Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2005/08/02/05-15169/sweet-cherries-grown-in-designated-counties-in-washington-order-amending-marketing-order-no-923
Timestamp: 2018-03-21 04:09:06
Document Index: 222836608

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 900', '§\u2009923', '§\u2009923', '§\u2009923', 'art 923', 'art 900', 'art 923', 'art 923', 'art\n2', '§\u2009923']

Federal Register :: Sweet Cherries Grown in Designated Counties in Washington; Order Amending Marketing Order No. 923
Sweet Cherries Grown in Designated Counties in Washington; Order Amending Marketing Order No. 923
This rule is effective August 3, 2005.
44249-44252 (4 pages)
FV03-923-01 FR
Order Amending the Order Regulating Sweet Cherries Grown in Washington
Order Relative To Handling of Sweet Cherries Grown in Washington
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/05-15169 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/05-15169
This rule amends the marketing order (order) for sweet cherries grown in Washington. Sweet cherry growers, voting in a mail referendum held March 1 through March 21, 2005, voted on four amendments proposed by the Washington Cherry Marketing Committee (Committee), which is responsible for local administration of the order, and two amendments proposed by the Agricultural Marketing Service of USDA. Of the six amendments proposed, three were favored, including: Adding authority for the Committee to accept voluntary contributions for research and promotion; establishing tenure limitations for Committee members; and requiring that continuance referenda be conducted every 6 years. The three amendments that failed include: adding authority for promotion, including paid advertising, and production research projects; adding authority for supplemental rates of assessment for individual varieties of cherries; and, adding a public member to the Committee. These amendments will not be implemented.
Melissa Schmaedick, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA, Post Office Box 1035, Moab, UT 84532, telephone: (435) 259-7988, fax: (435) 259-4945; or Robert J. Curry, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, Northwest Marketing Field Office, 1220 SW., Third Avenue, Room 385, Portland, OR 97204; telephone (503) 326-2724 or Fax (503) 326-7440.
Prior documents in this proceeding include: Notice of Hearing issued on October 6, 2003, and published in the October 10, 2003, issue of the Federal Register (68 FR 58636); Recommended Decision issued on September 29, 2004 and published in the October 5, 2004 issue of the Federal Register (69 FR 59551); and a Secretary's Decision and Referendum Order issued January 11, 2005 and published in the Federal Register on January 14, 2005 (70 FR 2573).
This final rule was formulated on the record of a public hearing held November 18, 2003, in Yakima, Washington. Notice of the public hearing was issued on October 6, 2003, and published in the October 10, 2003, issue of the Federal Register (68 FR 58636). The hearing was held to consider the proposed amendment of Marketing Agreement and Order No. 923, regulating the handling of sweet cherries grown in the State of Washington, hereinafter referred to as the “order”. The hearing was held pursuant to the provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), hereinafter referred to as the “Act,” and the applicable rules of practice and procedure governing the formulation of marketing agreements and marketing orders (7 CFR part 900). The Notice of Hearing contained six proposals: four proposals submitted by the Committee and two proposals by the Start Printed Page 44250Agricultural Marketing Committee (AMS).
Upon the basis of evidence introduced at the hearing and the record thereof, the Administrator of AMS on September 29, 2004, filed with the Hearing Clerk, U.S. Department of Agriculture, a Recommended Decision and Opportunity to File Written Exceptions thereto by November 4, 2004. No comments or exceptions were filed.
A Secretary's Decision and Referendum Order was issued on January 11, 2005, directing that a referendum be conducted during the period March 1 through March 25, 2005, among growers of sweet cherries to determine whether they favored the proposed amendments to the order. Voters voting in the referendum favored three out of the six amendments proposed by the Committee and USDA.
The amendments favored by the voters and included in this order will:
1. Add authority for the Committee to accept voluntary contributions for production research, marketing research and promotion. Any voluntary contributions received under this new authority may be used to support marketing research and development projects designed to assist, improve or promote the marketing, distribution, and consumption of sweet cherries. Voluntary contributions may not, however, be used for production research or paid advertising, as the authority to conduct such activities under the order was not approved in the referendum.
2. Impose term limitations on Committee members. Upon implementation, Committee members will be limited to serving no more than three consecutive two-year terms in one position without a break in service.
3. Require that continuance referenda be held every 6 years among Washington sweet cherry producers to determine their support for continuation of their marketing order program.
The proposals to add authority for production research and paid advertising, additional rates of assessments for individual varieties of cherries and a public member to the committee, failed to obtain the requisite number of votes needed, in number or in volume, to pass.
To become effective, the amendments had to be approved by at least two-thirds of those producers voting or by voters representing at least two-thirds of the volume of sweet cherries represented by voters voting in the referendum.
The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of business subject to such actions so that small businesses will not be unduly or disproportionately burdened. Small agricultural growers have been defined by the Small Business Administration (SBA) (13 CFR 121.201) as those having annual receipts of less than $750,000. Small agricultural service firms are defined as those with annual receipts of less than $6,000,000.
