Department of Agriculture December 27, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposes to revise two Privacy Act Systems of Records entitled ``Information on Persons Disqualified from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program'' and ``Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Retailer Information.'' These systems are owned, administered, and secured by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). The primary purpose of these systems is to assist in the administration and enforcement of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as well as other Federal and State laws.

The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Wrangell Island Project located on Wrangell Island, part of the Wrangell Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest. This proposal is a multi-year stewardship opportunity involving a variety of timber harvest, road construction, and forest restoration and enhancement activities. The proposed project will use the contracting opportunities (timber sales and stewardship contracts) available to the Forest Service to implement the decision.

We are amending the brucellosis regulations to reduce the amount of testing required to maintain Class Free status for States that have been Class Free for 5 or more years and have no Brucella abortus in wildlife. We are also removing the provision for automatic reclassification of any Class Free State or area to a lower status if two or more herds are found to have brucellosis within a 2-year period or if a single brucellosis-affected herd is not depopulated within 60 days. Further, we are reducing the age at which cattle are included in herd blood tests. We are also adding a requirement that any Class Free State or area with Brucella abortus in wildlife must develop and implement a brucellosis management plan approved by the Administrator in order to maintain Class Free status. Finally, we are providing an alternative testing protocol for maintaining the certified brucellosis- free status of dairy herds, which will give producers more flexibility for the herd certification process. These changes are necessary to refocus resources to control and prevent the spread of brucellosis and to protect and maintain the economic viability of the domestic livestock industry.

We are amending the plum pox virus (PPV) regulations by adding portions of Niagara, Orleans, and Wayne Counties, NY, to the list of quarantined areas and restricting the interstate movement of regulated articles from these quarantined areas. We are also amending the regulations by removing the townships of Latimore and Huntington in Adams County, PA, from the list of quarantined areas. These actions are necessary to prevent the spread of PPV from the quarantined areas of New York to uninfected areas of the United States and to relieve restrictions in Pennsylvania that are no longer necessary.