[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 47 (Thursday, March 10, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-5489]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: March 10, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 1106
[DA-94-08]
Milk in the Southwest Plains Marketing Area; Suspension of
Certain Provisions of the Order
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Suspension of rule.
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SUMMARY: This document suspends, for the months of February 1, 1994
through August 31, 1996, a portion of the supply plant shipping
requirement and the producer delivery requirement of the Southwest
Plains Federal milk marketing order (Order 106). The suspension was
requested by Kraft General Foods (Kraft), which contends the suspension
is necessary to prevent the uneconomical and inefficient movement of
milk and to ensure that producers historically associated with the
market will continue to have their milk pooled under Order 106.
EFFECTIVE DATE: February 1, 1994, through August 31, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicholas Memoli, Marketing Specialist,
USDA/AMS/Dairy Division, Order Formulation Branch, Room 2971, South
Building, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456, (202) 690-1932.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Prior document in this proceeding:
Notice of Proposed Suspension: Issued February 7, 1994; published
February 14, 1994 (59 FR 6915).
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 rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
This rule lessens the regulatory impact of the order on certain milk
handlers and tends to ensure that dairy farmers will continue to have
their milk priced under the order and thereby receive the benefits that
accrue from such pricing.
The Department is issuing this rule in conformance with Executive
Order 12866.
This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778,
Civil Justice Reform. This rule is not intended to have a retroactive
effect. This rule will not preempt any state or local laws,
regulations, or policies, unless they present an irreconcilable
conflict with this 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 the law and requesting 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.
This order of suspension is issued pursuant to the provisions of
the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act and of the order regulating
the handling of milk in the Southwest Plains marketing area.
Notice of proposed rulemaking was published in the Federal Register
on February 14, 1994 (59 FR 6915) concerning a proposed suspension of
certain provisions of the order. Interested persons were afforded
opportunity to file written data, views, and arguments thereon. One
comment was received in support of the suspension.
After consideration of all relevant material, including the
proposal in the notice, the comment received, and other available
information, it is hereby found and determined that for the months of
February through August of 1994 through 1996, the following provisions
of the order do not tend to effectuate the declared policy of the Act:
1. In Sec. 1106.6, the words ``during the month''.
2. In Sec. 1106.7(b)(1), beginning with the words ``of February
through August'' and continuing to the end of the paragraph.
3. In Sec. 1106.13, paragraph (d)(1) in its entirety.
Statement of Consideration
This suspension order temporarily removes the requirement that
producers ``touch-base'' at a pool plant with at least one day's
production during the month before their milk is eligible for diversion
to a nonpool plant. By suspending the touch-base provision, producer
milk will not be required to be delivered to pool plants before going
to unregulated manufacturing plants.
Additionally, the suspension allows a supply plant that has been
associated with the Southwest Plains order during the months of
September through January of each year to qualify as a pool plant--
without shipping any milk to a pool distributing plant--during the
following months of February through August. Without the suspension, a
supply plant would be required to ship 20 percent of its producer
receipts to pool distributing plants to qualify as a pool plant during
each of the months of February through August.
According to Kraft's letter requesting the suspension, supplemental
milk supplies from supply plants will not be needed to meet the fluid
needs of distributing plants because there will be an adequate supply
of direct-ship producer milk located in the general area of
distributing plants to meet the fluid needs of the market.
Consequently, it states, there is no need to require supply plants to
uneconomically ship milk to distributing plants, nor is there any
reason to require producers located some distance from pool
distributing plants to deliver their milk to those plants simply for
qualifying purposes when it can more economically be diverted directly
to manufacturing plants in the production area.
One comment letter was received in support of the suspension
request; none were received in opposition to it. A letter submitted by
Mid-America Dairymen, Inc. (Mid-Am), stated that Mid-Am and Associated
Milk Producers, Inc., two cooperative associations with a substantial
number of producers on the market, were in support of the action.
A similar suspension of the supply plant shipping requirements and
touch-base requirements has been effective for the past two years
during the months of February through August. In both years, there
were, in fact, adequate supplies of milk within direct-ship distance of
pool distributing plants to meet the fluids needs of the market during
these months. Producer milk deliveries in recent months indicate that a
similar pattern will hold true for 1994.
For the reasons discussed above, it is appropriate to suspend the
touch-base requirement and the specified supply plant shipping
requirements for the months of February through August of 1994 through
1996. This suspension period, while unusually long, will preclude the
necessity of similar suspensions in each of the next two years. In the
event that the market experiences a reduction of direct-ship milk
supplies and a need for supplemental milk from supply plants in 1995 or
1996, the suspended provisions can be easily reinstated by terminating
this suspension order.
It is hereby found and determined that thirty days' notice of the
effective date hereof is impractical, unnecessary, and contrary to the
public interest in that:
(a) The suspension is necessary to reflect current marketing
conditions and to assure orderly marketing conditions in the marketing
area, in that such rule is necessary to permit the continued pooling of
the milk of dairy farmers who have historically supplied the market
without the need for making costly and inefficient movements of milk;
(b) This suspension does not require of persons affected
substantial or extensive preparation prior to the effective date; and
(c) Notice of proposed rulemaking was given interested parties and
they were afforded opportunity to file written data, views or arguments
concerning this suspension.
Therefore, good cause exists for making this order effective less
than 30 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1106
Milk marketing orders.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, title 7, part 1106, is
amended as follows effective February 1, 1994, through August 31, 1996:
PART 1106--MILK IN THE SOUTHWEST PLAINS MARKETING AREA
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 1106 is revised to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
Sec. 1106.6 [Suspended in part]
2. In Sec. 1106.6, the words ``during the month'' are suspended.
Sec. 1106.7 [Suspended in part]
3. In Sec. 1106.7(b)(1), the words beginning with ``of February
through August'' and continuing to the end of the paragraph are
suspended.
Sec. 1106.13 [Suspended in part]
4. In Sec. 1106.13, paragraph (d)(1) in its entirety is suspended.
Dated: March 1, 1994.
Patricia Jensen,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Marketing and Inspection Services.
[FR Doc. 94-5489 Filed 3-9-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
