Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 227 / Tuesday, November 25, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 62827

1U.S.C. 7256(3).

§ 1307.4 Payments to producers.

* * * * *

(f) At a partially regulated plant each

handler shall make payments, on a pro

rata basis, to all producers and dairy

farmers for milk (excluding diverted

pool producer milk) received from them

during the month, the payment received

pursuant to § 1307.3 (b).

Daniel Smith,

Executive Director.

[FR Doc. 97–30602 Filed 11–24–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 1650–01–P

NORTHEAST DAIRY COMPACT

COMMISSION

7 CFR Chapter XIII

Results of Producer Referendum

AGENCY: Northeast Dairy Compact

Commission.

ACTION: Notice of referendum results.

SUMMARY: On October 23, 1997, the

Northeast Dairy Compact Commission

adopted, by final rule, an extension of

the current over-order price regulation

through the termination of the Compact

enabling legislation,1 which is

published elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register. To become effective,

the extension of a price regulation must

be approved by at least two-thirds of all

producers voting by referendum. A

producer referendum was held during

the period of October 24 through

November 12, 1997. The extension of

the Commission’s price regulation

through termination of the Compact

enabling legislation was approved by

more than two-thirds of all producers

voting in the referendum. This

document discusses the referendum on

the final rule and gives notice of the

results.

ADDRESSES: Northeast Dairy Compact

Commission, 43 State Street, P.O. Box

1058, Montpelier, Vermont 05601.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Daniel Smith, Executive Director,

Northeast Dairy Compact Commission at

the above address or by telephone at

(802) 229–1941 or by facsimile at (802)

229–2028.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Compact Commission was established

under the authority of the Northeast

Interstate Dairy Compact (‘‘Compact’’).

The Compact was enacted into law by

each of the six participating New

England states as follows: Connecticut—

Pub. L. 93–320; Maine—Pub. L. 89–437,

as amended, Pub. L. 93–274;

Massachusetts—Pub. L. 93–370; New

Hampshire—Pub. L. 93–336; Rhode

Island—Pub. L. 93–106; Vermont—Pub.

L. 89–95, as amended, 93–57. Consistent

with Article I, Section 10 of the United

States Constitution, Congress consented

to the Compact in Pub. L. 104–127

(FAIR ACT), Section 147, codified at 7

U.S.C. 7256. Subsequently, the United

States Secretary of Agriculture, pursuant

to 7 U.S.C. 7256(1), authorized

implementation of the Compact.

Article V, Section 13(a) of the

Compact provides that to ascertain

whether a price regulation established

by the Commission is approved by

producers the Commission shall

conduct a referendum among producers.

Section 13(b) provides further that a

price regulation shall be deemed

approved by producers if the

Commission determines that it is

approved by at least two-thirds of the

voting producers who, during a

representative period, have been

engaged in the production of milk

subject to Commission price regulation.

Section 13(c) directs the Commission to

consider the approval or disapproval of

any qualified cooperative association by

block vote as the approval or

disapproval of the producers who are

members or stockholders in the

cooperative association. Section 13(c)(4)

provides that producers who are

members of cooperatives may express

their approval or disapproval of the

order by ballot, contrary to the position

taken by their cooperative, and the

Commission shall then remove their

vote from the total certified by the

Cooperative.

By Final Rule, published in this

Federal Register, the Commission

adopted an extension of the over-order

price regulation through termination of

the Compact enabling legislation on

October 23, 1997. The Final Rule

includes specific findings of fact

required under Section 12(a)(1)–(4) of

the Compact. The following notice

provides certification of the finding

required under Section 12(a)(4),

specifically: ‘‘Whether the terms of the

proposed regional order or amendment

are approved by producers as provided

in section 13.’’

The Commission adopted the

following resolution for certifying a

referendum vote at its October 23, 1997

meeting:

Referendum Approval Certification

Procedure

The Compact Commission resolves and

adopts this procedure for certifying whether

the Price Regulation adopted on October 23

has been duly approved by producer

referendum in accordance with Article V,

§ 12 of the Northeast Interstate Dairy

Compact.

