Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 6, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 13391

assessment rate increases the burden on

handlers, and may increase the burden

on producers. In addition, the

Committee’s meeting was widely

publicized throughout the California

olive industry and all interested persons

were invited to attend the meeting and

participate in Committee deliberations

on all issues. Like all Committee

meetings, the December 12, 2000,

meeting was a public meeting and all

entities, both large and small, were able

to express views on this issue. Finally,

interested persons are invited to submit

information on the regulatory and

informational impacts of this action on

small businesses.

This action imposes no additional

reporting or recordkeeping requirements

on California olive handlers. As with all

Federal marketing order programs,

reports and forms are periodically

reviewed to reduce information

requirements and duplication by

industry and public sector agencies.

The Department has not identified

any relevant Federal rules that

duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this

rule.

A small business guide on complying

with fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop

marketing agreements and orders may

be viewed at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/

fv/moab.html. Any questions about the

compliance guide should be sent to Jay

Guerber at the previously mentioned

address in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section.

After consideration of all relevant

material presented, including the

information and recommendation

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 rule until 30 days after

publication in the Federal Register

because: (1) The 2001 fiscal period

begins on January 1, 2001, and the

marketing order requires that the rate of

assessment for each fiscal period apply

to all assessable olives handled during

such fiscal period; (2) the action

increases the assessment rate for

assessable olives beginning with the

2001 fiscal period; (3) this action was

unanimously recommended by the

Committee at a public meeting and is

similar to other assessment rate actions

issued in past years; and (4) this interim

final rule provides a 60-day comment

period, and all comments timely

received will be considered prior to

finalization of this rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 932

Marketing agreements, Olives,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 7 CFR part 932 is amended as

follows:

PART 932—OLIVES GROWN IN

CALIFORNIA

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

part 932 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.

2. Section 932.230 is revised to read

as follows:

§ 932.230 Assessment rate.

On and after January 1, 2001, an

assessment rate of $27.90 per ton is

established for California olives.

Dated: February 28, 2001.

Kenneth C. Clayton,

Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing

Service.

[FR Doc. 01–5320 Filed 3–5–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 956

[Docket No. FV00–956–1 FIR]

Sweet Onions Grown in the Walla

Walla Valley of Southeast Washington

and Northeast Oregon; Revision of

Administrative Rules and Regulations

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Department of

Agriculture (Department) is adopting, as

a final rule, without change, the

provisions of an interim final rule

modifying the handler assessment and

reporting requirements under the Walla

Walla sweet onion marketing order. The

marketing order regulates the handling

of sweet onions grown in the Walla

Walla Valley and is administered locally

by the Walla Walla Sweet Onion

Marketing Committee (Committee). For

sweet onions handled during the period

September 1 through May 31 of each

fiscal period, this rule continues in

effect dates by which handlers must pay

assessments and furnish reports to the

Committee that reflect new cultural and

storage practices that have extended the

traditional mid-summer marketing

season.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 5, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert J. Curry, Northwest Marketing

Field Office, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, Fruit and

Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1220

SW Third Avenue, suite 385, Portland,

Oregon 97204–2807; telephone: (503)

326–2724, Fax: (503) 326–7440; or

George Kelhart, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, Fruit and

Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, room

2525-S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington,

DC 20090–6456; telephone: (202) 720–

2491, Fax: (202) 720–5698.

Small businesses may request

information on complying with this

regulation by contacting Jay Guerber,

Marketing Order Administration

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs,

AMS, USDA, room 2525-S, P.O. Box

96456, Washington, DC 20090–6456;

telephone: (202) 720–2491, Fax: (202)

720–5698, or E-mail:

Jay.Guerber@usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule

is issued under Marketing Agreement

and Order No. 956, as amended (7 CFR

part 956), regulating the handling of

sweet onions grown in the Walla Walla

Valley of Southeast Washington and

Northeast Oregon, 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 rule has been reviewed under

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice

Reform. This rule provides dates by

which handlers must pay assessments

and furnish reports to the Committee

that reflect new cultural and storage

practices for sweet onions handled

during the period September 1 through

May 31 of each fiscal period. 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 request a modification of the

order or to be exempted therefrom. A

handler is afforded the opportunity for

13392 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 6, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

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 to

review the Secretary’s ruling on the

petition, provided an action is filed not

later than 20 days after the date of the

entry of the ruling.

Section 956.41 of the order provides

the Committee with the authority to

establish an annual budget of

expenditures and § 956.42 provides

authority for the Committee to levy

assessments upon handlers of Walla

Walla sweet onions to provide adequate

funds to defray such expenditures.

Section 956.202 establishes the current

assessment rate of $0.21 per 50-pound

bag of Walla Walla sweet onions

handled. Section 956.42 also provides

the Committee with the authority to

impose an interest charge on any

handler who fails to pay any assessment

in a timely manner, and § 956.142 of the

order’s administrative rules and

regulations establishes the rate of

interest and the dates such interest

charges begin to accrue. Section 956.80

establishes the authority for the

Committee to require handler reports,

while § 956.180 provides the rules and

regulations necessary for the Committee

to implement and administer such

reporting requirements.

