Department of Agriculture 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) is announcing the release of the FY 2009 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) Request for Applications (RFA) via Grants.gov.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (a) provide notice of the third meeting of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, and (b) solicit written comments pertinent to a review of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended), the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) invites comments on this information collection for which RUS intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The Plumas County Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will hold a meeting on April 24, 2009, in Quincy, CA. The purpose of the meeting is to review applications for Cycle 8 funding and select projects to be recommended to the Plumas National Forest Supervisor for calendar year 2009 funding consideration. The funding is available under Title II provisions of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is holding an issue-focused public meeting on April 29 and 30, 2009, on its proposed rule, ``Importation, Interstate Movement, and Release Into the Environment of Certain Genetically Engineered Organisms.'' The April 2009 issue meeting will provide an opportunity for interested persons to discuss in a collaborative forum the key concerns that were raised during the comment period on the proposed rule with U.S. Department of Agriculture officials and with one another.

The Rural BusinessCooperative Service (RBS) announces that the deadline for receipt of applications in the State Office has been extended to April 30, 2009.

This notice lists the newspapers that will be used by all Ranger Districts, Grasslands, Forests, and the Regional Office of the Southwestern Region to give legal notice for the availability for comments on projects under 36 CFR part 215, notice of decisions that may be subject to administrative appeal under 36 CFR parts 215 or Optional Appeal Procedures Available During the Planning Rule Transition Period (formerly 36 CFR part 217), and for opportunities to object to proposed authorized hazardous fuel reduction projects under 36 CFR 218.4. This notice also lists newspapers of record for notices pertaining to plan amendments and revisions under 36 CFR part 219. Newspaper publication is in addition to mailings and direct notice made to those who have participated in the planning of projects or plan revisions and amendments by submitting comments and/or requesting notice.

This decision proposes amendments to Marketing Agreement No. 84 and Order No. 905 (order), which regulate the handling of oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, and tangelos (citrus) grown in Florida; and provides growers with the opportunity to vote in a referendum to determine if they favor the changes. The amendments are based on proposals by the Citrus Administrative Committee (committee), which is responsible for local administration of the order. These amendments would: (1) Modify committee representation by cooperative entities; (2) allow substitute alternates to temporarily represent absent members at committee meetings; (3) authorize the committee to conduct meetings by telephone or other means of communication; and (4) authorize the committee to conduct research and promotion programs, including paid advertising, for fresh Florida citrus. The amendments are intended to improve the operation and administration of the order and provide the industry with additional tools for the marketing of fresh citrus.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and organizations on the extension of a currently approved information collection, National Visitor Use Monitoring (0596-0110).

The Office of the Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Veterinary Medicine, are sponsoring a public meeting on April 29, 2009. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft U.S. positions that will be discussed at the 18th Session of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) which will be held in Natal, Brazil from May 11-15, 2009. The Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety and the FDA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 18th CCRVDF session

This rule establishes the quantity of spearmint oil produced in the Far West, by class that handlers may purchase from, or handle for, producers during the 2009-2010 marketing year, which begins on June 1, 2009. This establishes salable quantities and allotment percentages for Class 1 (Scotch) spearmint oil of 842,171 pounds and 42 percent, respectively, and for Class 3 (Native) spearmint oil of 1,196,109 pounds and 53 percent, respectively. The Spearmint Oil Administrative Committee (Committee), the agency responsible for local administration of the marketing order for spearmint oil produced in the Far West, recommended these limitations for the purpose of avoiding extreme fluctuations in supplies and prices to help maintain stability in the spearmint oil market.

The USDA Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on a proposed action to designate a motorized off- highway vehicle (OHV) trail system on a portion the Bend/Fort Rock Ranger District. In addition, the project would close and decommission roads and unneeded trails. The project area encompasses 140,650 acres and is roughly bounded by U.S. Highway 97 to the west; Newberry National Volcanic Monument to the east, Forest Roads 9701-900 and 1801- 400 to the north, and Forest Road 22 to the south. The project area is approximately six miles south of Bend, Oregon. The alternatives will include the proposed action, no action, and additional alternatives that respond to issues generated through the scoping process. The agency will give notice of the full environmental analysis and decision making process so that interested and affected people may participate and contribute to the final decision.

The Research, Education, and Extension Office (REEO) of the Research, Education, and Economics (REE) Mission Area of the Department of Agriculture published a document in the Federal Register on April 1, 2009, concerning written stakeholder input on the preparation of a roadmap for the REEO. The document contained an incorrect word in the background and purpose section which is listed under the supplementary information section of the notice.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending its administrative regulations to add a new part that establishes regulations governing the submission to FSIS of petitions for rulemaking. The new regulations supersede existing guidance on the submission of petitions to FSIS to issue, amend, or repeal its regulations. FSIS is taking this action to help ensure the filing of well-supported petitions that contain information that the Agency needs to proceed with consideration of the requested rulemaking in a timely manner.

