[Federal Register: December 28, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 249)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 78044-78046]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28de06-4]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 926
[Docket No. AMS-FV-06-0173; FV06-926-1 IFR]
Data Collection, Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements
Applicable to Cranberries Not Subject to the Cranberry Marketing Order;
Suspension of Provisions Under 7 CFR Part 926
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
[[Page 78045]]
ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This rule suspends Part 926 in the Code of Federal
Regulations, which requires persons engaged in the handling or
importation of fresh cranberries or cranberry products, but not subject
to the reporting requirements of the Federal cranberry marketing order
(7 CFR Part 929), to report sales, acquisition, and inventory
information to the Cranberry Marketing Committee (Committee), and to
maintain adequate records of such activities. The establishment of
these requirements is authorized under section 8(d) of the Agricultural
Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 (Act). The Committee, which administers
marketing order 929, regulating the handling of cranberries grown in
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin,
Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Long Island in the State
of New York, has been delegated by the Department of Agriculture (USDA)
to collect such information authorized under Part 926. Based on
information provided by the Committee, USDA has determined that the
collection of information under Part 926 is of marginal benefit to the
industry and should be suspended.
DATES: Effective December 29, 2006; comments received by February 26,
2007 will be considered prior to issuance of a final rule.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning this rule. Comments must be sent to the Docket Clerk,
Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs,
AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 0237, Washington, DC
20250-0237; Fax: (202) 720-8938; E-mail: moab.docketclerk@usda.gov, or
Internet: http://www.regulations.gov. 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, or can be viewed at:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/moab.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia A. Petrella or Kenneth G.
Johnson, DC Marketing Field Office, Marketing Order Administration
Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, Unit 155, 4700 River
Road, Riverdale, Maryland 20737; Telephone: (301) 734-5243, Fax: (301)
734-5275, or E-mail at
Patricia.Petrella@usda.gov or Kenneth.Johnson@usda.gov.
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 pursuant to 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 is not intended to have retroactive effect.
This rule will not preempt any State or local laws, regulations, or
policies, unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with this
rule. There are no administrative procedures which must be exhausted
prior to any judicial challenge to the provisions of this rule.
This rule suspends indefinitely Part 926 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, which contains the reporting and recordkeeping
requirements for entities engaged in the handling or importation of
fresh cranberries or cranberry products but not subject to the
cranberry marketing order (7 CFR Part 929) (order). Under Part 926,
such entities are required to provide to USDA or its delegate, certain
information regarding the sales, acquisitions, and inventories of fresh
cranberries or cranberry products. USDA delegated authority to the
Committee to collect such information. The Committee, which is also
responsible for administering the order, has used this information to
analyze market conditions and make volume control recommendations to
USDA. Recently the Committee has determined that this data collection
under Part 926 is not needed at this time, and advised USDA of its
findings following its meeting on June 6, 2006.
Section 608d(3) of the Act, as amended, authorizes the collection
of cranberry and cranberry product inventory information from producer-
handlers, second handlers, processors, brokers, and importers that are
not regulated by the order. Pursuant to this statutory authority, USDA
issued reporting and recordkeeping requirements for these entities
under Part 926 on January 12, 2005 (70 FR 1995). Sections 926.16,
926.17, and 926.18 require these entities to file and maintain certain
reports and other information that are also required of handlers
regulated under the order.
Part 926 was implemented to allow the Committee access to cranberry
and cranberry product inventory information from throughout the
industry, including segments outside the scope of the order, so that it
could make more informed marketing decisions. For example, the
Committee makes annual volume control recommendations to USDA that are
based upon estimated cranberry production, acquisition, inventory, and
sales for the total industry. Adding inventory data collected from
entities outside the order to the data reported by handlers under the
order was expected to provide a more accurate estimate of the total
industry inventory, thus enabling the Committee to make more informed
volume control recommendations.
However, after more than a year's experience collecting the data
pursuant to Part 926, the Committee has found that most inventories are
maintained by handlers regulated under the order, and that the amount
of cranberries and cranberry products held by entities outside the
order is minimal and does not affect the Committee's marketing
decisions. The Committee met on June 6, 2006, to evaluate the
effectiveness of the data collection conducted under Part 926. Taking
into account the marginal benefits of this data collection, the
committee advised USDA that the reporting and recordkeeping provisions
under Part 926 should be suspended.
