Department of Agriculture January 18, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting, as a final rule, without change, an interim final rule which decreased the assessment rate established for the California Date Administrative Committee (committee) for the 2007-08 and subsequent crop years from $0.95 to $0.75 per hundredweight of dates handled. The committee locally administers the marketing order which regulates the handling of dates grown or packed in Riverside County, California. Assessments upon date handlers are used by the committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The crop year began October 1 and ends September 30. The assessment rate will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) proposes to amend the Common Crop Insurance Regulations; Dry Pea Crop Insurance Provisions to include the insurability of additional types of dry peas, to offer winter coverage, to allow replanting payments, and to make chickpeas insurable under the Dry Pea Crop Provisions rather than the Dry Bean Crop Provisions. The intended effect of this action is to provide policy changes, to clarify existing policy provisions to better meet the needs of the producers, and to reduce vulnerability to program fraud, waste, and abuse. The changes will apply for the 2009 and succeeding crop years.

The Colorado Recreation Resource Advisory Committee will tentatively meet in Denver, CO. The purpose of the meeting is to continue to provide the new committee members with the information they need to be effective committee members and review several fee proposals. These fee proposals will tentatively include several new cabin rentals and fee changes for: The Green Mountain Reservoir/ Cataract Lake Fee area, Indian Peaks Wilderness Camping permit fee, and the Arapaho National Recreation Area.