Notice of Proposed Changes to the National Handbook of Conservation Practices for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, 25999-26001 [2015-10476]

Download as PDF tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 87 / Wednesday, May 6, 2015 / Notices Background and Purpose In January 2003, the National Veterinary Medical Service Act (NVMSA) was passed into law adding section 1415A to the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1997 (NARETPA). This law established a new Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (7 U.S.C. 3151a) authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program of entering into agreements with veterinarians under which they agree to provide veterinary services in veterinarian shortage situations. On December 16, 2014, the President signed into law the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113–235), which appropriated $5,000,000 for the VMLRP. Section 7105 of FCEA amended section 1415A to revise the determination of veterinarian shortage situations to consider (1) geographical areas that the Secretary determines have a shortage of veterinarians; and (2) areas of veterinary practice that the Secretary determines have a shortage of veterinarians, such as food animal medicine, public health, epidemiology, and food safety. This section also added that priority should be given to agreements with veterinarians for the practice of food animal medicine in veterinarian shortage situations. NARETPA section 1415A requires the Secretary, when determining the amount of repayment for a year of service by a veterinarian to consider the ability of USDA to maximize the number of agreements from the amounts appropriated and to provide an incentive to serve in veterinary service shortage areas with the greatest need. This section also provides that loan repayments may consist of payments of the principal and interest on government and commercial loans received by the individual for the attendance of the individual at an accredited college of veterinary medicine resulting in a degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or the equivalent. This program is not authorized to provide repayments for any government or commercial loans incurred during the pursuit of another degree, such as an associate or bachelor degree. Loans eligible for repayment include educational loans made for one or more of the following: loans for tuition expenses; other reasonable educational expenses, including fees, books, and laboratory expenses, incurred by the individual; and reasonable living expenses as determined by the Secretary. In addition, the Secretary is directed to VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:43 May 05, 2015 Jkt 235001 make such additional payments to participants as the Secretary determines appropriate for the purpose of providing reimbursements to participants for individual tax liability resulting from participation in this program. Finally, this section requires USDA to promulgate regulations within 270 days of the enactment of FCEA (i.e., June 18, 2008). The Secretary delegated the authority to carry out this program to NIFA. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on April 19, 2010 (75 FR 20239). Based on comments received during the 60-day comment period upon publication of the interim rule on July 9, 2009 (74 FR 32788), NIFA reconsidered the policy regarding individuals who consolidated their veterinary school loans with other educational loans (e.g., undergraduate) and their eligibility to apply for the VMLRP. NIFA will allow these individuals to apply for and receive a VMLRP award; however, only the eligible portion of the consolidation will be repaid by the VMLRP. Furthermore, applicants with consolidated loans will be asked to provide a complete history of their student loans from the National Student Loan Database System (NSLDS), a central database for student aid operated by the U.S. Department of Education. The NSLDS Web site can be found at www.nslds.ed.gov. Individuals who consolidated their DVM loans with non-educational loans or loans belonging to an individual other than the applicant, such as a spouse or child, will continue to be ineligible for the VMLRP. In FY 2010, NIFA announced its first funding opportunity for the VMLRP. In the five (5) program cycles since, NIFA has received 858 applications from which 291 VMLRP awards totaling $25,292,341 were issued. Consequently, up to $4,428,150 is available to support this program in FY 2015. Funding for future years will be based on annual appropriations and balances, if any, remaining from prior years. General information regarding the VMLRP can be obtained at the VMLRP Web site: https://www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp. The eligibility criteria for applicants and the application forms and associated instructions needed to apply for a VMLRP award can be viewed and downloaded from the VMLRP Web site at: https://nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp-requestapplications-rfa. PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 25999 Done in Washington, DC, this 27th day of April, 2015. Sonny Ramaswamy, Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture. [FR Doc. 2015–10287 Filed 5–5–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–22–P DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Natural Resources Conservation Service [Docket No. NRCS–2015–0003] Notice of Proposed Changes to the National Handbook of Conservation Practices for the Natural Resources Conservation Service Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), USDA. ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed changes in the NRCS National Handbook of Conservation Practices for public review and comment. AGENCY: Notice is hereby given of the intention of NRCS to issue a series of revised conservation practice standards in the National Handbook of Conservation Practices. These standards include: Amending Soil Properties with Gypsum Products (Code 333), Animal Mortality Facility (Code 316), Contour Orchards and Other Perennial Crops (Code 331), Controlled Traffic Farming (Code 334), Denitrifying Bioreactor (Code 605), Emergency Animal Mortality Management (Code 368), Field Operations Emissions Reduction (Code 376), Forest Stand Improvement (Code 666), Herbaceous Wind Barriers (Code 603), Irrigation System, Micro-irrigation (Code 441), Roofs and Covers (Code 367), Sprinkler System (Code 442), Vegetated Treatment Area (Code 635), and Vegetative Barrier (Code 601). NRCS State Conservationists who choose to adopt these practices for use within their States will incorporate them into Section IV of their respective electronic Field Office Technical Guide. These practices may be used in conservation systems that treat highly erodible land (HEL) or on land determined to be a wetland. Section 343 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 requires NRCS to make available for public review and comment all proposed revisions to conservation practice standards used to carry out HEL and wetland provisions of the law. DATES: This is effective May 6, 2015. Submit comments on or before June 5, 2015. Final versions of these new or revised conservation practice standards will be adopted after the close of the 30SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\06MYN1.SGM 06MYN1 tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 26000 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 87 / Wednesday, May 6, 2015 / Notices day period and after consideration of all comments. ADDRESSES: Mail or hand-deliver comments to Public Comments Processing, Attention: Regulatory and Agency Policy Team, Strategic Planning and Accountability, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Building 1–1112D, Beltsville, Maryland 20705. Submit electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. All submitted comments should be identified by Docket Number NRCS– 2015–0003. NRCS will post all comments on https://www.regulations.gov. In general, personal information provided with comments will be posted. If your comment includes your address, phone number, email, or other personal identifying information, your comments, including personal information, may be available to the public. You may ask in your comment that your personal identifying information be withheld from public view, but this cannot be guaranteed. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wayne Bogovich, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 1400 Independence Avenue Southwest, South Building, Room 6136, Washington, DC 20250. Electronic copies of the proposed revised standards are available through https://www.regulations.gov by accessing Docket No. NRCS–2015–0003. Alternatively, copies can be downloaded or printed from the following Web site: https://go.usa.gov/ TXye. Requests for paper versions or inquiries may be directed to Emil Horvath, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Central National Technology Support Center, 501 West Felix Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76115. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The amount of the proposed changes varies considerably for each of the conservation practice standards addressed in this notice. To fully understand the proposed changes, individuals are encouraged to compare these changes with each standard’s current version as shown at: https:// www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/ detailfull/national/technical/cp/ncps/ ?cid=nrcs143026849. To aid in this comparison, the following are highlights of some of the proposed revisions to each standard: Amending Soil Properties with Gypsum Products (Code 333): This is a new conservation practice standard using the technology of gypsum products to improve soil structure, and VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:43 May 05, 2015 Jkt 235001 to reduce phosphorus runoff from fields and buffer areas. Animal Mortality Facility (Code 316): Criteria for catastrophic animal mortality has been removed and placed in Emergency Animal Mortality Management (368). The information provided on composting has been expanded. The language was changed to improve the readability of the standard. Contour Orchards and Other Perennial Crops (Code 331): Wind erosion was removed as one of the purposes, and the technology addresses only sheet and rill erosion from water. Edits were made to the purposes to align with NRCS’ list of natural resource concerns. The criteria for additional temporary erosion control measures on sites that are disturbed was added. The allowable contour row grade was reduced from 10 percent to 4 percent. The criteria to improve sediment trapping on the slopes of inward-sloping