Department of Agriculture 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule amends the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List) to enact six recommendations submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) on May 22, 2008, November 19, 2008, and May 6, 2009. This final rule adds one substance, microcrystalline cheesewax, along with any restrictive annotations, for use in organic mushroom production; and adds three substances, acidified sodium chlorite, dried orange pulp, and Pacific kombu seaweed, with any restrictive annotations, for use in organic handling. This final rule also amends the annotation for one substance used in organic handling, unbleached lecithin, and removes bleached lecithin from the National List.

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service is amending its regulations for the Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program to clarify that the Agency guarantee does not cover default and penalty interest or late charges. The Agency's regulations are currently silent on this issue. However, it has always been the Agency's policy not to pay out additional cost for default interest, penalty interest, and late charges calculated and submitted on a final report of loss claim under the Loan Note Guarantee. The Agency does permit the lender to charge default interest with prior Agency approval. By defining ``interest'' in the definition section of the regulation and clarifying the Agency's policy as it relates to default interest, penalty interest, and late charge, this will avert any misunderstandings.

This agenda provides summary descriptions of significant and not significant regulations being developed in agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in conformance with Executive Orders (EO) 12866 ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' and 13563 ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.'' The agenda also describes regulations affecting small entities as required by section 602 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, Public Law 96-354. This agenda also identifies regulatory actions that are being reviewed in compliance with section 610(c) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. We invite public comment on those actions as well as any regulation consistent with EO 13563. USDA has attempted to list all regulations and regulatory reviews pending at the time of publication except for minor and routine or repetitive actions, but some may have been inadvertently missed. There is no legal significance to the omission of an item from this listing. Also, the dates shown for the steps of each action are estimated and are not commitments to act on or by the date shown. USDA's complete regulatory agenda is available online at www.reginfo.gov. Because publication in the Federal Register is mandated for the regulatory flexibility agendas required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 602), USDA's printed agenda entries include only: (1) Rules that are likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities; and (2) Rules identified for periodic review under section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. For this edition of the USDA regulatory agenda, the most important significant regulatory actions and a Statement of Regulatory Priorities are included in the Regulatory Plan, which appears in both the online regulatory agenda and in part II of the Federal Register that includes the abbreviated regulatory agenda.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment for a proposed controlled field release of a genetically engineered clone of a Eucalyptus hybrid. The purpose of the field release is to assess the effectiveness of gene constructs intended to confer cold tolerance, to test the efficacy of genes introduced to alter lignin biosynthesis, to test the efficacy of genes designed to alter growth, and to test the efficacy of genes designed to alter flowering. We are making the environmental assessment available to the public for review and comment.

We are informing the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is soliciting feedback from our stakeholders in several areas having to do with our partnerships with businesses, academia, and other levels of government. We are also announcing that APHIS is hosting a public meeting to share information about the Agency's budget, process improvement efforts, and modernization initiatives and to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their thoughts on partnerships and the Agency's critical services.

To encourage faith-based, community, and other organizations to create inspiring videos about their work to reverse the trend of childhood obesity, this notice announces the Let's Move Faith and Communities prize competition under section 105 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2011, Public Law 11-358 (2011).

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is sponsoring a public meeting on March 28, 2012. 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 27th session of the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Paris, France, April 2-6, 2012. The Under Secretary for Food Safety recognizes the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 27th session of the CCGP and to address items on the agenda.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), of the Department of Agriculture (USDA), is soliciting comments on the proposed revision to the United States Standards for Grades of Cauliflower. AMS is reviewing all fresh fruit and vegetable grade standards for usefulness in serving the industry. As a result, AMS has noted the current U.S. grade standards do not have provisions for grading purple, orange or green cauliflower. The proposed revision will amend the color requirement for curds to allow all colors of cauliflower to be certified to a U.S. grade. In addition, AMS proposes to permit mixed color packs, heads less than 4 inches in diameter, and to remove the unclassified section.

GIPSA is announcing the designation of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (Alabama); Gulf Country Grain Inspection Service, Inc. (Gulf Country); Kankakee Grain Inspection, Inc. (Kankakee); Springfield Grain Inspection, Inc. (Springfield); State Grain Inspection, Inc. (State Grain); and Washington Department of Agriculture (Washington) to provide official services under the United States Grain Standards Act (USGSA), as amended.

The designations of the official agencies listed below will end on June 30, 2012. We are asking persons or governmental agencies interested in providing official services in the areas presently served by these agencies to submit an application for designation. In addition, we are asking for comments on the quality of services provided by the following designated agencies: Kansas Grain Inspection Service, Inc. (Kansas); Mid-Iowa Grain Inspection, Inc. (Mid-Iowa); Minot Grain Inspection, Inc. (Minot); and Tri-State Grain Inspection Service, Inc. (Tri-State).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on the proposed information collection for the APEC-II Study.