[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 159 (Thursday, August 17, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 42815-42816]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-20351]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 1007

[Docket No. AO-366-A37, et al.; DA-95-22]


Milk in the Southeast Marketing Area; Notice of Hearing on 
Proposed Amendments to Tentative Marketing Agreement and Order

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public hearing on proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: A public hearing is being held in response to industry 
requests to amend the Southeast Federal milk marketing order. Proposals 
would amend certain price location adjustments within the marketing 
area.

DATES: The hearing will convene at 9 a.m. on September 19, 1995.

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at the Granada Suite Hotel, 1302 
West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30309 (Tel: 800/548-5631).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicholas Memoli, Marketing Specialist, 
Order Formulation Branch, USDA/AMS/Dairy Division, Room 2971, South 
Building, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456, (202) 690-1932.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This administrative action is governed by 
the provisions of sections 556 and 557 of Title 5 of the United States 
Code and, therefore, is excluded from the requirements of Executive 
Order 12866.
    Notice is hereby given of a public hearing to be held at the 
Granada Suite Hotel, 1302 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia, 
beginning at 9:00 a.m., on September 19, 1995, with respect to proposed 
amendments to the tentative marketing agreement and to the order 
regulating the handling of milk in the Southeast marketing area.
    The hearing is called pursuant to the provisions of the 
Agricultural Marketing 

[[Page 42816]]
Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601-674), and the 
applicable rules of practice and procedure governing the formulation of 
marketing agreements and marketing orders (7 CFR part 900).
    The purpose of the hearing is to receive evidence with respect to 
the economic and marketing conditions which relate to the proposed 
amendments, hereinafter set forth, and any appropriate modifications 
thereof, to the tentative marketing agreement and to the order.
    Actions under the Federal milk order program are subject to the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act (Pub. L. 96-354). This Act seeks to ensure 
that, within the statutory authority of a program, the regulatory and 
informational requirements are tailored to the size and nature of small 
businesses. For the purpose of the Act, a dairy farm is a ``small 
business'' if it has an annual gross revenue of less than $500,000, and 
a dairy products manufacturer is a ``small business'' if it has fewer 
than 500 employees. Most parties subject to a milk order are considered 
as a small business. Accordingly, interested parties are invited to 
present evidence on the probable regulatory and informational impact of 
the hearing proposals on small businesses. Also, parties may suggest 
modifications of these proposals for the purpose of tailoring their 
applicability to small businesses.
    The amendments to the rules proposed herein have been reviewed 
under Executive Order 12778, Civil Justice Reform. They are not 
intended to have a retroactive effect. If adopted, the proposed 
amendments would not preempt any state or local laws, regulations, or 
policies, unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with this 
rule.
    The Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act 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 provision of the order, or any obligation imposed in 
connection with the order is not in accordance with the law and 
requesting a modification of an 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.
    Interested parties who wish to introduce exhibits should provide 
the Presiding Officer at the hearing with 4 copies of such exhibits for 
the Official Record. Also, it would be helpful if additional copies are 
available for the use of other participants at the hearing.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1007

    Milk marketing orders.

    The authority citation for 7 CFR part 1007 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.

    The proposed amendments, as set forth below, have not received the 
approval of the Secretary of Agriculture.

Proposed by Mid-America Dairymen, Inc.

    Proposal No. 1: In Sec. 1007.2, amend Zone 11 by adding the words 
``(north of State Highway 16)'' after the word ``Tangipahoa'' and amend 
Zone 12 by adding the words ``Tangipahoa (south of State Highway 16)''. 
This amendment would increase the Class I price and the uniform price 
by 7 cents for milk delivered to a plant located in Hammond, Louisiana.
Proposed by Barber Pure Milk Company, Birmingham, Alabama, and Dairy 
Fresh Corporation, Greensboro, Alabama

    Proposal No. 2: In Sec. 1007.2, amend Zone 11 by removing the words 
``(more than 20 miles from the Mobile city hall)'' and amend Zone 12 by 
removing the words ``Alabama counties: Mobile (within 20 miles of the 
Mobile city hall)''. This amendment would decrease the Class I price 
and the uniform price by 7 cents for milk delivered to plants located 
within 20 miles of Mobile, Alabama.

Proposed by the Dairy Division, Agricultural Marketing Service

    Proposal No. 3: Make such changes as may be necessary to make the 
order conform with any amendments thereto that may result from this 
hearing.
    Copies of this notice of hearing and the order regulating the 
Southeast marketing area may be procured from the Market Administrator, 
P.O. Box 1208, Norcross, GA 30091-1208 (Tel: 404/448-1194), or from the 
Hearing Clerk, Room 1083, South Building, United States Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250, or may be inspected there.
    Copies of the transcript of testimony taken at the hearing will not 
be available for distribution through the Hearing Clerk's Office. If 
you wish to purchase a copy, arrangements may be made with the reporter 
at the hearing.
    From the time that a hearing notice is issued and until the 
issuance of a final decision in a proceeding, Department employees 
involved in the decision-making process are prohibited from discussing 
the merits of the hearing issues on an ex parte basis with any person 
having an interest in the proceeding. For this particular proceeding, 
the prohibition applies to employees in the following organizational 
units: Office of the Secretary of Agriculture; Office of the 
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service; Office of the General 
Counsel; Dairy Division, Agricultural Marketing Service (Washington 
office) and the Office of the Market Administrator, Southeast Federal 
Milk Order. Procedural matters are not subject to the above prohibition 
and may be discussed at any time.

    Dated: August 11, 1995.
Lon Hatamiya,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 95-20351 Filed 8-16-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P