Department of Agriculture September 17, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents
Results 1 - 7 of 7
National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council
The National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council will meet in San Diego, California, October 14-16, 2008. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss emerging issues in urban and community forestry and hear public input related to urban and community forestry.
Predecisional Administrative Review Process for Hazardous Fuel Reduction Projects Authorized Under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003
This document makes final the interim rule that was published on January 9, 2004, with minor changes to both parts 215 and 218. This rule establishes a process by which the public may file objections to seek administrative review of proposed hazardous fuel reduction projects authorized by the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA), Public Law 108-148. Section 105 of the act directs the Secretary of Agriculture to publish final regulations following public comment on the interim final regulations. This final rule refines the HFRA objection procedures based on public comment and agency experience applying the interim final rule. These changes add clarity to the procedural direction, describe authorized hazardous fuel reduction projects not subject to objection, clarify notification requirements, clarify the eligibility criteria for who may file an objection, provide for the incorporation of certain documents into objections by reference, and clarify how timeliness of objection filing will be determined.
Privacy Act of 1974; Abolish System of Records
The records formerly maintained in the Privacy Act System of Records, USDA/FS-12 Incident Management and Prescribed Fire Qualification and Experience Records are now maintained in another Privacy Act System of Records USDA/BLM-40 Incident Qualification and Certification System (IQCS). Therefore, this system is being abolished and removed from the inventory of USDA Systems of Records in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.
Notice of Proposed Changes to the Natural Resources Conservation Service's National Handbook of Conservation Practices
Notice is hereby given of the intention of NRCS to issue a series of revised conservation practice standards in its National Handbook of Conservation Practices. These standards include: Deep Tillage (Code 324); Waste Transfer (Code 634); and, Road/Trail/Landing Closure and Treatment (Code 654). NRCS State Conservationists who choose to adopt these practices for use within their States will incorporate them into Section IV of their respective electronic Field Office Technical Guide. These practices may be used in conservation systems that treat highly erodible land or on land determined to be a wetland.
Final Directives for Forest Service Outfitting and Guiding Special Use Permits and Insurance Requirements for Forest Service Special Use Permits
The Forest Service is revising directives governing special use permits for outfitting and guiding conducted on National Forest System lands by simplifying the application and administrative process; establishing a flat land use fee for temporary use permits; developing a process for allocation of use on a first-come, first-served or lottery basis for temporary use permits to facilitate greater participation in outfitting and guiding by youth, educational, and religious groups; offering the same terms and conditions to educational and institutional permit holders as offered to other types of permit holders when they operate as a business; and clarifying policy for priority use permits governing performance, inspections, and allocation of use. In addition, the Forest Service is revising the directives governing insurance requirements for Forest Service special use permits. Public comment was considered in the development of the final directives, and a response to comments is included in this notice.
Determination of Substantial Overriding Public Interest for Extending Certain Timber Sale Contracts
Pursuant to section 472a(c) of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (NFMA), and the authority delegated at 7 CFR 2.20, the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment has determined that the substantial overriding public interest (SOPI) justifies the use of market-related contract term adjustments (MRCTA) to extend beyond 10 years, certain existing green timber sale contracts tied to Softwood Lumber index 0811 and Hardwood Lumber index 0812 that were awarded prior to January 1, 2007. This SOPI determination is based on the sustained drastic reduction in softwood lumber prices since 2004 and the more recent hardwood lumber decline.
Forest Certification and Its Implications for America's National Forests
The USDA, Forest Service is seeking comments on forest certification and its implications for America's national forests. This Federal Register notice is to serve as a formal public solicitation of views on the question of National Forest System certification and its implications, if national forest lands were to become certified under one or both of the two major certification systems being used in the United States. The U.S. Forest Service, which manages 193 million acres, or approximately eight percent of the nation's land, believes that it is important to better understand the implications of third- party certification of National Forest System (NFS) lands and, in 2005, began exploring independent, third party certification as a potential option. To this end, the Forest Service initiated the National Forest Certification Study, which resulted in the report, ``National Forest Certification Study: An Evaluation of the Application of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Standards on Five National Forests.'' This report documents the study in which third-party auditors evaluated current forest management practices on five national forest units using the existing certification standards of two certification programs, Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Recognizing that the Forest Service has not decided whether it will seek certification, public outreach and discussion is requested to obtain public and stakeholder views on the National Forest Certification Study and its associated report, as well as the potential implications of NFS certification in general before determining how to proceed. In addition to comments on the National Forest Certification Study, the Forest Service is particularly interested in public views on the following questions: 1. What are your general views on the implications of independent, third party certification of NFS lands? 2. Would certification improve the management of national forests? 3. Could certification make it more difficult to achieve national forest management goals? 4. What questions would certification be able to answer, and what needs would it be able to meet, on national forest lands? 5. Are there key questions or needs that certification would be unable or poorly suited to address? 6. Would independent, third party certification be an appropriate or effective tool, given the unique role of national forests? Or, because of that unique role, would certification be particularly inappropriate or ineffective? Detailed information about the NFS Certification Study is available on the following Web site: https://www.fs.fed.us/projects/ forestcertification/index.shtml.
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