[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 7430-7432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-3148]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 920

[Docket No. FV94-920-4FR]


Kiwifruit Grown in California; Changes in District Boundaries

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

[[Page 7431]] ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule redefines the eight district boundaries under 
the Federal marketing order for kiwifruit grown in California and makes 
the districts more equitable in terms of kiwifruit production. 
Kiwifruit growers in each of these districts elect members to represent 
their districts on the Kiwifruit Administrative Committee (committee), 
which locally administers the order. Production shifts have occurred 
within the California production area that have made the districts 
inequitable in terms of kiwifruit production.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 8, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose Aguayo, California Marketing 
Field Office, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and 
Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 2202 Monterey Street, Suite 102B, 
Fresno, California 93721; telephone (209) 487-5901; or Mark A. Hessel, 
Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, 
AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, Room 2526-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, 
telephone (202) 720-5127.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule is issued under Marketing 
Order No. 920 [7 CFR Part 920], as amended, regulating the handling of 
kiwifruit grown in California, 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 final 
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 action.
    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 
principle 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 65 handlers of California kiwifruit subject 
to regulation under the order and approximately 600 kiwifruit producers 
in the production area. Small agricultural service firms are defined by 
the Small Business Administration [13 CFR 121.601] as those whose 
annual receipts are less than $5,000,000, and small agricultural 
producers have been defined as those having annual receipts of less 
than $500,000. A majority of handlers and producers of California 
kiwifruit may be classified as small entities.
    The committee met on September 27, 1994, and recommended by a vote 
of 8 to 1 to change the producer district boundaries.
    The 12-member committee consists of one public member (and 
alternate), one member (and alternate) from each of the eight 
California districts, and three additional committee members and their 
alternates to be selected from the three districts with the three 
highest volumes of fresh shipments in the prior fiscal period. No more 
than a total of two members and their alternates shall represent any 
one district. With the exception of the public member and alternate, 
all members and their respective alternates are growers or employees of 
growers. The public member and alternate are nominated by the grower 
members and are selected with the approval of the Secretary.
    Under Section 920.31 of the marketing order, the committee may, 
with the approval of the Secretary, redefine the districts into which 
the production area is divided. Any such changes shall reflect, insofar 
as practicable, shifts in kiwifruit production within the districts and 
the production area.
    Pursuant to section 920.12, the production area, which includes all 
counties in California, is divided into eight districts. District 1 
includes Siskiyou, Modoc, Shasta, Lassen, Tehama, Plumas, and Butte 
counties with the exception of that area set aside as ``District 2.'' 
District 2 includes the 95948 postal zip code area known as Gridley 
(and surrounding area), incorporating the area located within the 
following boundaries: the area west of the Feather River; north of the 
Butte/Sutter County line; east of Pennigton and Riley Roads; and south 
of Farris Road, Ord Ranch Road and Gridley Avenue. District 3 includes 
Yuba, Sutter, Sierra, Nevada, and Placer Counties. District 4 includes 
Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity, Mendocino, Lake, Sonoma, Marin, Napa, 
Solano, Yolo, Colusa, and Glenn Counties. District 5 includes San 
Joaquin, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Merced, Stanislaus, Contra Costa, El 
Dorado, Amador, Sacramento, Alpine, San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, 
Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey Counties. District 6 
includes Mono, Mariposa, Madera, Fresno, and Kings Counties. District 7 
includes Tulare and Inyo Counties. District 8 includes San Luis Obispo, 
Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Kern, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, 
Riverside, San Diego, and Imperial Counties.
    Over the past ten years, production shifts have occurred within the 
California production area that have made the districts unequitable in 
terms of kiwifruit production. At the time the current districts were 
established, the production per district was fairly equal, but a 
greater percentage of the California kiwifruit crop was produced in 
Southern California (District 8) and Central California (District 5). 
However, kiwifruit production has shifted so that a larger percentage 
of the crop is concentrated in the Gridley area in Northern California 
(District 2) and Tulare County in Central California (District 7).
    The percentage of production for each of the eight current 
districts is shown in the table below based on the 1993/94 crop year. 
The percentage of production for the redefined districts based on the 
1993/94 crop year is shown as a basis for comparison. The table 
outlines the inequity that currently exists among the 
[[Page 7432]] districts and how the redefined districts will rectify 
these inequities.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Current   Redefined
                     District                        district   district
                                                    (percent)  (percent)
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1.................................................      11.02      13.54
2.................................................      13.24      13.24
3.................................................      15.57      15.00
4.................................................       1.79      12.20
5.................................................       4.52      12.03
6.................................................      12.19       8.59
7.................................................      34.25      14.65
8.................................................       7.41      10.75
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Under the new boundaries, county lines will be kept intact as 
boundaries except in Tulare and Butte Counties. This final rule will 
remove Glenn, Lake, Colusa, Sonoma, Yolo, Solano, Del Norte, Humboldt, 
Trinity, Mendocino, Napa, and Marin Counties from District 4 and add 
them to District 1. Sacramento, El Dorado and Amador Counties will be 
removed from District 5 and added to District 1. Nevada and Placer 
Counties will be removed from District 2 and added to District 1. 
Sierra County will be removed from District 3 and added to District 1. 
In Butte County, the town of Gridley will remain as a whole district--
District 2. Calaveras, Tuolumne, Contra Costa, Alpine, San Francisco, 
and Alameda Counties will be removed from District 5 and added to 
District 4. Mono and Mariposa Counties will be removed from District 6 
and added to District 4. Kings County will be removed from District 6 
and added to District 5. Inyo County will be removed from District 7 
and added to District 6. Tulare County will be divided into four 
districts. District 5 will include Tulare County north of Highway 198 
to the Kings County boundary. District 6 will include Tulare County 
south of Highway 198 to Avenue 56, excluding the west side of Highway 
65 between Highway 137 and Avenue 56. District 7 will include Tulare 
County west of Highway 65 between Highway 137 and Avenue 56, and 
District 8 will include Tulare County south of Avenue 56.
    Committee members serve 2-year terms of office beginning August 1, 
with about one-half of the membership selected each year. Of the 
current members, seven members are serving terms of office that expire 
on July 31, 1995, and five members are serving terms of office that 
expire on July 31, 1996. The committee recommended that all of the 
present committee members continue to serve through July 31, 1995, and 
that this redistricting be effective for nominations for all members to 
serve for terms beginning August 1, 1995. One-half of the committee 
members selected for terms of office beginning August 1, 1995, will 
serve one-year terms and the other half will serve two-year terms, with 
the determination of the terms for each member to be decided by lot.
    The one voter in opposition to the recommendation wanted to 
allocate the additional three committee members and their alternates to 
the three districts with the highest number of growers rather than to 
the three districts with the highest production. However, the marketing 
order requires that the three additional members and alternates be 
allocated to the highest producing districts.
    A proposed rule concerning this action was published in the Federal 
Register on December 9, 1994 [59 FR 63731], with a 30 day comment 
period ending January 9, 1995. 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.
    It is further found that good cause exists for not postponing the 
effective date of this rule until 30 days after publication in the 
Federal Register [5 U.S.C. 553] because: 1) Nomination procedures begin 
in March for those members and alternates to be selected for terms 
beginning in 1995; 2) Handlers are aware of this rule, which was 
recommended by the committee at a public meeting; and 3) a 30-day 
comment period was provided for in the proposed rule and no adverse 
comments were received.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 920

