Department of Agriculture November 8, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared a site-specific environmental assessment and a pest risk assessment relative to a request to allow the interstate movement of garbage from Hawaii to a landfill in the State of Washington. The environmental assessment contains a general assessment of the potential environmental effects associated with moving garbage interstate from Hawaii to Washington, subject to certain pest risk mitigation measures and documents our review and analysis of the environmental impacts associated with, and alternatives to, the proposed action. The pest risk assessment evaluates the risks associated with the interstate movement of garbage from Hawaii to Washington. We are making these assessments available to the public for review and comment.

The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) previously extended its official inspection program to include testing of barley protein. Testing is provided using near-infrared spectroscopy analyzers that were previously approved for different grains. GIPSA is establishing in the fee schedule a generic fee for all near-infrared measurements (NIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses, which is identical to existing fees. The fee for barley protein testing is included in this fee and is identical to the fees already established for other measurements (wheat protein; soybean oil and protein; and corn oil, protein, and starch). Also, GIPSA is amending regulations under the United States Grain Standards Act (USGSA) to establish performance tolerances for protein analyzers used to predict the percentage of protein in barley.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with regulations for the importation of clementines, marndarins, and tangerines from Chile.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing to amend the regulations under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) to ensure that the status of sellers of perishable agricultural commodities as trust creditors is protected when electronic data interchange (EDI) or other forms of electronic commerce are used to invoice buyers. Specifically, the proposed amendments would require a buyer licensed under the PACA or his third party representative to accept the PACA trust notice submitted to it by a seller on a paper, electronic invoice, or other billing statement. In addition, the buyer must allow sufficient data space for the required trust language regardless of the billing medium. Finally, any failure, act or omission inconsistent with this responsibility is unlawful and a violation of the PACA. Comments are being sought from the public, but in particular, from buyers and sellers of fruit and vegetables and vendors/software developers of electronic billing systems.

This rule changes the incoming quality control requirements under the administrative rules and regulations of the California almond marketing order (order). The order regulates the handling of almonds grown in California and is administered locally by the Almond Board of California (Board). These changes will help minimize the risk of aflatoxin in almonds by removing inedible kernels from human consumption. Inedible almonds are poor quality kernels or pieces of defective kernels that may be contaminated with aflatoxin. This action is intended to improve the overall quality of almonds placed into consumer channels.