Notice of Request for Public Comment on 2023 Update to Technical Guidelines for Quantifying Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions and Carbon Sequestration at the Entity-Scale for Agriculture and Forestry, 37846-37847 [2023-12312]
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Notices
Federal Register
Vol. 88, No. 111
Friday, June 9, 2023
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
The Department of Agriculture has
submitted the following information
collection requirement(s) to OMB for
review and clearance under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Public Law 104–13. Comments are
requested regarding; whether the
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility; the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of burden including
the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used; ways to enhance the
quality, utility and clarity of the
information to be collected; and ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to
respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Comments regarding this information
collection received by July 10, 2023 will
be considered. Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be
submitted within 30 days of the
publication of this notice on the
following website www.reginfo.gov/
public/do/PRAMain. Find this
particular information collection by
selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day
Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or
by using the search function.
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor a collection of information
unless the collection of information
displays a currently valid OMB control
number and the agency informs
potential persons who are to respond to
the collection of information that such
persons are not required to respond to
the collection of information unless it
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:49 Jun 08, 2023
Jkt 259001
displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
Title: Customer Service Survey
Project.
OMB Control Number: 0579–0334.
Summary of Collection: The Animal
Health Protection Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C.
8301, et seq.), authorizes the Secretary
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to
prevent, control and eliminate domestic
diseases such as tuberculosis and
brucellosis and to take actions to
prevent and to manage foreign animal
diseases such as hog cholera, foot-andmouth disease. The Veterinary Services
(VS) program of the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS),
USDA, carries out this work. This
information collection solicits the
beliefs and opinions of persons who use
VS services and products. The survey is
required to solicit information from the
general public who utilize the business
services and animal programs
administered by the USDA, APHIS, and
VS.
Need and Use of the Information: The
data collected from the survey will
provide the local Area Office Manager
with a general view of the public’s
perception of customer service and
indicate problems which can be
addressed locally. The survey will also
provide feedback from the public on
recommendations to improve upon
customer service and provide a vehicle
in which questions can be asked about
VS to educate the public.
Description of Respondents: Business
or other for-profit; Farms; Individuals or
households; Not-for-profit institutions;
State, Local or Tribal Government.
Number of Respondents: 15,050.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting:
On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 800.
Ruth Brown,
Departmental Information Collection
Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023–12368 Filed 6–8–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–34–P
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
[Docket Number: USDA–2023–0007]
Notice of Request for Public Comment
on 2023 Update to Technical
Guidelines for Quantifying Greenhouse
Gas (GHG) Emissions and Carbon
Sequestration at the Entity-Scale for
Agriculture and Forestry
Office of the Chief Economist,
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
ACTION: Request for public comment.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) invites public
comment on the 2023 update to
Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in
Agriculture and Forestry: Methods for
Entity-Scale Inventory, Technical
Bulletin Number 1939, Office of the
Chief Economist, USDA, Washington,
DC. This report, prepared in part to
meet requirements of section 2709 of the
Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of
2008, provides methods to quantify
entity-scale greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions from the agriculture and
forestry sectors. The updates to this
report were drafted by more than 60
authors, including USDA scientists,
university researchers, and experts from
non-governmental organizations and
research institutions. This update adds
new methods, improves existing
methods where appropriate, and
enhances the usability of the report.
Comments received under this notice
will be used to further refine the update
to this report in preparation for
publication as a USDA Technical
Bulletin. Comments submitted will help
USDA to ensure the new and updated
quantification methods reflect the state
of the science. A series of questions
have been provided in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
below to aid review. When submitting
responses, please annotate comments
using the report section number
designations.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before 11:59
p.m. Eastern Time July 10, 2023.
Comments received after the posted
deadline may not be considered,
regardless of postmark.
ADDRESSES: Comments submitted in
response to this notice may be
submitted online Via the Federal
eRulemaking Portal. Go to https://
www.regulations.gov and search for the
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\09JNN1.SGM
09JNN1
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 111 / Friday, June 9, 2023 / Notices
Docket number USDA–2023–0007.
Follow the online instructions for
submitting comments.
All comments received will be posted
without change and publicly available
on www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any
questions about this notice should be
sent to Wes Hanson, Office of Energy
and Environmental Policy via email:
wes.hanson@usda.gov, or telephone:
202–425–1596.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office
of Energy and Environmental Policy
(OEEP) operates within the Office of the
Chief Economist at USDA and functions
as the Department-wide focal point on
agriculture, rural, and forestry-related
climate change activities. OEEP ensures
that USDA is a source of objective,
analytical assessments of the effects of
climate change and proposed response
strategies.
