Public Law 119-83 (04/13/2026)

7 U.S.C. § 4613

Implementation of amendments made by Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998

(a)

Issuance of amended order

section 4603 of this titleTo implement the amendments made to this chapter by section 605 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (other than subsection (m) of that section), the Secretary shall issue an amended order under that reflects those amendments.

(b)

Proposal of amended order

section 4603 of this titlesection 4604 of this titleNot later than 90 days after , the Secretary shall publish a proposed order under that reflects the amendments made by section 605 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998. The Secretary shall provide notice and an opportunity for public comment on the proposed order in accordance with .

(c)

Issuance of amended order

section 4605 of this titleNot later than 240 days after publication of the proposed order, the Secretary shall issue an order under , taking into consideration the comments received and including in the order such provisions as are necessary to ensure that the order conforms with the amendments made by section 605 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998.

(d)

Referendum on amended order

(1)

Requirement

(A)

In general

section 4605 of this titleOn issuance of an order under reflecting the amendments made by section 605 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998, the Secretary shall conduct a referendum under this section for the sole purpose of determining whether the order as amended shall become effective.

(B)

Individual provisions

No individual provision of the amended order shall be subject to a separate vote under the referendum.

(2)

Eligible voters

The Secretary shall conduct the referendum among persons subject to assessment under the order that have been producers, producer-packers, importers, or handlers during the 2-calendar-year period that precedes the referendum, which period shall be considered to be the representative period.

(3)

Determination of quantity

(A)

In general

Producer-packers, importers, and handlers shall be allowed to vote as if—
(i)
the amended order had been in place during the representative period described in paragraph (2); and
(ii)
they had owed the increased assessments provided by the amended order.
(B)

Votes and attributed quantity for producer-packers and importers

section 4611 of this titleThe votes and the quantity of honey and honey products attributed to the votes of producer-packers and importers shall be determined in accordance with .

(C)

Attributed quantity for handlers

The quantity of honey and honey products attributed to the vote of a handler shall be the quantity handled in the representative period described in paragraph (2) for which the handler would have owed assessments had the amended order been in effect.

(4)

Effectiveness of order

section 4611 of this titleThe amended order shall become effective only if the Secretary determines that the amended order is effective in accordance with .

(e)

Continuation of existing order if amended order is rejected

If adoption of the amended order is not approved—
(1)
section 4603 of this title the order issued under that is in effect on , shall continue in full force and effect; and
(2)
the Secretary may amend the order to ensure the conformity of the order with this chapter (as in effect on the day before ).
(f)

Effect of rejection on subsequent orders

(1)

In general

Subject to paragraph (2), if adoption of the amended order is not approved in the referendum required under subsection (d), the Secretary may issue an amended order that implements some or all of the amendments made to this chapter by section 605 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998, or makes other changes to an existing order, in accordance with the administrative procedures specified in sections 4604 and 4605 of this title.

(2)

Approval

section 4611 of this titleAn amendment to an order that implements a provision that is subject to a referendum shall be approved in accordance with before becoming effective.

(g)

Effect on periodic referenda

section 4612(c) of this titleIf the amended order becomes effective, any referendum otherwise required to be conducted under shall not be held before the date that is 5 years after the date of the referendum conducted under this section.

Pub. L. 98–590, § 14Pub. L. 105–185, title VI, § 605(m)112 Stat. 602 (, as added , , .)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 605 of Pub. L. 105–185112 Stat. 523 Section 605 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998, referred to in subsecs. (a) to (d)(1)(A) and (f)(1), is , , , which enacted this section and amended sections 4601 to 4612 of this title. Subsec. (m) of section 605 enacted this section.