[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10479-10480]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4739]



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Rules and Regulations
                                                Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 38 / Monday, February 27, 1995 / 
Rules and Regulations

[[Page 10479]]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 959

[Docket No. FV94-959-1FIR]


South Texas Onions; Increased Expenses and Establishment of 
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, with appropriate changes, the provisions of an amended 
interim final rule that increased the level of authorized expenses and 
established an assessment rate that generated funds to pay those 
expenses. This final rule further increases authorized expenses. 
Authorization of this budget enables the South Texas 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: August 1, 1994, through July 31, 1995.

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. This 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 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 1994-95 fiscal period, which began August 1, 
1994, and ends July 31, 1995. This 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. 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 
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 47 producers of South Texas onions under 
this marketing order, and approximately 34 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 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 1994-95 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 
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 areas 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 $80,000 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 $80,000 were published in the Federal Register as an 
interim final rule August 12, 1994 (59 FR 41382). That interim final 
rule added Sec. 959.235, authorizing expenses for the Committee, and 
provided that interested persons could file comments through September 
12, 1994. No comments were filed.
    The Committee subsequently met on November 8, 1994, and unanimously 
recommended increases of $8,900 for personnel expenses, $2,300 for 
office expenses, and $126,000 for compliance activities in the recently 
approved 1994-95 budget. The compliance increase provided funds to 
operate road [[Page 10480]] guard stations surrounding the production 
area. The Committee also unanimously recommended $164,450 in market 
development activities and $88,028 in production research. Budget items 
for 1994-95 which increased compared to those budgeted for 1993-94 (in 
parentheses) were: Office salaries, $22,000 ($15,600), insurance, 
$6,250 ($5,250), accounting and audit, $2,600 ($2,300), rent and 
utilities, $5,000 ($4,000), field travel, $6,000 ($5,000), onion 
breeding research, $88,028 ($88,000), and $4,450 for Canadian onion 
promotion for which no funding was budgeted last year. Items which 
decreased compared to the amount budgeted for 1993-94 (in parentheses) 
were: Market development program, $150,000 ($200,000) and ($7,000) for 
screening for resistance and tolerance to purple blotch, ($2,000) for 
leaf wetness, ($2,600) for variety evaluation, ($4,000) for thrips 
monitoring and control, and ($2,000) for the Integrated Pest Management 
program, for which no funding was budgeted this year. All other items 
were budgeted at last year's amounts.
    The initial 1994-95 budget, published on August 12, 1994, did not 
establish an assessment rate. Therefore, the Committee also unanimously 
recommended an assessment rate of $0.04 per 50-pound container or 
equivalent of onions, $0.06 less than last year's assessment rate. This 
rate, when applied to anticipated shipments of approximately 5 million 
50-pound containers or equivalents, will yield $200,000 in assessment 
income, which, along with $269,678 from the reserve, will be adequate 
to cover budgeted expenses. Funds in the reserve as of December 31, 
1994, were $607,767, which is within the maximum permitted by the order 
of two fiscal periods' expenses.
    An amended interim final rule was published in the Federal Register 
on December 15, 1994 (59 FR 64557). That interim final rule amended 
Sec. 959.235 to increase the level of authorized expenses to $469,678 
and establish an assessment rate of $0.04 per 50-pound container or 
equivalent of onions for the Committee. That rule provided that 
interested persons could file comments through January 17, 1995. No 
comments were received.
    The Committee, in a telephone vote completed January 16, 1995, 
unanimously recommended an increase of $50,000 in the funding for the 
market development program, increasing expenditures from $150,000 to 
$200,000. This increase is necessary to cover additional expenses that 
will be incurred in conducting the program, and will result in total 
promotion expenses of $214,250 and a total budget of $519,678. There 
are adequate funds in the Committee's reserve to cover this additional 
expenditure, so no increase in the assessment rate was recommended.
    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 the Committee needs to have sufficient funds to pay its 
expenses which are incurred on a continuous basis. The 1994-95 fiscal 
period began on August 1, 1994, and 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 rule which was unanimously recommended by the Committee 
at a public meeting and published in the Federal Register as an amended 
interim final rule. No comments were received concerning that amended 
interim final rule, which is being adopted as a final rule, with 
appropriate changes.

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:
    Accordingly, the interim final rule amending 7 CFR part 959 which 
was published at (59 FR 64557) on December 15, 1994, is adopted as a 
final rule with the following change:

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 959.235 is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 959.235  Expenses and assessment rate.

    Expenses of $519,678 by the South Texas Onion Committee are 
authorized and an assessment rate of $0.04 per 50-pound container or 
equivalent of onions is established for the fiscal period ending July 
31, 1995. Unexpended funds may be carried over as a reserve.

    Dated: February 21, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-4739 Filed 2-24-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-W