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

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, intends to grant to P & M Plastics, Inc. of Mountainair, New Mexico, an exclusive license to the Federal Government's rights in U.S. Patent No. 6,632,387, ``METHOD FOR MAKING WOOD AND PLASTIC COMPOSITE MATERIAL'', issued on October 14, 2003.

The Pennington County Recource Advisory Committee will meet in Rapid City, SD. 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 of the meeting is to receive, review and make recommendations for approval of project proposals.

The Hiawatha West Resource Advisory Committee will meet in Rapid River, Michigan. 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 the second meeting of the newly formed committee.

The Ravalli County Resource Advisory Committee will meet in Hamilton, Montana. The purpose of the meeting is project discussion and presentations.

We are advising the public of our decision that Kentucky

This notice announces the timeframe to submit pre-applications

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural

The Hiawatha East Resource Advisory Committee will meet in

The Glenn/Colusa County Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet in Willows, California. The committee is authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (Pub. L. 110- 343) (the Act) and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The purpose of the committee is to improve collaborative relationships and to provide advice and recommendations to the Forest Service concerning projects and funding consistent with the title II of the Act. The meeting is open to the public. The purpose of the meeting is to travel to and discuss current Glenn/Colusa RAC projects for monitoring purposes. Public wishing to attend the monitoring trip will need to provide own transportation to the project sites.

This notice announces the intention of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to suspend one currently approved information collection, (July Sheep and Goat Survey), and to indefinitely postpone the renewal of two periodic data collections (Census of Aquaculture and the Tenure, Ownership and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) survey formerly known as the Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey (AELOS)) and their associated publications due to budgetary cutbacks.

As set forth in 7 CFR 4279.107(b), Rural Development (the Agency) has the authority to charge an annual renewal fee for loans made under the Business and Industry (B&I) Guaranteed Loan Program. Pursuant to that authority, the Agency is establishing the renewal fee rate at one-fourth of 1 percent for the B&I Guaranteed Loan Program. This rate will apply to all loans obligated in Fiscal Year 2011 that are made under the B&I program. As established in 7 CFR 4279.107, the amount of the fee on each guaranteed loan will be determined by multiplying the fee rate by the outstanding principal loan balance as of December 31, multiplied by the percent of guarantee. As set forth in 7 CFR 4279.107(a) and 4279.119(b)(4), each fiscal year the Agency shall establish a limit on the maximum portion of B&I guarantee authority available for that fiscal year that may be used to guarantee loans with a B&I guarantee fee of 1 percent or guaranteed loans with a guarantee percentage exceeding 80 percent. Allowing the guarantee fee to be reduced to 1 percent or exceeding the 80 percent guarantee on certain B&I guaranteed loans that meet the conditions set forth in 7 CFR 4279.107 and 4279.119, will increase the Agency's ability to focus guarantee assistance on projects which the Agency has found particularly meritorious. For 1 percent fees, the borrower's business supports value-added agriculture and results in farmers benefiting financially, or such projects are high impact as defined in 7 CFR 4279.155(b)(5), and located in rural communities that remain persistently poor, which experience long-term population decline and job deterioration, are experiencing trauma as a result of natural disaster, or are experiencing fundamental structural changes in its economic base. For guaranteed loans exceeding 80 percent, such projects must be a high-priority project in accordance with 7 CFR 4279.155 (and meet the other requirements of 7 CFR 4279.119(b)). Not more than 12 percent of the Agency's quarterly apportioned B&I guarantee authority will be reserved for loan requests with a guarantee fee of 1 percent, and not more than 15 percent of the Agency's quarterly apportioned guarantee authority will be reserved for guaranteed loan requests with a guarantee percentage exceeding 80 percent. Once the respective quarterly limits are reached, all additional loans for that quarter will be at the standard fee and guarantee limits in 7 CFR part 4279.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and organizations on the extension, with revision, of a currently approved information collection, Foreign Travel Proposal.

We are extending the comment period on a new framework being developed for the bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis programs in the United States. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with regulations for the interstate movement of fruits and vegetables from Hawaii and the territories.

The Siskiyou County Resource Advisory Committee will meet in Yreka, California. The committee is authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (Pub. L 110-343) (the Act) and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The purpose of the committee is to improve collaborative relationships and to provide advice and recommendations to the Forest Service concerning projects and funding consistent with the title II of the Act. The meeting is open to the public. The purpose of the meeting is for the committee to hear project status, presentation and review of new project proposals and to vote and make recommendations. The meeting is open to the public. Opportunity for public comment will be provided.

Pursuant to 7 CFR part 4284, subpart G, the Rural Business- Cooperative Service (RBS), an Agency within the Rural Development mission area, announces the availability of grants of up to $50,000 per application for single-state projects from the Rural Business Opportunity Grant (RBOG) program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, to be competitively awarded. For multi-state projects, grant funds of up to $150,000 will be available on a competitive basis. These limits do not apply to specific funding for certain specifically designated rural areas as discussed below. For FY 2011, approximately $2.5 million is available and will be distributed as follows: $990,000 is reserved for projects benefitting Federally Recognized Native American Tribes (FRNAT) in rural areas and $1,488,000 is unreserved. Applicants should note that in FY 2010 the RBOG program was highly competitive. Approximately $2.5 million was available in reserved and unreserved funds. The Agency received 430 applications and was able to fund 27 applications, a rate of 6 percent.

The Rogue-Umpqua Resource Advisory Committee will meet in Roseburg, Oregon. The committee is authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (Pub. L. 110-343) (the Act) and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The purpose of the committee is to improve collaborative relationships and to provide advice and recommendations to the Forest Service concerning projects and funding consistent with the title II of the Act. The meeting is open to the public. The purpose of the meeting is to review and recommend projects for funding.