Department of Agriculture January 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule implements 11 provisions of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (FSRIA) that establish new eligibility and certification requirements for the receipt of food stamps. The provisions of the final rule will simplify program administration, allow States greater flexibility, and provide enhanced access to eligible populations. This rule will allow States, at their option, to treat legally obligated child support payments to a non-household member as an income exclusion rather than a deduction; allow a State option to exclude certain types of income and resources that are not counted under the State's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance or Medicaid programs; replace the current, fixed standard deduction with a deduction that varies according to household size and is adjusted annually for cost-of-living increases; allow States to simplify the Standard Utility Allowance (SUA) if the State elects to use the SUA rather than actual utility costs for all households; allow States to use a standard deduction from income of $143 per month for homeless households with some shelter expenses; allow States to disregard reported changes in deductions during certification periods (except for changes associated with new residence or earned income) until the next recertification; increase the resource limit for households with a disabled member from $2,000 to $3,000 consistent with the limit for households with an elderly member; allow States to extend simplified reporting of changes to all households; require State agencies that have a Web site to post applications on these sites in the same languages that the State uses for its written applications; allow States to extend from the current 3 months up to 5 months the period of time households may receive transitional food stamp benefits when they cease to receive TANF cash assistance; and restore food stamp eligibility to qualified aliens who are otherwise eligible and who are receiving disability benefits regardless of date of entry, are under 18 years of age regardless of date of entry, or have lived in the United States for 5 years as qualified aliens beginning on the date of entry.

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: Air Filtration and Scrubbing (Code 371), Animal Trails and Walkways (Code 575), Combustion System Improvement (Code 372), Conservation Crop Rotation (Code 328), Diversion (Code 362), Dust Control on Unpaved Roads and Surfaces (Code 373), Forage Harvest Management (Code 511), Herbaceous Weed Control (Code 315), Range Planting (Code 550), and Riparian Herbaceous Cover (Code 390). 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.

The Office of the Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are sponsoring a public meeting on February 8, 2010. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States (U.S.) positions that will be discussed at the 42nd Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Beijing, China March 15-19, 2010. The Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety and FDA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 42nd Session of the

As directed by the National Forest Management Act, the USDA Forest Service is preparing the Coronado National Forest revised land management plan (Forest Plan) and will also prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for this revised Forest Plan. This notice briefly describes the nature of the decision to be made, the proposed action and need for change, and information concerning public participation. It also provides estimated dates for filing the EIS and

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is proposing to amend the requirements established for Emergency Restoration Plans (ERPs), currently mandated for all borrowers, to include compliance with the requirements established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for public assistance grant eligibility in the event of a declared disaster. This amendment will ensure that RUS borrower's maintain their eligibility for financial aid from FEMA in the event they incur costs for disaster related system repair and restoration by including FEMA requirements in their ERPs.

This notice announces a series of teleconference and/or Web conference meetings regarding the USDA Section 538 Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing Program, which are scheduled to occur during the months of January, April, July and October in 2010. This notice also outlines suggested discussion topics for the meetings and is intended to notify the general public of their opportunity to participate in the teleconference and/or web conference meetings.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is issuing a regulation to establish the Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households (SEARCH) Program as authorized by Section 6002 of The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, Public Law 110-246 (Farm Bill), which amended Section 306(a)(2) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (CONACT) (7 U.S.C. 1926 (a)(2)). The amendment added the new SEARCH grant program under which the Secretary is authorized to make predevelopment planning grants for feasibility studies, design assistance, and technical assistance to financially distressed communities in rural areas with populations of 2,500 or fewer inhabitants for water and waste disposal projects.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is soliciting nominations for veterinary service shortage situations for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP; [74 FR 32788- 32798]), as authorized under the National Veterinary Medical Services Act (NVMSA), 7 U.S.C. 3151a. This Notice initiates a 45-day nomination solicitation period and prescribes the procedures and criteria to be used by State, Insular Area, DC and Federal Lands (hereafter referred to as State(s)) Animal Health Officials (SAHO) in order to nominate veterinary shortage situations. All States are eligible to submit nominations, up to the maximum indicated for each State in this notice. NIFA is conducting this solicitation of veterinary shortage situation nominations under previously approved information collection (OMB Control Number 0524-0046).

In accordance with the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2004 (FLREA) (Pub. L. 108-447), the Recreation Subcommittee of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Nevada Resource Advisory Committees (RACs) will hold a meeting to discuss fee proposals at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (NCA) Scenic Loop managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

This rule revises the minimum size requirement under the Colorado potato marketing order, Area No. 2. The marketing order regulates the handling of Irish potatoes grown in Colorado, and is administered locally by the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee for Area No. 2 (Committee). This rule changes the minimum size requirement from 1\7/8\ inches in diameter to 2 inches in diameter or 4 ounces minimum weight for all long varieties of potatoes. This change returns the minimum size requirement to the standard that had been in place prior to the 2008-2009 season, when adverse weather conditions damaged the crop and resulted in the Committee recommending a temporary relaxation in the minimum size requirement.

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; Annual Wildfire Summary Report.

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 (Pub. L. 106-393) the Beaverhead- Deerlodge National Forest's Tri-County Resource Advisory Committee will meet on Thursday February 18, 2010, from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m., in Deer Lodge, Montana. The purpose of the meeting is to review funding proposals for Title II funding.

The Mendocino County Resource Advisory Committee will meet February 5, 2010 (RAC) in Willits, California. Agenda items to be covered include: (1) Approval of minutes, (2) Handout Discussion (3) Public Comment, (4) Financial Report (5) Sub-committees (6) Matters before the group (7) Discussionapproval of projects (8) Next agenda and meeting date.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment relative to a request to allow the interstate movement of garbage from Hawaii to a landfill in the State of Washington. The environmental assessment documents our review and analysis of the environmental impacts associated with, and alternatives to, the movement of palletized or containerized baled municipal solid waste to three existing ports on the Columbia River via barge and the transfer and transportation of the waste via truck or rail to the landfill. We are making the assessment available to the public for review and comment.

The Forest Service is processing an application for a special use authorization from Deerfield Wind, LLC for the installation and operation of wind turbines on National Forest System (NFS) lands managed by the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF). This notice notifies the public of the intent to complete and publish a supplemental draft environmental impact statement (SDEIS).

We are advising the public that we have prepared an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact relative to oral rabies vaccination programs in several States. The environmental assessment made available by this notice analyzes the further expansion of the oral rabies vaccination program to include the States of New Mexico and Arizona, which is necessary to effectively combat the gray fox variant of the rabies virus. The environmental assessment provides a basis for our conclusion that the expansion of the oral rabies vaccination program will not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment. Based on its finding of no significant impact, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that an environmental impact statement need not be prepared.

This proposed rule would establish regulations for fishing seasons, harvest limits, methods and means related to taking of fish and shellfish for subsistence uses during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 regulatory years. The Federal Subsistence Board is presently on a schedule of completing the process of revising subsistence taking of fish and shellfish regulations in odd-numbered years and subsistence taking of wildlife regulations in even-numbered years; public proposal and review processes take place during the preceding year. The Board