This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

19382

Vol. 60, No. 74

Tuesday, April 18, 1995

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 946

[FV95–946–2PR]

Irish Potatoes Grown in Washington;

Establishment of Interest Charge on

Overdue Assessment Payments and

Clarification of Operating Reserve

Authority

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would

establish an interest charge on overdue

assessments under the marketing order

and clarify authority for an operating

reserve not to exceed approximately two

fiscal periods’ expenses. This proposed

rule would contribute to the efficient

operation of the order by ensuring that

adequate funds are available to cover

authorized expenses incurred under the

order. This proposed rule was

recommended by the State of

Washington Potato Committee

(Committee), the agency responsible for

the local administration of the order.

DATES: Comments must be received by

May 3, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit written comments

concerning this proposal. Comments

must be sent in triplicate to the Docket

Clerk, Fruit and Vegetable Division,

AMS, USDA, room 2525, South

Building, P.O. Box 96456, Washington,

D.C. 20090–6456, Fax: (202) 720–5698.

All comments should reference the

docket number and the date and page

number of this issue of the Federal

Register and will be made available for

public inspection in the Office of the

Docket Clerk during regular business

hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dennis L. West, Northwest Marketing

Field Office, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, 1220

SW Third Avenue, room 369, Portland,

Oregon 97204–2807; telephone: (503)

326–2724; or James B. Wendland,

Marketing Order Administration

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division,

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

2523–S, Washington, D.C. 20090–6456;

telephone: (202) 720–2170.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule

is proposed under Marketing Agreement

No. 113 and Marketing Order No. 946 (7

CFR part 946), both as amended,

regulating the handling of Irish potatoes

grown in Washington, hereinafter

referred to as the ‘‘order.’’ The order is

authorized by 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 proposed

rule in conformance with Executive

Order 12866.

This proposed rule has been reviewed

under Executive Order 12778, Civil

Justice Reform. It is not intended to

have retroactive effect. If adopted, the

proposed rule would not preempt any

State or local laws, regulations, or

policies, unless they present an

irreconcilable conflict with the

proposal.

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 of Agriculture

(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 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 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 50 handlers

of Washington potatoes subject to

regulation under the order and

approximately 450 producers of

Washington potatoes in the regulated

production area. Small agricultural

service firms have been defined by the

Small Business Administration (13 CFR

121.601) as those having annual receipts

of less than $5,000,000, and small

agricultural producers are defined as

those whose annual receipts are less

than $500,000. The majority of potato

handlers and producers regulated under

the order may be classified as small

entities.

This proposed rule would (1)

establish an interest charge of one (1)

percent per month to be applied to any

assessment balance remaining unpaid

after 30 days, and (2) clarify that funds

in the operating reserve may not exceed

approximately two fiscal periods’

expenses.

These proposed changes were

recommended by the Committee at its

February 22, 1995, meeting. Thirteen of

the 15-member Committee attended the

meeting. All in attendance favored the

proposed changes. The proposed

changes would contribute to the

efficient operation of the program by

ensuring that adequate funds are

available to cover the Committee’s

authorized expenses.

Section 946.41 of the order specifies

that if handlers do not pay their

assessments within the time prescribed

by the Committee, the assessments may

be increased by a late payment charge

or an interest charge, or both, at rates

prescribed by the Committee with the

approval of the Secretary.

The Committee depends upon

handler assessment payments for

operating funds. Handlers are invoiced

by the Committee on a monthly basis.

However, some handlers are continually

late with their assessment payments,

and a few wait until the end of the
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 74 / Tuesday, April 18, 1995 / Proposed Rules 19383

season to remit to the Committee what

is owed. When assessments are not paid

in a timely manner, the handlers paying

assessments on time are placed in an

unfair situation compared with the

delinquent handlers, who have use of

that unpaid assessment money for other

purposes, including earning interest in

a financial institution.

As part of its collection efforts, the

Committee has requested handlers to

promptly submit delinquent assessment

payments. However, such requests have

not substantially decreased the

frequency of delinquent payments. To

facilitate the collection of assessments

needed for the maintenance and

functioning of the Committee, it

recommended the establishment of an

interest charge of one (1) percent per

month to be applied to any assessment

balance remaining unpaid after 30 days,

and that this one (1) percent interest

charge shall be applied monthly

thereafter to the unpaid balance,

including any accumulated unpaid

interest. The Committee believes that

these charges are high enough to

encourage timely assessment payments.

The charges are within the interest

range customarily charged by banks on

commercial accounts.

This proposed change is intended to

encourage handlers to pay their

assessments when due, thereby

eliminating inequities. The Committee

believes that this would be an effective

means to ensure timely payments. This

proposed change is expected to reduce

the need for Department involvement

with compliance efforts and thereby

reduce the costs for the government to

administer the order.

Effective June 5, 1972, § 946.42 of the

order was revised to authorize the

Committee to maintain an operating

reserve not to exceed approximately two

fiscal periods’ operational expenses, or

such lower limits as the Committee,

with the approval of the Secretary, may

establish (37 FR 10915; June 1, 1972).

Funds in the reserve are available for

use by the Committee for expenses

authorized pursuant to § 946.40. Since

June of 1972, the Committee has

conducted its financial operations with

a reserve approximating two fiscal

periods’ expenses and has not

recommended a lower limit.

However, the proviso in paragraph (a)

of § 946.142 of Subpart—Rules and

Regulation’s (7 CFR 946.100–946.142;

32 FR 16199; November 28, 1967)

limiting the operating reserve to

approximately one fiscal year’s

expenses has never been updated to

bring it into conformity with amended

paragraph (a) of § 946.42 of the order.

This proposed rule proposes to make

that conforming change by changing the

words ‘‘one fiscal year’s expenses’’ at

the end of the proviso to ‘‘two fiscal

periods’ expenses’’.

Based on available information, the

Administrator of the AMS has

determined that this action would not

have a significant economic impact on

a substantial number of small entities.

A 15-day comment period is deemed

appropriate to allow interested persons

to respond to this proposal. The

Committee would like to impose

interest charges on delinquent handlers

as soon as possible to encourage such

handlers to pay assessments in a timely

manner. All written comments received

within the comment period will be

considered before a final rule is issued

on this matter.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 946

Marketing agreements, Potatoes,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, it is proposed that 7 CFR part

946 be amended as follows:

PART 946—IRISH POTATOES GROWN

IN WASHINGTON

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

part 946 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.

2. A new § 946.141 is added to read

as follows:

§ 946.141 Late payment and interest

charge.

The Committee shall impose an

interest charge on any handler who fails

to pay his or her assessment within

thirty (30) days of the billing date

shown on the handler’s assessment

statement received from the Committee.

The interest charge shall, after 30 days,

be one percent of the unpaid assessment

balance. In the event the handler fails to

pay the delinquent assessment, the one

percent interest charge shall be applied

monthly thereafter to the unpaid

balance, including any accumulated

unpaid interest. Any amount paid by a

handler as an assessment, including any

charges imposed pursuant to this

paragraph, shall be credited when the

payment is received in the Committee

office.

3. In § 946.142, paragraph (a) is

revised to read as follows:

§ 946.142 Operating reserve.

(a) The Committee, with the approval

of the Secretary, may carry over excess

funds into subsequent fiscal periods as

an operating reserve: Provided, That

funds in the operating reserve may not

exceed approximately two fiscal

periods’ expenses.

* * * * *

Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 95–9453 Filed 4–17–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. 95–NM–29–AD]

Airworthiness Directives; Fokker

Model F28 Mark 0100 Series Airplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking

(NPRM).

SUMMARY: This document proposes the

adoption of a new airworthiness

directive (AD) that is applicable to

certain Fokker Model F28 Mark 0100

series airplanes. This proposal would

require a one-time operational test of the

No. 1 pitot heating system, and repair or

replacement of failed elements. This AD

also would require modification of

certain electrical wiring, and

replacement of the pitot head and a

certain relay. This proposal is prompted

by reports indicating that the No. 1 Air

Data Computer (ADC #1) failed due to

icing of the No. 1 pitot tube. The actions

specified by the proposed AD are

intended to prevent icing of the No. 1

pitot tube, which could result in failure

of the No. 1 ADC or output of erroneous

airspeed data to all on-side subsidiary

systems including the Automatic Flight

Control and Augmentation System

(AFCAS).

DATES: Comments must be received by

May 30, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments in

triplicate to the Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), Transport

Airplane Directorate, ANM–103,

Attention: Rules Docket No. 95–NM–

29–AD, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW.,

Renton, Washington 98055–4056.

Comments may be inspected at this

location between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00

p.m., Monday through Friday, except

Federal holidays.

The service information referenced in

the proposed rule may be obtained from

Fokker Aircraft USA, Inc., 1199 North

Fairfax Street, Alexandria, Virginia

22314. This information may be

examined at the FAA, Transport

Airplane Directorate, 1601 Lind

Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington.