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

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

3725

Vol. 60, No. 12

Thursday, January 19, 1995

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 925

[Docket No. FV94–925–1–IFR]

Grapes Grown in a Designated Area of

Southeastern California; Expenses for

the 1995 Fiscal Year

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request

for comments.

SUMMARY: This document authorizes

expenditures for the California Desert

Grape Administrative Committee

(Committee) under Marketing Order

(M.O.) No. 925 for the 1995 fiscal year.

Authorization of this budget enables the

Committee to incur expenses that are

reasonable and necessary to administer

this program.

DATES: Effective beginning January 1,

1995, through December 31, 1995.

Comments received by February 21,

1995 will be considered prior to

issuance of a final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit written comments

concerning this interim final rule.

Comments must be sent in triplicate to

the Docket Clerk, Fruit and Vegetable

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

Room 2523–S, Washington, D.C. 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:

Charles L. Rush, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.

Box 96456, Room 2523–S, Washington,

D.C. 20090–6456, telephone: (202) 690–

3670; or Rose Aguayo, California

Marketing Field Office, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 2202

Monterey Street, Suite 102B, Fresno,

California 93721, telephone: (209) 487–

5901.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

interim final rule is issued under

Marketing Agreement and Order No.

925 [7 CFR Part 925] regulating the

handling of table grapes grown in a

designated area of California. 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

(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. This rule

authorizes expenditures for the 1995

fiscal year, beginning January 1, 1995,

through December 31, 1995. 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 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 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

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 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 20 handlers

of grapes regulated under the marketing

order each season and approximately 90

grape producers in California. 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 these handlers and

producers may be classified as small

entities.

The table grape marketing order,

administered by the Department,

requires that the assessment rate for a

particular fiscal year apply to all

assessable grapes handled from the

beginning of such year. Annual budgets

of expenses are prepared by the

Committee, the agency responsible for

local administration of this marketing

order, and submitted to the Department

for approval. The members of the

Committee are handlers and producers

of California table grapes. They are

familiar with the Committee’s needs and

with the costs for goods, services, and

personnel in their local area, and are

thus in a position to formulate

appropriate budgets. The Committee’s

budget is formulated and discussed in a

public meeting. Thus, all directly

affected persons have an opportunity to

participate and provide input.

The assessment rate recommended by

the Committee is derived by dividing

the anticipated expenses by expected

shipments of table grapes. Because that

rate is applied to actual shipments, it

must be established at a rate which will

provide sufficient income to pay the

Committee’s expected expenses.

The Committee met on October 20,

1994, and unanimously recommended

expenses of $54,427 and an assessment

rate of $0.005 per lug. However, the

reserve fund was in excess of the

amount of expenses for one year.

Section 925.42 of the order specifies

that the reserve fund may not exceed

approximately one fiscal year’s
3726 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 12 / Thursday, January 19, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

expenses. Accordingly, the Department

returned the recommendation to the

Committee for reconsideration.

The Committee conducted a

telephone vote on November 21, 1994,

and approved by a majority vote a

revised budget with an additional

$20,000 for salaries. There were two

Committee members who were

unavailable to vote. The Committee’s

recommended revised total expense

amount is $74,427, which is $29,117

less in expenses than the previous year.

The Committee also recommended

not to have an assessment rate for the

1995 fiscal year. The $2,500 in interest

income and $71,927 from the

Committee’s authorized reserves will

adequately cover estimated expenses.

Major expense categories for the 1995

fiscal year include $24,000 for the

Western Grape Leaf Skeletonizer

project, $12,487 for salaries, $20,000 for

salaries of Los Angeles Market

inspectors and $4,440 for rent. Funds in

the reserve at the end of the 1995 fiscal

year are estimated at $93,431.

This action will not impose additional

costs on handlers. 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.

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 and that good cause

exists for not postponing the effective

date of this action until 30 days after

publication in the Federal Register

because: (1) The Committee needs to

have sufficient funds to pay its expenses

which are incurred on a continuous

basis; (2) the fiscal year for the

Committee begins January 1, 1995, (3)

handlers are aware of this action which

is similar to budgets 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 925

Grapes, Marketing agreements and

orders, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 7 CFR Part 925 is amended as

follows:

PART 925—GRAPES GROWN IN A

DESIGNATED AREA OF

SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

Part 925 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.

Note: This section will not appear in the

annual Code of Federal Regulations.

2. A new § 925.214 is added to read

as follows:

§ 925.214 Expenses.

Expenses of $74,427 by the California

Desert Grape Administrative Committee

are authorized for the fiscal year ending

December 31, 1995. Unexpended funds

may be carried over as a reserve.

Dated: January 12, 1995.

Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 95–1234 Filed 1–18–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

Rural Utilities Service

7 CFR Parts 1710, 1712, 1714, 1717,

1719, and 1785

RIN 0572–AA69

Loan Policies and Procedures for

Electric Loans

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service

(RUS) hereby amends its regulations for

electric loans. Key provisions of this

regulation include: Lengthening the

allowable construction financing period

for most electric loans; clarifying RUS

requirements for supplemental

financing concurrent with municipal

rate loans; substantially modifying the

requirement that borrowers develop and

maintain certain levels of equity; and

clearly setting forth the documents

required for a complete loan

application. In addition, this regulation

eliminates some policies and

procedures that have become obsolete.

This regulation is intended to simplify

loan application procedures for

borrowers and reduce administrative

costs to the Government.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule is effective

February 21, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sue

Arnold, Financial Analyst, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Rural

Utilities Service, room 2230–s, 14th

Street and Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20250–1500.

Telephone: 202–720–0736. FAX 202–

742–4120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule

has been determined to be not

significant for the purposes of Executive

Order 12866 and therefore has not been

reviewed by the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB). The Administrator

of RUS has determined that the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601

et seq.) does not apply to this rule. The

Administrator of RUS has determined

that this rule will not significantly affect

the quality of the human environment

as defined by the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). Therefore, this

action does not require an

environmental impact statement or

assessment. The program described by

this rule is listed in the Catalog of

Federal Domestic Assistance Programs

under number 10.850 Rural

Electrification Loans and Loan

Guarantees. This catalog is available on

a subscription basis from the

Superintendent of Documents, the

United States Government Printing

Office, Washington, DC 20402–9325.

This rule is excluded from the scope of

Executive Order 12372,

Intergovernmental Consultation, which

may require consultation with State and

local officials. A Notice of Final Rule

titled Department Programs and

Activities Excluded from Executive

Order 12372 (50 FR 47034) exempts

electric loans and loan guarantees made

pursuant to the Rural Electrification Act

of 1936, as amended (7 U.S.C. 901 et

seq.) (RE Act), from coverage under this

Order. This rule has been reviewed

under Executive Order 12778, Civil

Justice Reform. This rule: (1) Will not

preempt any state or local laws,

regulations, or policies, unless they

present an irreconcilable conflict with

this rule; (2) Will not have any

retroactive effect; and (3) Will not

require administrative proceedings

before any parties may file suit

challenging the provisions of this rule.

Information Collection and

Recordkeeping Requirements

The existing recordkeeping and

reporting burdens contained in this rule

were approved by OMB pursuant to the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), under control

numbers 0572–0017, 0572–0032, and

0572–0103.

Send questions or comments

regarding these burdens or any other

aspect of these collections of

information, including suggestions for

reducing the burden, to the Office of