The original 2014 report Quantifying
Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Agriculture
and Forestry: Methods for Entity-Scale
Inventory was developed in response to
the 2008 Farm Bill, Section 2709, which
states that the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) shall prepare
technical guidelines that outline
science-based methods to measure the
carbon benefits from conservation and
land management activities. This report
provides scientifically rigorous,
Department-wide guidelines for
quantifying GHG emissions and carbon
sequestration at the farm-, forest-, and
entity-scale. The guidelines are
intended for use with landowners,
nongovernmental organizations, and
other groups assessing increases and
decreases in GHG emissions and carbon
sequestration associated with changes in
land management. The report and
associated materials, including an
erratum published in 2019, are available
at: https://www.usda.gov/oce/climate_
change/estimation.htm. The report also
serves as the foundation for COMETFarm (https://cometfarm.nrel.
colostate.edu), a field-scale tool
developed by USDA and Colorado State
University that provides detailed
estimates of the on-farm benefits
accrued from the implementation of
conservation practices.
Updates to the technical guidelines
are primarily focused on adding new
quantification methods for management
practices that have an adequate body of
research to support their GHG benefits,
revising the methods where appropriate
to reflect the state of the science,
improving the accuracy of farm-scale
GHG flux estimates, reducing ambiguity
in how users select a given method, and
improving the usability of the report by
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:49 Jun 08, 2023
Jkt 259001
reorganizing the chapters to make the
methods easier to access.
USDA currently requests public
comment on the following:
1. Input on the usability, and the level
of detail provided for the methods,
practices, and technologies for
quantifying of GHG emissions and
carbon sequestration at the entity-scale.
1a. Is the overall flow of the report
easy to follow and navigate?
1b. Is there an appropriate level of
detail included for background
information, and for each method?
1c. Are the methods easily followed
[consider the format of the report,
language or instructions used,
background information provided (or
not provided), etc.]?
1d. Are the method descriptions
adequate for estimation of emissions at
the entity scale? If not, list additional
details that are needed to implement the
approaches.
1e. Are the activity practice data
sufficiently described for compiling this
information from farm and ranch
operations?
1f. Are the graphics provided useful,
or are there changes that would increase
clarity or accuracy?
1g. Are the data gaps provided
complete or are there additional
promising research that you recommend
be included?
1h. There are some differences in the
entity-scale methods compared to
methods used in the national inventory
(often due to the level of complexity and
availability of entity-level data). Do you
have any concerns about these
differences?
1i. Is the purpose of the report and its
update laid out clearly? If not, please
provide any suggestions to make this
more accessible to all audiences.
1j. Is the definition of an entity clearly
defined?
1k. Are the system boundaries
appropriate?
2. Information to improve the
accuracy of the guidelines.
2a. If you are familiar with the
methods provided in the original 2014
report, feel free to provide comment on
the updated methods and presentation
and whether the updates provide
benefits.
2b. Where provided, are the methods
descriptions for estimating uncertainty
adequate? If not, please elaborate on the
missing information or need for further
details to quantify uncertainty.
3. Information to improve the
usability of the methods.
3a. Has the reorganization of the
report chapters improved the flow of the
chapters, and the usability of the
technical guidelines?
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
37847
3b. Are there additional
improvements that could be made to
improve the usability of the technical
guidelines?
3c. What specific changes or
improvements could be made to the
COMET-Farm online tool to improve the
implementation of the USDA technical
guidelines?
Please provide information including
citations and/or contact details to the
address listed above.
Seth Meyer,
Chief Economist.
[FR Doc. 2023–12312 Filed 6–8–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–GL–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Office of Partnerships and Public
Engagement
Advisory Committee on Minority
Farmers
Office of Partnerships and
Public Engagement (OPPE), USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public hybrid meeting.
AGENCY:
Pursuant to the provisions of
the rules and regulations of the United
States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) and the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (FACA), notice is hereby
given that a public meeting of the
Advisory Committee on Minority
Farmers (ACMF) will be convened and
accessible in-person and virtually.
During this public meeting, the ACMF
will consider USDA programs, services,
and policies, and how they impact
minority farmers. The ACMF seeks to
recommend action-oriented strategies
that maximize the participation of
minority farmers in USDA programs and
services.
DATES: The ACMF public meeting is
scheduled for June 27–29, 2023, from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. eastern daylight time
(EDT)—each day.
ADDRESSES:
Meeting Pre-Registration: The public
is asked to pre-register for the meeting
by June 26, 2023, at https://
ems8.intellor.com/?do=register&
t=1&p=848053.
Your pre-registration should include:
your name; organization or interest
represented; if you plan to give oral
comments; and if you require special
accommodations. USDA will also accept
day-of registrations throughout the
meeting. Time will be allotted at the end
of each morning and afternoon for
comments from those attending in
person or virtually. USDA will allow as
many individual and organizational
comments as time permits.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\09JNN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 111 (Friday, June 9, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37846-37847]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12312]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
[Docket Number: USDA-2023-0007]
Notice of Request for Public Comment on 2023 Update to Technical
Guidelines for Quantifying Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions and Carbon
Sequestration at the Entity-Scale for Agriculture and Forestry
AGENCY: Office of the Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
ACTION: Request for public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) invites public
comment on the 2023 update to Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in
Agriculture and Forestry: Methods for Entity[hyphen]Scale Inventory,
Technical Bulletin Number 1939, Office of the Chief Economist, USDA,
Washington, DC. This report, prepared in part to meet requirements of
section 2709 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008,
provides methods to quantify entity-scale greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions from the agriculture and forestry sectors. The updates to
this report were drafted by more than 60 authors, including USDA
scientists, university researchers, and experts from non-governmental
organizations and research institutions. This update adds new methods,
improves existing methods where appropriate, and enhances the usability
of the report. Comments received under this notice will be used to
further refine the update to this report in preparation for publication
as a USDA Technical Bulletin. Comments submitted will help USDA to
ensure the new and updated quantification methods reflect the state of
the science. A series of questions have been provided in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below to aid review. When submitting
responses, please annotate comments using the report section number
designations.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time July 10, 2023. Comments received after the
posted deadline may not be considered, regardless of postmark.
ADDRESSES: Comments submitted in response to this notice may be
submitted online Via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for the
[[Page 37847]]
Docket number USDA-2023-0007. Follow the online instructions for
submitting comments.
All comments received will be posted without change and publicly
available on www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any questions about this notice should
be sent to Wes Hanson, Office of Energy and Environmental Policy via
email: [email protected], or telephone: 202-425-1596.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Energy and Environmental
Policy (OEEP) operates within the Office of the Chief Economist at USDA
and functions as the Department-wide focal point on agriculture, rural,
and forestry-related climate change activities. OEEP ensures that USDA
is a source of objective, analytical assessments of the effects of
climate change and proposed response strategies.
The original 2014 report Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in
Agriculture and Forestry: Methods for Entity[hyphen]Scale Inventory was
developed in response to the 2008 Farm Bill, Section 2709, which states
that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) shall prepare
technical guidelines that outline science-based methods to measure the
carbon benefits from conservation and land management activities. This
report provides scientifically rigorous, Department-wide guidelines for
quantifying GHG emissions and carbon sequestration at the farm-,
forest-, and entity-scale. The guidelines are intended for use with
landowners, nongovernmental organizations, and other groups assessing
increases and decreases in GHG emissions and carbon sequestration
associated with changes in land management. The report and associated
materials, including an erratum published in 2019, are available at:
https://www.usda.gov/oce/climate_change/estimation.htm. The report also
serves as the foundation for COMET-Farm (https://cometfarm.nrel.colostate.edu), a field-scale tool developed by USDA and
Colorado State University that provides detailed estimates of the on-
farm benefits accrued from the implementation of conservation
practices.
Updates to the technical guidelines are primarily focused on adding
new quantification methods for management practices that have an
adequate body of research to support their GHG benefits, revising the
methods where appropriate to reflect the state of the science,
improving the accuracy of farm-scale GHG flux estimates, reducing
ambiguity in how users select a given method, and improving the
usability of the report by reorganizing the chapters to make the
methods easier to access.
USDA currently requests public comment on the following:
1. Input on the usability, and the level of detail provided for the
methods, practices, and technologies for quantifying of GHG emissions
and carbon sequestration at the entity-scale.
1a. Is the overall flow of the report easy to follow and navigate?
1b. Is there an appropriate level of detail included for background
information, and for each method?
1c. Are the methods easily followed [consider the format of the
report, language or instructions used, background information provided
(or not provided), etc.]?
1d. Are the method descriptions adequate for estimation of
emissions at the entity scale? If not, list additional details that are
needed to implement the approaches.
1e. Are the activity practice data sufficiently described for
compiling this information from farm and ranch operations?
1f. Are the graphics provided useful, or are there changes that
would increase clarity or accuracy?
1g. Are the data gaps provided complete or are there additional
promising research that you recommend be included?
1h. There are some differences in the entity-scale methods compared
to methods used in the national inventory (often due to the level of
complexity and availability of entity-level data). Do you have any
concerns about these differences?
1i. Is the purpose of the report and its update laid out clearly?
If not, please provide any suggestions to make this more accessible to
all audiences.
1j. Is the definition of an entity clearly defined?
1k. Are the system boundaries appropriate?
2. Information to improve the accuracy of the guidelines.
2a. If you are familiar with the methods provided in the original
2014 report, feel free to provide comment on the updated methods and
presentation and whether the updates provide benefits.
2b. Where provided, are the methods descriptions for estimating
uncertainty adequate? If not, please elaborate on the missing
information or need for further details to quantify uncertainty.
3. Information to improve the usability of the methods.
3a. Has the reorganization of the report chapters improved the flow
of the chapters, and the usability of the technical guidelines?
3b. Are there additional improvements that could be made to improve
the usability of the technical guidelines?
3c. What specific changes or improvements could be made to the
COMET-Farm online tool to improve the implementation of the USDA
technical guidelines?
Please provide information including citations and/or contact
details to the address listed above.
Seth Meyer,
Chief Economist.
[FR Doc. 2023-12312 Filed 6-8-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-GL-P
