Department of Agriculture June 18, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule amends Marketing Agreement and Order No. 983 (order), which regulates the handling of pistachios grown in California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The amendments were proposed by the Administrative Committee for Pistachios (Committee), which is responsible for local administration of the order. The amendments will provide authority to establish aflatoxin and quality regulations for pistachios shipped to export markets, including authority to establish different regulations for different markets; change a related section of the order concerning substandard pistachios to conform to the proposed addition of export authority; and correct an erroneous cross- reference to another section of the order. These amendments are intended to provide authority to ensure uniform and consistent aflatoxin and quality regulations in the domestic and various export markets.

The Secretary of Agriculture has established the Pacific Northwest Recreation Resource Advisory Committee (Recreation RACs) pursuant to Section 4 of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (REA) that was passed into law as part of the 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 108-447) on December 8, 2004. The purpose of this Recreation RAC is to provide recommendations regarding recreation fees to both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as appropriate. There are currently eleven vacancies on the Recreation RAC: Winter Motorized, Winter Non-motorized Recreation, Summer Motorized Recreation, Summer Non-motorized, Hunting and Fishing, Motorized Outfitter and Guide Recreation, Non-motorized Outfitter and Guide Recreation, Local Environmental, State Tourism, Local Government, and Tribal. The public is invited to submit nominations for membership on the Recreation RAC.

The Forest Service will prepare a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) to disclose the environmental consequences of implementing alternatives considered for the Scriver Creek Integrated Restoration Project. Following the public review period for the SDEIS, the Forest Service will issue the Final EIS and Record of Decision (ROD) which will identify the alternative selected by the Responsible Official for implementation. The need for a SDEIS is to allow the Forest Service to clearly identify all permits, licenses and other entitlements which may be needed to implement the proposed activities that were not otherwise identified in the DEIS released December 30, 2011 (FR Vol. 76, No. 251; NOA for EIS No. 20110438). Specifically, an SDEIS is needed to identify that a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit may be required and comments on the SDEIS will be requested from the appropriate regulatory agencies and public to help assess whether such a permit is required. There have also been modifications made to the proposed action identified in the DEIS released December 30, 2011 concerning road systems, logging systems and watershed restoration opportunities as a result of updated field information. Additional alternatives may also be developed in response to comments received on the DEIS. Thus, the Responsible Official has determined that the purpose of the act [NEPA] would be furthered by issuing a SDEIS for additional review and comment prior to completion of the Final EIS.