[Federal Register: February 4, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 23)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 5915-5917]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04fe05-1]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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[[Page 5915]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 905
[Docket No. FV04-905-3 FIR]
Oranges, Grapefruit, Tangerines, and Tangelos Grown in Florida;
Limiting the Volume of Small Red Seedless Grapefruit
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This rule removes the weekly percentages established for the
first 22 weeks of the 2004-05 season beginning September 20, 2004. The
Citrus Administrative Committee voted to take this action following the
crop losses the industry sustained from Hurricanes Charley, Frances,
and Jeanne. It is expected that this action will provide more red
seedless grapefruit for shipment to the fresh fruit market.
DATES: Effective February 5, 2005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doris Jamieson, Southeast Marketing
Field Office, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and
Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 799 Overlook Drive, Suite A, Winter
Haven, Florida 33884; Telephone: (863) 324-3375; Fax: (863) 325-8793;
or George Kelhart, Technical Advisor, Marketing Order Administration
Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence
Avenue, SW., STOP 0237, Washington, DC 20250-0237; Telephone: (202)
720-2491; Fax: (202) 720-8938.
Small businesses may request information on complying with this
regulation by contacting Jay Guerber, Marketing Order Administration
Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence
Avenue, SW., STOP 0237, Washington, DC 20250-0237; Telephone: (202)
720-2491, Fax: (202)720-8938, or E-mail: Jay.Guerber@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing
Agreement No. 84 and Marketing Order No. 905, both as amended (7 CFR
part 905), regulating the handling of oranges, grapefruit, tangerines,
and tangelos grown in Florida, hereinafter referred to as the
``order.'' The 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.''
USDA is issuing this rule in conformance with Executive Order
12866.
This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil
Justice Reform. This rule removes the weekly percentages established
for the first 22 weeks of the 2004-05 season beginning September 20,
2004. 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 USDA 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 USDA 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 USDA's ruling on the petition,
provided an action is filed not later than 20 days after the date of
the entry of the ruling.
This rule terminates an interim final rule published in the Federal
Register on August 16, 2004 (69 FR 50269) which established limits on
the volume of small red seedless grapefruit entering the fresh market.
This rule removes the weekly percentages established for the first 22
weeks of the 2004-05 season beginning September 20, 2004. The Committee
voted to terminate this action following its crop losses from
Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Jeanne. It is expected that this
action will provide more red seedless grapefruit for shipment to the
fresh fruit market.
Section 905.52 of the order provides authority to limit shipments
of any grade or size, or both, of any variety of Florida citrus. Such
limitations may restrict the shipment of a portion of a specified grade
or size of a variety. Under such a limitation, the quantity of such
grade or size a handler may ship during a particular week is
established as a percentage of the total shipments of such variety
shipped by that handler during a prior period, established by the
Committee and approved by USDA.
Section 905.153 of the regulations provides procedures for limiting
the volume of small red seedless grapefruit entering the fresh market.
The procedures specify that the Committee may recommend that only a
certain percentage of sizes 48 and 56 red seedless grapefruit be made
available for shipment into fresh market channels for any week or weeks
during the regulatory period. The regulation period is 22 weeks long
and begins the third Monday in September. Under such limitation, the
quantity of sizes 48 and 56 red seedless grapefruit that may be shipped
by a handler during a regulated week is calculated using the
recommended percentage.
An interim final rule was published in the Federal Register which
limited the volume of sizes 48 (3\9/16\ inches minimum diameter) and 56
(3\5/16\ inches minimum diameter) red seedless grapefruit entering the
fresh market by instituting weekly percentages for the first 22 weeks
of the 2004-05 season. The rule established weekly percentages at 45
percent for the first three weeks (September 20, 2004 through October
10, 2004, 36 percent for weeks 4 through 18 (October 11, 2004 through
January 23, 2005), 40 percent for weeks 19 and 20 (January 23, 2005
through February 6, 2005), and 45 percent for weeks 21 and 22 (February
7, 2005 through February 20, 2005). The Committee recommended this
action unanimously at a meeting June 15, 2004. Similar limitations were
implemented during the previous seven seasons.
On August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley hit the west coast of
Florida, doing considerable damage to the 2004 citrus crop. On
September 5, 2004, Hurricane Frances hit the east coast of
[[Page 5916]]
Florida, the primary growing region for red seedless grapefruit. Again,
there was a great deal of damage to the citrus industry. Then on
September 26, 2004, Hurricane Jeanne hit Florida, nearly following the
same path as Hurricane Frances, further damaging the citrus crop. The
extent of the loss is evident in the official USDA crop estimate for
grapefruit during the 2004-05 season. The estimate is now 13 million 4/
5 bushel cartons. This is about 70 percent less than last year's
estimate.
At its November 16, 2004, meeting, the Committee discussed the
percentage of size rule which went into effect on September 20, 2004.
