[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 155 (Friday, August 12, 1994)] [Unknown Section] [Page 0] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 94-19806] [[Page Unknown]] [Federal Register: August 12, 1994] VOL. 59, NO. 155 Friday, August 12, 1994 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Agricultural Marketing Service 7 CFR Part 1004 [DA-94-19] Milk in the Middle Atlantic Marketing Area; Proposed Suspension of Certain Provisions of the Order AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA. ACTION: Proposed suspension of rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This document invites written comments on a proposal to suspend certain provisions of the Middle Atlantic Federal milk marketing order for the months of September 1994 through February 1995. The proposed suspension would reduce the percent of receipts that must be disposed of as Class I disposition by pool distributing plants, provide automatic pool plant status for supply plants and reserve processing plants that were pool plants during the months of September through February, and suspend the limit on the amount of milk that may be diverted to nonpool plants by cooperative associations and by pool plant operators. The suspension was requested by several Middle Atlantic cooperatives and handlers who contend that the suspension is necessary to assure that producer milk which has been historically associated with the market will continue to be pooled and priced under the order without incurring unnecessary and uneconomic movements solely for the purpose of maintaining pool status. DATES: Comments are due no later than August 29, 1994. ADDRESSES: Comments (two copies) should be filed with the USDA/AMS/ Dairy Division, Order Formulation Branch, Room 2971, South Building, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gino M. Tosi, Marketing Specialist, USDA/AMS/Dairy Division, Order Formulation Branch, Room 2971, South Building, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456, (202) 690-1366. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612) requires the Agency to examine the impact of a proposed rule on small entities. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service has certified that this proposed rule would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This rule would lessen the regulatory impact of the order on certain milk handlers and would tend to ensure that dairy farmers would continue to have their milk priced under the order and thereby receive the benefits that accrue from such pricing. The Department is issuing this proposed rule in conformance with Executive Order 12866. This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, Civil Justice Reform. This rule is not intended to have a retroactive effect. If adopted, this proposed rule will not preempt any state or local laws, regulations, or policies, unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with the rule. The Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601-674), 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 the Secretary a petition stating that the order, any provisions of the order, or any obligation imposed in connection with the order is not in accordance with law and request a modification of an order or to be exempted from the order. A handler is afforded the opportunity for a hearing on the petition. After a hearing, the Secretary 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 its principal place of business, has jurisdiction in equity to review the Secretary's ruling on the petition, provided a bill in equity is filed not later than 20 days after the date of the entry of the ruling. Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act, the suspension of the following provisions of the order regulating the handling of milk in the Middle Atlantic marketing area is being considered for the months of September 1, 1994, through February 28, 1995: 1. In Sec. 1004.7(a), the words ``40 percent in the months of September through February, and'' and ``in the months of March through August,''. 2. In Sec. 1004.7(e), the word ``immediately'' and the words ``for each of the following months of March through August,''. 3. In the introductory text of Sec. 1004.12(d), the words ``in accordance with the conditions of paragraphs (d)(1) and (d)(2) of this section.'' 4. In Sec. 1004.12, paragraphs (d)(1) and (d)(2). All persons who want to submit written data, views or arguments about the proposed suspension should send two copies of their views to the USDA/AMS/Dairy Division, Order Formulation Branch, Room 2971, South Building, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456, by the 15th day after publication of this notice in the Federal Register. The period for filing comments is limited to 15 days because a longer period would not provide the time needed to complete the required procedures before the requested suspension is to be effective. All written submissions made pursuant to this notice will be made available for public inspection in the Dairy Division during regular business hours (7 CFR 1.27(b)). Statement of Consideration The proposed suspension would reduce the total Class I disposition standard for pool distributing plants, provide automatic pool plant status for supply plants and reserve processing plants that were pool plants during each of the preceding months of September through February, and suspend the limit on the amount of milk that may be diverted to nonpool plants by cooperative associations and pool plant operators. The first provision proposed to be suspended would reduce the percentage of a distributing plant's receipts that would have to be disposed of as Class I milk to meet the order's pooling standards. As proposed, a pool distributing plant would have to use at least 30 percent, rather than 40 percent, of its monthly milk receipts as Class I milk during September 1994 through February 1995. The second provision proposed to be suspended would permit supply plants and reserve processing plants that have met the order's pooling standards during the months of September 1993 through February 1994 to retain pool status for the months of September 1994 through August 1995. The shipping requirements that normally would have applied to such plants during the months of September 1994 through February 1995 would be eliminated under the proposed suspension. The third provision included in the proposed suspension would eliminate the limit on the percentage of milk that may be diverted to nonpool plants by a cooperative association or a pool plant operator for the period of September 1994 through February 1995. The proposed suspension was requested by Pennmarva Dairymen's Federation, Atlantic Dairy Processing, Inc., Dairylea, Eastern Milk Producers Cooperative, and Lehigh Valley Dairies. Together these organizations market over 90 percent of the market's producer milk. The proponents state that between 1991 and 1993 producer receipts on Order 4 increased while the percentage of the market's producer milk used for Class I purposes decreased. Proponents cited the consistently declining monthly Class I percentages for the months of September through February of 1991, 1992, and 1993 to support their request. They pointed out, for example, that the Class I use percentage for September 1991 was 56.2, while in September 1993 it was 51.4 percent. The proponents claim that the reduction in Class I use results in an increase in diversions to nonpool plants, which makes it increasingly difficult for cooperatives and pool plant operators to maintain the pool status of the milk of producers who have historically been associated with the market. In further support of their suspension request, the proponents indicate that two large Order 4 distributing plants with which large volumes of Order 4 diverted milk had been associated became regulated under the New York-New Jersey order, another Order 4 distributing plant closed, and two additional Order 4 distributing plants have changed their product mix, causing a reduction of pool plant deliveries for the cooperative supplying milk to these plants. The proponents claim that they are experiencing difficulty associating all of their diverted producer milk with the remaining distributing plants now regulated under the Middle Atlantic order because the additional diverted milk is reducing the Class I use percentage of the plants from which it is diverted, thereby jeopardizing their status as pool plants. Thus the proponents state that the proposed suspension would have the effect of reducing uneconomic movements of milk solely for the purpose of meeting pool qualifications, and would reflect current marketing conditions without causing the milk of producers long associated with the market to become depooled. Accordingly, it may be appropriate to suspend the aforesaid provisions from September 1, 1994, through February 28, 1995. List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1004 Milk marketing orders. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 1004 continues to read as follows: Authority: Secs. 1-19, 48 Stat 31, as amended; 7 U.S.C. 601-674. Dated: August 8, 1994. Lon Hatamiya, Administrator. [FR Doc. 94-19806 Filed 8-11-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-02-P