Department of Agriculture August 28, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given of the intention of NRCS to issue a series of revised conservation practice standards in the National Handbook of Conservation Practices. These standards include: Aquaculture Ponds (Code 397), Contour Orchard and Other Perennial Crops (Code 331), Forage and Biomass Planting (Code 512), Forest Trails and Landings (Code 655), Heavy Use Area Protection (Code 561), Herbaceous Wind Barriers (Code 603), Integrated Pest Management (Code 595), Obstruction Removal (Code 500), Pumping Plant (Code 533), Sediment Basin (Code 350), Spoil Spreading (Code 572), Trail and Walkways (Code 568), and Vegetative Barrier (Code 601). Notice is also hereby given of the rescission of Prescribed Forestry (Code 409), effective October 1, 2009. 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 Guides. These practices may be used in conservation systems that treat highly erodible land (HEL) or on land determined to be a wetland. Section 343 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, requires NRCS to make available for public review and comment, all proposed revisions to conservation practice standards used to carry out HEL and wetland provisions of the law.

This rule would increase the assessment rate established for the California Walnut Board (Board) for the 2009-10 and subsequent marketing years from $0.0131 to $0.0177 per kernelweight pound of assessable walnuts. This rule would also change reporting and recordkeeping regulations in conformance with amendments made on March 3, 2008, to the marketing order that regulates the handling of walnuts grown in California. The Board locally administers the marketing order. Assessments upon walnut handlers are used by the Board to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The marketing year begins September 1 and ends August 31. The assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting, as a final rule, without change, an interim final rule that established final volume regulation percentages for 2008-09 crop Natural (sun-dried) Seedless (NS) raisins covered under the Federal marketing order for California raisins (order). The order regulates the handling of raisins produced from grapes grown in California and is locally administered by the Raisin Administrative Committee (Committee). The volume regulation percentages are 87 percent free and 13 percent reserve. The percentages are intended to help stabilize raisin supplies and prices, and strengthen market conditions.