The percentage of size regulation helps reduce the detrimental market
effects of small-sized red seedless grapefruit over-supplies. With the
loss of so much of the red seedless grapefruit crop due to the
hurricanes, the Committee believes that a percentage size regulation
for 2004-05 is not needed. In fact, the Committee believes that there
may be an insufficient amount of fruit to supply the demand for fresh
fruit. There will be less large-sized red seedless grapefruit in 2004-
05, so more of the smaller sizes will be needed to supply consumer
demand. Consequently, the reasons for regulating the amount of small
red seedless grapefruit entering the fresh market during the 2004-05
season are no longer applicable.
Therefore, the Committee unanimously recommended terminating the
rule currently in effect.
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
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, AMS has
prepared this 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 75 grapefruit handlers subject to
regulation under the order and approximately 11,000 growers of citrus
in the regulated area. Small agricultural service firms, including
handlers, are defined by the Small Business Administration (SBA) 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 $750,000 (13 CFR 121.201).
Based on industry and Committee data, the average annual f.o.b.
price for fresh Florida red seedless grapefruit during the 2003-04
season was approximately $7.58 per 4/5-bushel carton, and total fresh
shipments for the 2003-04 season are estimated at 24.7 million cartons
of red grapefruit. Approximately 25 percent of all handlers handled 75
percent of Florida's grapefruit shipments. Using the average f.o.b.
price, at least 80 percent of the grapefruit handlers could be
considered small businesses under SBA's definition. Therefore, the
majority of Florida grapefruit handlers may be classified as small
entities. The majority of Florida grapefruit producers may also be
classified as small entities.
This rule terminates an interim final rule published in the Federal
Register on August 16, 2004, (69 FR 50269) which set limits on the
volume of small red seedless grapefruit entering the fresh market. The
interim final rule established weekly percentages in Sec. 905.350 for
the first 22 weeks of the 2004-05 season beginning September 20, 2004,
under the provisions of Sec. 905.153. Authority for this action is
provided in Sec. 905.52. USDA may terminate a regulation if it does
not tend to effectuate the declared policy of the Act. The Committee
unanimously voted to terminate the interim final rule and the
percentage size regulation at a meeting held on November 16, 2004.
During the months of August and September the major grapefruit
growing regions in Florida suffered significant damage and fruit loss
from multiple hurricanes. The strong winds from the storms blew
substantial volumes of the setting fruit off the trees. The impact of
the storms also produced a much higher than normal fruit drop. The
extent of the loss is evident in the official USDA crop estimate
supplied for this season which reflects a 70 percent decrease from last
year's estimate. With the available volume of red seedless grapefruit
substantially reduced, there is no longer any need to regulate volume
for the 2004-05 season. Consequently, the Committee voted to terminate
this action. This action will not create any additional costs for
growers or handlers.
This rule will not impose any additional reporting or recordkeeping
requirements on either small or large citrus 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. In addition, as noted in the initial
regulatory flexibility analysis, USDA has not identified any relevant
Federal rules that duplicate, overlap or conflict with this rule.
Further, the Committee's meetings were widely publicized throughout
the citrus industry and all interested persons were invited to attend
the meeting and participate in Committee deliberations. Like all
Committee meetings, the June 15, 2004, and November 16, 2004, meetings
were public meetings and all entities, both large and small, were able
to express their views on this issue.
An interim final rule concerning this action was published in the
Federal Register on August 16, 2004. Copies of the rule were mailed by
the Committee's staff to all Committee members and grapefruit handlers.
In addition, the rule was made available through the Internet by USDA
and the Office of the Federal Register. That rule provided for a 30-day
comment period which ended September 15, 2004. One comment was
received.
The commenter expressed concern that limiting the volume of
grapefruit in order to raise prices negatively affected the consumer.
The comment has been noted. However, the Committee has recommended
terminating this action, effectively eliminating volume regulations for
the 2004-05 season. Therefore, no changes will be made as a result of
the comment.
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
terminating the interim final rule, as published in the Federal
Register (69 FR 502769, August 16, 2004) will tend to effectuate the
declared policy of the Act. Further, it also is found that
implementation of the percentage size regulation during the 2004-05
season would not effectuate the declared policy of the Act.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is also found that good cause exists
for not postponing the effective date of this rule until 30 days after
publication in the Federal Register because this rule terminates
percentage size regulations which were not needed for the first 22
weeks of the 2004-05 shipping season.
[[Page 5917]]
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 905
Grapefruit, Marketing agreements, Oranges, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Tangelos, Tangerines.
0
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 905 is amended as
follows:
PART 905--ORANGES, GRAPEFRUIT, TANGERINES, AND TANGELOS GROWN IN
FLORIDA
0
1. The authority citation for part 905 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
Sec. 905.350 [Removed and reserved]
0
2. Section 905.350 is removed and reserved.
Dated: January 31, 2005.
Kenneth C. Clayton,
Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 05-2154 Filed 2-3-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P