7 U.S.C. § 7253 — Consolidation and reform of Federal milk marketing orders

(a) Amendment of orders
(1) Required consolidation The Secretary^* must amend Federal milk marketing orders issued under section 608c of this title to limit the number of Federal milk marketing orders to not less than 10 and not more than 14 orders.
(2) Inclusion of California as separate order Upon the petition and approval of California dairy producers in the manner provided in section 608c of this title , the Secretary must designate the State^* of California as a separate Federal milk marketing order. The order covering California must have the right to reblend and distribute order receipts to recognize quota value. Subsection
(b) does not apply to the authority of the Secretary under this subsection.
(3) Related issues addressed in consolidation Among the issues the Secretary is authorized to implement as part of the consolidation of Federal milk marketing orders are the following:
(A) The use of utilization rates and multiple basing points for the pricing of fluid milk.
(B) The use of uniform multiple component pricing when developing 1 or more basic formula prices for manufacturing milk.
(4) Effect of existing law In implementing the consolidation of Federal milk marketing orders and related reforms under this subsection, the Secretary cannot consider, or base any decision on, the table contained in section 608c(5)(A) of this title .
(b) Expedited process
(1) Use of informal rulemaking To implement the consolidation of Federal milk marketing orders and related reforms under subsection (a), the Secretary must use the notice and comment procedures provided in section 553 of title 5 .
(2) Time limitations
(A) Proposed amendments The Secretary must announce the proposed amendments to be made under subsection (a) by 2 years after April 4, 1996 .
(B) Final amendments The Secretary must implement the amendments by 3 years after April 4, 1996 .
(3) Effect of court order The actions authorized by this subsection are intended to ensure the timely publication and implementation of new and amended Federal milk marketing orders. In the event that the Secretary is enjoined or otherwise restrained by a court order from publishing or implementing the consolidation and related reforms under subsection (a), the length of time for which that injunction or other restraining order is effective must be added to the time limitations specified in paragraph (2) thereby extending those time limitations by a period of time equal to the period of time for which the injunction or other restraining order is effective.
(c) Failure to timely consolidate orders If the Secretary fails to implement the consolidation required under subsection (a)(1) within the time period required under subsection (b)(2)(B) (plus any additional period provided under subsection (b)(3)), the Secretary cannot assess or collect assessments from milk producers or handlers under that section 608c of this title for marketing order administration and services provided under that section after the end of that period until the consolidation is completed. The Secretary cannot reduce the level of services provided under the section on account of the prohibition against assessments, but must rather cover the cost of marketing order administration and services through funds available for the Agricultural Marketing Service of the Department^*.
(d) Report regarding further reforms
(1) Report required Not later than April 1, 1997 , the Secretary must submit to Congress a report—
(A) reviewing the Federal milk marketing order system established under section 608c of this title in light of the reforms required by subsection (a);
(B) describing the efforts underway and the progress made in implementing the reforms required by subsection (a); and (C) containing that recommendations as the Secretary considers appropriate for further improvements and reforms to the Federal milk marketing order system.
(2) Effect of other laws Any limitation imposed by Act of Congress on the conduct or completion of reports to Congress must not apply to the report required under this section, unless the limitation specifically refers to this section.