[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 55 (Tuesday, March 22, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-6650]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: March 22, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 1150

[Docket No. DA-94-01]
RIN 0581-AB10

 

Dairy Promotion Program; Amendments to the Order

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This rule amends the Dairy Promotion and Research Order to 
modify the composition of the National Dairy Promotion and Research 
Board by adding one Board seat to Region 4 and removing one Board seat 
from Region 8. The modification is necessary to ensure that the Board 
will best reflect the 1992 geographic distribution of milk production 
volume in the United States.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 1, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Silvio Capponi, Jr., Deputy Director, 
USDA/AMS/Dairy Division, room 2753, South Building, P.O. Box 96456, 
Washington, DC 20090-6456, (202) 720-4664.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Prior document in this proceeding:
    Invitation to Submit Comments on Proposed Amendments to the Order: 
Issued on January 20, 1994; published on January 31, 1994 (59 FR 4260).
    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 final rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
This change in the composition of the National Dairy Promotion and 
Research Board will not have an economic effect on any entity engaged 
in the dairy industry.
    This rule has been determined to be non-significant for purposes of 
Executive Order 12866 and therefore has not been reviewed by OMB.
    This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, 
Civil Justice Reform. This rule is not intended to have a retroactive 
effect. The Dairy and Tobacco Adjustment Act of 1983 provides in 
section 121(a) that nothing in the Act may be construed to preempt or 
supersede any other program relating to dairy product promotion 
organized and operated under the laws of the United States or any 
State.
    The Dairy and Tobacco Adjustment Act of 1983 provides that 
administrative proceedings must be exhausted before parties may file 
suit in court. Under section 118(a) of the Act, any person subject to 
any order issued under the Act may file with the Secretary a petition 
stating that any such order or any obligation imposed in connection 
therewith is not in accordance with the law and requesting a 
modification thereof or an exemption therefrom. The petitioner shall 
thereupon be given an opportunity for a hearing on the petition. The 
Act provides that the district court of the United States in any 
district in which the person is an inhabitant or carries on business 
has jurisdiction to review the Secretary's ruling on the petition, 
provided a complaint is filed within 20 days from the date of the entry 
of the ruling.

Preliminary Statement

    The Dairy Promotion and Research Order specifies in 
Sec. 1150.131(c) that the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board 
shall review the geographic distribution of milk production volume 
throughout the United States and, if warranted, shall recommend to the 
Secretary a reapportionment of the regions and/or a modification of the 
number of members from regions in order to best reflect the geographic 
distribution of milk production volume in the United States. Section 
1150.131(d) of the order specifies the formula to be used to determine 
the number of Board seats to represent each of the 13 geographic 
regions of the country designated in the order. Under the formula, 
total milk production for the 48 States for the previous calendar year 
is divided by 36 to determine a factor of pounds of milk represented by 
each Board member. The resulting factor is then divided into the pounds 
of milk produced in each region to determine the number of Board 
members for each region.
    The initial Board that was established in 1984 was based on 1983 
milk production. The Board was last modified in 1989 based on 1987 milk 
production. In 1983, each Board member represented about 3,875 million 
pounds of the 139,509 million pounds of milk produced in the 48 States. 
During 1992, total milk production increased to 151,589 million pounds, 
which indicated that each of the 36 Board members would represent 4,211 
million pounds of milk.
    Based on a review of the 1992 geographic distribution of milk 
production, the Board has concluded that the number of Board members 
for two of the 13 geographic regions should be changed. Milk production 
in Region 4 (Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) 
increased to 11,000 million pounds in 1992 from 8,438 million pounds in 
1987, indicating 2.61 Board members based on 1992 production (11,000 
divided by 4,211 = 2.61) compared to 2.14 Board members based on 1987 
production (8,438 divided by 3,952 = 2.14). Also, milk production in 
Region 8 (Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee) 
decreased to 6,547 million pounds in 1992 from 6,706 million pounds in 
1987, indicating 1.55 Board members based on 1992 production (6,547 
divided by 4,211 = 1.55) compared to 1.70 Board members based on 1987 
production (6,706 divided by 3,952 = 1.70). Thus, the Board proposed 
that the number of Board members for Region 4 be increased from two to 
three and that the number of Board members for Region 8 be decreased 
from two to one so that the Board will best reflect the geographic 
distribution of milk production volume throughout the United States.
    A notice of the proposed amendment to the order to modify the 
composition of the Board was published in the Federal Register on 
January 31, 1994. Interested parties were invited to submit written 
comments on the proposal by March 2, 1994.

Findings

    Three comments of support were received in response to the 
invitation to submit written comments on the proposal to add one Board 
seat to Region 4 and remove one Board seat from Region 8. Mid-America 
Dairymen, Inc., and two individual dairy farmers, supported the change 
on the basis that such a modification would result in a National Dairy 
Promotion and Research Board that best reflects the geographic 
distribution of milk production volume throughout the United States. 
Thus, the proposed amendments to the order as contained in the notice 
of proposed rulemaking are hereby adopted as a final rule.
    The order should be amended effective May 1, 1994. Such date is 
appropriate since Board members serve until April 30 of the year in 
which his/her term expires and a new Board, with up to one-third of the 
Board members being replaced, is seated on May 1 of each year. Thus, 
such effective date for the modification of the number of Board members 
for Regions 4 and 8 will be the least disruptive to the functioning of 
the Board.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1150

    Dairy products, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Research.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the following provisions 
in title 7, Part 1150 is amended as follows:

PART 1150--DAIRY PROMOTION PROGRAM

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 1150 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: Pub. L. 98-180, 97 Stat. 1128.

    2. In Sec. 1150.131, paragraphs (a)(4) and (a)(8) are revised to 
read as follows:


Sec. 1150.131  Establishment and membership.

    (a) * * *
    (4) Three members from region number four comprised of the 
following States: Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
* * * * *
    (8) One member from region number eight comprised of the following 
States: Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
* * * * *
    Dated: March 16, 1994.
Patricia Jensen,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Marketing and Inspection Services.
[FR Doc. 94-6650 Filed 3-21-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P