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

Omya California (Omya), a division of Omya Inc., has submitted the following applications: An Amended Plan of Operations and Reclamation Plan to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, San Bernardino National Forest (SBNF); and A Mining and Land Reclamation Plan Conditional Use Permit application submitted to the County of San Bernardino (County). Combined, these applications propose the expansion of the existing Sentinel and Butterfield Quarries. The existing permitted Sentinel and Butterfield limestone quarries are located on mining claims within the SBNF. Known limestone ore resources, within the proposed quarry expansions, will add an additional 20 years life to the Sentinel Quarry, add an additional 40 years life to the Butterfield Quarry, and will allow mining at both quarries to be extended until 2055. Depending on market demand, the combined Sentinel and Butterfield Quarries average ore production rates will be approximately 680,000 tons per year compared to the 3-year average between 2004-2006 of approximately 378,000 tons per year. Reclamation will occur concurrently with mining. The proposed expansion includes 48.7 acres of disturbance at the Sentinel Quarry and 28.8 acres of disturbance at the Butterfield Quarry, for a total of 77.3 acres. Quarry development and expansion will be phased. Disturbance proposed for the project includes expansion of existing Sentinel and Butterfield Quarries, expansion of associated overburden placement sites, additional internal access roads and ancillary facility areas, and minor adjustments to existing disturbance boundaries. There are no new quarries, haul roads or overburden sites in this plan, only the phased expanded development and reclamation of the existing Sentinel and Butterfield Quarries. Implementation of the Proposed Project will require discretionary approvals from Federal, State, and local agencies and, therefore, this project is subject to the environmental review requirements of both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). To ensure coordination between the NEPA and CEQA processes, and to avoid duplication of effort, a joint Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is being prepared as recommended by CEQA Guidelines Section 15222 and 40 CFR 1506.25. The Forest Service is the NEPA Lead Agency and the County will be the CEQA Lead Agency for the joint EIR/EIS. As Lead Agency for the NEPA process, the Forest Service issues this Notice of Intent (NOI), as required by NEPA, for the Project. The County will issue a separate Notice of Preparation (NOP), as required for CEQA for the Proposed Project. Comments are being requested to help identify significant issues or concerns related to the proposed action, to determine the scope of the issues (including alternatives) that need to be analyzed and to eliminate from detailed study those issues that are not significant. Supporting documentation should be included with comments recommending that the EIR/EIS address specific environmental issues.

The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to evaluate and disclose the predicted effects of the Elk Late-Successional Reserve Enhancement project, which would treat natural stands and plantations on approximately 2,930 acres to reduce the current and future risk of large-scale disturbance events within early, mid and late-successional habitat within the Elk Flat Late-Successional Reserve and nearby stands. Additional benefits from risk reduction treatments include increasing the resilience and promoting continued development and connectivity of late-successional forest habitat within the Elk Flat Late-Successional Reserve. Objectives include improving forest health; increasing resiliency to natural events such as drought, insect and disease infestations and high severity wildfire; and restoring unique habitats. Forest stand treatments would be completed using commercial and non-commercial thinning and regeneration prescriptions. Fuels reduction would be completed using mechanical and hand methods and prescribed fire. Proposed road actions include maintenance and reconstruction of National Forest System roads, construction of temporary roads to complete project activities, and closure and decommissioning of National Forest System roads and existing routes. The project is located in Siskiyou County, California on the McCloud Ranger District of the Shasta McCloud Management Unit, Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The project's legal location is: Township 40 North, Range 1 West, Sections 4 and 5; and Township 41 North, Range 1 West, Sections 27 to 34, Mt. Diablo Meridian. The project area is approximately nine miles northeast of the town of McCloud, California, and 70 miles northeast of Redding, California.

This proposed rule would revise regulations governing the WIC Program, incorporating the provisions set forth in the Healthy, Hunger- Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) related to Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) for the WIC Program. The HHFKA was signed into law by President Obama on December 13, 2010.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations (5 CFR part 1320) which implement the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice announces the intention of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to request an extension for a currently approved information collection (OMB No. 0524-0026) for Form NIFA-666, ``Organizational Information.''

