Milk in the Southern Illinois-Eastern Missouri Marketing Area; Proposed Suspension of Certain Provisions of the Order

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7 CFR Part 1032

[DA-95-08]

Milk in the Southern Illinois-Eastern Missouri Marketing Area;

Proposed Suspension of Certain Provisions of the Order

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed suspension of rule.

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SUMMARY: This document invites written comments on a proposal to

suspend a portion of the pool supply plant definition of the Southern

Illinois-Eastern Missouri Federal milk marketing order (Order 32) for

the months of December 1994 and January 1995. The proposed suspension

was requested by Mid-America Dairymen, Inc., and Prairie Farms, Inc.,

which contend the proposed action is necessary to ensure that

producers' milk historically associated with Order 32 will continue to

be priced and pooled under the order.

DATES: Comments are due no later than January 10, 1995.

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 an order or to be

exempted from the order. A handler is [[Page 66]] 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

provision of the order regulating the handling of milk in the Southern

Illinois-Eastern Missouri marketing area is being considered for the

period of December 1, 1994, through January 31, 1995:

In Sec. 1032.7(c), the words ``each of'', the letter ``s'' at the

end of the word ``months'', and the words ``through January'' and ``for

the months of February''.

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 7th day

after publication of this notice in the Federal Register. The period

for filing comments is limited to 7 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 rule would suspend a portion of the pool supply plant

definition of the Southern Illinois-Eastern Missouri Federal milk

order. The proposed suspension would allow a supply plant to qualify as

a pool plant during the months of December 1994 and January 1995 if it

qualified as a pool supply plant during the immediately preceding month

of September.

Mid-America Dairymen, Inc. (Mid-America), and Prairie Farms, Inc.

(Prairie Farms), jointly requested the proposed suspension. According

to the request letter, Mid-America lost a major account with a pool

distributing plant regulated under Order 32, effective December 16,

1994. As a result, Mid-America and Prairie Farms contend that much of

the producer milk supplying the distributing plant will no longer be

needed for Class I use. The proponents assert that the order should not

penalize producers who have historically supplied the Class I needs of

the market by requiring milk shipments that are not needed.

Accordingly, it may be appropriate to suspend the aforesaid

provisions from December 1, 1994, through January 31, 1995.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1032

Milk marketing orders.

The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 1032 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: Secs. 1-19, 48 Stat 31, as amended; 7 U.S.C. 601-674.

Dated: December 27, 1994.

Lon Hatamiya,

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.

[FR Doc. 94-32290 Filed 12-30-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P