Department of Agriculture January 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 Kootenai National Forest's Lincoln County Resource Advisory Committee will meet on Wednesday, February 15, 2011 at 6 p.m. at the Forest Supervisor's Office in Libby, Montana for a business meeting. The meeting is open to the public.

The Bridger-Teton Resource Advisory Committee will meet in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The committee is meeting as authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (Pub. L. 110- 343) and in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The purpose is to listen to proposed project presentations.

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is amending the Farm Loan Programs (FLP) direct loan servicing regulations to implement provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill). This rule implements four amendments to the direct loan servicing regulations. The first amendment further emphasizes transitioning borrowers to private sources of credit in the shortest time practicable. The second amendment amends the Homestead Protection lease regulations by extending the right to purchase the leased property to the lessee's immediate family when the lessee is a member of a socially disadvantaged group. The third amendment amends the account liquidation regulations to suspend certain loan acceleration and foreclosure actions, including suspending interest accrual and offsets, if a borrower has filed a claim of program discrimination that has been accepted as valid by USDA and the borrower's account is at the point of acceleration or foreclosure. The fourth amendment amends the supervised bank account regulations to make the FSA regulations on insurable account limits consistent with the regulations of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is soliciting nominations for veterinary service shortage situations for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP; [75 FR 20239- 20248]), as authorized under the National Veterinary Medical Services Act (NVMSA), 7 U.S.C. 3151a. This Notice initiates a 60-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).

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact relative to the control of Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri Kuwayama). The environmental assessment considers the effects of, and alternatives to, the release of an insect, Tamarixia radiata, into the continental United States for use as a biological control agent to reduce the severity of Asian citrus psyllid infestations. Based on our finding of no significant impact, we have determined that an environmental impact statement need not be prepared.

The Lolo National Forest's Missoula County Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet on Tuesday, May 10, 2011 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., in Missoula, Montana. The purpose of the meeting is to review and vote on submitted proposals, and receive public comment on the meeting subjects and proceedings.

This document amends a number of regulations of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) principally to reflect the establishment of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the abolishment of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, as mandated by section 251(f)(2) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6971(f)(2)) (as added by section 7511 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA), Pub. L. 110-246). This rule also makes a number of miscellaneous amendments to the delegations of authority in 7 CFR part 2, as summarized below.

As required by section 564 of the Negotiated Rulemaking Act, the Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is giving notice of the establishment of the Wholesale Pork Reporting Negotiated Rulemaking Committee (Committee) to develop proposed language to amend the Livestock Mandatory Reporting regulations to implement mandatory pork price reporting. USDA has determined that the establishment of this Committee is in the public interest and will assist AMS in performing its duties under the Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 2010 (2010 Reauthorization Act) (Pub. L. 111-239). This document also announces the first meeting of the Committee.

This rule adds an exemption to the marketing order for Oregon- Washington pears that provides for the sale of fresh pears directly to consumers without regard to regulation. The marketing order regulates the handling of pears grown in Oregon and Washington. Local administration of the marketing order for the fresh pear industry is provided by the Fresh Pear Committee (Committee). For each customer, this rule exempts consumer-direct sales of up to 220 pounds of fresh pears per transaction, for home use only, made directly at orchards, packing facilities, roadside stands, or farmers' markets without regard to the marketing order's assessment, reporting, handling, and inspection requirements. This action is intended to provide regulatory flexibility to small pear handlers, while facilitating the sale of fresh, local pears directly to consumers.

The Coconino and Kaibab National Forests are proposing to conduct restoration activities within a 750,000 acre ponderosa pine ecosystem over approximately 10 years. Treatment areas are located on the Williams and Tusayan districts of the Kaibab National Forest and on the Flagstaff, Mogollon Rim and Red Rock districts of the Coconino National Forest. Project treatments would occur in the vicinity of Flagstaff, Munds Park, Mormon Lakes, Tusayan, and Williams, Arizona. The objective of this project is to re-establish forest structure, pattern and composition, which will lead to increased forest resiliency and function. Resiliency increases the ability of the ponderosa pine forest to survive natural disturbances such as insect and disease, fire and climate change.

