3254 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 14 /Thursday, January 22, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

§ 982.245 Free and restricted

percentages—1997–98 marketing year.

(a) The interim final free and

restricted percentages for merchantable

hazelnuts for the 1997–98 marketing

year shall be 10 and 90 percent,

respectively.

(b) On April 30, 1998, the final free

and restricted percentages for

merchantable hazelnuts for the 1997–98

marketing year shall be 12 and 88

percent, respectively.

Dated: January 15, 1998.

Robert C. Keeney,

Deputy Administrator, Fruit and Vegetable

Programs.

[FR Doc. 98–1433 Filed 1–21–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Parts 997 and 998

[Docket No. FV97–998–3 FIR]

Domestically Produced Peanuts

Handled by Persons Not Subject to

Peanut Marketing Agreement No. 146;

Marketing Agreement No. 146

Regulating the Quality of Domestically

Produced Peanuts

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Department of

Agriculture (Department) is adopting as

a final rule, without change, an interim

final rule which decreased the

assessment rate for the Peanut

Administrative Committee (Committee)

under Marketing Agreement No. 146

(agreement) for the 1997–98 and

subsequent crop years. Authorization to

assess peanut handlers who have signed

the agreement enables the Committee to

incur expenses that are reasonable and

necessary to administer the program.

The Department is also required to

impose an administrative assessment on

farmers’ stock peanuts received or

acquired by handlers who are not

signatory (non-signatory handlers) to the

agreement. Therefore, the assessment

rate established under the agreement

also must be applied to all nonsignatory handlers. The 1997–98 crop

year began July 1 and ends June 30. The

assessment rate will remain in effect

indefinitely unless modified,

suspended, or terminated.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 23, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Tammie Bryant or Jim Wendland,

Marketing Order Administration

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs,

AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room

2525–S, Washington, DC 20090–6456,

telephone (202) 720–2491, FAX (202)

205–6632. Small businesses may request

information on compliance with this

regulation by contacting: Jay Guerber,

Marketing Order Administration

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs,

AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room

2525–S, Washington, DC 20090–6456,

telephone (202) 720–2491, FAX (202)

205–6632.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule

is issued pursuant to the requirements

of the Agricultural Marketing

Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7

U.S.C. 601–674), hereafter referred to as

the ‘‘Act’’; and under Marketing

Agreement No. 146 (7 CFR part 998)

regulating the quality of domestically

produced peanuts.

The Department is issuing this rule in

conformance with Executive Order

12866.

This rule has been reviewed under

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice

Reform. Farmers’ stock peanuts received

or acquired by non-signatory handlers

and farmers’ stock peanuts received or

acquired by handlers signatory to the

agreement, other than from those

described in §§ 998.31(c) and (d), are

subject to assessments. It is intended

that the assessment rates issued herein

will be applicable to all assessable

peanuts beginning July 1, 1997, and

continuing until amended, suspended,

or terminated. This rule will not

preempt any State or local laws,

regulations, or policies, unless they

present an irreconcilable conflict with

this rule. There are no administrative

procedures which must be exhausted

prior to any judicial challenge to the

provisions of this rule.

This rule adopts as a final rule,

without change, the provisions of an

interim final rule, which decreased the

assessment rate established for the

Committee for the 1997–98 and

subsequent fiscal years from $0.70 to

$0.35 per ton.

The agreement provides authority for

the Committee, with the approval of the

Department, to formulate an annual

budget of expenses and collect

assessments from handlers to administer

the program. Funds to administer the

agreement program are derived from

signatory handler assessments. The

members of the Committee are handlers

and producers of peanuts. They are

familiar with the Committee’s needs and

with the costs of goods and services in

their local areas and, thus, are in a

position to formulate an appropriate

budget and assessment rate. The

assessment rate is formulated and

discussed in public meetings. Thus, all

directly affected persons have an

opportunity to participate and provide

input. The handlers of peanuts who are

directly affected have signed the

marketing agreement authorizing the

expenses that may be incurred and the

imposition of assessments.

For the 1997–98 and subsequent crop

years, the Committee recommended and

the Department approved, an

assessment rate that would continue in

effect from crop year to crop year

indefinitely unless modified,

suspended, or terminated by the

Secretary, upon recommendation and

information submitted by the

Committee or other information

available to the Secretary.

The Committee met on April 30, 1997,

and unanimously recommended 1997–

98 administrative expenditures of

$525,000 and an administrative

assessment rate of $0.35 per net ton of

assessable farmers’ stock peanuts

received or acquired by handlers. The

Committee also voted not to recommend

an assessment rate for indemnification

for handler losses due to aflatoxin

contamination. Adequate funds are

included in the Committee’s

indemnification reserve for such

expenses during the 1997–98 crop year.

In comparison, last year’s budgeted

administrative expenditures were

$1,025,500. Major expenditures

recommended by the Committee for the

1997–98 crop year compared with those

budgeted for 1996–97 (in parentheses)

include: $55,000 for executive salaries

($112,450), $50,000 for clerical salaries

($131,500), $125,000 for field

representatives (3 compliance officers

rather than 7 fieldmen) salaries

($296,700), $18,000 for payroll taxes

($42,000), $65,000 for employee benefits

($148,000), $40,000 for Committee

members travel ($40,000), $5,000 for

staff travel ($5,000), $60,000 for field

representatives travel ($110,000), $9,800

for insurance and bonds ($9,800),

$19,000 for office rent and parking

($46,200), $10,000 for office supplies

and stationery ($14,000), $10,400 for

postage and mailing ($13,200), $11,000

for telephone and telegraph ($15,000),

$6,000 for repairs and maintenance

agreements ($6,000), $10,400 for the

audit fee ($10,400), and $15,800 for the

contingency reserve ($10,250).

