National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods, 10708-10709 [E9-5308]

Download as PDF 10708 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 47 / Thursday, March 12, 2009 / Notices receive on or before the date listed under the heading DATES at the beginning of this notice. The EA may be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web site or in our reading room (see ADDRESSES above for instructions for accessing Regulations.gov and information on the location and hours of the reading room). You may request paper copies of the EA by calling or writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the title of the EA when requesting copies. The EA has been prepared in accordance with: (1) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), (2) regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500–1508), (3) USDA regulations implementing NEPA (7 CFR part 1), and (4) APHIS’ NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372). Done in Washington, DC, this 6th day of March 2009. Kevin Shea, Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. [FR Doc. E9–5370 Filed 3–11–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–34–P DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Food Safety and Inspection Service [Docket No. FSIS–2009–0009] National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods cprice-sewell on PRODPC61 with NOTICES AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of public meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces that the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) will hold public meetings of the full Committee and subcommittees on March 16–20, 2009. The Committee will discuss: (1) Determination of the most appropriate technologies for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to adopt in performing routine and baseline microbiological analyses, and (2) Parameters for inoculated-pack challenge study protocols. DATES: The full Committee will hold an open meeting on Friday, March 20, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Subcommittee on Determination of the Most Appropriate Technologies for the FSIS to Adopt in Performing Routine and Baseline Microbiological Analyses will hold open meetings on Monday, VerDate Nov<24>2008 14:56 Mar 11, 2009 Jkt 217001 March 16, and Tuesday, March 17, 2009, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Wednesday, March 18, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. The Subcommittee on Parameters for inoculated-pack challenge study protocols will hold open meetings on Wednesday, March 18, and Thursday, March 19, 2009, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ADDRESSES: The March 16–19, 2009, subcommittee meetings will be held at the Aerospace Center, 901 D Street, SW., Rooms 369–371, Washington, DC 20024. The March 20, 2009, full Committee meeting will be held in the conference room at the south end of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cafeteria located in the South Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250. All documents related to the full Committee meeting will be available for public inspection in the FSIS Docket Room, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 2534 South Building, Washington, DC 20250, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, as soon as they become available. The NACMCF documents will also be available on the Internet at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/ Regulations_&_Policies/ 2009_Notices_Index/index.asp. FSIS will finalize an agenda on or before the meeting dates and post it on the FSIS Web page at https:// www.fsis.usda.gov/News/ Meetings_&_Events/. Please note that the meeting agenda is subject to change due to the time required for Committee discussions; thus, sessions could start or end earlier or later than anticipated. Please plan accordingly if you would like to attend a particular session or participate in a public comment period. Also, the official transcript of the March 20, 2009, full Committee meeting, when it becomes available, will be kept in the FSIS Docket Room at the above address and will also be posted on https://www.fsis.usda.gov/ About/NACMCF_Meetings/. The mailing address for the contact person is: Karen Thomas-Sharp, USDA, FSIS, Office of Public Health Science, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 333 Aerospace Center, Washington, DC 20250–3766. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Persons interested in making a presentation, submitting technical papers, or providing comments at the March 20, plenary session should contact Karen Thomas-Sharp, phone (202) 690–6620, fax (202) 690–6334, email: Karen.thomas-sharp@fsis.usda.gov or at the mailing address above. Persons requiring a sign language interpreter or other special accommodations should PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 notify Mrs. Thomas-Sharp by March 9, 2009. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background The NACMCF was established in 1988, in response to a recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences for an interagency approach to microbiological criteria for foods, and in response to a recommendation of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, as expressed in the Rural Development, Agriculture, and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill for fiscal year 1988. The charter for the NACMCF is available for viewing on the FSIS Internet Web page at https:// www.fsis.usda.gov/About/ NACMCF_Charter/. The NACMCF provides scientific advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on public health issues relative to the safety and wholesomeness of the U.S. food supply, including development of microbiological criteria and review and evaluation of epidemiological and risk assessment data and methodologies for assessing microbiological hazards in foods. The Committee also provides scientific advice and recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Departments of Commerce and Defense. Mr. Ronald F. Hicks, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, USDA, is the Committee Chair; Dr. Stephen Sundlof, Director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), is the Vice-Chair; and Gerri Ransom, FSIS, is the Executive Secretary. At the subcommittee meetings the week of March 16–19, 2009, the groups will discuss: • The determination of the most appropriate technologies for the FSIS to adopt in performing routine and baseline microbiological analyses, and • Parameters for inoculated-pack challenge study protocols. Documents Reviewed by NACMCF FSIS intends to make available to the public all materials that are reviewed and considered by NACMCF regarding its deliberations. Generally, these materials will be made available as soon as possible after the full Committee meeting. Further, FSIS intends to make these materials available in electronic format on the FSIS Web page (https:// www.fsis.usda.gov), as