Department of Agriculture November 4, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The original Market-Related Contract Term Addition (MRCTA) regulation was adopted in 1990 to provide financial relief to timber sale purchasers during cyclic downturns in forest products markets. However, the current drastic reduction in Forest Product markets, which began in late 2004, revealed several problems with the existing MRCTA regulation. Therefore, this final rule is needed to help ensure that the MRCTA regulation functions as originally intended. This final rule makes four changes to the MRCTA regulation. First, the regulation now allows more than 3 years to be added to a contract's term pursuant to MRCTA when there is a drastic reduction in wood product prices that lasts for more than 10 out of 12 consecutive quarters. Second, the regulation now gives contracting officers the flexibility needed to assign the most appropriate Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index (PPI) to a timber sale contract. Third, the regulation now prevents any single 3-month MRCTA from extending a contract's term by more than 1 year. Finally, the regulation now explicitly states what types of sales are ineligible for any MRCTA relief.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS) is amending its exiting income limit structure for the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP). The effect of this action is to provide more efficient service to lenders, investors and Agency staff by modifying the existing Rural Development eight (8) tiered income structure into a simplified two (2) tiered structure. This modification will simplify program requirements and the qualification process.