benches was added. Minor edits where made throughout the standard to improve clarity. Controlled Traffic Farming (Code 334): This is a new conservation practice where heavy axle loads are confined to designated lanes or tramlines that will cover no more than 33 percent of the surface area of the field. The primary purpose is to reduce soil compaction. Denitrifying Bioreactor (Code 605): This proposed National standard is based on interim standards from Illinois and Iowa. These States have been using and refining this standard since 2009. As the interim standards are revised each year, new data becomes available. This summary of changes is brief. Emergency Animal Mortality Management (Code 368): This is a new conservation practice standard defined as a means or method for the management of animal carcasses from catastrophic mortality events. Field Operations Emissions Reduction (Code 376): This is a new conservation practice standard to address air particulate emissions (10 micrometers in diameter or smaller), especially in designated air quality impaired zones. The standard provides criteria to reduce emission of particulate matter from field operations; primarily from tillage and harvest operations. Forest Stand Improvement (Code 666): The agency added new language to the definition: ‘‘. . . to achieve a desired future condition or obtain ecosystem services.’’ Two purposes that refer to forest products where deleted because they do not refer to an environmental benefit. Purposes that refer to renewable energy systems, and aesthetics and recreation are moved to PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 ‘‘Considerations’’ because they are not primary purposes for this practice. NRCS changed ‘‘Conditions where Practice Applies’’ from ‘‘All Forest land’’, (with exceptions for some agroforestry practices), to ‘‘All land where the quantity and quality of trees can be enhanced.’’ Under ‘‘General Criteria Applicable to All Purposes,’’ NRCS changed the emphasis from silvicultural systems to achieving desired future conditions by altering the species composition or tree density. ‘‘Additional Criteria to Improve and Sustain Forest Health and Productivity’’ were added. Several new ‘‘Considerations’’ were added, including descriptions of silvicultural and carbon sequestration options. Several new references were also added. Herbaceous Wind Barriers (Code 603): The purpose and criteria to enhance snow deposition was removed because the vegetation during the winter period is not conducive to uniform snow deposition. Minor edits were made throughout the standard to improve clarity. The criteria for barrier height for the wind erosion period was increased to 1.5 feet from 0.5 feet. Irrigation System, Micro-irrigation (Code 441): The purpose of reduced energy use was removed. It would not be the primary purpose of planning a micro-irrigation system. There are also some minor editorial changes. Roofs and Covers (Code 367): The definition for the ‘‘Roofs and Covers’’ practice added agrichemical handling facilities to the waste management facilities specified. Criteria was added to include treated wood products and the type of associated fasteners, as was a table for geomembrane materials specified by cover purpose. Criteria was also added for appurtenant equipment associated with cover over liquid manure storage facilities for the safe collection, conveyance, treatment, or utilization of biogases. Sprinkler System (Code 442): ‘‘In absence of manufacturer’s recommendations for pressure regulator operation, ensure line pressure upstream of regulators is at least 5 psi above rated regulator pressure’’ was added. There are also some minor editorial changes. Vegetated Treatment Area (Code 635): This standard was edited to improve clarity. Additionally, criteria was added to address pretreatment and erosion control measures, and the minimum flow length that affected the design of small facilities was removed. Vegetative Barrier (Code 601): The purpose and the criteria to use the vegetative barrier to control concentrated flow erosion was removed E:\FR\FM\06MYN1.SGM 06MYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 87 / Wednesday, May 6, 2015 / Notices due to poor performance. Minor edits here made throughout the standard to improve clarity. Signed this 22nd day of April, 2015, in Washington, DC. Jason A. Weller, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service. [FR Doc. 2015–10476 Filed 5–5–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–16–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of an open meeting. AGENCY: The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee (RE&EEAC) will hold a meeting on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 at the Department of Commerce Herbert C. Hoover Building in Washington, DC. The meeting is open to the public and interested parties are requested to contact the Department of Commerce in advance of the meeting. DATES: June 23, 2015, from approximately 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Daylight Saving Time (DST). Members of the public wishing to participate must notify Andrew Bennett at the contact information below by 5 p.m. DST on Friday, June 19, 2015, in order to pre-register. