985.153—Issuance of additional allotment base to new and existing producers.
(a) Definitions.
(1)
New producer means any person who never was issued an allotment base by the Committee for a class of oil in any capacity either as an individual, or as a member of a partnership, corporation, or any other business unit.
(2)
Existing producer means any person who was issued an allotment based by the Committee for a class of oil in any capacity either as an individual, or as a member of a partnership, corporation, or any other business unit. Any person who was initially issued an allotment base for a class of oil and changed identity of operation, as set forth in § 985.53(a), since April 14, 1980, and requests additional allotment base for that class of oil pursuant to this section, shall be deemed to be an existing producer.
(b) Requests.
Any new or existing producer desiring additional allotment base for any class of oil made available by the Committee pursuant to § 985.53(d)(1) shall request such base by a date specified by the Committee prior to the marketing year for which such base will be made available.
(c) Issuance—
(1) New producers—
For the purpose of issuing additional allotment base to new producers, the production area is divided into the following regions:
(ii)
Each year, the Committee shall determine the size of the minimum economic enterprise required to produce each class of oil. The Committee shall thereafter calculate the number of new producers who will receive allotment base under this section for each class of oil. The Committee shall include that information in its announcements to new producers in each region informing them when to submit requests for allotment base. The Committee shall determine whether the new producers requesting additional base have ability to produce spearmint oil. The names of all eligible new producers from each region shall be placed in separate lots per class of oil. For each class of oil, separate drawings shall be held from a list of all applicants from Region A, from a list of all applicants from Region B, and from a list of all remaining applicants from Regions A and B combined. If, in any marketing year, there are no requests in a class of oil from eligible new producers in a region, such unused allotment base shall be issued to two eligible new producers whose names are selected by drawing from a lot containing the names of all remaining eligible new producers from the other region for that class of oil. The Committee shall immediately notify each new producer whose name was drawn and issue that producer an allotment base in the appropriate amount.
(2) Existing producers.
(i)
The Committee shall review all requests from existing producers for additional allotment base.
(ii)
Each existing producer of a class of spearmint oil who requests additional allotment base and who has the ability to produce additional quantities of that class of spearmint oil, shall be eligible to receive a share of the additional allotment base for that class of oil. Additional allotment base to be issued by the Committee for a class of oil shall be distributed equally among the eligible producers for that class of oil. The Committee shall immediately notify each producer who is to receive additional allotment base by issuing that producer an allotment base in the appropriate amount.
(d)
The person receiving any additional allotment base pursuant to this section shall submit to the Committee, evidence of an ability to produce and sell oil from such allotment base in the first marketing year following issuance of such base. Allotment base issued under this section shall not be transferred for at least two years following issuance.