Milk in the Tennessee Valley Marketing Area; Proposed Temporary Revision of Certain Provisions of the Order

SUMMARY: This document invites comments on a proposal to reduce the

supply plant shipping requirement of the Tennessee Valley Federal milk

order (Order 11) for the months of March through July 1995. The

proposed action was requested by Armour Food Ingredients Company

(Armour), which operates a proprietary supply plant pooled under Order

11. Armour contends the action is necessary to prevent the uneconomical

movement of milk and to ensure that producer milk associated with the

market in the fall will continue to be pooled in the spring and summer

months.

DATES: Comments are due no later than December 7, 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: 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: 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 the 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 and the provisions of

Sec. 1011.7(b) of the order, the proposed revision of certain

provisions of the order regulating the handling of milk in the

Tennessee Valley marketing area is being considered for the period of

March 1, 1995, through July 31, 1995.

All persons who desire to submit written data, views or arguments

about the proposed revision should send two copies of their views to

USDA/AMS/Dairy Division, Order Formulation Branch, Room 2971, South

Building, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456, by the 30th day

after publication of this notice in the Federal Register.

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 revision would reduce the supply plant shipping

requirement from 40 to 30 percent for the period of March through July

1995. The Tennessee Valley order requires that a supply plant ship a

minimum of 60 percent of the total quantity of milk physically received

at the supply plant during the months of August through November,

January, and February, and 40 percent in each of the other months. The

order also provides authority for the Director of the Dairy Division to

increase or decrease this supply plant shipping requirement by up to 10

percentage points if such a revision is necessary to obtain needed

shipments of milk or to prevent uneconomic shipments.

Armour states that it would have to make uneconomical shipments of

milk to meet the 40 percent supply plant shipping requirement to

continue its pool status. Additionally, the proponent states that the

40 percent requirement could jeopardize the continued association of

producers who have supplied the Order 11 market in the fall.

Armour anticipates that marketing conditions in 1995 will mirror

those in 1993 and 1994, when the shipping percentage was also reduced.

It expects milk supplies to be adequate to meet the Class I needs of

the market.

In view of the current supply and demand relationship, it may be

necessary to reduce the supply plant shipping percentage as proposed to

provide for the efficient and economic marketing of milk during the

months of March 1 through July 31, 1995.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1011

Milk marketing orders.

The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 1011 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: Secs. 1-19, 48 Stat. 31, as amended; 7 U.S.C. 601-

674.

Dated: November 1, 1994.

Richard M. McKee,

Director, Dairy Division.

[FR Doc. 94-27522 Filed 11-4-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P