Milk in the Tennessee Valley Marketing Area; Proposed Temporary Reduction of Supply Plant Shipping Percentage

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 1011

[DA-94-07]

Milk in the Tennessee Valley Marketing Area; Proposed Temporary

Reduction of Supply Plant Shipping Percentage

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed temporary revision of rule.

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SUMMARY: This document invites comments on a proposal to temporarily

reduce the supply plant shipping requirement of the Tennessee Valley

Federal milk order (Order 11) for the months of March through July

1994. The proposed action was requested by Armour Foods 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 February 23, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments (two copies) should be filed with the USDA/AMS/

Dairy Division, Order Formulation Branch, room 2968, 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 2968, 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

action would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. Such action 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 action in conformance with

Executive Order 12866.

This proposed action has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778,

Civil Justice Reform. This action is not intended to have a retroactive

effect. If adopted, this proposed action 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

8c(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 of 1937 and the provisions of

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

of the order regulating the handling of milk in the Tennessee Valley

marketing area is being considered for the months of March 1, 1994,

through July 31, 1994.

All persons who wish to send written data, views or arguments about

the proposed revision should send two copies of them to the USDA/AMS/

Dairy Division, Order Formulation Branch, room 2968, South Building,

P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456, by the 7th day after

publication of this document 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 revision is to be effective.

All written submissions made pursuant to this document 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 from 40 to 30 percent the supply

plant shipping requirement for the period of March through July 1994.

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 1994 will mirror

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

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

market.

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: February 8, 1993.

Richard M. McKee,

Acting Director, Dairy Division.

[FR Doc. 94-3503 Filed 2-15-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P