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

This rule changes the reporting requirements established under the Idaho-Eastern Oregon onion marketing order, which regulates the handling of onions grown in designated counties in Idaho and Oregon and is administered locally by the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee. This rule: Establishes a credit application procedure for assessments paid on onions that are subsequently regraded, resorted, or repacked within the production area or diverted to exempt special purpose outlets; changes the reporting requirements for fresh onions for peeling, chopping, or slicing, and for special purpose shipments; adds ``disposal'' as a special purpose shipment; and announces the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) intention to request emergency approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of a new information collection. These changes are intended to enhance the efficient operation of the program and improve compliance with the other provisions.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received three petitions requesting that we delay implementation of, and reconsider provisions in, a recent final rule establishing a herd certification program and interstate movement restrictions for cervids to control the spread of chronic wasting disease. We are soliciting public comments on the petitions and the potential impacts of the actions they recommend.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim final rule that reapportioned the producer and handler membership on the National Watermelon Promotion Board (Board). The final rule continues in effect the realignment of all seven districts under the Watermelon Research and Promotion Plan (Plan) based on three-year United States production records for watermelons and the assessments paid in each district. The change was proposed by the Board, which administers the nationally coordinated program, in accordance to the provisions of the Plan which require a review of the districts' alignment at least every five years.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) prior to undertaking research and other work associated with revising official grade standards, is soliciting comments on the possible revisions of the United States Standards for Grades of Winter Pears. AMS has been reviewing the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable grade standards for usefulness in serving the industry. As a result AMS is considering revisions to the winter pear standard to include removing the section 51.1309, Condition after storage or transit. This section has caused confusion within the industry in the past due to different procedures incurred when reporting inspection findings in comparison to other grade standards. Additionally, AMS is seeking comments regarding any other revisions to the standards that may be necessary to better serve the industry.

The project proposes to contain and control the spread of non- native invasive plant species within the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness and non-Wilderness lands forming the margins of the Wilderness. Chemical and biological treatments are proposed along with other site- specific methods such as hand pulling and grubbing. All treatments would be ground-based.

The Forest Service, as the lead Federal agency, previously published in the Federal Register (66 FR 46992-46994, September 10, 2001) a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of the Idaho Cobalt Project. The Idaho Cobalt Project is a proposed plan of operations to develop an underground cobalt-copper-gold mine on the Salmon/Cobalt Ranger District of the Salmon-Challis National Forest in Lemhi County, Idaho. The Forest Service Handbook 1909.15, Chapter 21.2, requires this revised notice in the Federal Register to inform the public of a major change to the applicant's plan and provide revised dates of when the draft and final EIS will be completed. The major plan change is described in the following paragraph. The revised dates of when the draft and final EIS will be available can be found in the DATES section of this notice. The project proponent, Formation Capital Corporation U.S. (Formation), submitted its proposed plan of operation (Plan) to the Forest Service in January 2001. That Plan described the major components of the project, including production adits and declines, waste rock disposal areas, processing plant, process water and tailings disposal methods, haul roads, and ancillary support facilities on National Forest System Lands. Since 2001, Formation has provided the Forest Service with a number of clarifications and minor revisions to their Plan, which, for the most part, did not alter the basic project description contained in the initial Federal Register notice. However, one proposed revision to the Plan's handling of mine and process water constituted a major change, which necessitated publishing this revised notice. Instead of land-applying the water as originally proposed, Formation plans to install a water treatment system and discharge the mine/process water into Big Deer Creek under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. This change would reduce the surface area affected by mining operations from 251 acres to 149 acres. Formation submitted an NPDES permit application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 25, 2006 to discharge treated water into Big Deer Creek. The permit is a new source subject to the requirements of 40 CFR Part 440. As described in 40 CFR Part 122.29 and EPA's NEPA implementing regulations in 40 CFR Part 6, a new source is subject to compliance with NEPA prior to taking a final action on the NPDES permit. EPA entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Forest Service on August 8, 2006 as a cooperating agency in the EIS process. The MOU describes the roles, responsibilities, and NEPA coordination amongst the two agencies. Given the public scoping that has already been conducted for this project, the extensive list of significant issues generated as a result of that scoping, and the impending completion of the Draft EIS, the Forest Service will not initiate additional public scoping for this notice. Public comments will be accepted and considered following publication of the Draft EIS.