During its operation, the Commission has heard a number of petitions for exemption from the price regulation under § 16 of the Compact and the related procedural rules adopted by the Commission. The petitions have fit within two distinct categories. The first category encompasses litigation by a group of milk processors from outside the Compact region who claimed that the Commission, in applying its over-order price regulation to them, had violated their constitutional rights and had exceeded the limits that Congress had set for the territorial reach of the Compact. The second category encompasses two organic milk processors who claimed that the Commission should establish an exemption from the over-order price regulation for organic milk.[1]
The Commission has so far denied every petition for exemption submitted to it, although it has taken subsequent rulemaking actions to address some difficulties pointed out in the petitions and litigation.
[1] The Commission heard a petition fitting into neither of the two categories above. In re Turner’s Dairy, Inc., No. HEP-98-010 (N.E. Dairy Compact Comm’n Nov. 20, 1998) was filed in response to an enforcement proceeding brought by the Commission for Turner’s failure to comply with the regulation. See May 15, 1998 Order of the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food, Docket No. 98-001. Turner’s Dairy presented a claim for exemption based on special circumstances, which was denied by the Commission.