well as in hard copy format in the FSIS Docket Room. Often, an attempt is made to make the materials available at the start of the full E:\FR\FM\12MRN1.SGM 12MRN1 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 47 / Thursday, March 12, 2009 / Notices Committee meeting when sufficient time is allowed in advance to do so. Disclaimer: NACMCF documents and comments posted on the FSIS Web site are electronic conversions from a variety of source formats. In some cases, document conversion may result in character translation or formatting errors. The original document is the official, legal copy. In order to meet the electronic and information technology accessibility standards in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, NACMCF may add alternate text descriptors for non-text elements (graphs, charts, tables, multimedia, etc.). These modifications only affect the online copies of the documents. Copyrighted documents will not be posted on the FSIS Web site, but will be available for inspection in the FSIS Docket Room. cprice-sewell on PRODPC61 with NOTICES Additional Public Notification Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy development is important. Consequently, in an effort to ensure that minorities, women, and persons with disabilities are aware of this notice, FSIS will announce it online through the FSIS Web page located at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/ 2009_Notices_Index/. FSIS will also make copies of this Federal Register publication available through the FSIS Constituent Update, which is used to provide information regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations, Federal Register notices, FSIS public meetings, and other types of information that could affect or would be of interest to constituents and stakeholders. The Update is communicated via Listserv, a free electronic mail subscription service for industry, trade groups, consumer interest groups, health professionals, and other individuals who have asked to be included. The Update is also available on the FSIS Web page. Through the Listserv and Web page, FSIS is able to provide information to a much broader and more diverse audience. In addition, FSIS offers an electronic mail subscription service which provides automatic and customized access to selected food safety news and information. This service is available at https:// www.fsis.usda.gov/news_and_events/ email_subscription/. Options range from recalls to export information to regulations, directives and notices. Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves, and have the option to password protect their accounts. VerDate Nov<24>2008 14:56 Mar 11, 2009 Jkt 217001 Done at Washington, DC, on March 6, 2009. Bryce Quick, Deputy Administrator, FSIS. [FR Doc. E9–5308 Filed 3–11–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Galena Project, Malheur National Forest, Grant County, OR Forest Service, USDA. Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement. AGENCY: ACTION: SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to disclose environmental effects on a proposed action to improve forest health and reduce the fire hazard within the Vinegar Creek and Little Boulder/ Deerhorn Creek subwatersheds. The Galena Project planning area, located approximately 2 miles west of Bates, Oregon, encompasses approximately 38,200 acres of National Forest System Lands administered by the Blue Mountain Ranger District, Malheur National Forest. DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received by April 13, 2009. The draft environmental impact statement is expected August, 2009 and the final environmental impact statement is expected December, 2009. ADDRESSES: Send written comments to the Responsible Official, Doug Gochnour, Forest Supervisor, Malheur National Forest, 431 Patterson Bridge Road, P.O. Box 909, John Day, Oregon 97845. Comments may also be sent via e-mail to comments-pacificnorthwestmalheur@fs.fed.us or via facsimile to 541–575–3002. It is important that reviewers provide their comments at such times and in such a way that they are useful to the Agency’s preparation of the EIS. Therefore, comments should be provided prior to the close of the comment period and should clearly articulate the reviewer’s concerns and contentions. The submission of timely and specific comments can affect a reviewer’s ability to participate in subsequent administrative review or judicial review. Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and addresses of those who comment, will be part of the public record for this proposed action. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 10709 considered; however, anonymous comments will not provide the respondent with standing to participate in subsequent administrative review or judicial review. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Wunz, Project Manager, Malheur National Forest, 431 Patterson Bridge Road, P.O. Box 909, John Day, Oregon, telephone 541–575–3167, e-mail ewunz@fs.fed.us. Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose and Need for Action The purpose and need of the Galena project is to improve the forest health and reduce the fire hazard within the Vinegar Creek and Little Boulder/ Deerhorn Creek subwatersheds. Proposed Action This action includes precommercial thinning on approximately 2,800 acres, commercial harvest on approximately 6,900 acres, and underburning on approximately 24,000 acres. Harvest methods would include ground-based and skyline logging systems. Several roads are to be relocated out of riparian areas, resulting in new road construction in some locations. Other road activities include maintenance and reconstruction of existing roads, opening and re-closing existing closed roads, and building short temporary roads that are to be decommisioned after use. No commercial harvest or road construction is proposed within Appendix C Inventoried Dixie Butte and Vinegar Hill-Indian Rock Roadless Areas. Two Forest Plan amendments would be included that would allow reduction of satisfactory cover on 128 acres in the warm dry forest type and to add additional designated and replacement old growth stands to meet current Forest Plan standards. Possible Alternatives Alternatives will include the proposed action, no action, and additional alternatives that respond to issues generated during the scoping process. The agency will give notice of the full environmental analysis and decision-making process to interested and affected people may participate and contribute to the final decision. Responsible Official and Nature of Decision To Be Made The Responsible Official is Doug Gochnour, Forest Supervisor of the E:\FR\FM\12MRN1.SGM 12MRN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 47 (Thursday, March 12, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10708-10709]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-5308]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2009-0009]