This action suspends the reporting and recordkeeping requirements
of Part 926 indefinitely. Should changes occur in the cranberry
industry that would warrant reimplementation of these requirements USDA
may take appropriate action to reinstate these provisions under Part
926.
Initial 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 initial 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. Small agricultural
service firms are defined by the Small Business Administration (SBA)
[13 CFR 121.201] as those having annual receipts less than $6,500,000.
Small agricultural producers are defined
[[Page 78046]]
as those with annual receipts of less than $750,000. The Committee
estimates that there are approximately 56 handlers, producer-handlers,
processors, brokers, and importers subject to the data collection
requirements under Part 926. The Committee further estimates that most
of the entities required to file reports under Part 926 would be
considered small under the SBA criteria.
This rule suspends indefinitely the provisions of 7 CFR Part 926,
which require persons engaged in the handling of cranberries or
cranberry products (including producer-handlers, second-handlers,
processors, brokers, and importers) but not subject to the order to
maintain adequate records and report sales, acquisitions, and inventory
information to the Committee. Part 926 was established because the
Committee needed inventory information from non-regulated entities as
well as those subject to the order to better formulate its marketing
decisions and recommendations. It is being suspended because the
Committee has determined that, considering the size of the inventories
held outside the scope of the order, collecting that data from the non-
regulated entities is of marginal benefit to the industry.
This action suspends the reporting and recordkeeping requirements
for these cranberry handlers and importers. It is also expected to
reduce the Committee's costs associated with the collection and
maintenance of that information.
Alternatives to this action included continuing to collect
information as currently provided in Part 926, raising the inventory
threshold that triggers the need for a non-regulated entity to report
its inventory so that only those entities holding the largest
inventories would be required to file reports, or requesting that non-
regulated entities provide inventory information voluntarily. However,
the Committee advised USDA that most cranberries and cranberry products
are currently held in the inventories of the regulated handlers until
needed by processors, which greatly reduces the likelihood that large
unreported inventories exist. Therefore, the collection of inventory
information from entities under Part 926 no longer benefits the
industry.
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35), the information collection requirements related to this
rule were previously approved by the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) and assigned OMB No. 0581-0222, Data Collection Requirements
Applicable to Cranberries Not Subject to the Cranberry Marketing Order
(7 CFR Part 926). This information collection package expires August
31, 2007. We are submitting this information collection for renewal and
requesting OMB approval of a one-hour burden placeholder for future
reimplementation should changes occur in the cranberry industry that
require reinstatement of these reporting and recordkeeping requirements
under Part 926.
The AMS is committed to complying with the E-Government Act, to
promote the use of the Internet and other information technologies to
provide increased opportunities for citizen access to Government
information and services, and for other purposes.
In addition, USDA 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//
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.
This rule invites comments on suspending the reporting and
recordkeeping requirements under 7 CFR Part 926. All comments received
will be considered prior to finalization of this interim final rule.
After consideration of all relevant material presented, it is found
that Part 926, suspended in this interim final rule, as hereinafter set
forth, does not 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 in
effect and good cause exists for not postponing the effective date of
this rule until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register
because: (1) This interim final rule is a relaxation in the reporting
and recordkeeping requirements under 7 CFR Part 926 and should be in
place as soon as possible for the upcoming 2006-07 season and (2) 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 926
Cranberries and cranberry products, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
0
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 926 is amended as
follows:
PART 926--DATA COLLECTION, REPORTING AND RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS
APPLICABLE TO CRANBERRIES NOT SUBJECT TO THE CRANBERRY MARKETING
ORDER
0
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 926 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
Sec. Sec. 926.1 through 926.21 [Suspended]
0
2. In part 926, Sec. Sec. 926.1 through 926.21 are suspended
indefinitely.
Dated: December 21, 2006.
Lloyd C. Day,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. E6-22237 Filed 12-27-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P