At a May 22, 2003, full Committee meeting, all industry representatives present could present their views concerning the recommended amendments. Both large and small businesses were represented. The Committee believes that small and large entities will benefit equally from the amendments.
This final rule amends § 923.43 of the order to authorize acceptance of voluntary contributions. The proposal to add authority for the Committee to accept voluntary contributions will not result in any increased costs or burdens to the industry. In fact, witnesses stated that this authority will benefit the industry greatly as it could provide for additional funding sources for research activities. Safeguards against donor control over the use of voluntary contributions will ensure that these funds will be used in the best interest of the industry. The Committee will decide how to use those funds, and the decision-making process will be open to industry input and feedback.
This final rule amends § 923.21 of the order to authorize term limits. The amendment to add tenure requirements for Committee members will allow more persons the opportunity to serve as members of the Committee. It will provide for more diverse membership, provide the Committee with new perspectives and ideas, and increase the number of individuals in the industry with Committee experience.
This final rule amends § 923.64 of the order to authorize continuance referenda. The amendment to require continuance referenda on a periodic basis to ascertain grower support for the order will allow growers to vote on whether to continue the operation of the program. The referenda will be conducted by USDA.
Interested persons were invited to present evidence at the hearing on the probable regulatory and informational impacts of the proposed amendments to the order on small entities. The record evidence is that while some minimal costs may occur, those costs are expected to be outweighed by the benefits expected to accrue to the sweet cherry industry in designated counties of Washington.
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), any reporting and recordkeeping provision changes that would be generated by these amendments would be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Current information collection requirements for Part 923 are approved by OMB under the generic Fruit Crops package OMB number 0581-0189.
Committee meetings regarding these proposals as well as the hearing dates were widely publicized throughout the Start Printed Page 44251Washington sweet cherry industry, and all interested persons were invited to attend the meetings and the hearing and participate in Committee deliberations on all issues. All Committee meetings and the hearing were public forums and all entities, both large and small, were able to express views on these issues.
The amendments contained in this rule have been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. They are not intended to have retroactive effect. These amendments will not preempt any State or local laws, regulations, or policies, unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with this proposal.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) and the applicable rules of practice and procedure effective thereunder (7 CFR part 900), a public hearing was held upon the proposed amendments to Marketing Order No. 923 (7 CFR part 923), regulating the handling of sweet cherries grown in Washington.
(2) The marketing order, as amended, and as hereby further amended, regulates the handling of sweet cherries grown in the production area in the same manner as, and is applicable only to persons in the respective classes of commercial and industrial activity specified in the marketing order upon which hearings have been held;
(4) The marketing order, as amended, and as hereby further amended, prescribes, insofar as practicable, such different terms applicable to different parts of the production area as are necessary to give due recognition to the differences in the production and marketing of sweet cherries grown in the production area; and
(b) Additional findings. It is necessary and in the public interest to make the amendments to this order effective not later than one day after publication in the Federal Register. A later effective date would unnecessarily delay implementation of the approved changes, which are expected to benefit the Washington sweet cherry industry. Immediate implementation of the amendments is necessary in order to make the amendments effective as specified.
(1) Handlers (excluding cooperative associations of producers who are not engaged in processing, distributing, or shipping sweet cherries covered by the order as hereby amended) who, during the period April 1, 2004, through February 28, 2005, handled 50 percent or more of the volume of such sweet cherries covered by said order, as hereby amended, have not signed an amended marketing agreement;
(2) The issuance of this amendatory order, further amending the aforesaid order, is favored or approved by at least two-thirds of the producers who participated in a referendum on the question of approval and who, during the period of April 1, 2004, through February 28, 2005 (which has been deemed to be a representative period), have been engaged within the production area in the production of such sweet cherries, such producers having also produced for market at least two-thirds of the volume of such commodity represented in the referendum; and
(3) In the absence of a signed marketing agreement, the issuance of this amendatory order is the only practical means pursuant to the declared policy of the Act of advancing the interests of producers of sweet cherries in the production area.
It is therefore ordered, that on and after the effective date hereof, all handling of sweet cherries grown in Washington shall be in conformity to, and in compliance with, the terms and conditions of the said order as hereby amended as follows:
The provisions of proposals 3, 5 and 6 of the proposed order amending the order contained in the Recommended Decision issued by the Administrator on September 29, 2004, and published in the Federal Register on October 5, 2004, shall be and are the terms and provisions of this order amending the order and set forth in full herein.
For the reasons set out it the preamble, 7 CFR part 923 is amended as follows:
End Authority Start Printed Page 44252 Start Amendment Part
2. Section 923.21 is revised to read as follows:
3. A new § 923.43 is added to read as follows:
4. Section 923.64 is amended by:
[FR Doc. 05-15169 Filed 8-1-05; 8:45 am]