The Secretary of Agriculture shall support the price of milk produced in the 48 contiguous States through the purchase of cheese, butter, and nonfat dry milk produced from the milk.
The price of milk shall be supported at the following rates per hundredweight for milk containing 3.67 percent butterfat:
(1) During calendar year 1996, $10.35.
(2) During calendar year 1997, $10.20.
(3) During calendar year 1998, $10.05.
(4) During each of calendar years 1999 through 2001, $9.90.
(5) During the period beginning on January 1, 2002, and ending on May 31, 2002, $9.90.
The support purchase prices under this section for each of the products of milk (butter, cheese, and nonfat dry milk) announced by the Secretary shall be the same for all of that product sold by persons offering to sell the product to the Secretary. The purchase prices shall be sufficient to enable plants of average efficiency to pay producers, on average, a price that is not less than the rate of price support for milk in effect under subsection (b) of this section.
The Secretary may allocate the rate of price support between the purchase prices for nonfat dry milk and butter in a manner that will result in the lowest level of expenditures by the Commodity Credit Corporation or achieve such other objectives as the Secretary considers appropriate. Not later than 10 days after making or changing an allocation, the Secretary shall notify the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate of the allocation. Section 553 of title 5 shall not apply with respect to the implementation of this section.
The Secretary may make any such adjustments in the purchase prices for nonfat dry milk and butter the Secretary considers to be necessary not more than twice in each calendar year.
The Secretary shall provide for a refund of the entire reduction required under section 204(h)(2) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1446e(h)(2)), as in effect on the day before the amendment made by subsection (g) of this section, in the price of milk received by a producer during calendar year 1995 or 1996, if the producer provides evidence that the producer did not increase marketings in calendar year 1995 or 1996 when compared to calendar year 1994 or 1995, respectively.
This subsection shall not apply with respect to a producer for a particular calendar year if the producer has already received a refund under section 204(h) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 for the same fiscal year before the effective date of this section.
A refund under this subsection shall not be considered as any type of price support or payment for purposes of sections 3811 and 3821 of title 16.
The Secretary shall carry out the program authorized by this section through the Commodity Credit Corporation.
This section (other than subsection (g) of this section) shall be effective only during the period beginning on the first day of the first month beginning after April 4, 1996, and ending on May 31, 2002. The program authorized by this section shall terminate on May 31, 2002, and shall be considered to have expired notwithstanding section 907 of title 2.
(Pub. L. 104–127, title I, §141, Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 914; Pub. L. 106–78, title VIII, §807(a), Oct. 22, 1999, 113 Stat. 1181; Pub. L. 106–387, §1(a) [title VII, §742(a)], Oct. 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 1549, 1549A–35; Pub. L. 107–76, title VII, §772(a), Nov. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 745.)
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