Department of Agriculture October 20, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are advising the public of our decision to implement a risk-based sampling approach for the inspection of imported plants for planting. In our previous approach, we inspected 2 percent of consignments of imported plants for planting regardless of previous evidence of the risk posed by the plants for planting. The risk-based sampling and inspection approach will allow us to target high-risk plants for planting for more extensive inspection to help ensure that plants for planting infested with quarantine pests do not enter the United States, while providing a speedier inspection process for lower- risk plants for planting. In addition, for taxa of plants for planting that pose an extremely low risk, we are establishing a Propagative Monitoring and Release Program under which consignments of those taxa will be periodically monitored but not every consignment will be inspected.

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 importation of Christmas cactus and Easter cactus in growing media from the Netherlands and Denmark.

This final rule implements the Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program (CFP), authorized by Section 8003 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. The CFP legislation is an amendment to the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978. The CFP is a competitive grant program whereby local governments, Indian tribes, and qualified nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply for grants to establish community forests through fee-simple acquisition of private forest land. The program's two purposes are to provide public benefits to communities including economic benefits through sustainable forest management, environmental benefits including clean air, water, and wildlife habitat; benefits from forest-based educational programs; benefits from serving as models of effective forest stewardship; and recreational benefits secured with public access; and to acquire private forest lands that are threatened by conversion to nonforest uses. Existing provisions in Forest Service regulations pertaining to the Stewardship Incentive Program will be removed as deauthorized by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, and this final rule will be substituted in lieu thereof.