Department of Agriculture February 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to request revision and extension of a currently approved information collection, the Fruits, Nuts, and Specialty Crops Surveys. Revision to burden hours will be needed due to changes in the size of the target population, sample design, minor changes in questionnaire design and an anticipated increase in response rates.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development administers rural utilities programs through the Rural Utilities Service (RUS). The USDA Rural Development invites comments on the following information collections for which the Agency intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

This rule proposes to amend the Watermelon Research and Promotion Plan (Plan) importer membership requirements to serve on the National Watermelon Promotion Board (Board). The Board recommended to eliminate the requirement that an importer import more than 50 percent of the total volume handled and imported in order to qualify as an importer member. This change would allow for additional parties to qualify as an importer member.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C., App. 2, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announces solicitation of nominees to fill vacancies on the Lake Tahoe Basin Federal Advisory Committee (Committee).

We are adopting as a final rule, with changes, an interim rule that amended the regulations regarding the importation of horses from countries affected with contagious equine metritis (CEM) by incorporating an additional certification requirement for imported horses 731 days of age or less and adding new testing protocols for test mares and imported stallions and mares more than 731 days of age. This document revises certain CEM-testing requirements for imported stallions and mares, and for test mares, that were amended in the interim rule. The interim rule was necessary to provide additional safeguards against the introduction of CEM through the importation of affected horses.

This rule invites comments on reestablishing the membership on the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, Area No. 2 (Committee). The Committee locally administers the marketing order regulating the handling of Irish potatoes grown in Colorado. This rule would modify the Committee membership structure by amending the position allocated to a producer from Conejos County. Beginning with the 2013-2014 term of office, such designated Committee position would be allocated to an eligible producer operating in either Conejos or Costilla County. This action is expected to improve Committee representation for producers from this sub-region of the production area.

This rule decreases the assessment rate established for the Florida Tomato Committee (Committee) for the 2012-13 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.037 to $0.024 per 25-pound carton of tomatoes handled. The Committee locally administers the marketing order which regulates the handling of tomatoes grown in Florida. Assessments upon Florida tomato handlers are used by the Committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The fiscal period begins August 1 and ends July 31. The assessment rate will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

This rule invites comments on five proposed amendments to Marketing Order No. 920 (order) which regulates the handling of kiwifruit grown in California. The amendments were proposed by the Kiwifruit Administrative Committee (Committee or KAC), which is responsible for local administration of the order. The five proposals would amend the marketing order by adding authority to recommend and conduct production and postharvest research, adding authority to recommend and conduct market research and development projects, adding authority to receive and expend voluntary contributions, amending procedures to specify that recommendations for production research and market development be approved by eight members of the Committee, and updating provisions regarding alternate members' service on the Committee.

This rule proposes to amend the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program regulations consistent with amendments made in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA). The HHFKA requires that the Secretary promulgate proposed regulations to establish nutrition standards for foods sold in schools other than those foods provided under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) and the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA). The HHFKA amends the CNA, requiring that such standards shall be consistent with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans and that the Secretary shall consider authoritative scientific recommendations for nutrition standards; existing school nutrition standards, including voluntary standards for beverages and snack foods; current State and local standards; the practical application of the nutrition standards; and special exemptions for infrequent school-sponsored fundraisers (other than fundraising through vending machines, school stores, snack bars, a la carte sales and any other exclusions determined by the Secretary). The HHFKA also amended the NSLA to require that schools participating in the National School Lunch Program make potable water available to children at no charge in the place where lunches are served during the meal service. These proposed changes are intended to improve the health and well-being of the Nation's children, increase consumption of healthful foods during the school day and create an environment that reinforces the development of healthy eating habits.

We are proposing to amend the Hawaii quarantine regulations to allow the interstate movement of untreated Sharwil avocados from Hawaii into the continental United States. As a condition of movement, Sharwil avocados from Hawaii would have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that would include requirements for registration and monitoring of places of production and packinghouses, an orchard trapping program, grove sanitation, limits on harvest periods and distribution areas, and harvesting and packing requirements to ensure that only intact fruit that have been protected against infestation are shipped. This action would allow for the interstate movement of Sharwil avocados from Hawaii into other States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests.

We are amending the regulations concerning the importation of fruits and vegetables to allow the importation of fresh bananas from the Philippines into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, the bananas will have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that will include requirements for importation of commercial consignments, monitoring of fruit flies to establish low- prevalence places of production, harvesting only of hard green bananas, and inspection for quarantine pests by the national plant protection organization of the Philippines. The bananas will also have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that they were grown, packed, and inspected and found to be free of quarantine pests in accordance with the proposed requirements. This action will allow the importation of bananas from the Philippines while continuing to protect against the introduction of plant pests into the United States.

