Department of Agriculture December 26, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On December 13, 2005, the Forest Service issued an interim directive to provide guidance for Tribal Forest Protection Act (TFPA) proposals. This interim directive provides internal administrative direction to guide Forest Service employees in planning, implementing, and monitoring TFPA proposals. The interim directive is issued to Forest Service Handbook (FSH) 2409.19, Renewable Resources Handbook, Chapter 60, Stewardship Contracting, as Interim Directive No. 2409.19- 2005-2 and can be found at https://www.fs.fed.us/spf/tribalrelations/. This direction was developed to implement the provisions as authorized in Public Law 108-278, Tribal Forest Protection Act. The agency is requesting comment on this interim directive to ensure that the public has the opportunity to comment on the implementation of this new authority. The public's comments will be considered prior to development of final agency policy.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is soliciting comments on its proposal to revise the United States Standards for Grades of Parsley. AMS is proposing to revise the standards to allow percentages to be determined by count rather than weight. AMS is also proposing to eliminate the unclassified category. The proposed revisions would bring the standards for parsley in line with current marketing practices, thereby improving the usefulness in serving the industry.

The Agricultural Marketing Service published in the Federal Register on August 7, 2006, a final rule that changed the title of the U.S.A. Cultivated Blueberry Council (USACBC) to the ``U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council'' (Council) and added a member and alternate to represent the state of Washington. However, inaccurate amendatory language was used to make the change to the Council's name. In addition, an incorrect acronym used in Sec. 1218.78 prevented its removal and replacement and a heading preceding Sec. 1218.40 in the final rule was published with a repetitive word. This document corrects the error.