Department of Agriculture September 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces the depreciation rates for telecommunications plant for the period ending December 31, 2008.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received a petition from Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., seeking a determination of nonregulated status for soybean designated as transformation event 305423, which has been genetically engineered to have higher levels of oleic acid, and lower levels of linoleic and linolenic acids in the soybean oil. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. In accordance with those regulations, we are soliciting comments on whether this genetically engineered soybean is or could be a plant pest. We are also making available for public comment an environmental assessment for the proposed determination of nonregulated status.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 amended the Lacey Act to provide, among other things, that importers submit a declaration at the time of importation for certain plants and plant products. The declaration requirements of the Lacey Act became effective on December 15, 2008, and enforcement of those requirements is being phased in. The purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the Federal Government's revised plan to phase in enforcement of the declaration requirement and other implementation plans.

This final rule adopts without change the food safety inspections requirements for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) set forth in a previous interim rule issued by the Food and Nutrition Service as a result of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004. Schools participating in the lunch and breakfast programs must obtain two inspections per year, post the most recent inspection report in a visible location, and release a copy of the report to members of the public upon request. This rule enhances the safety of over 38 million meals served to school children daily.

The Glenn/Colusa County Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet in Willows, California. Agenda items covered include: (1) Introductions, (2) Approve Minutes, (3) Public Comment, (4) Project Presentations for FY08 and FY09, (5) Project Voting by RAC Members, (6) General Discussion, (7) Next Agenda.

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 importation of fruit From Thailand.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is a new collection for the Food and Nutrition Service Evaluation of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) to examine how the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program is currently being implemented and to estimate program impacts on participating students.

Rural Development (RD) previously withdrew the May 6, 2009 Federal Register notice (74 FR 20900), which was published in error, announcing the availability of approximately $18 million in competitive grants for fiscal year (FY) 2009 to help independent agricultural producers enter into value-added activities. This notice announces the availability of approximately $18 million in competitive grants for fiscal year (FY) 2009 to help independent agricultural producers enter into or expand value-added activities, with the following clarifications and alterations: (1) Highlights the inclusion of Beginning and Socially Disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, as well as operators of Small and Medium-sized farms or ranches that are structured as a Family Farm, and provides more weight in the scoring process, (2) deletes contradictory language related to the eligibility of applicants under the newly allowable mid-tier value chain provision by clarifying that the applicant entity must be eligible under the legislatively-stated categories (but the network they are part of can include virtually any type of organization), (3) establishes the upper limit of ``medium-sized farm'' at between $250,001 and $700,000 in annual gross sales of agricultural product, (4) revises the list of renewable energy technologies that are eligible for funding, (5) clarifies that different documentation standards apply for Planning Grants versus Working Capital Grants, (6) deletes ``Innovation'' as a specific scoring criteria, (7) allows branding, packaging and other means of product differentiation as a component of a value added strategy in all product eligibility categories, and (8) provides a 90- day application period.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to request revision and extension of a currently approved information collection, the Nursery and Floriculture Chemical Use Survey. Revision to burden hours will be needed due to changes in the size of the target population, sampling design, and/or questionnaire length. We will also be discontinuing the Nursery and Christmas Tree Production Survey for this approval cycle. NASS will be able to use production data from the Census of Horticulture (0535-0236) to calculate weights and expansions for the chemical use data.