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Bennett, Office of Energy and Environmental Industries (OEEI), International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce at (202) 482–5235; email: Andrew.Bennett@ trade.gov. SUMMARY: tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: The Secretary of Commerce established the RE&EEAC pursuant to his discretionary authority and in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) on July 14, 2010. The RE&EEAC was rechartered on June 12, 2014. The RE&EEAC provides the Secretary of Commerce with consensus advice from the private sector on the development and administration of programs and policies to enhance the international competitiveness of the U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. During the June 23rd meeting of the RE&EEAC, committee members will discuss priority issues identified in advance by the Committee Chair and VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:43 May 05, 2015 Jkt 235001 Sub-Committee leadership, and hear from interagency partners on issues impacting the competitiveness of the U.S. Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency industries. A limited amount of time before the close of the meeting will be available for pertinent oral comments from members of the public attending the meeting. To accommodate as many speakers as possible, the time for public comments will be limited to two to five minutes per person (depending on number of public participants). Individuals wishing to reserve additional speaking time during the meeting must contact Mr. Bennett and submit a brief statement of the general nature of the comments, as well as the name and address of the proposed participant by 5 p.m. DST on Friday, June 19, 2015. If the number of registrants requesting to make statements is greater than can be reasonably accommodated during the teleconference, the International Trade Administration may conduct a lottery to determine the speakers. Speakers are requested to submit a copy of their oral comments by email to Mr. Bennett for distribution to the participants in advance of the teleconference. Any member of the public may submit pertinent written comments concerning the RE&EEAC’s affairs at any time before or after the meeting. Comments may be submitted to the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee, c/o: Andrew Bennett, Office of Energy and Environmental Industries, U.S. Department of Commerce, Mail Stop: 4053, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230. To be considered during the meeting, written comments must be received no later than 5 p.m. DST on Friday, June 19, 2015, to ensure transmission to the Committee prior to the teleconference. Comments received after that date will be distributed to the members but may not be considered on the teleconference. Copies of RE&EEAC meeting minutes will be available within 30 days following the meeting. Dated: April 29, 2015. Edward A. O’Malley, Director, Office of Energy and Environmental Industries. [FR Doc. 2015–10527 Filed 5–5–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–DR–P PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 26001 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration [A–580–867] Large Power Transformers From the Republic of Korea: Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2012–2013 Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) is amending its final results in the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on large power transformers from the Republic of Korea (Korea) for the period February 16, 2012, through July 31, 2013, to correct certain ministerial errors. DATES: Effective date: May 6, 2015. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Davis (Hyosung) or David Cordell (Hyundai), AD/CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482–7924 or (202) 482–0408, respectively. AGENCY: SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background On March 31, 2015, the Department published its final results in the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on large power transformers from Korea.1 On March 30, 2015, ABB Inc. (Petitioner) submitted a ministerial error allegation.2 On March 30, 2015, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI) and Hyundai Corporation, USA (Hyundai USA) (collectively, Hyundai) filed a ministerial error allegation.3 On April 3, 2015, Hyosung Corporation and HICO America Sales and Technology, Inc. (collectively, Hyosung) submitted comments in reply to Petitioner’s allegation.4 Based on our analysis of these allegations, we made changes to the calculation of the 1 See Large Power Transformers From the Republic of Korea: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2012–2013, 80 FR 17034 (March 31, 2015) (Final Results). 2 See Letter from Petitioner to the Department, ‘‘Administrative Review of Large Power Transformers from Korea—Petitioner’s Allegation on Ministerial Errors in the Department’s Final Margin Calculation’’ dated March 30, 2015. 3 See Letter from Hyundai to the Department, ‘‘Antidumping Administrative Review of Large Power Transformers from Korea Ministerial Error Comments’’ dated March 30, 2015. 4 See Letter from Hyosung to the Department, ‘‘Large Power Transformers from the Republic of Korea: Reply to Petitioner’s Allegation of Ministerial Errors’’ (April 3, 2015). E:\FR\FM\06MYN1.SGM 06MYN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25999-26001]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10476]


