Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2010/06/17/2010-14569/sweet-onions-grown-in-the-walla-walla-valley-of-southeast-washington-and-northeast-oregon-changes-to
Timestamp: 2017-08-19 16:09:38
Document Index: 374296101

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 956', '§\u2009956', '§\u2009956', '§\u2009956', '§\u2009956', '§\u2009956']

75 FR 34345
FV10-956-1 FR
2010-14569
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2010-14569 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2010-14569
This rule changes the reporting and assessment date requirements prescribed under the marketing order regulating the handling of sweet onions grown in the Walla Walla Valley of southeast Washington and northeast Oregon. The marketing order is administered locally by the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee (hereinafter referred to as the “Committee”). This rule revises the submission due date for certain handler reports and assessment payments from September 1 to September 30. This change allows handlers additional time to compile requisite information and submit it to the Committee. It is expected that this action will improve handler compliance with the administrative requirements of the marketing order.
Barry Broadbent, Marketing Specialist, or Gary Olson, Regional Manager, Northwest Marketing Field Office, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA; Telephone: (503) 326-2724, Fax: (503) 326-7440, or E-mail: Barry.Broadbent@ams.usda.gov or GaryD.Olson@ams.usda.gov.
This final rule is issued under Marketing Agreement and Order No. 956, both as amended (7 CFR part 956), regulating the handling of sweet onions 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.”
This final rule revises the due date prescribed in the order's administrative rules for certain reports and assessment payments. Specifically, the submission due date for handler shipment statements and assessment payments for Walla Walla sweet onions shipped prior to September 1 (hereinafter referred to as “regular season”) is changed from September 1 to September 30. The due date change will allow handlers the needed time to compile information, file reports, and pay assessments. It is expected that this action will improve handler compliance with the order's reporting and assessment requirements. The rule was unanimously recommended by the Committee at its February 2, 2010, meeting.
Section 956.80 of the order provides that, upon request of the Committee, with the approval of the Secretary, each handler shall furnish to the Committee, in such manner and at such time as it may prescribe, such reports and other information as may be necessary for the Committee to perform its duties. In addition, § 956.42(a) provides that each person who first handles Walla Walla sweet onions shall pay assessments to the Committee upon demand.
Section 956.180(b) of the order's administrative rules prescribes that each handler shall furnish to the Committee a Handler's Statement of Walla Walla Sweet Onion Shipments. Prior to this final rule, for Walla Walla sweet onions handled prior to September 1, such report was required to be furnished to the Committee by September 1. In addition, § 956.142 of the order provided that, for Walla Walla Sweet Onions handled prior to September 1, annual assessment payments were also due September 1.
At its meeting on February 2, 2010, the Committee recommended that the order's reporting and assessment due date for regular season shipments be changed from September 1 to September 30 to allow handlers additional time to Start Printed Page 34346fulfill their reporting and assessment requirements. At the time the order was promulgated in 1995, the Walla Walla sweet onion shipping season typically concluded at the end of July or early in August. As such, the Committee established a September 1 deadline for submitting reports and paying assessments for Walla Walla sweet onions handled during the regular season, which gave handlers most of the month of August to accumulate information and prepare their reports and assessment payments.
Recently, however, handlers have indicated to the Committee that advancements in Walla Walla sweet onion production and storage techniques have extended the regular season for the shipment of such onions until the end of August. As a result, it has become more difficult for handlers to gather the information required in time to meet the September 1 deadline for reporting shipments and paying assessments. Changing the due date for submission of the handler's shipment statement and assessment payment for regular season shipments from September 1 to September 30 allows handlers the needed time to complete the requirements and submit them to the Committee.
This final rule revises the due date contained in §§ 956.180 and 956.142 of the order for the submission of regular season handler reports and assessment payments for Walla Walla sweet onions handled from June 1 through August 31. The deadline for submitting reports and assessment payments for such regular season onion shipments is revised from September 1 to September 30. This change does not affect the reporting and assessment payment due dates for late season Walla Walla sweet onions shipped during the September 1 through May 31 period, which continues to be 30 days after the end of the month in which the onions were handled. The due date change allows handlers the needed time to compile information, file reports and pay assessments. Authority for this action is provided in §§ 956.42(f) and 956.80.
At its February 2, 2010, meeting, the Committee discussed whether the due date for certain reports and assessment payments needed to be changed to allow more time for handlers to comply with the order's requirements. Handlers stated at the meeting that advancements in both the production and storage of Walla Walla sweet onions had extended the marketability of their product well into August, whereas, traditionally, their primary marketing season ended around the end of July. As such, the handlers explained that there is now less time between the end of their shipping period and the reporting deadline to compile information, complete reports and pay their assessments. The Committee staff indicated that compliance with the order's reporting and assessment requirements would likely improve if handlers were given additional time to fulfill them.
At the meeting, the Committee discussed alternatives to this change, including extending the due dates even further; requiring submission of reports and assessments monthly instead of at the end of the regular season; changing the due dates, but adding a late penalty; and not making any changes. However, the Committee believed that changing the due date for reports and assessment payments on regular season onion shipments from September 1 to September 30 adequately addressed the concerns of the handlers while maintaining sufficient consequences for noncompliance and reasonable timelines for the administration of the order.
This final rule is not expected to have any economic impact on handlers or producers of any size. The benefits of this rule are not expected to be disproportionately greater or less for small handlers or producers than for larger entities.
Information collected under this order is currently approved under OMB No. 0581-0178. This action will not impose any additional reporting or recordkeeping requirements on either small or large Walla Walla sweet onion handlers. As stated above, information collected will not change with this rule; only the date on which the collection is required to be submitted will be revised. 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, 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 February 2, 2010, meeting was a public meeting and all entities, both large and small, were able to express views on this issue.
A proposed rule concerning this action was published in the Federal Register on April 12, 2010 (75 FR 18428). Copies of the rule were mailed or sent via facsimile to all Committee members and Walla Walla sweet onion handlers. Finally, the rule was made Start Printed Page 34347available through the Internet by USDA and the Office of the Federal Register. A 30-day comment period ending May 12, 2010, was provided to allow interested persons to respond to the proposal. No comments were received during the comment period in response to the proposal. Accordingly, no changes will be made to the rule as proposed.
3. Revise § 956.180(b) introductory text to read as follows:
[FR Doc. 2010-14569 Filed 6-16-10; 8:45 am]