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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 180 (Tuesday, September 21, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 52420-52422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20379]

========================================================================
Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

========================================================================


Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 21, 2021 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 52420]]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 1150

[Document No. AMS-DA-20-0060]

National Dairy Promotion and Research Board Reapportionment

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This document invites comments on a proposed amendment to the 
Dairy Promotion and Research Order (Dairy Order). The proposal would 
modify the number of National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (Dairy 
Board) members in two of the 12 regions. The total number of domestic 
Dairy Board members would remain the same at 36. This modification was 
requested by the Dairy Board, which administers the Dairy Order, to 
better reflect the geographic distribution of milk production in the 
United States.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 21, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on 
this proposed rule. Comments may be submitted through the Federal e-
rulemaking portal at www.regulations.gov or emailed to 
[email protected] and should reference the document number, date, 
and page number of this issue of the Federal Register. All comments 
submitted in response to this proposed rule will be included in the 
record and will be made available to the public. Please be advised that 
the identity of the individuals or entities submitting comments will be 
made public on the internet at the address provided above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Whitney A. Rick, Director, Promotion, 
Research, and Planning Division, Dairy Program, AMS, USDA, 1400 
Independence Ave. SW, Room 2958-S, Stop 0233, Washington, DC 20250-
0233. Phone: (202) 720-6909. Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This proposed rule is issued pursuant to the 
Dairy Production Stabilization Act (Dairy Act) of 1983, Public Law 98-
180 as codified in 7 U.S.C. 4501-4514, as amended.

Executive Order 12866

    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has waived the review 
process required by Executive Order 12866 for this action. This action 
falls within a category of regulatory actions that the OMB exempted 
from Executive Order 12866 review.

Executive Order 12988

    This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, 
Civil Justice Reform. This proposed rule is not intended to have a 
retroactive effect. If adopted, this rule would not preempt any State 
or local laws, regulations, or policies unless they present an 
irreconcilable conflict with this rule.
    The Dairy Act provides that administrative proceedings must be 
exhausted before parties may file suit in court. Under section 118 of 
the Dairy Act, any person subject to the Dairy Order may file with the 
Secretary a petition stating that the Dairy Order, any provision of the 
Dairy Order, or any obligation imposed in connection with the Dairy 
Order is not in accordance with the law and may request a modification 
of the Dairy Order or to be exempted from the Dairy Order (7 U.S.C. 
4509). Such person is afforded the opportunity for a hearing on the 
petition. After a hearing, the Secretary would rule on the petition. 
The Dairy Act provides that the district court of the United States in 
any district in which the person is an inhabitant or has his principal 
place of business has jurisdiction to review the Secretary's ruling on 
the petition, provided a complaint is filed not later than 20 days 
after the date of the entry of the ruling.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-
612), the Agricultural Marketing Service has considered the economic 
impact of this action on small entities and has certified that this 
proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities. The purpose of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of businesses 
subject to such actions so that small businesses will not be 
disproportionately burdened.
    The Dairy Act authorizes a national program for dairy product 
promotion, research and nutrition education. Congress found that it is 
in the public interest to authorize the establishment of an orderly 
procedure for financing (through assessments on all milk produced in 
the United States for commercial use and on imported dairy products) 
and carrying out a coordinated program of promotion designed to 
strengthen the dairy industry's position in the marketplace and to 
maintain and expand domestic and foreign markets for fluid milk and 
dairy products.
    The Small Business Administration (13 CFR 121.201) defines small 
dairy producers as those having annual receipts of not more than 
$1,000,000 annually. Most of producers subject to the provisions of the 
Dairy Order are considered small entities.
    This proposed rule would amend the number of members in two of the 
Dairy Board's 12 geographic regions to better reflect the geographic 
distribution of milk production in the United States.
    The Dairy Order is administered by a 37-member Dairy Board, with 36 
members representing 12 geographic regions within the United States and 
one member representing importers. Section 1150.131(e) of the Dairy 
Order requires the Dairy Board to review the geographic distribution of 
milk production volume throughout the United States at least every five 
years and not more than every three years and, if warranted, recommend 
to the Secretary a reapportionment of regions in order to better 
reflect the geographic distribution of milk production volume in the 
United States.
    Based on a review of the 2019 geographic distribution of milk 
production, the Dairy Board has concluded that the number of Dairy 
Board members for two regions should be changed. The Dairy Board 
conducted the previous reapportionment in 2016 based on 2014 milk 
production.
    The proposed amendment is not expected to have significant economic 
impact on persons subject to the Dairy Order. The proposed changes 
merely would allow representation of the Dairy Board to better reflect 
geographic milk production in the United States.