    Kiwifruit, Marketing agreements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 920 is 
amended as follows:

PART 920--KIWIFRUIT GROWN IN CALIFORNIA

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 920 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. A new Sec. 920.131 is added to read as follows:


Sec. 920.131  Redistricting of kiwifruit districts.

    Pursuant to Sec. 920.31 (l) the districts are redefined as follows:
    (a) District 1 shall include the counties of Del Norte, Siskiyou, 
Modoc, Humboldt, Trinity, Shasta, Lassen, Mendocino, Tehama, Plumas, 
Glenn, Lake, Colusa, Sonoma, Yolo, Solano, Napa, Marin, Sacramento, 
Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Amador, and Butte (with the 
exception of that area set aside as ``District 2'').
    (b) District 2 shall include the 95948 postal zip code area known 
as Gridley in Butte County, and the area surrounding Gridley, 
incorporating the area located within the following boundaries: The 
area west of the Feather River; north of the Butte/Sutter County line; 
east of Pennington and Riley Roads; and south of Farris Road, Ord Ranch 
Road and Gridley Avenue.
    (c) District 3 shall include the counties of Sutter and Yuba.
    (d) District 4 shall include the counties of San Francisco, San 
Mateo, Santa Cruz, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, Monterey, San 
Benito, San Joaquin, Calaveras, Alpine, Mono, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, 
Merced, Mariposa, Madera, and Fresno.
    (e) District 5 shall include Kings county and that portion of 
Tulare County north of Highway 198.
    (f) District 6 shall include Inyo County and that portion of Tulare 
County south of Highway 198 to Avenue 56, excluding the west side of 
Highway 65 between Highway 137 and Avenue 56.
    (g) District 7 shall include that portion of Tulare County of 
Tulare west of Highway 65 and between Highway 137 and Avenue 56.
    (h) District 8 shall include of Kern, San Luis Obispo, Santa 
Barbara, Ventura, San Bernardino, San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, 
Riverside, San Diego, Imperial Counties and that portion of Tulare 
County south of Avenue 56.

    Dated: February 2, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-3148 Filed 2-7-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-W