[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 12, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 63609-63610]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-30234]



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Rules and Regulations
                                                Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 238 / Tuesday, December 12, 1995 / 
Rules and Regulations

[[Page 63609]]


DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 955

[Docket No. FV95-955-2FIR]


Vidalia Onions Grown in Georgia; Expenses and Assessment Rate

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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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 
generated funds to pay those expenses under Marketing Order No. 955 for 
the 1995-96 fiscal period. Authorization of this budget enables the 
Vidalia 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.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 16, 1995, through September 15, 1996.

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 941-299-4770.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing 
Agreement and Order No. 955 (7 CFR part 955), regulating the handling 
of Vidalia onions grown in Georgia, hereinafter referred to as the 
``order.'' 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 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, Vidalia 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 
September 16, 1995, and ends September 15, 1996. 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 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. 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 240 producers of Georgia Vidalia onions 
under this marketing order, and approximately 145 handlers. Since the 
interim final rule was issued, information regarding a reduction in the 
number of producers from approximately 250 to 240 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 
Vidalia onion producers and handlers may be classified as small 
entities.
    The budget of expenses for the 1995-96 fiscal period was prepared 
by the Vidalia 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 Vidalia 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 Vidalia 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 July 20, 1995, and unanimously recommended a 
1995-96 budget of $343,000, $11,000 more than the previous year. Budget 
items for 1995-96 which have increased compared to those budgeted for 
1994-95 (in parentheses) are: Dues and subscriptions, $2,500 ($2,000), 
equipment maintenance, $1,600 ($750), office overhead, $6,000 ($3,000), 
office supplies, $3,500 ($3,000), telephone, $5,000 ($4,000), printing, 
$2,200 ($2,000), postage and courier, $6,000 ($5,000), employee 
salaries, $65,000 ($60,000), miscellaneous general and administrative, 
$1,700 ($1,000), marketing, $146,500 ($132,000), $6,500 for retirement, 
which was included in the employee benefits category last year, and 
$25,400 for a newly created compliance category. Items which have 
decreased compared to those budgeted 

[[Page 63610]]
for 1994-95 (in parentheses) are: Equipment purchases, $2,000 ($3,000), 
FICA employer, $3,100 ($4,250), employee benefits (health and dental), 
$7,000 ($13,500), research, $48,500 ($80,000), and ($8,000) for 
contract outside labor, for which no funding was recommended this year.
    The Committee also unanimously recommended an assessment rate of 
$0.10 per 50-pound bag or equivalent of Vidalia onions, the same as 
last year. This rate, when applied to anticipated shipments of 
3,017,500 50-pound bags or equivalents of Vidalia onions, would yield 
$301,750. The Committee also anticipates shipments of 50,000 50-pound 
bags of previously unassessed Vidalia onions which have been in 
storage, which will yield an additional $5,000 in assessment income. 
This, along with $4,250 in interest income and $32,000 from the 
Committee's authorized reserve, will be adequate to cover budgeted 
expenses. Funds in the Committee's authorized reserve as of September 
15, 1995, amounted to over $173,000 and were within the maximum 
permitted by the order of three fiscal periods' expenses. However, at 
its September 21, 1995, meeting the Committee voted to refund $100,000 
of this amount pro rata to handlers who paid assessments during the 
1992-93, 1993-94, and 1994-95 fiscal periods. To determine each 
handler's proportionate share, the Committee plans to total the excess 
funds for each of these fiscal periods, divide this excess by the total 
assessments levied on all handlers during this period, and apply the 
resulting percentage to the assessments paid by each individual handler 
during the three-year period. Funds remaining in the reserve will be 
adequate for administrative operating expenses, if needed.
    An interim final rule was published in the Federal Register on 
September 19, 1995 (60 FR 48361). That interim final rule added 
Sec. 955.208 to authorize expenses and establish an assessment rate for 
the Committee. That rule provided that interested persons could file 
comments through October 19, 1995. No comments were received.
    While this rule 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 by the operation of the 
marketing order. Therefore, the Administrator of the AMS has determined 
that this rule 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.
    It is further found that good cause exists for not postponing the 
effective date of this action until 30 days after publication in the 
Federal Register (5 U.S.C. 553) because the Committee needs to have 
sufficient funds to pay its expenses which are incurred on a continuous 
basis. The 1995-96 fiscal period began on September 16, 1995. The 
marketing order requires that the rate of assessment for the fiscal 
period apply to all assessable onions handled during the fiscal period. 
In addition, handlers are aware of this action which was unanimously 
recommended by the Committee at a public meeting and published in the 
Federal Register as an interim final rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 955

    Marketing agreements, Onions, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 955 is 
amended as follows:

PART 955--VIDALIA ONIONS GROWN IN GEORGIA

    Accordingly, the interim final rule amending 7 CFR part 955 which 
was published at 60 FR 48361 on September 19, 1995, is adopted as a 
final rule without change.

    Dated: December 6, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-30234 Filed 12-11-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P