We are adopting as a final rule, with one change, an interim rule that amended the citrus canker regulations to explicitly prohibit, with limited exceptions, the interstate movement of regulated nursery stock from a quarantined area. The interim rule provided two exceptions to this prohibition, one that allowed nursery stock to be moved interstate for immediate export under certain conditions and another that allowed calamondin and kumquat plants to be moved interstate in accordance with a protocol designed to ensure their freedom from citrus canker. Our decision to provide for the interstate movement of calamondin and kumquat plants was based on their apparent resistance to citrus canker infection. However, since the publication of the interim rule, we have confirmed that 47 calamondin plants growing in an area quarantined for citrus canker were infected with the disease. Therefore, this final rule amends the protocol to exclude calamondin plants. The interim rule was necessary to clarify our regulations and

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is requesting public comment on a draft quantitative food safety risk assessment for Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) that compares the risk of listeriosis from consumption of prepackaged ready-to-eat (RTE) deli meat versus RTE deli meat that is sliced and packaged at retail. The risk assessment analyzes the comparative risk of listeriosis from prepackaged RTE deli meat versus RTE deli meat that is sliced and packaged at retail using data from a study by the National Alliance for Food Safety and Security (NAFSS) and new consumer survey data from Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International, Tennessee State University, and Kansas State University.

The purpose of this rule is to establish procedures which the Department of Agriculture (USDA or the Department) will use in conducting a referendum to determine whether the issuance of the proposed Processed Raspberry Promotion, Research, and Information Order (Proposed Order) is favored by producers of raspberries for processing and importers of processed raspberries. The Order will be implemented if it is approved by a simple majority of the eligible producers and importers voting in the referendum. These procedures would also be used for any subsequent referendum under the Proposed Order, if it is approved in the initial referendum. The Proposed Order is being published separately in this issue of the Federal Register. This proposed program would be implemented under the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996 (1996 Act).

This rule proposes the establishment of an industry-funded promotion, research, and information program for processed raspberries. The proposed program, Processed Raspberry Promotion, Research, and Information Order (Proposed Order), was submitted to the Department of Agriculture (Department) by the Washington Red Raspberry Commission (WRRC). Under the Proposed Order, producers of raspberries for processing and importers of processed raspberries would pay an assessment of up to one cent per pound, with the initial assessment rate being one cent per pound, which would be paid to the proposed National Processed Raspberry Council (Council). Producers and importers of less than 20,000 pounds annually of raspberries for processing and processed raspberries respectively would be exempt from the assessment. The proposed program would be implemented under the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996 (1996 Act). An initial referendum would be conducted among eligible producers of raspberries for processing and importers of processed raspberries to determine whether they favor the implementation of the program prior to it going into effect. This rule also announces the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) intention to request approval of new processed raspberries information collection requirements by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the Proposed Order.

Due to some errors, the following notice supersedes the original Request for Applications, published on March 27, 2009, for the Targeted States Program at 74 FR 13403-13410.

In a final rule that was published in the Federal Register on January 16, 2009 (74 FR 2770-2786, Docket No. APHIS-2007-0052), and effective on February 17, 2009, we revised the regulations governing the interstate movement of fruits and vegetables from Hawaii and the territories. Those regulations do not apply to articles whose interstate movement is regulated under the subpart governing the interstate movement of soil, sand, earth, and plants in growing media from Hawaii and the territories; we neglected to indicate that in the final rule. In this amendment, we are amending the regulations to clearly indicate that the interstate movement of soil, sand, earth, and plants in growing media is governed by the regulations specific to those articles.

This rule relaxes the minimum size requirement for white seedless grapefruit grown in Florida and for white seedless grapefruit imported into the United States for the fresh market. The Citrus Administrative Committee (Committee) which locally administers the marketing order for oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, and tangelos grown in Florida (order) recommended this change for Florida grapefruit. The corresponding change in the import regulation is required under section 8e of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937. This rule relaxes the minimum size requirement for domestic shipments, making it the same as required for export shipments. This change is expected to maximize fresh white seedless grapefruit shipments and provide greater flexibility to handlers.

Section 1261(b)(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Act) requires the Secretary of Agriculture to develop standard operating procedures to standardize the operations of State Technical Committees. NRCS published an interim final rule for State Technical Committees, 7 CFR part 610, in the Federal Register on November 25, 2008, that states NRCS will incorporate standard operating procedures for State Technical Committees into its directives system and provide public notice of those procedures. NRCS seeks public comment on this document that includes the current NRCS standard operating procedures as set forth in the NRCS directives system.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended), the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) invites comments on this information collection for which approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will be requested.

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is revising regulations as required by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill) to administer the Marketing Assistance Loans (MAL) and Loan Deficiency Payments (LDP) programs for wheat, feed grains, soybeans, other oilseeds, peanuts, pulse crops, honey, wool and mohair. The 2008 Farm Bill generally extends the existing programs with some changes that are implemented in this rule. The amendments in this rule will add large chickpeas, beginning with the 2009 crop year, to the list of pulse crops eligible for assistance and provide separate rates for long and medium grain rice beginning with the 2008 crop year. The addition of large chickpeas may increase the number of farmers and ranchers who may receive FSA and CCC program benefits. The amendments will also, in addition, to other amendments to the old rule and clarifications, allow producers to store collateral in Federally and State-licensed warehouses that do not have a CCC storage agreement, which may reduce redundant licensing costs for warehouse operators while allowing producers a greater choice of warehouses.

Pursuant to the authorities in the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463) and under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, as amended, (Pub. L. 110-343), the Boise and Payette National Forests' Southwest Idaho Resource Advisory Committee will conduct a business meeting. The meeting is open to the public.