Department of Agriculture March 11, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing to amend the regulations under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA or Act) to increase license fees. Current annual license fees of $550 would increase to $995. Fees for branch locations would increase from $200 for branch locations in excess of nine to $600 for each branch location. The maximum amount a licensee would pay per year would increase from $4,000 to $8,000. Additionally, the regulations would be amended to remove the provisions to phase out license fees by retailers and grocery wholesalers and the provisions to phase in triennial license renewal for retailers and grocery wholesalers as these processes have already occurred. We also propose to eliminate the multi-year license renewal option for commission merchants, brokers, and dealers.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be holding a public meeting of the Consultative Group to Eliminate the Use of Child Labor and Forced Labor in Imported Agricultural Products (Consultative Group) on March 29, 2010. The sole purpose of the meeting is to solicit input from the public regarding the Consultative Group's statutory mandate to develop recommendations relating to a standard set of practices for independent, third-party monitoring and verification for the production, processing, and distribution of agricultural products or commodities to reduce the likelihood that agricultural products or commodities imported into the United States are produced with the use of forced labor or child labor. The notice sets forth the process for requesting to appear at the meeting, and for submitting written statements. On June 18, 2008, the President signed into law the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the Act), also known as the 2008 Farm Bill. The Act provides for the creation of the Consultative Group.

In September 2004, the Forest Service issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Mt. Ashland Ski Area (MASA) expansion, selecting Alternative 2 with some modifications adopted from Alternative 6. The Forest Service received twenty-eight notices of appeal to the ROD. In December 2004, the Forest Service denied all administrative appeals to the ROD. In January 2005, Oregon Natural Resources Council (ONRC) filed suit against the Forest Service and Regional Forester Linda Goodman seeking declaratory and injunctive relief on the grounds that the MASA expansion project violated both the NEPA and the NFMA. On February 9, 2007, after considering cross motions for summary judgment, a United States District Court entered summary judgment against ONRC. ONRC filed a timely notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Upon review, the Court of Appeals remanded the case to the district court and instructed it to promptly enjoin the MASA expansion project contemplated in the 2004 ROD until the Forest Service corrected the NFMA and NEPA violations found in Opinion CV-05-03004-PA.