This proposed rule would increase the assessment rate established for the Raisin Administrative Committee (committee) for the 2010-11 and subsequent crop years from $7.50 to $14.00 per ton of free tonnage raisins acquired by handlers and reserve tonnage raisins released or sold to handlers for use in free tonnage outlets. The committee locally administers the marketing order which regulates the handling of California raisins produced from grapes grown in California. Assessments upon raisin handlers are used by the committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The 2010-11 crop year began August 1 and ends July 31. No volume regulation will be implemented for the 2010-11 crop year, and no reserve pool will be established for this crop. Some committee expenses usually covered by reserve pool revenues must therefore be covered by handler assessments, necessitating an increased assessment rate. The proposed $14.00 per ton assessment would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

This document directs that a referendum be conducted among eligible producers of Irish potatoes in certain designated counties in Idaho, and Malheur County, Oregon, to determine whether they favor continuance of the marketing order regulating the handling of Irish potatoes grown in the production area.

The Secretary of Agriculture intends to reestablish the charter for 5 Forest Service Recreation Resource Advisory Committees (Recreation RACs) pursuant to Section 4 of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act passed into law as part of the 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 108-447) on December 8, 2004. The Recreation RACs operate in the Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, Eastern, and Southern Regions of the Forest Service and the State of Colorado, and provide recreation fee recommendations to both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as appropriate.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, intends to grant to Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation of Madison, Wisconsin, an exclusive license to the Federal Government's patent rights in U.S. Patent No. 7,501,275, ``Yeast Transformation System'', issued on March 10, 2009.

The Nicolet Resource Advisory Committee will meet in Crandon, Wisconsin. The committee is meeting as authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (Pub. L. 110-343) and in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The purpose is to hold a meeting to review submitted project proposals. The general public is invited to attend this meeting.

This final rule amends the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) regulations for implementation of the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP). This action is necessary to address the comments received on the interim final rule as published and to publish changes to the entity certification requirements. This document provides a 30 day public comment period on the entity certification requirements.

The Secretary of Agriculture intends to renew the Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21) for a 2- year period.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), are sponsoring a public meeting on February 9, 2011. 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 32nd session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Budapest, Hungary March 7-11, 2011. The Under Secretary for Food Safety and the FDA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 32nd session of the CCMAS and to address items on the agenda.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Office of Pesticide Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are sponsoring a public meeting on February 24, 2011. 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 43rd Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Beijing, P.R. China April 4-9, 2011. The Under Secretary for Food Safety and the EPA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 43rd Session of the CCPR and to address items on the agenda.

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS), an Agency within the USDA Rural Development mission area, solicits applications of two individual grants: one single grant from the passenger transportation funds appropriated for the Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) program and another single grant for Federally Recognized Native American Tribes' (FRNAT) from funds appropriated for the RBEG program. RBS will administer these awards under the RBEG program and 7 U.S.C. 1932(c)(2) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. Historically, Congress has appropriated funding for these specific programs. Last year, $500,000 was available for rural transportation projects and $250,000 for rural transportation projects for FRNAT. This Notice is being issued prior to passage of a FY 2011 Appropriations Act, which may or may not provide an appropriation for these programs, to allow applicants sufficient time to leverage financing, submit applications, and give the Agency time to process applications within FY 2011. A subsequent notice identifying the amount received in the appropriations, if any, will be published. Each grant is to be competitively awarded to a qualified national non-profit organization. One grant is for the provision of technical assistance to rural transportation projects. The other grant is for the provision of technical assistance to rural transportation projects operated by FRNAT only. Expenses incurred in developing applications will be at the applicant's risk.

The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) Advisory Committee will meet via conference call. The purpose of the meeting is to come to consensus on the evaluation procedure that will be used to review Fiscal Year 2011 proposed CFLRP projects and make recommendations for project selection to the Secretary of Agriculture.

We are advising the public of our decision to revise a heat treatment schedule for the emerald ash borer in the Plant Protection and Quarantine Treatment Manual and to retain the current treatment schedule with a different treatment number. Based on the findings of a treatment evaluation document, which we made available to the public for review and comment through a previous notice, we believe that the revised treatment schedule will be sufficient to treat emerald ash borer.