Department of Agriculture December 10, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announces the availability of grant funds pursuant to Title I of Division A of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), Public Law 111-5 (Feb. 17, 2009) with regard to the Technical Assistance and Training Grant Program (TAT). Funds authorized by the Recovery Act are in addition to Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 funding for this grant program. The intent of this notice is to advise the public of the funds available and to provide transparency as required by the Recovery Act. Regulations for the Technical Assistance and Training Grant Program regulations can be found at 7 CFR part 1775. Funding announced is intended to support technical assistance and training activities that facilitate efforts by rural communities to access Recovery Act funding for critical water and waste disposal infrastructure projects, particularly those communities in smaller, lower income, and persistent poverty areas.

This rule modifies the import regulations for Irish potatoes by reducing the number of marketing order areas determined as being in the most direct competition with imported potatoes from five to three; exempting U.S. No. 1 grade potatoes imported in certain small containers from size requirements; and removing certain language from Marketing Orders No. 948 and 953 that reference the regulation of imported Irish potatoes. In addition, this rule makes minor administrative changes to the potato, onion, and tomato import regulations to update informational references. The modifications to the import regulations are expected to benefit potato importers and consumers.