[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2120 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.2120
One Hundred Ninth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and six
An Act
To ensure regulatory equity between and among all dairy farmers and
handlers for sales of packaged fluid milk in federally regulated milk
marketing areas and into certain non-federally regulated milk marketing
areas from federally regulated areas, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Milk Regulatory Equity Act of
2005''.
SEC. 2. MILK REGULATORY EQUITY.
(a) Minimum Milk Prices for Handlers; Exemption.--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, is
amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:
``(M) Minimum Milk Prices for Handlers.--
``(i) Application of minimum price requirements.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a milk handler
described in clause (ii) shall be subject to all of the minimum and
uniform price requirements of a Federal milk marketing order issued
pursuant to this section 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.
``(ii) Covered milk handlers.--Except as provided in clause
(iv), clause (i) applies to a handler of Class I milk products
(including a producer-handler or producer operating as a handler)
that--
``(I) operates a plant that is located within the
boundaries of a Federal order milk marketing area (as those
boundaries are in effect as of the date of the enactment of
this subparagraph);
``(II) 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
``(III) 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 that is
used for such dispositions or sales.
``(iii) Obligation to pay minimum class prices.--For purposes
of clause (ii)(III), the Secretary may not consider a handler of
Class I milk products to be obligated by a Federal milk marketing
order to pay minimum class prices for raw milk unless the handler
operates the plant as a fully regulated fluid milk distributing
plant under a Federal milk marketing order.
``(iv) Certain handlers exempted.--Clause (i) does not apply
to--
``(I) a handler (otherwise described in clause (ii)) that
operates a nonpool plant (as defined in section 1000.8(e) of
title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date
of the enactment of this subparagraph);
``(II) a producer-handler (otherwise described in clause
(ii)) for any month during which the producer-handler has route
dispositions, and sales to other plants, of packaged fluid milk
products equaling less than 3,000,000 pounds of milk; or
``(III) a handler (otherwise described in clause (ii)) for
any month during which--
``(aa) less than 25 percent of the total quantity of
fluid milk products physically received at the plant of the
handler (excluding concentrated milk received from another
plant by agreement for other than Class I use) is disposed
of as route disposition or is transferred in the form of
packaged fluid milk products to other plants; or
``(bb) less than 25 percent in aggregate of the route
disposition or transfers are in a marketing area or areas
located in one or more States that require handlers to pay
minimum prices for raw milk purchases.
``(N) Exemption for Certain Milk Handlers.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of this section, no handler with distribution of Class
I milk products in the marketing area described in Order No. 131 shall
be exempt during any month from any minimum price requirement
established by the Secretary under this subsection if the total
distribution of Class I products during the preceding month of any such
handler's own farm production exceeds 3,000,000 pounds.
``(O) Rule of Construction Regarding Producer-Handlers.--
Subparagraphs (M) and (N) shall not be construed as affecting,
expanding, or contracting the treatment of producer-handlers under this
subsection except as provided in such subparagraphs.''.
(b) Exclusion of Nevada From Federal Milk Marketing Orders.--
Section 8c(11) of the Agriculture Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608c(11)),
reenacted with amendments by the Agriculture Marketing Agreement Act of
1937, is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (C), by striking the last sentence; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(D) In the case of milk and its products, no county or other
political subdivision of the State of Nevada shall be within the
marketing area definition of any order issued under this section.''.
(c) Records and Facility Requirements.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of this section, or the amendments made by this section, a
milk handler (including a producer-handler or a producer operating as a
handler) that is subject to regulation under this section or an
amendment made by this section shall comply with the requirements of
section 1000.27 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, or a successor
regulation, relating to handler responsibility for records or
facilities.
(d) Effective Date and Implementation.--The amendments made by this
section take effect on the first day of the first month beginning more
than 15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. To accomplish
the expedited implementation of these amendments, effective on the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall
include in the pool distributing plant provisions of each Federal milk
marketing order issued under subparagraph (B) of section 8c(5) of the
Agriculture Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608c(5)), reenacted with
amendments by the Agriculture Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, a
provision that a handler described in subparagraph (M) of such section,
as added by subsection (a) of this section, will be fully regulated by
the order in which the handler's distributing plant is located. These
amendments shall not be subject to a referendum under section 8c(19) of
such Act (7 U.S.C. 608c(19)).
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.