13 



these timeframes to be unnecessarily burdensome and would urge 

 the subcommittee'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 implementa- 

 tion of the provisions of H.R. 1637, including costs for the conduct 

 of a referendum, would be approximately $20,000. Such costs would 

 be fully reimbursable to the Department from industry assess- 

 ments collected pursuant to the act. 



My testimony provides a summary of the act's provisions, imple- 

 mentation, expenditures for fiscal years 1988 through 1992, and 

 enforcement actions to date. 



Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. We will be glad to 

 respond to any questions that you or the committee might have. 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Clayton appears at the conclu- 

 sion of the hearing.] 



Mr. VOLKMER. Thank you very much, Mr. Clayton. 



I will begin with the gentleman from Wisconsin. Any questions? 



Mr. GUNDERSON. Just one quick question. 



Mr. Clayton, in your testimony you indicate that there is a poten- 

 tial — we could have a total decrease in revenue to the Egg Board 

 of something like $150,000 if the bill passes and producers don't 

 vote to increase their assessments. You also project a $20,000 cost 

 for the referendum; that's $170,000. 



What is the impact of that on the promotion program if we have 

 those kinds of negative results? 



Mr. Clayton. I think, Mr. Gunderson, the point of the amend- 

 ments in fact is to find a way to increase the assessments by some 

 amount deemed reasonable by the industry and by the Depart- 

 ment. I think rather than talk about the impact that a $170,000 

 decrease would have on the program, I expect that in the spirit of 

 the amendments the issue is probably more on the positive side. If 

 in fact additional assessments can be generated, what additional 

 kinds of activities might the Egg Board undertake? 



But not to totally avoid your question, certainly, the Egg Board 

 is working off of a base in the area of about $7.7 million right now; 

 $170,000 off of $7.7 million, while probably significant in its own 

 right, clearly is a relatively minor portion of the total budget. 



Mr. Gunderson. Thank you. 



Mr. Volkmer. Mr. Clayton, I would like to ask about the two 

 areas where you have concerns with the 1 "jislation. We will talk 

 to the producers' representatives in the next panel. 



I would agree with you that any decrease in the assessment 

 would probably be a lot easier to handle through an informal rule- 

 making than going through another referendum, because I think it 

 would probably be approved anyway. I'm sure we could draft some 

 legislation that would be agreeable to the sponsors as far as that 

 is concerned. 



The next part, I have a little bit of concern about the need for 

 180 days because if this was a whole new program and we were 

 starting off from scratch and doing regulations right from the be- 

 ginning on the whole thing, I can see the need for that timeframe. 



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