this final 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 17 handlers of oranges and

grapefruit who are subject to regulation

under the order and approximately

2,000 orange and grapefruit producers

in the regulated area. Small agricultural

service firms, which includes handlers,

have been defined by the Small

Business Administration (13 CFR

121.601) 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 majority of handlers and

producers of Texas oranges and

grapefruit may be classified as small

entities.

This final rule reapportions the

membership of the committee. This

action is administrative in nature and

will provide for equitable and balanced

representation between cooperative and

independent producers and handlers

and will not impose additional costs or

burdens on producers and handlers.

Therefore, the AMS has determined

that this final rule will not have a

significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

Pursuant to § 906.18 of the order, the

committee consists of 15 members. Each

member has an alternate. Nine of the

members are producers and six are

handlers. Section 906.122 of the order’s

rules and regulations provides that the

nine producer representatives be

allocated so that four members represent

cooperative marketing organizations,

hereinafter referred to as cooperative

producers, and five members represent

independent marketing organizations,

hereinafter referred to as independent

producers. Section 906.122 further

provides that the six handler

representatives on the committee be

allocated so that two members represent

cooperative marketing organizations,

hereinafter referred to as cooperative

handlers, and four represent

independent marketing organizations,
11758 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 49 / Thursday, March 13, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

hereinafter referred to as independent

handlers.

Section 906.19 provides for a threeyear term of office for committee

members and their alternates. The terms

of office of the committee are staggered

so that one-third of the terms end every

third year. Members and alternates serve

in their designated positions during the

portion of the term of office for which

they are selected or until their

respective successors are selected and

have qualified.

Section 906.21 of the order authorizes

the committee, with the Secretary’s

approval, to reapportion membership

between cooperative producer and

handler members and independent

producer and handler members as

necessary to assure equitable

representation on the committee. Such

changes are authorized in order to

reflect structural changes within the

industry and changes in the amount of

fruit handled by cooperative handlers in

relation to fruit handled by independent

handlers.

On August 27, 1996, the committee

met to discuss, among other issues,

committee representation and to

determine whether any changes were

warranted to foster more equitable

representation. Changes in the Texas

citrus industry have resulted in a

reduction of the number of cooperative

handlers in that industry subsequently

resulting in a decrease in the amount of

fruit handled by cooperative handlers.

According to the committee’s records,

there were four cooperative

organizations operating until 1984, prior

to a freeze in the production area. From

1985 to 1995, there were two

cooperative organizations handling

Texas citrus. Presently, only one

cooperative handler remains in

operation.

As the number of cooperative

handlers has decreased, so has the

volume of fresh fruit accounted for by

cooperatives. At the time committee

membership was last reapportioned in

1969, cooperatives accounted for about

30 percent of fresh fruit shipments and

about 45 percent of fruit harvested

(which includes processed citrus). The

volume of fresh fruit shipments

accounted for by cooperatives has

declined since that time, particularly

after the last two freezes.

The committee is concerned that the

cooperative segment of the industry is

currently over-represented on the

committee and that committee

representation no longer reflects the

current structure of the industry. The

present situation has recently made it

difficult to acquire cooperative

representation on the committee, which

could lead to potential problems in the

future.

This final rule changes the

composition of the committee by

reducing cooperative producer positions

on the committee from four to two, and

increasing independent producer

member positions from five to seven. In

addition, cooperative handler

representation will be reduced from two

member positions to one, and

independent handler positions will be

increased from four to five. The change

will bring committee representation

more in line with the Texas citrus

industry’s current structure. This

change was unanimously recommended

by the committee at its August 27

meeting.

The committee further recommended

that current committee members

complete their current terms of office

where possible and new members be

nominated where applicable to provide

for full three-year terms of office for

unexpired terms. Presently, the term of

office of one of the four cooperative

producer members expires on July 31,

1997, and three expire on July 31, 1999.

The 1997 position, in addition to one of

the 1999 positions, will be relinquished

to independent producers. Also, there

are presently two cooperative handler

members, one of whose terms expires on

July 31, 1998, and the other on July 31,

1999. One of those positions will be

relinquished to independent handlers.

The three terms of office relinquished to

the independents will terminate on July

31 of the appropriate term.

Determination of which cooperative

producer and handler members

currently serving unexpired terms will

remain in their respective positions will

be made by lot at the committee’s

subsequent nomination meetings.

The Texas citrus industry has

historically demonstrated a policy of

maintaining equitable representation

among cooperative and independent

producers and handlers. When the order

was promulgated in 1960, two of the

nine producer member positions and

one of the six handler positions were

allocated to cooperative members. In

1969, committee membership was

reallocated to the present

apportionment to reflect changes in the

composition of the industry.

Cooperative producer member

positions were increased from two to

four and cooperative handler

representation was increased from one

to two. The changes also provided for a

reduction in the number of independent

producer and handler positions.

Following the two major freezes, only

one cooperative handler remains in

operation. The committee recommended

returning to the order’s original

apportionment to accommodate the shift

in production. Reducing the total

number of cooperative positions to three

will bring representation closer in line

with the proportion of fresh fruit

shipments accounted for by the

cooperative. Therefore, the committee’s

recommendation to revert to the

committee’s original apportionment will

be achieved by removing § 906.122,

which will result in reallocation of

cooperative and independent producers

and handlers to that reflected in

§ 906.18 of the order. Section 906.121,

which provides that the production area

be considered as one district for

purposes of committee representation,

will not be affected by this rule.

The proposed rule concerning this

action was published in the January 2,

1997, Federal Register (62 FR 55), with

a 30-day comment period ending

February 3, 1997. No comments were

received.

After consideration of all relevant

matter presented, including the

information and recommendations

submitted by the committee and other

available information, it is hereby found

that this rule, as hereinafter set forth,

will tend to effectuate the declared

policy of the Act.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 906

Grapefruit, Marketing agreements,

Oranges, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 7 CFR part 906 is amended as

follows:

PART 906—ORANGES AND

GRAPEFRUIT GROWN IN LOWER RIO

GRANDE VALLEY IN TEXAS

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

part 906 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.

§ 906.122 [Removed and reserved]

2. Section 906.122 is removed and

reserved.

Dated: March 7, 1997.

Robert C. Keeney,

Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 97–6264 Filed 3–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration

9 CFR Part 201

Regulations Issued Under the Packers

and Stockyards Act

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration, USDA.