[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 9, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24539-24540]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-11306]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 958

[Docket No. FV95-958-1IFR]


Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onions; Expenses and Assessment Rate

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This interim final rule authorizes expenditures of $1,111,447 
and establishes an assessment rate of $0.10 per hundredweight of onions 
under Marketing Order No. 958 for the 1995-96 fiscal period. 
Authorization of this budget enables the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion 
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.

DATES: Effective July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1996. Comments received 
by June 8, 1995, will be considered prior to issuance of a final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments 
concerning this action. Comments must be sent in triplicate to the 
Docket Clerk, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, 
room 2523-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, FAX 202-720-5698. Comments 
should reference the docket 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.

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 number 
202-720-9918, or Robert J. Curry, Northwest Marketing Field Office, 
Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, Green-Wyatt Federal Building, 
room 369, 1220 Southwest Third Avenue, Portland, OR 97204, telephone 
number 503-326-2724.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing 
Agreement No. 130 and Marketing Order No. 958, both as amended (7 CFR 
part 958), regulating the handling of onions grown in designated 
counties in Idaho, and Malheur County, Oregon. 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 U.S. Department of Agriculture (Department) is issuing this 
rule in conformance with Executive Order 12866.
    This interim final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 
12778, Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order now in effect 
Idaho-Eastern Oregon onions are subject to assessments. Funds to 
administer the Idaho-Eastern Oregon onion marketing order are derived 
from such assessments. It is intended that the assessment rate as 
issued herein will be applicable to all assessable onions during the 
1995-96 fiscal period which begins July 1, 1995, and ends June 30, 
1996. This interim 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 8c(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. 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 requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (RFA), the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service 
(AMS) has considered the economic impact of this 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 the 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 450 producers of Idaho-Eastern Oregon 
onions under the marketing order and approximately 35 handlers. Small 
agricultural producers have been defined by the Small Business 
Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as those having annual receipts of less 
than $500,000, and small agricultural service firms are defined as 
those whose annual receipts are less than $5,000,000. The majority of 
Idaho-Eastern Oregon onion producers and handlers may be classified as 
small entities.
    The budget of expenses for the 1995-96 fiscal period was prepared 
by the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee, the agency responsible for 
local administration of the marketing order, and submitted to the 
Department for approval. The members of the Committee are producers and 
handlers [[Page 24540]] of Idaho-Eastern Oregon onions. 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. The budget was formulated and discussed in a public 
meeting. Thus, all directly affected persons have had an opportunity to 
participate and provide input.
    The assessment rate recommended by the Committee was derived by 
dividing anticipated expenses by expected shipments of Idaho-Eastern 
Oregon onions. Because that rate will be applied to actual shipments, 
it must be established at a rate that will provide sufficient income to 
pay the Committee's expenses.
    The Committee met on March 21, 1995, and unanimously recommended a 
1995-96 budget of $1,111,447, $91,408 more than the previous year. 
Budget items for 1995-96 which have increased compared to those 
budgeted for 1994-95 (in parentheses) are: Manager's salary, $33,472 
($30,429), office salaries, $66,222 ($62,816), payroll taxes, $9,229 
($8,642), health and medical insurance, $9,182 ($8,700), workman's 
compensation, $1,084 ($929), rent, $11,000 ($10,000), property 
insurance, $1,700 ($1,400), miscellaneous, $12,500 ($9,000), promotion, 
$724,076 ($668,500), and contingency, $75,000 ($50,000). Items which 
have decreased compared to those budgeted for 1994-95 (in parentheses) 
are: Salary and disability insurance $1,072 ($1,099), research, $59,340 
($60,154), and property tax ($800) for which no funding was recommended 
this year. All other items are budgeted at last year's amounts.
    The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of 
$0.10 per hundredweight, the same as last season. This rate, when 
applied to anticipated shipments of 8,800,000 hundredweight, will yield 
$880,000 in assessment income. This, along with $45,000 in interest 
income and $186,447 from the Committee's authorized reserve, will be 
adequate to cover budgeted expenses. Funds in the reserve at the end of 
the 1994-95 fiscal period, estimated at $921,500, will be within the 
maximum permitted by the order of one fiscal period's expenses.
    While this action will impose some additional costs on handlers, 
the costs are in the form of uniform assessments on all handlers. Some 
of the additional costs may be passed on to producers. However, these 
costs will be offset by the benefits derived by the operation of the 
marketing order. Therefore, 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 material 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.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is also found and determined upon good 
cause that it is impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public 
interest to give preliminary notice prior to putting this rule into 
effect because: (1) The Committee needs to have sufficient funds to pay 
its expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis; (2) the fiscal 
period begins on July 1, 1995, and the marketing order requires that 
the rate of assessment for the fiscal period apply to all assessable 
onions handled during the fiscal period; (3) handlers are aware of this 
action which was unanimously recommended by the Committee at a public 
meeting and is similar to other budget actions issued in past years; 
and (4) this interim final rule provides a 30-day comment period, and 
all comments timely received will be considered prior to finalization 
of this action.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 958

    Marketing agreements, Onions, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 958 is 
amended as follows:

PART 958--ONIONS GROWN IN CERTAIN DESIGNATED COUNTIES IN IDAHO, AND 
MALHEUR COUNTY, OREGON

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 958 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.

    2. A new Sec. 958.239 is added to read as follows:

    Note: This section will not appear in the Code of Federal 
Regulations.


Sec. 958.239  Expenses and assessment rate.

    Expenses of $1,111,447 by the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee 
are authorized, and an assessment rate of $0.10 per hundredweight of 
assessable onions is established for the fiscal period ending June 30, 
1996. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a reserve.

    Dated: May 3, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-11306 Filed 5-8-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P