Department of Agriculture May 29, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) published in the Federal Register of January 15, 2009, an interim final rule with request for comment amending the program regulations for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to incorporate programmatic changes authorized by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Act). On March 12, 2009, CCC corrected language in the interim final rule regarding the erroneous application of the payment limitation provisions to joint operations, and extended the comment period to April 17, 2009. This document amends the interim final rule by expanding the ability of CCC to include an expansion of the exception regarding conservation practices on public land. CCC is also using the opportunity presented by this rulemaking to extend the comment period. However, the extended comment period is limited to the provisions in this amendment.

The USDA Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for reducing fire hazard, improving forest stand conditions and resilience to stand replacement fire for wildlife species, including the Northern spotted owl, and restoring fire regimes and historic (fire adapted) stand conditions in and around the Cow Creek and Tiller Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas. Fuel loadings and overall stand densities have increased and landscape scale forest structural diversity has been altered due to fire exclusion, increasing the potential size and severity of future wildfires, beyond what might have occurred historically. This EIS will be prepared under the authority of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) and will implement recommendations of the Douglas County Community Wildfire Protection Plans for the WUI's. The project proposes commercial thinning on about 6,300 acres of mid seral and mature unmanaged stands, leaving between 40-90 trees per acre (TPA); commercial thinning on about 2,700 acres of managed second-growth plantations, leaving between 50-90 TPA; non-commercial treatment of fuels on about 4,400 acres using non-commercial thinning, mastication, whip felling, chipping, piling and burning; treating activity-created fuels by underburning, machine piling, masticating, handpile burning, lopping and scattering, and/or yarding tops attached and whole tree yarding; using prescribed fire as the primary method of reducing fuels on about 813 acres; using about \1/8\th of a mile of existing unclassified roads to access thinning/ treatment areas, then decommissioning after use; building about 27 miles of new temporary spur roads for access, then decommissioning them after use; road reconstruction and maintenance throughout the planning area; and use of existing rock pits. All acreages and miles are approximate and will be refined during sale layout. The project proposes to amend the 1990 Umpqua National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP). The planning area is located approximately 34 miles southeast of Roseburg, Oregon. The project is expected to be implemented starting in Fiscal Year 2010. The agency gives notice of the full environmental analysis and decision-making process that will occur on the proposal so that interested and affected people may become aware of how they can participate in the process and contribute to the final decision.

This rule invites comments on proposed modifications to the import regulations for Irish potatoes. This rule is implemented in accordance with section 608(e) (hereinafter referred to as ``section 8e'') of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, which requires imported potatoes to meet the same or comparable grade, size, quality, and maturity requirements as those established under Federal marketing order regulations. This rule would: Reduce the number of marketing order areas determined as being in the most direct competition with imported potatoes from five to three; exempt U.S. No. 1 grade potatoes imported in certain small containers from size requirements; and remove certain language from Marketing Orders No. 948 and 953 that reference the regulation of imported Irish potatoes. In addition, this rule would make minor administrative changes to the potato, onion, and tomato import regulations to update informational references. The proposed modifications to the import regulations are expected to benefit potato importers and consumers.