Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards

Docket Number: AMS-NOP-21-0073
Effective Date: The effective date of the Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards final rule amending 7 CFR part 205, published at 88 FR 75394 on November 2, 2023, is delayed until January 12, 2024.

Summary

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is delaying the effective date of the Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards (OLPS) final rule, published on November 2, 2023, to meet the requirements of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (Congressional Review Act (CRA)). The CRA requires that agencies provide Congress with at least 60 days to review a major rule before it takes effect. For the OLPS final rule, AMS provided the required notice to Congress on November 13, 2023, after publication of the rule. Therefore, the published effective date did not provide 60 days for congressional review. This final rule delays the effective date of the OLPS final rule by 10 days to meet the 60-day requirement. AMS is making a technical correction to the compliance date of January 5, 2029, for indoor and outdoor stocking density requirements and soil and vegetation requirements for broiler operations to January 2, 2029. All other compliance dates of the OLPS final rule remain unchanged. Additionally, in acknowledgement of the U.S. Government Accountability Office assessment of the final rule, AMS confirms that the Administrative Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2023 does not apply to the OLPS final rule because it does not increase direct spending

Compliance Dates

All organic operations must comply with the requirements of this rule by January 2, 2025, except:

  1. Currently certified organic layer operations and layer operations that are certified before January 2, 2025, must comply with the §§ 205.241(c)(2), (c)(4), and (c)(5), concerning outdoor stocking density requirements and soil and vegetation requirements, by January 2, 2029.
  2. Currently certified organic broiler operations and broiler operations that are certified before January 2, 2025, must comply with §§ 205.241(b)(10), (c)(2), and (c)(6), concerning indoor and outdoor stocking density requirements and soil and vegetation requirements, by January 2, 2029.
  3. Currently certified organic poultry operations and poultry operations that are certified before January 2, 2025 must comply with §  205.241(b)(4), concerning poultry house exit area requirements, by January 2, 2029.

Contact

Erin Healy, MPH, Director of Standards Division, Telephone: (202) 720-3252; Email: erin.healy@usda.gov.

Supporting Documents

Related Events

Related Historical Documents

Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards

Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices