Department of Agriculture April 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are proposing to amend the Animal Welfare Act regulations concerning the handling of animals to require that shift cages be used for handling certain species. One of the largest risk factors for animal escape and employee and animal injury occurs when it is necessary to move, or shift, certain animals between enclosures. Requiring shift cages for certain species would mitigate the risk of injuries to people and animals as well as ensure safe transport of animals between enclosures and exhibits.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) has changed the method used to calculate the interest to be awarded in reparation awards issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA). Additional Information: Contact Dexter Thomas, Senior Marketing Specialist, PACA Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 2095South Building , Mail Stop 0242, Washington, DC 20250-0242. E-maildexter.thomas@usda.gov. This notice will also be posted on the Internet at https://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/ paca.htm.

The Yakutat Resource Advisory Committee will meet in Yakutat, Alaska. The purpose of the meeting is continue business of the Yakutat Resource Advisory Committee. The committee was formed to carry out the requirements of the Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Act of 2000. The agenda for this meeting is to review submitted project proposals and consider recommending projects for funding. Project proposals are due by May 4, 2006 to be considered at this meeting.

The Tehama County Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet in Red Bluff, California. Agenda items to be covered include: (1) Introductions, (2) Approval of Minutes, (3) Public Comment, (4) Discussion of Funding for next year, (5) Chairman's Perspective, (6) General Discussion, (7) Next Agenda.

We are amending the animal importation regulations by adding Indiana to the lists of States approved to receive certain stallions and mares imported into the United States from regions affected with contagious equine metritis (CEM). We are taking this action because Indiana has entered into an agreement with the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to enforce its State laws and regulations to control CEM and to require inspection, treatment, and testing of horses, as required by Federal regulations, to further ensure the horses' freedom from CEM. This action relieves unnecessary restrictions on the importation of mares and stallions from regions where CEM exists.

We are proposing to revise and reorganize the regulations pertaining to the importation of fruits and vegetables to consolidate requirements of general applicability and eliminate redundant requirements, update terms and remove outdated requirements and references, update the regulations that apply to importations into territories under U.S. administration, and make various editorial and nonsubstantive changes to regulations to make them easier to use. We are also proposing to make substantive changes to the regulations, including: Establishing criteria within the regulations that, if met, would allow us to approve certain new fruits and vegetables for importation into the United States and to acknowledge pest-free areas in foreign countries more effectively and expeditiously; doing away with the practice of listing specific commodities that may be imported subject to certain types of phytosanitary measures; and providing for the issuance of special use permits for fruits and vegetables. These changes are intended to simplify and expedite our processes for approving certain new imports and pest-free areas while continuing to allow for public participation in the processes. This proposal, if adopted, would represent a significant structural revision of the fruits and vegetables import regulations and would establish a new process for approving certain new commodities for importation into the United States. It would not, however, allow the importation of any specific new fruits or vegetables, nor would it alter the conditions for importing currently approved fruits or vegetables except as specifically described in this document. To the extent to which trading partners consider the time it takes to conduct the rulemaking process a trade barrier, by reducing that time, these proposed changes may facilitate the export of U.S. agricultural commodities. The proposed changes would not alter the manner in which the risk associated with a commodity import request is evaluated, nor would it alter the manner in which those risks are ultimately mitigated.

The National Tree-marking Paint Committee will meet in Eureka, California on May 16-18, 2006. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss activities related to improvements in, concerns about, and the handling and use of tree-marking paint by personnel of the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management.

Notice is hereby given of a public hearing to receive evidence on proposed amendments to Marketing Order No. 984, which regulates the handling of walnuts grown in California. The amendments are proposed by the Walnut Marketing Board (Board), which is responsible for local administration of order 984. The amendments would: Change the marketing year; include ``pack'' as a handler function; restructure the Board and revise nomination procedures; rename the Board and add authority to change Board composition; modify Board meeting and voting procedures; add authority for marketing promotion and paid advertising; add authority to accept contributions, and to carry over excess assessment funds; broaden the scope of the quality control provisions and add the authority to recommend different regulations for different market destinations; add authority for the Board to appoint more than one inspection service; replace outdated order language with current industry terminology; and other related amendments. The USDA proposes three additional amendments: To establish tenure limitations for Board members, to require that continuance referenda be conducted on a periodic basis to ascertain producer support for the order, and to make any changes to the order as may be necessary to conform with any amendment that may result from the hearing. The proposed amendments are intended to improve the operation and functioning of the marketing order program.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is adding the People's Republic of China to the list of countries eligible to export processed poultry products to the United States. Reviews of the People's Republic of China's laws, regulations, and other materials show that its poultry processing system includes requirements equivalent to the provisions of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) and its implementing regulations. Processed poultry products from the People's Republic of China may be imported into the United States only if they are processed in certified establishments in the People's Republic of China from poultry slaughtered in certified slaughter establishments in other countries eligible to export poultry to the United States. China is not currently eligible to export poultry products to the United States that include birds that were slaughtered in China's domestic establishments. All poultry products exported from China must comply with all other U.S. requirements, including the restrictions under the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). All poultry products exported from the People's Republic of China to the United States will be subject to reinspection at the U.S. ports of entry by FSIS inspectors as required by law.

This notice constitutes an open call to the public to submit nomination applications for each of the following positions on the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Advisory Committee: Representative for the City of Palm Springs; Representative for a local developer or builder organization; Representative for the City of La Quinta; Representative for a local conservation organization; and Representative for the California Department of Fish and Game or the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

Pursuant to the authorities in the Federal Advisory Committees Act (Pub. L. 92-463) and under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-393) the Lassen National Forest's Lassen County Resource Advisory Committee will meet Thursday, May 11th in Susanville, California for a business meeting. The meetings are open to the public.

The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS), to examine surface resource impacts connected with extracting gold from placer deposits within a 4.25-acre (approx.) area, in response to a mining claimant's proposed plan of operations. Proposed mining would occur along the south bank of Sucker Creek, about 11 miles southeast of Cave Junction, Oregon. During previous placer operations in the area, an existing but steeply inclined road provided vehicle access to several nearby sites. Because the placer deposit the claimant proposes to mine is located on the stream bank opposite from the road, the proponent proposes to use the existing road but would traverse Sucker Creek to reach the mine site by means of a low water crossing (ford). The purpose for preparing this EIS is to forecast and disclose environmental consequences to surface resources, resulting from road use and mine operations, as well as to ascertain reasonable operational terms and conditions needed during development of locatable mineral resources of the United States (as authorized by the Mining Law of 1872, as amended). Although this is an action having ``effects primarily of local concern (40 CFR 1506.6(3)),'' the Forest Service is nonetheless publishing this notice in the Federal Register to make diligent effort at involving the public, agencies, organizations, Indian tribes and other interested parties in preparation of this EIS.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's Animal Care program will host four additional meetings to present current information on the enforcement of the Horse Protection Act (HPA) and provide a forum for horse industry members and other interested persons to comment on the Horse Protection Program, development of the HPA Operating Plan for 2007 and beyond, and other Horse Protection matters. This notice provides the meetings' agendas, locations, and dates.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is proposing to increase, by approximately 10 percent, the hourly fees charged for Federal dairy grading and inspection services. Dairy grading and inspection services are voluntary and are financed through user-fees assessed to participants in the program. These revisions are necessary in order to recover, as nearly as practicable, the increase in salaries of Federal employees, the increase in Agency costs, and to ensure that the Dairy Grading Branch operates on a financially self-supporting basis.

Rural Business-Cooperative Service programs are administered through USDA Rural Development. USDA Rural Development announces the availability of approximately $495,000 in competitive cooperative agreement funds for fiscal year (FY) 2006 to conduct research on the national economic impact of all types of cooperatives. USDA Rural Development hereby requests proposals from institutions of higher education interested in applying for a competitively awarded cooperative research agreement. The intent of the funding is to encourage research on the critical issue of the economic value of cooperatives.

