Finally, throughout 1998 and until mid-2000, the Commission undertook a number of formal and informal proceedings aimed at establishing a regulatory procedure consistent with the dictates of Section 9(f) of the Compact. Section 9(f) requires the Commission to “take such action as necessary and feasible to ensure that the over-order price does not create an incentive for producers to generate additional supplies of milk.” The Commission considered a number of possible programs during informal meetings and through formal rulemaking.[1] On May 31 last, the Commission issued a final rule based on the extensive record to that date.[2] The referendum ratified the Commission’s decision, with 91.8% favoring the new rule.[3]
Under the new program, the Commission diverts a portion of the over-order obligation for a one-year period, and then provides an additional, incentive payment from these diverted funds to farmers who have not increased production for the year by more than one percent, as compared with the previous year.
The
Commission has undertaken other rulemaking proceedings, but the remaining
ones have been primarily technical or procedural.[4]
[1] The proposals are described at Over-Order Price Regulation, 65 Fed. Reg. 34,570, 34,571 (2000).
[2] 65 Fed. Reg. 34,570 (2000) (codified at 7 C.F.R. §§ 1306.3(e), 1307.1, 1309 (2001)).
[3] Id. at 34,580.
[4] These other rulemakings include the Commission’s revision of its procedures for rulemaking and conducting referenda, Rulemaking Procedures: Producer Referendum, 63 Fed. Reg. 37,755 (1998) (codified as amended at 7 C.F.R. §§ 1361, 1371 (2001)); Rulemaking Procedures, 64 Fed. Reg. 18,323 (1999) (codified at 7 C.F.R. § 1361.11 (2001)); its revision of its procedures for petitions for exemption, Handler Petition Procedure, 64 Fed. Reg. 11,755 (1999) (codified at 7 C.F.R. § 1381 (2001)); its adjustment of the administrative assessment it charges milk processors, 64 Fed. Reg. 23,532 (1999) (codified as amended at 7 C.F.R. §§ 1307.4, 1308 (2001)); and its technical amendments of the over-order price regulation to conform with changes to the Department of Agriculture’s national system, Over-Order Price Regulation, 65 Fed. Reg. 16,118 (2000) (codified at 7 C.F.R. §§ 1301, 1304–1308 (2001)).