For sweet onions handled on or after

September 1, this rule continues in

effect dates by which handlers must pay

assessments and furnish reports to the

Committee. These changes recognize

new cultural and storage practices that

have extended the traditional midsummer marketing season. The changes

provide dates by which handlers must

pay assessments and submit reports on

shipments made in September or later.

This rule was unanimously

recommended by the Committee on

August 15, 2000.

Sections 956.142 (interest charges)

and 956.180 (reports) were established

in August 1996 to foster prompt

assessment payments and to ensure that

adequate funds would be available to

cover budgeted expenses incurred by

the Committee under the order. Section

956.180 establishes reporting

requirements for providing the

Committee with statistical information

regarding total industry shipments and

is used as a basis for assessment

collection. This information also is

useful for the development of a budget

and in making marketing and promotion

plans for the upcoming season. Section

956.142 establishes assessment due

dates and an interest charge of 1.5

percent per month on any handler who

fails to pay his or her assessments

within thirty days of the due date.

Historically, Walla Walla sweet

onions have been planted in the fall,

then harvested and marketed from late

June to early August. Due to the short

shelf life of this, traditionally nonstorage, summer onion, the marketing

season has closely followed the annual

harvest. However, recent changes in

cultural and storage practices within the

Walla Walla sweet onion industry are

lengthening the marketing season for

some of the sweet onions produced in

the Walla Walla Valley. A few

producers have been planting sweet

onions in the spring, thereby extending

the traditional mid-summer harvest into

late summer or early fall. In addition,

with the recent introduction of

Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage, the

potential now exists for extending the

marketing season further into the fall

and early winter season.

By extending the due dates for

assessments and reports on sweet

onions handled on or after September 1,

this action provides Walla Walla sweet

onion handlers more time to comply

with these requirements. This will

enable them to take advantage of the

expanding marketing season. The

Committee will continue to require that

assessments be paid and reports

submitted by September 1 for onions

handled in June, July, and August.

For assessments due on sweet onions

handled prior to September 1, the

monthly interest charge of 1.5 percent

will continue to accrue after September

30. For assessments due on sweet

onions handled during the period

September 1 through May 31 of each

fiscal period, interest charges will begin

accruing 30 days after the handler’s

report of shipments is due.

Handlers marketing their sweet

onions prior to September 1 will

continue to submit reports (Committee

Form No. 1) showing weekly and

seasonal totals by September 1, and

assessments for their shipments to the

Committee no later than September 30

to avoid late payment interest charges.

For shipments during the period

September 1 through May 31 of each

fiscal period, handlers will submit a

separate report, along with the

appropriate assessment payment, for

each monthly period that they continue

to make shipments. Such reports will be

due at the office of the Committee no

later than 30 days following the end of

the month in which shipments were

made. Assessments will be due within

thirty (30) days of the last day of the

month in which the shipments are

made. For example, a handler shipping

Walla Walla sweet onions anytime

during the month of September would

furnish the shipment report to the

Committee no later than October 30. In

this example, the report would contain

the number of 50-pound equivalents of

Walla Walla sweet onions shipped by

such handler during each week in

September, along with the monthly total

of shipments and a check for the

appropriate assessment amount. This

reporting and payment schedule

continues for each monthly period

Walla Walla sweet onions are handled

after September 1.

With the introduction of spring

planting and CA storage for Walla Walla

sweet onions and the associated

extension of the traditional marketing

season, this action is necessary to

ensure that adequate Committee

operating funds are obtained in a timely

manner, that producers and handlers are

treated equitably and have the needed

flexibility to produce and market their

crop as they desire, and that consumers

have an extended season in which to

purchase Walla Walla sweet onions.

Pursuant to requirements set forth in

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), the

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

has considered the economic impact of

this action on small entities.

Accordingly, the AMS has prepared this

final regulatory flexibility analysis.

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 30 handlers

of Walla Walla sweet onions who are

subject to regulation under the order

and approximately 60 sweet onion

producers in the regulated production

area. Small agricultural service firms are

defined by the Small Business

Administration (13 CFR 121.201) as

those having annual receipts of less than

$5,000,000, and small agricultural

producers are defined as those having

annual receipts of less than $500,000.

The Committee estimates that all of

the handlers of Walla Walla sweet

onions ship under $5,000,000 worth of

sweet onions on an annual basis. In

addition, based on acreage, production,

and producer prices reported by the

National Agricultural Statistics Service,

and the total number of onion producers

in the regulated production area, the

average gross annual producer revenue

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 6, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 13393

from sweet onions was about $117,000

in 1999, the most recent year statistics

are available. Based on this information,

it can be concluded that the majority of

Walla Walla sweet onion handlers and

producers may be classified as small

entities, excluding receipts from other

sources.

Based on authority in §§ 956.42 and

956.80, the Committee unanimously

recommended this action at a public

meeting on August 15, 2000.

