Director, Standards Division, USDA National Organic Program

0581-AD75 201710 The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions 0581 Agricultural Marketing Service AMS 0500 Department of Agriculture USDA NOP: Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices

The Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices final rule, published on January 19, 2017, adds provisions to the USDA organic regulations to address livestock and poultry living conditions, health care practices, and animal handling and transport, and during slaughter. The final rule was originally scheduled to become effective on March 20, 2017; the effective date was subsequently delayed to May 19, 2017. AMS published a notice further delaying the effective date to November 14, 2017. Per a document published on November 14, 2017, the January 2017 rule was further delayed to May 14, 2018. As stated within the November 2017 publication, this proposed rule requests public comments on: (1) the scope of the Secretary’s authority under of the Organic Foods Production Act including 7 USC 6509; (2) whether the requirements in the final rule are the most innovative and least burdensome tool for meeting regulatory objectives; and, (3) whether the revised benefits calculations, which corrected a mathematical error in the final rule, justify the estimated costs.

]]> Economically Significant First Time Published in The Unified Agenda Proposed Rule Stage Yes No Other 7 CFR 205 7 U.S.C. 6501 to 6522 Yes

This action is needed to ensure only regulations that are properly supported by legislative authority and requirements of executive orders are met.

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AMS National Organic Program is authorized by the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) to establish national standards governing the marketing of organically produced agricultural products (7 U.S.C. 6501-6522). The USDA organic regulations set the requirements for the organic certification of agricultural products (7 CFR part 205).

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As AMS evaluates the concerns outlined in the abstract, the possible outcomes of the evaluation range from allowing the January 2017 final rule to become effective to withdrawing the January 2017 final rule.

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AMS estimated that the discounted costs, transfers, and benefits of the January 2017 final rule, for three different producer response scenarios, would range from $8.2 to $31 million annually due to increased compliance and regulatory burdens. In addition, there is also an estimated $3.9 million undiscounted annual paperwork burden. AMS also estimated transfers ranging from $80 to $86 million annually caused by producers exiting the organic market. AMS estimates the benefits would range from $3.3 to $31.6 million for all producer response scenarios when the mathematical error is corrected.

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This action is likely to be contentious.

]]> NPRM 12/00/2017 Yes Businesses None No No Yes Yes 0581-AD44 Related to 0581-AD74 Related to Erin Healy Director, Standards Division, USDA National Organic Program 0581 Agricultural Marketing Service AMS 202 617-4942 erin.healy@usda.gov 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington DC 20250