Department of Agriculture April 1, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule increases 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 $14.00 per ton assessment would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

The Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990, as amended, requires the establishment of a National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). The NOSB is a 15-member board that is responsible for developing and recommending to the Secretary a proposed National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. The NOSB also advises the Secretary on all other aspects of the National Organic Program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is requesting nominations to fill five (5) upcoming vacancies on the NOSB. The positions to be filled are: Organic producer (1 position), organic handler (1 position), consumer/public interest (1 position), scientist (1 position), and an environmentalist (1 position). The Secretary of Agriculture will appoint a person to each position to serve a 5-year term of office that will commence on January 24, 2012, and run until January 24, 2017. USDA encourages eligible individuals who can demonstrate an ability to represent minorities, women, and persons with disabilities to apply for membership on the NOSB.

The Forest Service will prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Miller West Fisher Project. The Project includes timber harvest, fuels reduction, precommercial thinning, prescribed fire, watershed rehabilitation activities, pool creation in Miller Creek, improvement of trails and trailheads, fuels management and hazard tree removal in Lake Creek Campground, and access management changes, including road decommissioning. The project is located in the Silverfish Planning Subunit on the Libby Ranger District, Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln County, Montana, and south of Libby, Montana. The Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS for this project was published in the Federal Register (vol. 74, no. 43) on March 6, 2009, and the notice of the Final EIS (vol. 74 no. 126) on July 2, 2009. The Record of Decision was issued in June of 2009. The Record of Decision was litigated in District Court for the District of Montana (CV 09-M-DWM) on issues regarding the grizzly bear analysis. The District Judge remanded the project to the Forest Service to address deficiencies in disclosures in the analysis. A Supplemental EIS is being prepared to address these disclosures in the grizzly bear analysis.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing to add a new Forest Service system to its inventory of records systems. USDA invites public comment on this new records system.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Fruit and Vegetable Programs of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), are sponsoring a public meeting on April 5, 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 16th session of the CCFFV of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Mexico City, Mexico from May 2-6, 2011. The Under Secretary for Food Safety and AMS recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 16th Session of the CCFFV and to address items on the agenda.