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[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 12, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 63610-63612]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-30232]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 959

[Docket No. FV95-959-2IFR; Amendment 1]

Onions Grown in South Texas; Increased Expenses and Establishment 
of Assessment Rate

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Amended interim final rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This interim final rule amends a previous interim final rule 
which authorized administrative expenses for the South Texas Onion 
Committee (Committee) under M.O. No. 959. This interim final rule 
increases the level of authorized expenses and establishes an 
assessment rate to generate funds to pay those expenses. Authorization 
of this increased budget enables the Committee to incur additional 
expenses that are reasonable and necessary to administer the program. 
Funds to administer this program are derived from assessments on 
handlers.

DATES: Effective August 1, 1995, through July 31, 1996. Comments 
received by January 11, 1996 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 202-720-
9918, or Belinda G. Garza, McAllen Marketing Field Office, Fruit and 
Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 1313 East Hackberry, McAllen, TX 78501, 
telephone 210-682-2833.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing 
Agreement No. 143 and Order No. 959, both as amended (7 CFR part 959), 
regulating the handling of onions grown in South Texas, 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 amended interim final rule has been reviewed under Executive 
Order 12778, Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order provisions 
now in effect, South Texas onions are subject to assessments. It is 
intended that the assessment rate as issued herein will be applicable 
to all assessable onions handled during the 1995-96 fiscal period, 
which began August 1, 1995, and ends July 31, 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 

[[Page 63611]]
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. 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 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 89 producers of South Texas onions under 
this marketing order, and approximately 35 handlers. Since the interim 
final rule was issued, information regarding an increase in the number 
of producers from approximately 70 to 89 was received. 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 
South Texas onion producers and handlers may be classified as small 
entities.
    The budget of expenses for the 1995-96 fiscal period was prepared 
by the South Texas Onion Committee, the agency responsible for local 
administration of the marketing order, and submitted to the Department 
of Agriculture for approval. The members of the Committee are producers 
and handlers of South Texas onions. They are familiar with the 
Committee's needs and with the costs of 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 South Texas 
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.
    Committee administrative expenses of $239,250 for personnel, 
office, and compliance expenses were recommended in a mail vote. The 
assessment rate and funding for the research and promotion projects 
were to be recommended at a later Committee meeting. The Committee 
administrative expenses of $239,250 were published in the Federal 
Register as an interim final rule August 17, 1995 (60 FR 42774). That 
interim final rule added Sec. 959.236, authorizing expenses for the 
Committee, and provided that interested persons could file comments 
through September 18, 1995. No comments were filed.
    The Committee subsequently met on November 14, 1995, and 
unanimously recommended an increase of $1,000 for insurance in the 
recently approved 1995-96 budget. The Committee also unanimously 
recommended $246,000 for promotion and $99,000 for onion breeding 
research. Budget items for 1995-96 which have increased compared to 
those budgeted for 1994-95 (in parentheses) are: Manager's salary, 
$19,094 ($15,172), office salaries, $24,000 ($22,000), payroll taxes, 
$4,000 ($3,100), insurance, $8,000 ($6,250), rent and utilities, $6,500 
($5,000), supplies, $2,000 ($1,500), postage, $1,500 ($1,000), 
telephone and telegraph, $4,000 ($2,500), furniture and fixtures, 
$2,000 ($1,000), equipment rental and maintenance, $3,500 ($2,500), 
contingencies, $6,706 ($3,978), manager travel, $5,000 ($3,000), 
Canadian onion promotion, $5,000 ($4,450), $226,000 for the Thacker 
Group for promotion ($200,000), onion breeding research, $99,000 
($88,028), and $3,750 for deferred compensation (manager's retirement), 
and $5,000 for miscellaneous promotion expenses, which were not line 
item expenses last year. All other items are budgeted at last year's 
amounts.
    The initial 1995-96 budget, published on August 17, 1995, did not 
establish an assessment rate. Therefore, by a vote of 11 to 1, the 
Committee also recommended an assessment rate of $0.10 per 50-pound 
container or equivalent of onions, $0.06 more than last year's 
assessment rate. The no vote came from a grower who thought increasing 
the assessment rate from $0.04 to $0.10 cents was too great an 
increase. This rate, when applied to anticipated shipments of 
approximately 6,000,000 million 50-pound containers or equivalents, 
will yield $600,000 in assessment income, which, will be adequate to 
cover budgeted expenses. Funds in the reserve as of October 31, 1995, 
were $408,314, which is within the maximum permitted by the order of 
two fiscal periods' expenses.
    While this action will impose some additional costs on handlers, 
the costs are in the form of uniform assessments on handlers. Some of 
the additional costs may be passed on to producers. However, these 
costs will be offset by the benefits derived from 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 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 
period began on August 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 recommended by the Committee at a public meeting and 
is similar to that taken for the 1994-95 fiscal period; 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 959

    Marketing agreements, Onions, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 959 is 
amended as follows: 

[[Page 63612]]

PART 959--ONIONS GROWN IN SOUTH TEXAS

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 959 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. Section 959.236 is revised to read as follows:

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

Sec. 959.236  Expenses and assessment rate.

    Expenses of $585,250 by the South Texas Onion Committee are 
authorized and an assessment rate of $0.10 per 50-pound container or 
equivalent of onions is established for the fiscal period ending July 
31, 1996. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a reserve.

    Dated: December 6, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-30232 Filed 12-11-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
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