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

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation Service

[Docket No. NRCS-2015-0003]


Notice of Proposed Changes to the National Handbook of 
Conservation Practices for the Natural Resources Conservation Service

AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed changes in the NRCS National 
Handbook of Conservation Practices for public review and comment.

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

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the intention of NRCS to issue a 
series of revised conservation practice standards in the National 
Handbook of Conservation Practices. These standards include: Amending 
Soil Properties with Gypsum Products (Code 333), Animal Mortality 
Facility (Code 316), Contour Orchards and Other Perennial Crops (Code 
331), Controlled Traffic Farming (Code 334), Denitrifying Bioreactor 
(Code 605), Emergency Animal Mortality Management (Code 368), Field 
Operations Emissions Reduction (Code 376), Forest Stand Improvement 
(Code 666), Herbaceous Wind Barriers (Code 603), Irrigation System, 
Micro-irrigation (Code 441), Roofs and Covers (Code 367), Sprinkler 
System (Code 442), Vegetated Treatment Area (Code 635), and Vegetative 
Barrier (Code 601).
    NRCS State Conservationists who choose to adopt these practices for 
use within their States will incorporate them into Section IV of their 
respective electronic Field Office Technical Guide. These practices may 
be used in conservation systems that treat highly erodible land (HEL) 
or on land determined to be a wetland. Section 343 of the Federal 
Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 requires NRCS to make 
available for public review and comment all proposed revisions to 
conservation practice standards used to carry out HEL and wetland 
provisions of the law.

DATES: This is effective May 6, 2015. Submit comments on or before June 
5, 2015. Final versions of these new or revised conservation practice 
standards will be adopted after the close of the 30-

[[Page 26000]]