The assessment rate recommended by

the Committee was derived by dividing

anticipated expenses by expected

receipts and acquisitions of farmers’

stock peanuts. Farmers’ stock peanuts

received or acquired by handlers

signatory to the agreement, other than

from those described in § 998.31(c) and
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 14 /Thursday, January 22, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 3255

(d), are subject to the assessments.

Farmers stock peanuts received or

acquired by non-signatory handlers by

law are subject to the same assessment

rate. Assessments are due on the 15th of

the month following the month in

which the farmers’ stock peanuts are

received or acquired. Receipts for the

year under the agreement are estimated

at 1,500,000 tons, which should provide

$525,000 in assessment income.

Approximately 95 percent of the

domestically produced peanut crop is

marketed by handlers who are signatory

to the agreement. The remaining 5

percent of the U.S. peanut crop is

marketed by non-signer handlers.

The Act provides for mandatory

assessment of farmers’ stock peanuts

acquired by non-signatory peanut

handlers. Section 608b of the Act

specifies that: (1) Any assessment

(except indemnification assessments)

imposed under the agreement on

signatory handlers shall also apply to

non-signatory handlers, and (2) such

assessment shall be paid to the

Secretary.

The assessment rates established in

this rule will continue in effect

indefinitely unless modified,

suspended, or terminated by the

Secretary upon recommendation and

information submitted by the

Committee or other available

information.

Although these assessment rates are

effective for an indefinite period, the

Committee will continue to meet prior

to or during each crop 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 the

Department. Committee meetings are

open to the public and interested

persons may express their views at these

meetings. The Department will evaluate

Committee recommendations and other

available information to determine

whether modification of the assessment

rate is needed. Further rulemaking will

be undertaken as necessary. The

Committee’s 1997–98 budget was

reviewed and approved by the

Department on September 17, 1997, and

those for subsequent crop years will be

reviewed and, as appropriate, approved

by the Department.

Pursuant to requirements set forth in

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), the

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

has considered the economic impact of

this rule on small entities. Accordingly,

AMS has prepared this final 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. There

are approximately 80 peanut handlers

who are subject to regulation under the

agreement or the non-signer program

and approximately 25,000 peanut

producers in the 16-State production

area. Small agricultural service firms,

which include 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 whose

annual receipts are less than $500,000.

Approximately 25 percent of the

signatory handlers, virtually all of the

non-signer handlers, and most of the

producers may be classified as small

entities.

This rule continues in effect the

assessment rate established for the

Committee and collected from handlers

for the 1997–98 and subsequent crop

years of $0.35 per net ton. The

assessment rate is $0.35 less than the

rate previously in effect.

The Committee discussed alternatives

to this rule, including alternative

expenditure levels. The Committee also

discussed the alternative of not

decreasing the assessment rate.

However, it decided against this course

of action. The peanut industry has been

in a state of economic decline since

1991, with the Committee attempting to

cut costs wherever possible. The

Committee’s budget for 1997–98 is

$525,000; this is $500,500 less than the

amount budgeted for 1996–97. Based on

an estimated 1,500,000 net tons of

assessable peanuts, income derived

from handler assessments during 1997–

98 will be adequate to cover budgeted

expenses.

This rule continues in effect the

assessment obligation imposed on

handlers. While this action will impose

some costs on handlers, the costs are

minimal and in the form of uniform

assessments on all handlers. Some of

the costs may be passed on to

producers. However, these costs will be

offset by the benefits derived from the

operation of the agreement. This

administrative assessment is required to

also be applied uniformly to all nonsignatory handlers and should be of

benefit to all. In addition, the

Committee’s meeting was widely

publicized throughout the peanut

industry and all interested persons were

invited to attend the meeting and

participate in Committee deliberations

on all issues. Like all Committee

meetings, the April 30, 1997, meeting

was a public meeting and all entities,

both large and small, were able to

express views on this issue.

This action will not impose any

additional reporting or recordkeeping

requirements on either small or large

peanut handlers. As with all Federal

marketing agreement and order

programs, reports and forms are

periodically reviewed to reduce

information requirements and

duplication by industry and public

sector agencies.

The Department has not identified

any relevant Federal rules that

duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this

rule.

An interim final rule concerning this

action was published in the Federal

Register on September 17, 1997 (62 FR

48749). A copy of the interim final rule

was also made available on the Internet

by the Office of the Federal Register.

The comment period ended October 17,

1997, and no comments were received.

After consideration of all relevant

matter presented, including the

information and recommendation

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

7 CFR Part 997

Food grades and standards, Peanuts,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

7 CFR Part 998

Marketing agreements, Peanuts,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

PART 997—PROVISIONS

REGULATING THE QUALITY OF

DOMESTICALLY PRODUCED

PEANUTS HANDLED BY PERSONS

NOT SUBJECT TO THE PEANUT

MARKETING AGREEMENT

PART 998—MARKETING AGREEMENT

REGULATING THE QUALITY OF

DOMESTICALLY PRODUCED

PEANUTS

Accordingly, the interim final rule

amending 7 CFR parts 997 and 998

which was published at 62 FR 48749 on

September 17, 1997, is adopted as a

final rule without change.

Dated: January 15, 1998.

Robert C. Keeney,

Deputy Administrator, Fruit and Vegetable

Programs.

[FR Doc. 98–1432 Filed 1–21–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P