Department of Agriculture November 5, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This is to notify all interested parties, including individuals and entities possessing, using, or transferring biological agents and toxins listed in 7 CFR 331.3, 9 CFR 121.3, or 42 CFR 73.3, that a meeting will be held to provide specific regulatory guidance related to the Federal Select Agent Program established under the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002. The meeting is being organized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Investigation. Issues to be discussed include entity registration, security risk assessments, biosafety requirements, and security measures.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with regulations for the national veterinary accreditation program.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations at 5 CFR part 1320, this notice announces the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service's intention to revise a currently approved information collection entitled, ``Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Application Kit for Research and Extension Programs''.

The Rural Utilities Service, an agency delivering the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Development Utilities Programs, hereinafter referred to as Rural Development, announces its Revolving Fund Program (RFP) application window for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. In addition to announcing the application window, Rural Development announces the available funding and maximum amounts for RFP competitive grants for the fiscal year. This notice is being issued prior to passage of a final appropriations bill, which may or may not provide for funding this program, to allow applicants sufficient time to leverage financing and submit applications. Rural Development will publish a subsequent notice identifying the amount received in the appropriations, if any. The RFP is authorized under section 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (Con Act), 7 U.S.C. 1926(a), as amended by section 6001 of the Food, Conservation & Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill), Public Law 110-246. Qualified private non-profit organizations will receive RFP grant funds to establish a lending program for eligible entities. Eligible entities for the revolving loan fund will be the same entities eligible to obtain a loan, loan guarantee, or grant from the Rural Development Utilities Programs Water and Waste Disposal loan and grant programs.

The Rural Utilities Service, an agency delivering the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Utilities Program, hereinafter referred to as Rural Development and/or the Agency, amends its regulations for the Telecommunications Loan Program (Loan Program). The Agency has reviewed its criteria for approving loans and has determined that modifications to the Loan Program regulations are required in order to ensure that some financially sound applicants are not excluded from the Loan Program. Specifically, this rule will modify the Times Interest Earned Ratio (TIER) requirements that an applicant must comply with when receiving a loan. In addition, the rule is part of an ongoing Agency project to update Agency policies to enable borrowers to provide reliable, modern telecommunications service at reasonable costs in rural areas, while maintaining the security and feasibility of the Government's loans. In the final rules section of this Federal Register, Rural Development is publishing this action as a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a non-controversial action and anticipates no adverse comments. If no adverse comments are received in response to the direct final rule, no further action will be taken on this proposed rule and the action will become effective at the time specified in the direct final rule. If the Agency receives adverse comments, a timely document will be published withdrawing the direct final rule and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this action.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) are requesting comments from all interested individuals and organizations on an extension of a currently approved information collection that supports the FSA and CCC Debt Settlement Policies and Procedures regulations.