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

Existing Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations specify the conditions that may make a producer ineligible for certain USDA benefits, such as disaster assistance payments from the Farm Service Agency (FSA), in certain cases in which agricultural commodities are planted on highly erodible land or a converted wetland, or the production of agricultural commodities on acreage is made possible by the conversion of a wetland. Those regulations also specify the authorized exemptions, which include an exemption based on a ``good faith'' determination. The ``good faith'' provisions in the USDA regulations allow violators of highly erodible land conservation (HELC) or wetland conservation (WC) provisions to retain eligibility for USDA program benefits if certain conditions are met. This rule revises the ``good faith'' provisions in two ways, first, by requiring higher level concurrence within USDA with the good faith determination and second, by reducing the amount of the benefit to be received in an amount commensurate with the seriousness of a HELC violation. These changes to the regulations are made to implement provisions specified in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill).

The Secretary of Agriculture intends to establish the National Advisory Committee for Implementation of the National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule (Committee). In accordance with provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), the Committee is being established to provide advice and recommendations on the implementation of the National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule (Planning Rule). The Committee is necessary and in the public interest. Therefore, the Secretary of Agriculture is seeking nominations for individuals to be considered as committee members. The public is invited to submit nominations for membership.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is abolishing an existing Forest Service Privacy Act system of records. A review of USDA/FS-35 Congressional Correspondence has concluded that the records in the system are covered under another USDA SORN entitled USDA/OES-1 USDA Enterprise Content Management (ECM), and therefore is being abolished.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) is seeking comments from all interested individuals and organizations on an extension of a currently approved information collection that supports the End-Use Certificate Program.

The Department of Agriculture published a document in the Federal Register on December 22, 2011, page number 79646 concerning a request for comments on information collection 0535-0039 ``Fruits, Nut, and Specialty Crops.'' The document is being withdrawn.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on proposed information collections.

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 small lots of seed into the United States.

We are proposing to amend the regulations that govern the importation of animals and animal products by revising the list of factors APHIS considers when evaluating the animal health status of a foreign region. Additionally, we are proposing criteria for considering a region to be historically free of a specific disease. These changes would make clearer the type of information APHIS needs from a requesting region to most expeditiously conduct an evaluation.

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the domestic quarantine regulations by expanding the regulated area for European larch canker to include additional areas in Maine and by correcting some misidentifications of previously listed regulated areas. The interim rule was necessary to prevent human- assisted transmission of European larch canker from infested areas to noninfested areas.

We are proposing to allow, under certain conditions, the importation of commercial shipments of litchi fruit from Australia into the continental United States, except Florida. As a condition of entry, the litchi fruit would have to be grown in production areas that are registered with and monitored by the national plant protection organization of Australia and treated with irradiation at a dose of 400 gray for plant pests of the class Insecta, except pupae and adults of the order Lepidoptera, and subject to inspection. The fruits would also have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that the conditions for importation have been met. Additionally, litchi would not be imported into or distributed to the State of Florida, due to the presence of litchi rust mite in Australia. This action would allow for the importation of litchi fruit from Australia into the continental United States, except Florida, while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is soliciting nominations of veterinary service shortage situations for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP; [75 FR 20239- 20248]) for fiscal year (FY) 2012, as authorized under the National Veterinary Medical Services Act (NVMSA), 7 U.S.C. 3151a. This notice initiates a 60-day nomination period and prescribes the procedures and criteria to be used by State, Insular Area, DC and Federal Lands to nominate veterinary shortage situations. Each year all of the aforementioned entities are eligible to submit nominations, up to the maximum indicated for each entity 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 we are recognizing the Southern and Central Oases in the southern half of Mendoza Province in Argentina as pest-free areas for Mediterranean fruit fly and South American fruit fly. Based on our site visit to the area and our review of the documentation submitted by Argentina's national plant protection organization, which we made available to the public for review and comment through previous notices, the Administrator has determined that these areas meet the criteria in our regulations for recognition as pest-free areas for Mediterranean fruit fly and South American fruit fly.

The USDA, Forest Service, Los Padres National Forest, gives notice of intent to conduct analysis and prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the removal of the noxious weed Tamarisk across the Los Padres National forest: this notice announces the beginning of scoping, describes the proposed action, decisions to be made, and estimates the dates for filing the draft and final EIS. This notice also provides information concerning public participation, and the names and addresses of the Agency officials who can provide information.

We are advising the public of our determination that a corn line developed by the Monsanto Co., designated as event MON 87460, which has been genetically engineered for drought tolerance, is no longer considered a regulated article under our regulations governing the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms. Our determination is based on our evaluation of data submitted by the Monsanto Company in its petition for a determination of nonregulated status, our analysis of available scientific data, and comments received from the public in response to our previous notice announcing the availability of the petition for nonregulated status and its associated environmental assessment and plant pest risk assessment. This notice also announces the availability of our written determination and finding of no significant impact.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received a petition from the Monsanto Company seeking a determination of nonregulated status of soybean designated as MON 87769, which has been genetically engineered to produce stearidonic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid not found in conventional soybean. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are soliciting comments on whether this genetically engineered soybean is likely to pose a plant pest risk. We are making available for public comment the Monsanto petition, our plant pest risk assessment, and our draft environmental assessment for the proposed determination of nonregulated status.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is a revision to a previous data collection regarding Farmers' Market Operations. The purpose of this collection is for the Food and Nutrition Service to examine the reasons behind the shopping decision at farmers' markets among recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

This notice announces the intention of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to suspend currently approved information collections for all Nursery and Christmas Tree Production Surveys along with the Nursery and Floriculture Chemical Use Survey approved under OMB 0535-0244.

Notice is hereby given that the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to meet its responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 7 CFR 1794 related to providing financial assistance to Dairyland Power Cooperative (Dairyland) for its share in the construction of a proposed 345-kilovolt (kV) transmission line and associated infrastructure between Hampton, Minnesota and the La Crosse area in Wisconsin (the proposed project). Dairyland is participating in the proposed project with a number of other utilities (Applicants). The purpose of the proposed project is to: (1) Improve community reliability of the transmission system in Rochester, Winona, La Crosse, and the surrounding areas, which include areas served by Dairyland; (2) improve the regional reliability of the transmission system; and (3) increase generation outlet capacity.

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 Hass avocados from Peru.

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 peppers from certain Central American countries.

We are proposing to amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of Chinese sand pears (Pyrus pyrifolia) from China into the United States. As a condition of entry, sand pears from areas in China in which the Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) is not known to exist would have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that would include requirements for registration of places of production and packinghouses, sourcing of pest-free propagative material, inspection for quarantine pests at set intervals by the national plant protection organization of China, bagging of fruit, safeguarding, labeling, and importation in commercial consignments. Sand pears from areas in China in which Oriental fruit fly is known to exist could be imported into the United States if, in addition to these requirements, the places of production and packinghouses have a monitoring system in place for Oriental fruit fly and the pears are treated with cold treatment. All sand pears from China would also be required to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that all conditions for the importation of the pears have been met and that the consignment of pears has been inspected and found free of quarantine pests. This action would allow for the importation of sand pears from China into the United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests.

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 the Emergency Management Response System.

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 citrus from Peru.