This is a corrected notice. This notice updates information about proposed actions in the Clear Creek Integrated Restoration Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The DEIS will include two site- specific, nonsignificant amendments of the Nez Perce Forest Plan (1987). The proposed amendments would clarify the Forest's interpretation of old growth standards found in the Nez Perce Forest Plan, and would adopt the Regional soils standard for the Clear Creek Integrated Restoration project area. The original notice was published in the Federal Register on January 6, 2012, pages 775 and 776. The Forest Service gives notice of its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Clear Creek Integrated Restoration Project. The Proposed action would use a combination of timber harvest, pre- commercial thinning, prescribed fire and reforestation to achieve the desired range of age classes, size classes, vegetative species distributions, habitat complexity (diversity) and landscape patterns across the forested portions of the project area. Road decommissioning, culvert replacements and road improvements are also proposed to improve watershed health. The EIS will analyze the effects of the proposed action and alternatives. The Nez Perce-Clearwater Forest invites comments and suggestions on the issues to be addressed. The agency gives notice of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis and decision making process on the proposal so interested and affected members of the public may participate and contribute to the final decision.

The Bighorn National Forest is proposing to charge new fees at two recreation rental sites under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, (Title VIII, Pub. L. 108-447). Fees are assessed based on the level of amenities and services provided, costs of operation and maintenance, market assessment, and public comment. Funds from the fees will be retained locally and used for the operation and maintenance of these recreation sites. The Sheep Mountain Fire Lookout on the Powder River Ranger District will be available for overnight rental. The facility is located approximately 25 miles southwest of Buffalo, Wyoming, at the end of Forest Road 28. The lookout offers an extraordinary experience in a historical structure. Renting a historical lookout is widely popular on national forests. The fee proposed for this facility is $50 per night. The lookout can accommodate two to four people. A single vault toilet will be available nearby; water and electricity are not available. This facility will be available from approximately Memorial Day to the end of October, weather permitting. The Powder River Ranger District is also proposing rental of the Pole Creek cabin, located off Forest Road 456. The cabin is located along both a winter snowmobile trail and a trail within the Pole Creek Cross Country Ski Area. The cabin can accommodate up to four people; water and electricity are not available. A single vault toilet is located nearby. The proposed fee for this site is $35 per night. The Pole Creek Cabin will be available all year. An analysis of nearby private cabins and recreation rental facilities with similar amenities indicates that the proposed fees are comparable with similar sites in the area.

The Office of the Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is sponsoring a public meeting on February 11, 2013, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. 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 45th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Beijing, China March 18-22, 2013. USDA and FDA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 45th Session of the CCFA and to address items on the agenda.

This rule would increase the assessment rate established for the South Texas Onion Committee (Committee) for the 2012-13 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.025 to $0.03 per 50-pound equivalent of onions handled. The Committee locally administers the marketing order which regulates the handling of onions grown in South Texas. Assessments upon onion handlers are used by the Committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The fiscal period begins August 1 and ends July 31. The assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request a revision to and extension of approval of an information collection associated with the regulations for a certification program for imported articles of Pelargonium spp. and Solanum spp. to prevent the introduction of potato brown rot into the United States.

This notice announces the surplus and purchased foods that the Department expects to make available for donation to States for use in providing nutrition assistance to the needy under the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2013. The foods made available under this notice must, at the discretion of the State, be distributed to eligible recipient agencies (ERAs) for use in preparing meals and/or for distribution to households for home consumption.

This notice informs the public of the annual adjustments to the reimbursement rates for meals served in the Summer Food Service Program for Children. These adjustments address changes in the Consumer Price Index, as required under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. The 2013 reimbursement rates are presented as a combined set of rates to highlight simplified cost accounting procedures. The 2013 rates are also presented individually, as separate operating and administrative rates of reimbursement, to show the effect of the Consumer Price Index adjustment on each rate.

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) extended the authorization of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill) through the 2013 crop year, fiscal year (FY), or calendar year, as applicable, for certain Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) commodity and conservation programs administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). This notice provides information about which programs have been extended for an additional year, which programs producers will need to enroll in through applications and contracts, and the dates for the submission of the required applications. The extended programs will be administered through their current terms and procedures for the applicable period of extension, except as provided in this notice.

Notice is hereby given that the Secretary of Agriculture has renewed the Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21). The Secretary of Agriculture has determined that the Committee is necessary and in the public interest.