[[Page 52421]]

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
regulation (5 CFR part 1320), which implements the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), information collection requirements 
and record keeping provisions imposed by the Dairy Order have been 
previously approved by OMB and assigned OMB Control No. 0581-0093.
    This proposed rule would not impose any additional reporting or 
recordkeeping requirements on either small or large entities. As with 
all Federal research and promotion programs, reports and forms are 
periodically reviewed to reduce information requirements and 
duplication by industry and public sector agencies. USDA has not 
identified any relevant Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or 
conflict with this proposed rule.
    AMS is committed to complying with the E-Government Act, to promote 
the use of the internet and other information technologies to provide 
increased opportunities for citizen access to Government information 
and services, and for other purposes.

Executive Order 13175

    This proposed rule has been reviewed under E.O. 13175--Consultation 
and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments, which requires 
agencies to consider whether their rulemaking actions would have tribal 
implications. AMS has determined that this proposed rule is unlikely to 
have substantial direct effects on one or more Indian tribes, on the 
relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on 
the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal 
Government and Indian tribes.

Background

    The Dairy Order is administered by a 37-member Dairy Board, with 36 
members representing 12 geographic regions within the United States and 
one member representing importers. The Dairy Order provides in section 
1150.131 that the Dairy 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 
regions and/or modification of the number of producer members from 
regions in order to best reflect the geographic distribution of milk 
production in the United States. The Dairy Board is required to conduct 
the review at least every five years and not more than every three 
years. The Dairy Board conducted the previous reapportionment review in 
2016 based on 2014 milk production.
    The Dairy Order does not specify the procedure for calculating the 
factor of pounds of milk per member. For the purposes of the current 
reapportionment analysis, the procedure will remain the same as the 
2016 reapportionment, by using USDA's National Agricultural Statistics 
Service (NASS) milk production data and dividing by 36 to determine a 
factor of pounds of milk represented by each domestic Dairy Board 
member. The resulting factor was then divided into pounds of milk 
produced in each region to determine the number of Dairy Board members 
for each region. Accordingly, the same process using 2019 milk 
production data was employed for the current reapportionment 
calculation.
    Table 1 summarizes, by region, the volume of U.S. milk production 
distribution for 2019, the percentage of total U.S. milk production, 
and the current number of domestic Dairy Board seats per region.

                               Table 1--Current Regions and Number of Board Seats
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       Milk        Percentage of
                   Proposed regions and states                      production      total milk    Current number
                                                                    (mil. lbs.)     production    of board seats
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Alaska, Oregon, Washington...................................         9,378.2             4.3               2
2. California, Hawaii...........................................        40,565.9            18.6               7
3. Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Utah,Wyoming.............        13,005.6             6.0               2
4. Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas................        26,654.0            12.2               4
5. Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota........................        13,067.0             6.0               2
6. Wisconsin....................................................        30,601.0            14.0               5
7. Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska...........................         9,548.0             4.4               2
8. Idaho........................................................        15,631.0             7.2               2
9. Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia.......................        20,973.0             9.6               3
10. Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,           8,528.0             3.9               2
 Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South
 Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia..................................
11. Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania................        11,121.7             5.1               2
12. Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York,         19,308.6             8.8               3
 Rhode Island, Vermont..........................................
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total:......................................................       218,382.0             100              36
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: USDA NASS Milk Production, Disposition, and Income 2019 Summary.

