23 



anticipate would be on an incremental basis, would be subject to 

 industry approval in referendum. Referendum approval would 

 require two- thirds of the producers voting in a referendum or a 

 majority of those voting if they produced not less than two- 

 thirds of the commercial eggs produced during a representative 

 period. If the referendum addressing the proposed changes were 

 not approved, the existing program would remain in effect. 



While the Department has no objection to the conduct of 

 referenda to determine industry approval of any increases in the 

 assessment rate, we would recommend that any decreases sought by 

 the industry be instituted through the informal rulemaking 

 process. We will be glad to work with the Committee to draft 

 appropriate language to accommodate such a provision. 



Further, the bill requires the Secretary to issue proposed 

 amendments to the Egg Research and Promotion Order not later than 

 30 days after enactment of the amended Act and a final regulation 

 not later than 90 days following enactment. The Department 

 believes these timeframes to be unnecessarily burdensome and 

 would urge the Committee's consideration of a timeframe not to 

 exceed 180 days for this process. This would allow a more 

 reasonable time for development, clearances for legal sufficiency 

 and economic impact, and public comment. 



Estimated departmental costs associated with the 

 implementation of the provisions of H.R. 1637, including costs 

 for conduct of a referendum, would approximate $20,000. Such 

 costs would be fully reimbursable to the Department from industry 

 assessments collected pursuant to the Act. 



