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

We are correcting errors in our notice to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with regulations for privately owned quarantine facilities for ruminants. The notice was published in the Federal Register on November 5, 2008 (73 FR 65821- 65822, Docket No. APHIS-2008-0116).

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, intends to grant to Cherokee Fabrication of Salem, Alabama, an exclusive license to U.S. Patent No. 7,078,913, ``Multipath Resistant Microwave Moisture Sensor'', issued on July 18, 2006.

This rule amends the regulations for the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) Program, as authorized by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill), to extend the program from October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2012. This rule also increases the percentage rate for the payment calculation after fiscal year (FY) 2008 and increases the payment quantity limitation of eligible pounds of milk per operation beginning in FY 2009. This rule also provides for an adjustment to the MILC payment rate if feed costs increase above a specified level. This rule is needed to extend the MILC program, which is designed to stabilize and generally enhance milk producer revenue, through FY 2012 and to make changes to that program authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill. This rule also adjusts the milk price support program regulations to specify that support purchases will only be made from manufacturers and not from third parties such as brokers.

In April 2006 the Forest Service received a proposal from Western Pacific Timber LLC (WPT) in which a major exchange of land was proposed. The WPT proposal included approximately 40,000 acres of checkerboard land intermingled with the Clearwater National Forest near Powell, Idaho. These checkerboard lands are of interest to the Forest Service because they encompass the headwaters of the Lochsa River and hold outstanding values for many fish and wildlife species. The checkerboard lands also hold significant cultural resources including the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and Nez Perce Tribe treaty area. In September 2008 the Clearwater National Forest completed a feasibility analysis of the proposed exchange as a first level screen to review forest management plans, identify public benefit, identify availability of resources to complete the proposed exchange, identify title and property descriptions and identify potential support and opposition. The outcome of the feasibility analysis was a recommendation to enter into an Agreement to Initiate a land exchange with WPT. The agreement, signed by both parties in September, specifies the roles and responsibilities of each party involved in the exchange. In the proposed land exchange the Forest Service would acquire approximately 39,371 acres of land in the upper Lochsa River drainage in exchange for up to approximately 28,212 acres of National Forest System (NFS) land. It is anticipated that this is more than adequate federal acreage to complete an equal value land exchange. The NFS lands are located on the Clearwater, Nez Perce and Idaho Panhandle National Forests.