    In 2019, total U.S. milk production was 218,382 billion pounds, and 
each of the domestic Dairy Board members as currently apportioned would 
represent 6,066.2 million pounds of milk.
    Based on 2019 milk production data, the Dairy Board proposes that 
member representation in Region 8 (Idaho) be increased from two members 
to three members. Milk production in Region 8 increased to 15,631 
million pounds, up from 13,873 million pounds in 2014, indicating three 
Dairy Board members (15,631 divided by 6,066.2 = 2.58) compared to two 
members based on 2014 milk production data.
    Based on 2019 milk production data, the Dairy Board proposes that 
member representation in Region 10 (Alabama, District of Columbia, 
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, 
Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia) be decreased from 
two members to one member. Milk production in Region 10 decreased to 
8,528 million pounds, down from 9,987 million pounds in 2014, 
indicating one Dairy Board member (8,528 divided by 6,066.2 = 1.40) 
compared to two members based on 2014 milk production data.
    Table 2 summarizes by region the volume of U.S. milk production 
distribution for 2019, the percentage of total U.S. milk production, 
and the proposed number of domestic Dairy Board members.

[[Page 52422]]

                   Table 2--U.S. Milk Production by Region and Proposed Number of Board Seats
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       Milk        Percentage of     Proposed
                   Proposed regions and states                      production      total milk       number of
                                                                    (mil. lbs.)     production      board seats
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Alaska, Oregon, Washington...................................         9,378.2             4.3               2
2. California, Hawaii...........................................        40,565.9            18.6               7
3. Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming............        13,005.6             6.0               2
4. Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas................        26,654.0            12.2               4
5. Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota........................        13,067.0             6.0               2
6. Wisconsin....................................................        30,601.0            14.0               5
7. Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska...........................         9,548.0             4.4               2
8. Idaho........................................................        15,631.0             7.2               3
9. Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia.......................        20,973.0             9.6               3
10. Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,           8,528.0             3.9               1
 Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South
 Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia..................................
11. Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania................        11,121.7             5.1               2
12. Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York,         19,308.6             8.8               3
 Rhode Island, Vermont..........................................
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total:......................................................       218,382.0             100              36
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: USDA NASS Milk Production, Disposition, and Income 2019 Summary.

    The Dairy Board unanimously approved the proposal to change the 
number of seats in two of the 12 geographic regions. AMS independently 
reviewed the Dairy Board's reapportionment proposal and concluded that 
data from USDA's NASS Milk Production, Disposition, and Income 2019 
Summary supports the proposed changes. During AMS's independent 
analysis, AMS also determined that the Dairy Board fulfilled the Dairy 
Order's requirement to conduct an evaluation and recommended changes to 
the Secretary in order to best reflect the geographic distribution of 
milk production volume in the United States. Therefore, after AMS's 
evaluation of the Dairy reapportionment proposal, AMS agrees that the 
proposed membership change would better reflect the geographic 
distribution of milk production volume in the United States. A 30-day 
comment period is provided for interested persons to comment on this 
proposed rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1150

    Dairy Products, Milk, Promotion, Research.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, AMS proposes to amend 7 
CFR part 1150 as follows:

PART 1150--DAIRY PROMOTION PROGRAM

0
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 1150 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority:  7 U.S.C. 4501-4514 and 7 U.S.C. 7401

0
2. In Sec.  1150.131, revise paragraphs (b)(8) and (10) to read as 
follows:

Sec.  1150.131  Establishment and membership.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (8) Three members from region number eight comprised of the 
following State: Idaho.
* * * * *
    (10) One member from region number ten comprised of the following 
States: Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, 
Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
* * * * *

Erin Morris,
Associate Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-20379 Filed 9-20-21; 8:45 am]
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