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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 153 / Thursday, August 12, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety effects, distributive impacts and equity.
Executive Order 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits, reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and promoting flexibility. This action falls within a category of regulatory actions that the Office of Management and Budget OMB exempted from Executive Order 12866 review.
This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 13175
Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments, which requires agencies to consider whether their rulemaking actions would have tribal implications. Agricultural Marketing Service AMS has determined that this final rule is unlikely to have substantial direct effects on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes.
This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. Under the order now in effect, California dried prune handlers are subject to assessments. Funds to administer the order are derived from such assessments. The assessment rate is applicable to all assessable dried prunes for the 202021 crop year and would continue until amended, suspended, or terminated.
The Act provides that administrative proceedings must be exhausted before parties may file suit in court. Under section 608c15A 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. Such 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 USDAs ruling on the petition, provided an action is filed no later than 20 days after the date of the entry of the ruling.
This final rule increases the assessment rate from $0.25 per ton of
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salable dried prunes, the rate that was established for the 201920 and subsequent crop years, to $0.28 per ton of salable dried prunes for the 202021
and subsequent crop years.
The Order authorizes the Committee, with the approval of USDA, to formulate an annual budget of expenses and collect assessments from handlers to administer the program. Members are familiar with the Committees needs and with the cost of goods and services in their local area and can formulate an appropriate budget and assessment rate.
The assessment rate is formulated and discussed in a public meeting. All directly affected persons have an opportunity to participate and provide input.
For the 201920 and subsequent crop years, the Committee recommended, and USDA approved, an assessment rate of $0.25 per ton of salable dried prunes.
That assessment rate continues in effect from crop year to crop year unless modified, suspended, or terminated by USDA upon recommendation and information submitted by the Committee or other information available to USDA.
The Committee met on December 10, 2020, and unanimously recommended expenditures of $24,550 and an assessment rate of $0.28 per ton of salable dried prunes handled for the 202021 and subsequent crop years. In comparison, last years budgeted expenditures were $24,500. The $0.28
per ton assessment rate is $0.03 higher than the rate currently in effect. The Committee recommended increasing the assessment rate due to a smaller crop, and to provide adequate income along with carryforward/contingency funds and interest income to cover all the Committees budgeted expenses for the 202021 crop year.
Major expenditures recommended by the Committee for the 202021 crop year include $13,700 for personnel expenses and $10,850 for operating expenses. Budgeted expenses for these items for the 201920 crop year were $13,300 and $11,200, respectively.
The Committee derived the recommended assessment rate by considering anticipated expenses and an estimated crop of 50,000 tons of salable dried prunes. Income derived from handler assessments, calculated at $14,000 50,000 tons salable dried prunes multiplied by $0.28 assessment rate, along with carryforward/
contingency funds and interest income $11,682, will be adequate to cover budgeted expenses of $24,550.
The assessment rate established by this rule will continue in effect indefinitely until modified, suspended,
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or terminated by USDA upon recommendation and information submitted by the Committee or other available information.
Although this assessment rate will be in effect for an indefinite period, the Committee will continue to meet prior to or during each crop year to recommend a budget of expenses and consider recommendations for modification of the assessment rate.
Dates and times of Committee meetings are available from the Committee or USDA.
Committee meetings are open to the public and interested persons may express their views at these meetings.
USDA will evaluate Committee recommendations and other available information to determine whether modification of the assessment rate is needed. Further rulemaking would be undertaken as necessary. The Committees 202021 crop year budget, and those for subsequent crop years, will be reviewed and, as appropriate, approved by USDA.
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility Act RFA 5
U.S.C. 601612, AMS has considered the economic impact of this final rule on small entities. Accordingly, AMS has prepared this final regulatory flexibility analysis.
The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of businesses subject to such actions in order that small businesses will not be unduly or disproportionately burdened.
Marketing orders issued pursuant to the Act, and rules issued thereunder, are unique in that they are brought about through group action of essentially small entities acting on their own behalf.
There are approximately 800
producers of dried prunes in the production area and 20 handlers subject to the regulation under the Order. Small agricultural producers are defined by the Small Business Administration SBA as those having annual receipts of less than $1,000,000, and small agricultural service firms have been defined as those whose annual receipts are less than $30,000,000 13 CFR
121.201.
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service NASS, the national average producer price for California dried prunes for the 201920
crop year was $1,510 per ton.
Committee data indicates that the California dried prune total production was 110,000 tons in the 201920 crop year. The total 201920 crop year value of California dried prunes was
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