National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice announces that the National Advisory Committee on 
Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) will hold public meetings 
of the full Committee and subcommittees on March 16-20, 2009. The 
Committee will discuss: (1) Determination of the most appropriate 
technologies for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to adopt 
in performing routine and baseline microbiological analyses, and (2) 
Parameters for inoculated-pack challenge study protocols.

DATES: The full Committee will hold an open meeting on Friday, March 
20, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Subcommittee on Determination of 
the Most Appropriate Technologies for the FSIS to Adopt in Performing 
Routine and Baseline Microbiological Analyses will hold open meetings 
on Monday, March 16, and Tuesday, March 17, 2009, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 
p.m.; and Wednesday, March 18, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. The 
Subcommittee on Parameters for inoculated-pack challenge study 
protocols will hold open meetings on Wednesday, March 18, and Thursday, 
March 19, 2009, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The March 16-19, 2009, subcommittee meetings will be held at 
the Aerospace Center, 901 D Street, SW., Rooms 369-371, Washington, DC 
20024. The March 20, 2009, full Committee meeting will be held in the 
conference room at the south end of the U.S. Department of Agriculture 
(USDA) cafeteria located in the South Building, 1400 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250. All documents related to the full 
Committee meeting will be available for public inspection in the FSIS 
Docket Room, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 2534 South 
Building, Washington, DC 20250, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, as soon as they become available. The NACMCF documents 
will also be available on the Internet at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/
Regulations_&_Policies/2009_Notices_Index/index.asp.
    FSIS will finalize an agenda on or before the meeting dates and 
post it on the FSIS Web page at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/News/
Meetings_&_Events/. Please note that the meeting agenda is subject to 
change due to the time required for Committee discussions; thus, 
sessions could start or end earlier or later than anticipated. Please 
plan accordingly if you would like to attend a particular session or 
participate in a public comment period.
    Also, the official transcript of the March 20, 2009, full Committee 
meeting, when it becomes available, will be kept in the FSIS Docket 
Room at the above address and will also be posted on https://
www.fsis.usda.gov/About/NACMCF_Meetings/.
    The mailing address for the contact person is: Karen Thomas-Sharp, 
USDA, FSIS, Office of Public Health Science, 1400 Independence Avenue, 
SW., 333 Aerospace Center, Washington, DC 20250-3766.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Persons interested in making a 
presentation, submitting technical papers, or providing comments at the 
March 20, plenary session should contact Karen Thomas-Sharp, phone 
(202) 690-6620, fax (202) 690-6334, e-mail: Karen.thomas-
sharp@fsis.usda.gov or at the mailing address above. Persons requiring 
a sign language interpreter or other special accommodations should 
notify Mrs. Thomas-Sharp by March 9, 2009.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The NACMCF was established in 1988, in response to a recommendation 
of the National Academy of Sciences for an interagency approach to 
microbiological criteria for foods, and in response to a recommendation 
of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, as 
expressed in the Rural Development, Agriculture, and Related Agencies 
Appropriation Bill for fiscal year 1988. The charter for the NACMCF is 
available for viewing on the FSIS Internet Web page at https://
www.fsis.usda.gov/About/NACMCF_Charter/.
    The NACMCF provides scientific advice and recommendations to the 
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
on public health issues relative to the safety and wholesomeness of the 
U.S. food supply, including development of microbiological criteria and 
review and evaluation of epidemiological and risk assessment data and 
methodologies for assessing microbiological hazards in foods. The 
Committee also provides scientific advice and recommendations to the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Departments of 
Commerce and Defense.
    Mr. Ronald F. Hicks, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, 
USDA, is the Committee Chair; Dr. Stephen Sundlof, Director of the Food 
and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition 
(CFSAN), is the Vice-Chair; and Gerri Ransom, FSIS, is the Executive 
Secretary.
    At the subcommittee meetings the week of March 16-19, 2009, the 
groups will discuss:
     The determination of the most appropriate technologies for 
the FSIS to adopt in performing routine and baseline microbiological 
analyses, and
     Parameters for inoculated-pack challenge study protocols.

