§1359ii. Appeals
(a) In general
An appeal may be taken to the Secretary from any decision under section 1359dd of this title establishing allocations of marketing allotments, or under section 1359ff of this title, by any person adversely affected by reason of any such decision.
(b) Procedure
(1) Notice of appeal
Any such appeal shall be taken by filing with the Secretary, within 20 days after the decision complained of is effective, notice in writing of the appeal and a statement of the reasons therefor. Unless a later date is specified by the Secretary as part of the Secretary's decision, the decision complained of shall be considered to be effective as of the date on which announcement of the decision is made. The Secretary shall deliver a copy of any notice of appeal to each person shown by the records of the Secretary to be adversely affected by reason of the decision appealed, and shall at all times thereafter permit any such person to inspect and make copies of appellant's reasons for the appeal and shall on application permit the person to intervene in the appeal.
(2) Hearing
The Secretary shall provide each appellant an opportunity for a hearing before an administrative law judge in accordance with sections 554 and 556 of title 5. The expenses for conducting the hearing shall be reimbursed by the Commodity Credit Corporation.
(c) Special appeal process regarding beet sugar allocations
(1) Appeal authorized
Beginning after the 2006 crop year, a processor that has an allocation of the beet sugar allotment under this subpart (referred to in this subsection as a "petitioner") may file a notice of appeal with the Secretary regarding the petitioner's beet sugar allocation. Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall consider the appeal if the notice alleges that any processor that has a beet sugar allocation has failed to fill at least 82.5 percent of its allocation of the beet sugar allotment with sugar produced by it or received from the Commodity Credit Corporation in 2 out of the 3 crop years preceding the crop year in which the appeal is filed. A processor that is alleged to have failed to fill at least 82.5 percent of its allocation shall be allowed to fully participate in the appeal.
(2) Exceptions
An appeal under paragraph (1) shall not be based on the failure of a processor to fill at least 82.5 percent of its allocation because of drought, flood, hail, or other weather disaster, as determined by the Secretary. The determination by the Secretary shall not require a formal disaster declaration.
(3) Response to appeal
Upon the petitioner making an appeal to the Secretary, and upon a review by the Secretary of how processors have filled their allocations, the Secretary may-
(A) assign an increased allocation for beet sugar to the petitioner that provides a fair and equitable distribution of the allocations for beet sugar, taking into account-
(i) production history during the period beginning on April 4, 1996, and through May 13, 2002;
(ii) capital investment during that period;
(iii) increases in United States sugar consumption; and
(iv) the ability or inability of processors to fill the allocations they have received under this subpart; and
(B) reduce, correspondingly, the allocation for beet sugar of each processor determined to have failed to fill at least 82.5 percent of its allocation of the beet sugar allotment as described in paragraph (1).
(4) Filing deadline
For purposes of the filing deadline specified in subsection (b)(1) of this section, the 20-day period shall commence on the date on which the Secretary announces the allocations for the subsequent crop year or October 1, whichever is earlier.
(Feb. 16, 1938, ch. 30, title III, §359i, as added
Prior Provisions
A prior section 1359ii, act Feb. 16, 1938, ch. 30, title III, §359i, as added