1. (a) Upon petition by the producers and producer-distributors who produce fifty-five per cent of the milk in a milk shed, or by fifty-five per cent of all producers in a milk shed, or upon the board's own motion, the board shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to:

   1. (1) Establish, revise, or terminate the minimum prices or salvage values for milk to be paid to producers and producer-distributors or the quotas for the production of milk in a milk shed, or any of them; or

   2. (2) Establish specific formulas or criteria for determining the minimum prices or salvage values for milk to be paid to producers and producer-distributors or the quotas for the production of milk in a milk shed, or any of them.

      For the purposes of this section, each producer-member of an agricultural cooperative shall be counted as a producer, and an agricultural cooperative shall not be counted as a producer or as a producer-distributor.

2. (b) Public hearings to establish, revise, or terminate minimum prices, salvage values, and quotas or to establish specific formulas or criteria for setting minimum prices, salvage values, or quotas, shall not constitute a contested case as defined by chapter 91.

[L 1967, c 260, §20; HRS §157-31; am L 1971, c 184, pt of §4; ree L 1972, c 40, pt of §2; am L 1977, c 96, §2; am L 1997, c 118, §§2, 6; am L 1998, c 19, §1]