I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1650
To ensure regulatory equity between and among all dairy farmers and han-
dlers, including producers also acting as handlers, for sales of packaged 
fluid milk into certain non-federally regulated milk marketing areas from 
federally regulated areas and to apply minimum milk price requirements 
to certain handlers of Class I milk products in the Arizona-Las Vegas 
marketing area under certain circumstances. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 7, 2003
Mr. NUNES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To ensure regulatory equity between and among all dairy 
farmers and handlers, including producers also acting 
as handlers, for sales of packaged fluid milk into certain 
non-federally regulated milk marketing areas from feder-
ally regulated areas and to apply minimum milk price 
requirements to certain handlers of Class I milk products 
in the Arizona-Las Vegas marketing area under certain 
circumstances.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Milk Regulatory Eq-
uity Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. MINIMUM MILK PRICES FOR HANDLERS UNDER 
FEDERAL MILK MARKETING ORDERS. 
(a) APPLICATION
OF MINIMUM PRICE REQUIRE-
MENTS.—A milk handler described in subsection (b) shall 
be subject to all of the minimum and uniform price re-
quirements of the Federal milk marketing order issued 
under section 8c(5) of the Agricultural Adjustment Act 
(7 U.S.C. 608c(5)), reenacted with amendments by the 
Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, applicable 
to the county in which the plant of the handler is located, 
at Federal order class prices, if the handler has packaged 
fluid milk product route dispositions, or sales of packaged 
fluid milk products to other plants, in a marketing area 
located in a State that requires handlers to pay minimum 
prices for raw milk purchases. 
(b) COVERED MILK HANDLERS.—Except as provided 
in subsection (c), subsection (a) applies to a handler of 
Class I milk products (including a producer-handler or 
producer operating as a handler)—
(1) whose plant is located within the boundaries 
of a Federal order milk marketing area (as those 
boundaries are in effect as of the date of the enact-
ment of this Act);
(2) that has packaged fluid milk product route 
dispositions, or sales of packaged fluid milk products 
to other plants, in a milk marketing area located in 
a State that requires handlers to pay minimum 
prices for raw milk purchases; and 
(3) that is not otherwise obligated by a Federal 
milk marketing order, or a regulated milk pricing 
plan operated by a State, to pay minimum class 
prices for the raw milk represented by those milk 
dispositions or sales. 
(c) CERTAIN HANDLERS EXEMPTED.—Subsection 
(a) does not apply—
(1) to a handler (otherwise described in sub-
section (b)) that operates an exempt plant, as de-
fined in section 1000.8(e) of title 7, Code of Federal 
Regulations (as in effect on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act); or 
(2) a producer-handler (otherwise described in 
subsection (b)) for any month during which the pro-
ducer-handler has route dispositions, and sales to 
other plants, of packaged fluid milk products equal-
ing less than 6,000,000 pounds of milk. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE AND IMPLEMENTATION.—Sub-
section (a) shall take effect on the first day of the first 
month beginning more than 15 days after the date of the
milk products in the Arizona-Las Vegas mar-
keting area (Order No. 131) shall be exempt 
during any month from any minimum milk 
price requirement established by the Secretary 
under this subsection if the total distribution of 
Class I products within the Arizona-Las Vegas 
marketing area of any such handler’s own farm 
production exceeds 6,000,000 pounds.’’.
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