Milk in the Middle Atlantic Marketing Area; Order Amending the Order

This final rule implements changes in some provisions of the Middle Atlantic milk marketing order based on industry proposals considered at a public hearing. The changes reduce the standards for regulating distributing plants and cooperative reserve processing plants and increase the amount of producer milk that can be diverted to nonpool plants. Additionally, the market administrator will be authorized to adjust pool plant qualification standards and producer milk diversion limits to reflect changes in marketing conditions. Also, this final rule provides that a pool distributing plant that meets the pooling standards of more than one Federal order will continue to be regulated under this order for two consecutive months before regulation can shift to the other order. This amended order was approved by producers who were eligible to have their milk pooled during the representative month. Approval was determined by a poll of cooperative associations in the marketing area.