Documents Reviewed by NACMCF

    FSIS intends to make available to the public all materials that are 
reviewed and considered by NACMCF regarding its deliberations. 
Generally, these materials will be made available as soon as possible 
after the full Committee meeting. Further, FSIS intends to make these 
materials available in electronic format on the FSIS Web page (https://
www.fsis.usda.gov), as well as in hard copy format in the FSIS Docket 
Room. Often, an attempt is made to make the materials available at the 
start of the full

[[Page 10709]]

Committee meeting when sufficient time is allowed in advance to do so.
    Disclaimer: NACMCF documents and comments posted on the FSIS Web 
site are electronic conversions from a variety of source formats. In 
some cases, document conversion may result in character translation or 
formatting errors. The original document is the official, legal copy.
    In order to meet the electronic and information technology 
accessibility standards in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, 
NACMCF may add alternate text descriptors for non-text elements 
(graphs, charts, tables, multimedia, etc.). These modifications only 
affect the online copies of the documents.
    Copyrighted documents will not be posted on the FSIS Web site, but 
will be available for inspection in the FSIS Docket Room.

Additional Public Notification

    Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy 
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to ensure that 
minorities, women, and persons with disabilities are aware of this 
notice, FSIS will announce it online through the FSIS Web page located 
at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2009_Notices_Index/. FSIS 
will also make copies of this Federal Register publication available 
through the FSIS Constituent Update, which is used to provide 
information regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations, Federal 
Register notices, FSIS public meetings, and other types of information 
that could affect or would be of interest to constituents and 
stakeholders. The Update is communicated via Listserv, a free 
electronic mail subscription service for industry, trade groups, 
consumer interest groups, health professionals, and other individuals 
who have asked to be included. The Update is also available on the FSIS 
Web page. Through the Listserv and Web page, FSIS is able to provide 
information to a much broader and more diverse audience. In addition, 
FSIS offers an electronic mail subscription service which provides 
automatic and customized access to selected food safety news and 
information. This service is available at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/
news_and_events/email_subscription/. Options range from recalls to 
export information to regulations, directives and notices. Customers 
can add or delete subscriptions themselves, and have the option to 
password protect their accounts.

    Done at Washington, DC, on March 6, 2009.
Bryce Quick,
Deputy Administrator, FSIS.
 [FR Doc. E9-5308 Filed 3-11-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P

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