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.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

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new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

1

Vol. 60, No. 1

Tuesday, January 3, 1995

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 929

[FV94–929–3FR]

Cranberries Grown in States of

Massachusetts, Rhode Island,

Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin,

Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon,

Washington, and Long Island in the

State of New York; Establishment of

Late Payment Charges and Increase in

Interest Charges on Delinquent

Assessments

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule increases the

interest charge from 1 percent to 11⁄2

percent per month and adds a late

payment charge of 5 percent on

delinquent assessments owed by

handlers under Marketing Order No.

929 covering cranberries grown in ten

states. This rule contributes to the

efficient operation of the program by

ensuring that adequate funds are

available to cover budgeted expenses

incurred under the marketing order.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule becomes

effective February 2, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Hessel or Patricia Petrella,

Marketing Specialists, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, F&V, AMS,

USDA, Room 2522–S, P.O. Box 96456,

Washington, D.C. 20090–6456:

telephone: (202) 720–5127.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final

rule is issued under Marketing

Agreement and Order No. 929 [7 CFR

Part 929], as amended, regulating the

handling of cranberries grown in ten

states, 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 final rule has been reviewed

under Executive Order 12778, 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 in

equity to review the Secretary’s ruling

on the petition, provided a bill in equity

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

Administrator of the Agricultural

Marketing Service (AMS) has

considered the economic impact of this

action 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 approximately 30 handlers

of cranberries who are subject to

regulation under the order and

approximately 1,050 producers of

cranberries in the regulated area. Small

agricultural service firms 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 cranberries may be classified as small

entities.

The Cranberry Marketing Committee

(committee), the agency responsible for

local administration of the order, met on

August 23, 1994, and unanimously

recommended modifying the

administrative rules in effect under the

order concerning delinquent handler

assessments. The modification increases

the interest charge from 1 percent to 11⁄2

percent per month and adds a late

payment charge of 5 percent on

delinquent handler assessments.

Under section 929.41 of the order,

each person who first handles

cranberries is required to pay a pro-rata

share of the cost of administering the

program. This cost is in the form of a

uniform assessment rate applied to each

handler’s acquisitions.

Section 929.41 also provides that if a

handler does not pay an assessment

within the time prescribed by the

committee, the assessment may be

subject to an interest or late payment

charge, or both.

Section 929.152 of the rules and

regulations in effect under the order

specifies that delinquent assessments be

subject to an interest charge of 1 percent

per month on any unpaid assessment

balance beginning 30 days from the due

date prescribed by the committee. The

committee currently schedules two

assessment payments during the crop

year which begins on September 1.

Assessments equal to 100 percent of the

prior crop year’s assessment obligation

are due on October 1. If a handler’s

October 1 payment is not sufficient to

meet the current crop year’s assessment

obligation then a second payment,

making up the difference, is required by

April 1. If the October 1 payment

exceeds the current crop year’s

assessment obligation then the

committee refunds the difference on or

before April 15.

Assessments are the main source of

funds to pay committee expenses. The

failure of handlers to pay assessment

obligations promptly results in added

expense and operational problems for

the committee. The committee has

frequently encountered difficulty in
2 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 1 / Tuesday, January 3, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

collecting assessments from some

handlers. To attempt to collect, the

committee must incur the added

expense of sending out additional

invoices and contacting each delinquent

handler by phone, in person, or by fax.

Nonpayment or late payment of

assessments hampers the operation of

the committee.

The authority to levy late payment

and interest charges on delinquent

assessments was added in 1973 to

address the failure of handlers to pay

their assessments promptly.

Consequently, in 1978 an informal

rulemaking change [43 FR 29764, July

11, 1978] was approved which

established a one percent interest charge

per month to address this problem.

However, the current interest charge

of one percent per month is not

sufficient to induce handlers to comply

with the assessment provisions.

Competition in the cranberry industry

has increased. The number of handlers

regulated by the order has increased,

and many of these additional handlers

have been more reluctant to pay

assessments in a timely manner. The

increase in charges on delinquent

assessments encourages these handlers

to pay their assessments more promptly.

Charges will not be imposed until the

end of the month if handler assessments

are invoiced up to the 15th of the month

and will be levied at the end of the

following month if the handler

assessment is invoiced later than the

15th of the month. Handlers have ample

time to pay their assessments and avoid

incurring the additional charges. Any

amount paid by the handler will be

credited upon receipt in the committee

office. These additional charges apply to

any unpaid assessments which become

due to the committee after the effective

date of this rule change.

A proposed rule concerning this

action was published in the Federal

Register on November 10, 1994 [59 FR

56007], with a 30-day comment period

ending December 12, 1994. No

comments were received.

Based on the above, the Administrator

of the AMS has determined that this

action will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities.

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 929

Cranberries, Marketing agreements,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 7 CFR Part 929 is amended as

follows:

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

Part 929 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.

PART 929—CRANBERRIES GROWN IN

STATES OF MASSACHUSETTS,

RHODE ISLAND, CONNECTICUT, NEW

JERSEY, WISCONSIN, MICHIGAN,

MINNESOTA, OREGON,

WASHINGTON, AND LONG ISLAND IN

THE STATE OF NEW YORK

2. Section 929.152, is revised to read

as follows:

§ 929.152 Delinquent assessments.

There shall be a late payment charge

of five percent and an interest charge of

11⁄2 percent per month applied to any

assessment not received at the

committee’s office before the end of the

month in which such assessment was

first invoiced to the handler: Provided,

That if an assessment is first invoiced

later than the 15th of the month, no late

payment or interest charge shall be

levied if such assessment is received at

the committee office by the end of the

following month in which the

assessment was first invoiced to the

handler.

Dated: December 27, 1994.

Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 94–32287 Filed 12–30–94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

7 CFR Part 966

[Docket No. FV94–966–2FIR]

Tomatoes Grown in Florida; Expenses

and Assessment Rate

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Department of

Agriculture (Department) is adopting as

a final rule, without change, the

provisions of an interim final rule that

authorized expenses and established an

assessment rate that will generate funds

to pay those expenses. Authorization of

this budget enables the Florida Tomato

Committee (Committee) to incur

expenses that are reasonable and

necessary to administer the program.

Funds to administer this program are

derived from assessments on handlers.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 1, 1994, through

July 31, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Martha Sue Clark, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.

Box 96456, room 2523–S, Washington,

DC 20090–6456, telephone 202–720–

9918, or Aleck J. Jonas, Southeast

Marketing Field Office, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.

Box 2276, Winter Haven, FL 33883–

2276, telephone 813–299–4770.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule

is issued under Marketing Agreement

No. 125 and Order No. 966, both as

amended (7 CFR part 966), regulating

the handling of tomatoes grown in

Florida. The marketing agreement and

order are 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 is

issuing this rule in conformance with

Executive Order 12866.

This rule has been reviewed under

Executive order 12778, Civil Justice

Reform. Under the provisions of the

marketing order now in effect, Florida

tomatoes are subject to assessments. It is

intended that the assessment rate as

issued herein will be applicable to all

assessable tomatoes handled during the

1994–95 fiscal period, which began

August 1, 1994, and ends July 31, 1995.

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 requesting 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 in

equity to review the Secretary’s ruling

on the petition, provided a bill in equity

is filed not later than 20 days after the

date of the entry of the ruling.

Pursuant to the requirements set forth

in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA),

the Administrator of the Agricultural

Marketing Service (AMS) has