The Eastern Arizona Counties Resource Advisory Committee will meet in Payson, Arizona. The purpose of the meeting is to review and approve projects for funding.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request approval of a new information collection activity related to peer review of scientific information disseminated to the public by the Agency.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are sponsoring a public meeting on Wednesday, April 26, 2006, to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items that will be discussed at the Sixteenth Session of the Codex Committee on Residues in Veterinary Drugs in Foods, which will be held in Cancun, Mexico, May 8-12, 2006. The Under Secretary and CVM recognize the importance of providing interested parties with information about the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and to address items on the Agenda for the 16th Session of the Committee.

It is the intention of NRCS in Maryland to issue new or revised conservation practice standards for Section IV of the Field Office Technical Guide. These standards include, but are not limited to, the following: Anaerobic Digester, Controlled Temperature (Code 366); Animal Mortality Facility (Code 316); Brush Management (Code 314); Closure of Waste Impoundments (Code 360); Composting Facility (Code 317); Feed Management (Code 592); Field Border (Code 386); Filter Strip (Code 393); Fishpond Management (Code 399); Forage Harvest Management (Code 511); Forest Stand Improvement (Code 666); Heavy Use Area Protection (Code 561); Hedgerow Planting (Code 422); Irrigation Water Management (Code 449); Lined Waterway or Outlet (Code 468); Manure Transfer (Code 634); Nutrient Management (Code 590); Pest Management (Code 595); Pond Sealing or Lining, Compacted Clay Treatment (Code 521D); Residue and Tillage Management (Codes 329, 345, and 346); Riparian Forest Buffer (Code 391); Sediment Basin (Code 350); Shallow Water Development and Management (Code 646); Streambank and Shoreline Protection (Code 580); Structure for Water Control (Code 587); Subsurface Drain (Code 606); Surface Drain, Field Ditch (Code 607); Tree/Shrub Establishment (Code 612); Upland Wildlife Habitat Management (Code 645); Use Exclusion (Code 472); Waste Storage Facility (Code 313); Waste Treatment Lagoon (Code 359); Waste Utilization (Code 633); Wastewater Treatment Strip (Code 635); Water and Sediment Control Basin (Code 638); Water Well (Code 642); Wetland Creation (Code 658); Wetland Restoration (Code 657); Wetland Wildlife Habitat Management (Code 644); Windbreak/Shelterbelt Establishment (Code 380). Some of these practice standards may be used in conservation systems to comply with Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation provisions of the Farm Bill.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), are sponsoring a public meeting on May 9, 2006. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States positions that will be discussed at the Twenty-seventh Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Budapest, Hungary, May 15-19, 2006. The Under Secretary and FDA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 27th Session of CCMAS and to address issues on the agenda.

The Sumter National Forest proposes to begin charging a $3.00 fee for the use of the FORKS Mountain Bike Trail. Continued interest in mountain bike trails, especially in this area, have shown the public's interest in this activity will be appreciated and well received. Funds derived from this fee will be used for the continued maintenance of the trail, provide porta-potties for sanitation, provide drinking water to meet DHEC standards and maintain the trailhead. This project was made possible through a cooperative effort between the Forest Service, South Carolina Parks Recreation and Tourism, Southern Off Road Biking Association, Long Cane Trails, Michelin and Upper Savannah Land Trust.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) amends the voluntary shell egg grading rules by providing that shell eggs must not have been previously shipped for retail sale in order to be officially identified with a USDA consumer grademark; by changing the definition of the term eggs of current production from 30 days to 21 days, thereby making eggs that were laid more than 21 days before the date of packing ineligible to be officially identified with a USDA-consumer grademark; and by adding a definition for the term shipped for retail sale. On April 27, 1998, USDA prohibited the repackaging of eggs packed under USDA's voluntary grading program until the Department could review its policies regarding the repackaging and dating of eggs. Making certain types of eggs ineligible for grading will strengthen the integrity of the USDA grade shield.