Department of Agriculture August 26, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (FS) are extending by 60 days the public comment period for the proposed rule published in the Federal Register on July 27, 2005 (70 FR 43349). The proposed rule would revise existing Onshore Oil and Gas Order Number 1 (see 48 FR 48916 as amended at 48 FR 56226 (1983)). The Order provides the requirements necessary for the approval of all proposed oil and gas exploratory, development, or service wells on all Federal and Indian (except Osage Tribe) onshore oil and gas leases, including leases where the surface is managed by the FS. It also covers approvals necessary for subsequent well operations, including abandonment. In response to public requests for additional time and because the recently enacted Energy Policy Act of 2005 impacts certain provisions of the proposed rule, the BLM and the FS are extending the comment period 60 days from the original comment period closing date of August 26, 2005. The comment period is extended to October 25, 2005, to give the public additional time to comment.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting, as a final rule, without change, an interim final rule suspending indefinitely all remaining handling and most reporting requirements under Marketing Order No. 993. The marketing order regulates the handling of dried prunes produced in California and is administered locally by the Prune Marketing Committee (committee). The interim final rule being adopted by this action also indefinitely extends the suspensions of the outgoing inspection and prune import regulations and volume control regulations, currently temporarily suspended until August 1, 2006, and August 1, 2008, respectively. The interim final rule was effective August 1, 2005.

This notice pertains to reimbursable overtime charged for Sunday, holiday, or other overtime work performed in connection with the inspection, laboratory testing, certification, or quarantine of certain articles, to user fees for certain veterinary diagnostic services, and to fees charged for agricultural quarantine and inspection services that are provided in connection with certain commercial vessels, commercial trucks, commercial railroad cars, commercial aircraft, and international airline passengers arriving at ports in the customs territory of the United States. The purpose of this notice is to remind the public of the reimbursable overtime charges and user fees for fiscal year 2006 (October 1, 2005, through September 30, 2006).

The Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS), of the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA), is amending the regulation regarding fees assessed to delegated States and designated official agencies, hereafter known as official agencies, authorized by GIPSA to provide official inspection and weighing services to the U.S. grain industry. The fee adjustment is necessary to collect sufficient revenue to cover the current and future cost of supervising the performance of the official agencies. Current supervision fees are charged to official agencies on a unit basis and represent an average rate of approximately 0.8 cent per metric ton of grain inspected or weighed by the official agencies. The final supervision fee increases the rate to a 1.1 cents per metric ton charge. Official agencies include the cost of GIPSA's supervision fee as part of the fee they charge their customers for grain services. The current average cost for services provided by official agencies is 21 cents per metric ton. Increasing the supervision fee by approximately 0.3 cent per metric ton will minimally increase the total cost of inspection and weighing services to the grain industry.