day period and after consideration of all comments.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand-deliver comments to Public Comments Processing, 
Attention: Regulatory and Agency Policy Team, Strategic Planning and 
Accountability, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 5601 Sunnyside 
Avenue, Building 1-1112D, Beltsville, Maryland 20705. Submit electronic 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. All submitted comments should be identified by 
Docket Number NRCS-2015-0003.
    NRCS will post all comments on https://www.regulations.gov. In 
general, personal information provided with comments will be posted. If 
your comment includes your address, phone number, email, or other 
personal identifying information, your comments, including personal 
information, may be available to the public. You may ask in your 
comment that your personal identifying information be withheld from 
public view, but this cannot be guaranteed.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wayne Bogovich, Natural Resources 
Conservation Service, 1400 Independence Avenue Southwest, South 
Building, Room 6136, Washington, DC 20250.
    Electronic copies of the proposed revised standards are available 
through https://www.regulations.gov by accessing Docket No. NRCS-2015-
0003. Alternatively, copies can be downloaded or printed from the 
following Web site: https://go.usa.gov/TXye. Requests for paper versions 
or inquiries may be directed to Emil Horvath, Natural Resources 
Conservation Service, Central National Technology Support Center, 501 
West Felix Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76115.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The amount of the proposed changes varies 
considerably for each of the conservation practice standards addressed 
in this notice. To fully understand the proposed changes, individuals 
are encouraged to compare these changes with each standard's current 
version as shown at: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/national/technical/cp/ncps/?cid=nrcs143026849. To aid in 
this comparison, the following are highlights of some of the proposed 
revisions to each standard:
    Amending Soil Properties with Gypsum Products (Code 333): This is a 
new conservation practice standard using the technology of gypsum 
products to improve soil structure, and to reduce phosphorus runoff 
from fields and buffer areas.
    Animal Mortality Facility (Code 316): Criteria for catastrophic 
animal mortality has been removed and placed in Emergency Animal 
Mortality Management (368). The information provided on composting has 
been expanded. The language was changed to improve the readability of 
the standard.
    Contour Orchards and Other Perennial Crops (Code 331): Wind erosion 
was removed as one of the purposes, and the technology addresses only 
sheet and rill erosion from water. Edits were made to the purposes to 
align with NRCS' list of natural resource concerns. The criteria for 
additional temporary erosion control measures on sites that are 
disturbed was added. The allowable contour row grade was reduced from 
10 percent to 4 percent. The criteria to improve sediment trapping on 
the slopes of inward-sloping benches was added. Minor edits where made 
throughout the standard to improve clarity.
    Controlled Traffic Farming (Code 334): This is a new conservation 
practice where heavy axle loads are confined to designated lanes or 
tramlines that will cover no more than 33 percent of the surface area 
of the field. The primary purpose is to reduce soil compaction.
    Denitrifying Bioreactor (Code 605): This proposed National standard 
is based on interim standards from Illinois and Iowa. These States have 
been using and refining this standard since 2009. As the interim 
standards are revised each year, new data becomes available. This 
summary of changes is brief.
    Emergency Animal Mortality Management (Code 368): This is a new 
conservation practice standard defined as a means or method for the 
management of animal carcasses from catastrophic mortality events.
    Field Operations Emissions Reduction (Code 376): This is a new 
conservation practice standard to address air particulate emissions (10 
micrometers in diameter or smaller), especially in designated air 
quality impaired zones. The standard provides criteria to reduce 
emission of particulate matter from field operations; primarily from 
tillage and harvest operations.
    Forest Stand Improvement (Code 666): The agency added new language 
to the definition: ``. . . to achieve a desired future condition or 
obtain ecosystem services.'' Two purposes that refer to forest products 
where deleted because they do not refer to an environmental benefit. 
Purposes that refer to renewable energy systems, and aesthetics and 
recreation are moved to ``Considerations'' because they are not primary 
purposes for this practice. NRCS changed ``Conditions where Practice 
Applies'' from ``All Forest land'', (with exceptions for some 
agroforestry practices), to ``All land where the quantity and quality 
of trees can be enhanced.'' Under ``General Criteria Applicable to All 
Purposes,'' NRCS changed the emphasis from silvicultural systems to 
achieving desired future conditions by altering the species composition 
or tree density. ``Additional Criteria to Improve and Sustain Forest 
Health and Productivity'' were added. Several new ``Considerations'' 
were added, including descriptions of silvicultural and carbon 
sequestration options. Several new references were also added.
    Herbaceous Wind Barriers (Code 603): The purpose and criteria to 
enhance snow deposition was removed because the vegetation during the 
winter period is not conducive to uniform snow deposition. Minor edits 
were made throughout the standard to improve clarity. The criteria for 
barrier height for the wind erosion period was increased to 1.5 feet 
from 0.5 feet.
    Irrigation System, Micro-irrigation (Code 441): The purpose of 
reduced energy use was removed. It would not be the primary purpose of 
planning a micro-irrigation system. There are also some minor editorial 
changes.
    Roofs and Covers (Code 367): The definition for the ``Roofs and 
Covers'' practice added agrichemical handling facilities to the waste 
management facilities specified. Criteria was added to include treated 
wood products and the type of associated fasteners, as was a table for 
geomembrane materials specified by cover purpose. Criteria was also 
added for appurtenant equipment associated with cover over liquid 
manure storage facilities for the safe collection, conveyance, 
treatment, or utilization of biogases.
    Sprinkler System (Code 442): ``In absence of manufacturer's 
recommendations for pressure regulator operation, ensure line pressure 
upstream of regulators is at least 5 psi above rated regulator 
pressure'' was added. There are also some minor editorial changes.
    Vegetated Treatment Area (Code 635): This standard was edited to 
improve clarity. Additionally, criteria was added to address 
pretreatment and erosion control measures, and the minimum flow length 
that affected the design of small facilities was removed.
    Vegetative Barrier (Code 601): The purpose and the criteria to use 
the vegetative barrier to control concentrated flow erosion was removed

[[Page 26001]]

due to poor performance. Minor edits here made throughout the standard 
to improve clarity.

    Signed this 22nd day of April, 2015, in Washington, DC.
Jason A. Weller,
Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-10476 Filed 5-5-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-16-P
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