The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (FAIR ACT) required that by April 4,1999, the current Federal milk marketing orders (FMMOs) issued under the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended, be consolidated into between 10 and 14 orders. The Secretary of Agriculture is also directed to designate the State of California as a FMMO if California dairy producers petition for and approve such an order. In addition, the FAIR Act provided that the Secretary may address related issues such as the use of utilization rates and multiple basing points for the pricing of fluid milk and the use of uniform multiple component pricing when developing one or more basic prices for manufacturing milk.