Specifically, for sweet onions handled

on or after September 1, this rule

continues in effect dates by which

handlers must pay assessments

(§ 956.142) and furnish reports

(§ 956.180) to the Committee. These

changes are being made to recognize

new cultural and storage practices that

extend the traditional mid-summer

marketing season to mid-winter, and

provide handlers more time to pay

assessments and file reports on these

later shipments.

Regarding the impact of this action on

affected entities, sweet onion handlers

will not be forced into noncompliance

with the order because they are now

able to pay assessments and submit

shipment reports later than was

previously provided. When the previous

deadlines were established, the

Committee did not envision shipments

being made in September or later. Walla

Walla sweet onions have a relatively

high market value, but generally must

be harvested and sold within a short

time period between late June and early

August. With this extension in the

marketing season, producers and

handlers hope to increase their returns

while providing consumers with

unique, highly demanded sweet onions

during a period of time when such

onions were traditionally not available.

The Committee estimated that during

the 2000 marketing season only a

limited amount of sweet onions would

be handled on or after September 1 and

into early winter. The Committee has

been informed, however, that an

additional 1,300 acres of sweet onions

may be planted for the 2001 marketing

season, with many of the onions

possibly going into CA storage.

Approximately 800 acres of Walla Walla

sweet onions were planted for the 2000

season.

The Committee discussed alternatives

to the recommendation, including

leaving the regulations unmodified.

However, the Committee decided that it

did not have the option of leaving the

regulations unmodified because some

handler assessment obligations are

expected to accrue during the period

September 1 through May 31 of each

fiscal period. Another alternative

discussed would have changed the

regulations to require the submission of

reports and assessments for the entire

crop, regardless of when marketed,

within 30 to 60 days of the date of

shipment. The Committee rejected this

option because it felt that the bulk of the

Walla Walla sweet onion crop will

continue to be marketed during the

traditional mid-summer season, and it

wants to ensure that an adequate

income is received early in the fiscal

period to offset expenditures. The fiscal

period begins June 1 and ends May 31.

The Committee uses Form No. 1,

Handler’s Statement of Walla Walla

Sweet Onion Shipments, for collecting

assessments and statistical data. Prior to

this action, this form was mailed to

handlers in mid-August with the

requirement that it be returned by

September 1, and assessments were due

within 30 days of September 1 to avoid

imposition of the 1.5 percent per month

interest charge. The Committee revised

Form No. 1 to reflect the changes in

handling practices and due dates.

The Committee estimates that only

two of the currently regulated handlers

in the Walla Walla sweet onion

production area may initially ship sweet

onions on or after September 1. The

Committee also estimates that the

revised Form No. 1 will continue to take

approximately 25 minutes to complete.

With only two handlers submitting

reports on October 31 and possibly

again on November 30, for example, the

total additional burden on the industry

for the information reporting

requirements for sweet onions shipped

on or after September 1 would

approximate 100 minutes per year.

Thus, while this rule will impose some

additional reporting requirements, the

burden is currently approved under

OMB No. 0581–0078 by the Office of

Management and Budget in accordance

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). The

Agricultural Marketing Service has

notified the Office of Management and

Budget of this change in burden.

As with all Federal marketing order

programs, reports and forms are

periodically reviewed to reduce

information requirements and

duplication by industry and public

sector agencies. In addition, as noted in

the initial regulatory flexibility analysis,

the Department has not identified any

relevant Federal rules that duplicate,

overlap, or conflict with this rule.

The Committee’s meeting was widely

publicized throughout the Walla Walla

sweet onion industry and all interested

persons were invited to attend the

meeting and participate in Committee

deliberations on all issues. Like all

Committee meetings, the August 15,

2000, meeting was a public meeting and

all entities, both large and small, were

able to express views on this issue.

Further, interested persons were invited

to submit information on the regulatory

and informational impacts of this action

on small businesses.

An interim final rule concerning this

action was published in the Federal

Register on October 16, 2000. A copy of

the rule was mailed to Committee staff,

who handled the distribution of copies

to Committee members and sweet onion

producers and handlers. In addition, the

rule was made available through the

Internet by the Office of the Federal

Register. The rule provided a 60-day

comment period that ended December

15, 2000. No comments were received.

A small business guide on complying

with fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop

marketing agreements and orders may

be viewed at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/

fv/moab.html. Any questions about the

compliance guide should be sent to Jay

Guerber at the previously mentioned

address in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section.

After consideration of all relevant

material presented, including the

Committee’s recommendation, and

other information, it is found that

finalizing the interim final rule, without

change, as published in the Federal

Register (65 FR 61080, October 16,

2000) will tend to effectuate the

declared policy of the Act.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 956

Marketing agreements, Onions,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

PART 956—SWEET ONIONS GROWN

IN THE WALLA WALLA VALLEY OF

SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON AND

NORTHEAST OREGON

Accordingly, the interim final rule

amending 7 CFR part 956 which was

published at 65 FR 61080 on October

16, 2000, is adopted as a final rule

without change.

Dated: February 28, 2001.

Kenneth C. Clayton,

Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing

Service.

[FR Doc. 01–5318 Filed 3–5–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P