[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2120 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]


        S.2120

                       One Hundred Ninth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
             the third day of January, two thousand and six


                                 An Act


 
  To ensure regulatory equity between and among all dairy farmers and 
 handlers for sales of packaged fluid milk in federally regulated milk 
marketing areas and into certain non-federally regulated milk marketing 
      areas from federally regulated areas, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Milk Regulatory Equity Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. MILK REGULATORY EQUITY.

    (a) Minimum Milk Prices for Handlers; Exemption.--Section 8c(5) of 
the Agricultural Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608c(5)), reenacted with 
amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:
    ``(M) Minimum Milk Prices for Handlers.--
        ``(i) Application of minimum price requirements.--
    Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a milk handler 
    described in clause (ii) shall be subject to all of the minimum and 
    uniform price requirements of a Federal milk marketing order issued 
    pursuant to this section applicable to the county in which the 
    plant of the handler is located, at Federal order class prices, if 
    the handler has packaged fluid milk product route dispositions, or 
    sales of packaged fluid milk products to other plants, in a 
    marketing area located in a State that requires handlers to pay 
    minimum prices for raw milk purchases.
        ``(ii) Covered milk handlers.--Except as provided in clause 
    (iv), clause (i) applies to a handler of Class I milk products 
    (including a producer-handler or producer operating as a handler) 
    that--
            ``(I) operates a plant that is located within the 
        boundaries of a Federal order milk marketing area (as those 
        boundaries are in effect as of the date of the enactment of 
        this subparagraph);
            ``(II) has packaged fluid milk product route dispositions, 
        or sales of packaged fluid milk products to other plants, in a 
        milk marketing area located in a State that requires handlers 
        to pay minimum prices for raw milk purchases; and
            ``(III) is not otherwise obligated by a Federal milk 
        marketing order, or a regulated milk pricing plan operated by a 
        State, to pay minimum class prices for the raw milk that is 
        used for such dispositions or sales.
        ``(iii) Obligation to pay minimum class prices.--For purposes 
    of clause (ii)(III), the Secretary may not consider a handler of 
    Class I milk products to be obligated by a Federal milk marketing 
    order to pay minimum class prices for raw milk unless the handler 
    operates the plant as a fully regulated fluid milk distributing 
    plant under a Federal milk marketing order.
        ``(iv) Certain handlers exempted.--Clause (i) does not apply 
    to--
            ``(I) a handler (otherwise described in clause (ii)) that 
        operates a nonpool plant (as defined in section 1000.8(e) of 
        title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date 
        of the enactment of this subparagraph);
            ``(II) a producer-handler (otherwise described in clause 
        (ii)) for any month during which the producer-handler has route 
        dispositions, and sales to other plants, of packaged fluid milk 
        products equaling less than 3,000,000 pounds of milk; or
            ``(III) a handler (otherwise described in clause (ii)) for 
        any month during which--
                ``(aa) less than 25 percent of the total quantity of 
            fluid milk products physically received at the plant of the 
            handler (excluding concentrated milk received from another 
            plant by agreement for other than Class I use) is disposed 
            of as route disposition or is transferred in the form of 
            packaged fluid milk products to other plants; or
                ``(bb) less than 25 percent in aggregate of the route 
            disposition or transfers are in a marketing area or areas 
            located in one or more States that require handlers to pay 
            minimum prices for raw milk purchases.
    ``(N) Exemption for Certain Milk Handlers.--Notwithstanding any 
other provision of this section, no handler with distribution of Class 
I milk products in the marketing area described in Order No. 131 shall 
be exempt during any month from any minimum price requirement 
established by the Secretary under this subsection if the total 
distribution of Class I products during the preceding month of any such 
handler's own farm production exceeds 3,000,000 pounds.
    ``(O) Rule of Construction Regarding Producer-Handlers.--
Subparagraphs (M) and (N) shall not be construed as affecting, 
expanding, or contracting the treatment of producer-handlers under this 
subsection except as provided in such subparagraphs.''.
    (b) Exclusion of Nevada From Federal Milk Marketing Orders.--
Section 8c(11) of the Agriculture Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608c(11)), 
reenacted with amendments by the Agriculture Marketing Agreement Act of 
1937, is amended--
        (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking the last sentence; and
        (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
    ``(D) In the case of milk and its products, no county or other 
political subdivision of the State of Nevada shall be within the 
marketing area definition of any order issued under this section.''.
    (c) Records and Facility Requirements.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of this section, or the amendments made by this section, a 
milk handler (including a producer-handler or a producer operating as a 
handler) that is subject to regulation under this section or an 
amendment made by this section shall comply with the requirements of 
section 1000.27 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, or a successor 
regulation, relating to handler responsibility for records or 
facilities.
    (d) Effective Date and Implementation.--The amendments made by this 
section take effect on the first day of the first month beginning more 
than 15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. To accomplish 
the expedited implementation of these amendments, effective on the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall 
include in the pool distributing plant provisions of each Federal milk 
marketing order issued under subparagraph (B) of section 8c(5) of the 
Agriculture Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608c(5)), reenacted with 
amendments by the Agriculture Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, a 
provision that a handler described in subparagraph (M) of such section, 
as added by subsection (a) of this section, will be fully regulated by 
the order in which the handler's distributing plant is located. These 
amendments shall not be subject to a referendum under section 8c(19) of 
such Act (7 U.S.C. 608c(19)).

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.