The Compact Commission further resolves

to designate and authorize a ‘‘Referendum

Agent’’ to administer this procedure. The

Referendum Agent shall:

1. Verify all ballots in accordance with

Commission’s requirements with respect to

timeliness, Cooperative identification,

producer eligibility, appearance of

authenticity and other steps taken to avoid

duplication of ballots. Ballots determined by

the referendum agent to be invalid shall be

marked ‘‘disqualified’’ with a notation of the

reason for the disqualification. Disqualified

ballots shall not be considered in

determining approval or disapproval of the

regulation. Verification of ballots shall

include those cast individually and by block

vote.

2. Certify the following:

a. The total number of ballots cast.

b. The total number of ballots disqualified.

c. The total number of verified ballots cast

in favor of the price.

d. The total number of verified ballots cast

in opposition to the price regulation.

e. Whether two-thirds of all verified ballots

were cast in the affirmative.

3. Report to the Executive Director of the

Compact Commission the certified

computations and results of the referendum

under Section 2, who shall publish such

results in the Federal Register.

4. At the completion of his or her work,

shall seal all ballots, including the

disqualified ballots, and shall submit a final

report to the Executive Director stating all

actions taken in connection with the

referendum. The final report shall include all

ballots cast and all other information

furnished to or compiled by the Referendum

Agent.

The ballots cast, the identity of any person

or cooperative, or the manner in which any

person or cooperative voted and all

information furnished to or compiled by the

Referendum Agent shall be regarded as

confidential.

The Commission hereby duly appoints

Mae Schmidle as the Referendum Agent to

act in accordance with the procedures

adopted by this Resolution.

The Commission appointed Ms. Mae

Schmidle, the Commission’s Vice Chair

as Referendum Agent. A referendum

was held during the period of October

24 through November 12, 1997. All

producers who were producing milk

pooled in Federal Order #1 or for

consumption in New England, during

August of 1997, the representative

period determined by the Commission

were deemed eligible to vote. The

mailing of ballots to eligible producers

was completed on October 30, 1997 by

the Federal Order #1 Market

Administrator. The ballots included an

official summary of the Commission’s

action. Producers were notified that, to

be counted, their ballots had to be

returned to the Commission offices by

5:00 PM on November 12, 1997.

Eleven Cooperative Associations were

notified of the procedures necessary to
62828 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 227 / Tuesday, November 25, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

block vote by a letter dated October 24,

1997. Cooperatives were required to

provide prior written notice of their

intention to block vote to all members

on a form provided by the Commission,

and to certify to the Commission that (1)

timely notice was provided, (2) the

number of eligible producers for whom

they claimed to be voting, and (3) that

they were qualified under the CapperVolstead Act. Cooperative Associations

were further notified that Cooperative

Association block vote reporting forms

had to be returned to the Commission

offices by 5:00 PM on November 12,

1997.

Notice

On November 13, 1997 the duly

authorized referendum agent verified all

Ballots according to procedures and

criteria established by the Commission.

A total of 4,178 ballots were mailed to

eligible producers. All ballots and Block

Vote Reporting Forms received by the

Commission were opened and counted.

A total of 3,560 producer ballots were

returned to the Commission office.

Ballots and Block Vote Reporting forms

were verified or disqualified based on

criteria established by the Commission,

including timeliness, cooperative

identification by cooperative members,

producer eligibility, appearance of

authenticity, appropriate certifications

by cooperative associations and other

steps taken to avoid duplication of

ballots. Ballots determined by the

referendum agent to be invalid were

marked ‘‘disqualified’’ with a notation

as to the reason. A total of 65 ballots

were disqualified by the referendum

agent.

The referendum agent then certified

the following:

A total of 4,178 ballots were mailed to

eligible producers.

A total of 3,560 ballots were returned

to the Commission.

A total of 65 ballots were disqualified.

A total of 3,495 ballots were verified.

A total of 3,482 verified ballots were

cast in favor of the price regulation.

A total of 13 verified ballots were cast

in opposition to the price regulation.

Accordingly, pursuant to the

Referendum Approval Certification

Procedure resolution adopted by the

Northeast Diary Compact Commission

on October 23, 1997, I hereby provide

notice that 3,482 of 3,495 verified

ballots cast or 99.6% of all verified

ballots cast were in favor of the price

regulation, and that, therefore, greater

than two-thirds of all verified were cast

in the affirmative.

Daniel Smith,

Executive Director.

[FR Doc. 97–30600 Filed 11–24–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 1650–01–M