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has received a petition from the Monsanto Company (Monsanto) seeking a determination of nonregulated status of cotton designated as MON 88701, which has been genetically engineered for tolerance to the herbicides dicamba and glufosinate. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are making the Monsanto petition available for review and comment to help us identify potential environmental and interrelated economic issues and impacts that APHIS may determine should be considered in our evaluation of the petition.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared a preliminary decision regarding a request from Stine Seed Farm, Inc., to extend to maize line HCEM485, which has been genetically engineered to be tolerant to the herbicide glyphosate, our determination of nonregulated status of Roundup Ready[supreg] corn line GA21. We are seeking comment on whether this genetically engineered corn is likely to pose a plant pest risk. We are making available for public comment our plant pest risk assessment and draft environmental assessment for the proposed determination of nonregulated status.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received a petition from Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., (Pioneer) seeking a determination of nonregulated status of maize designated as maize event DP-[Oslash][Oslash]4114-3, which has been genetically engineered to be resistant to certain lepidopteran and coleopteran pests and tolerant to the herbicide glufosinate. 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 maize is likely to pose a plant pest risk. We are making available for public comment the Pioneer petition, our plant pest risk assessment, and our draft environmental assessment for the proposed determination of nonregulated status.

The Forest Service is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) to document the potential effects of the Teton to Snake Fuels Management Project. The analysis will evaluate and disclose the effects of treating National Forest land to reduce the potential fire behavior within the wildland-urban interface to better protect threatened values, to improve firefighter safety, and to allow fire to play a more natural role in the ecosystem. Treatments include understory thinning and prescribed fire some of which are located within the Palisades Wilderness Study Area (WSA) and Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRAs). Connected actions necessary to implement the proposed treatments include road maintenance, reconstruction, temporary road and landing construction and obliteration, and construction of fire control lines where needed to contain prescribed fire treatments. No road work or commercial vegetation treatments would occur within the WSA. Road maintenance would occur in a small portion of the Phillips Ridge IRA but no reconstruction would occur. The project is located in Teton and Lincoln Counties, Wyoming, west of the Jackson Hole valley and Snake River corridor, and east of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. The Teton to Snake Fuels Management Project was previously scoped and anyalyzed through an environmental assessment (EA) process. The EIS alternatives developed to date are the same as those in the EA. Public comments received on the original Proposed Action, Alternative 2, included support of the project as proposed, but also concerns that the proposed treatments constitute human manipulation in the WSA which could adversely affect wildlife, wilderness character, and eligibility for future designation in the National Wilderness Preservation System. Concern about proposed thinning treatments in the IRAs was also expressed. Requested modifications included reducing the amount of prescribed burning and eliminating all thinning treatments in the WSA and IRAs. Additionally concern was expressed that the proposed action could have adverse effects to habitat for boreal owls and goshawks, as well as reduce old growth habitat. The Forest Service responded to these concerns by developing a new alternative (Alternative 3Reduce Potential Impacts to Special Areas and Wildlife Habitat), which reduces activities in the WSA and IRAs and avoids goshawk habitat, whitebark pine, boreal forest, and old growth habitat. Changes include dropping, reconfiguring, and reducing the size of units, and changing treatment prescriptions. In addition to the above resource concerns, units were modified or dropped if they also had potential impacts to visual quality, implementation difficulty, or topography that could slow an advancing wildfire. Also considered was the proximity of hazardous fuels to homes and to other fuel reduction projects that could contribute to reducing fire behavior in the project area. The Jackson Ranger District may be contacted for specific treatment unit revisions made in developing Alternative 3.

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 regulations for the importation of certain fruits and vegetables into the United States.

We are advising the public of our decision to begin issuing permits for the importation into the continental United States of fresh strawberry fruit from Egypt. Based on the findings of a pest risk analysis, which we made available to the public for review and comment through a previous notice, we believe that the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of fresh strawberry fruit from Egypt.

The Forest Service has issued proposed directives to Forest Service Handbook (FSH 1909.12) and Manual (FSM 1920) establishing procedures and responsibilities for implementing the National Forest System (NFS) land management planning regulation. Issuance of these proposed directives will provide consistent overall guidance to Forest Service Line Officers and Agency employees in developing, amending, or revising land management plans for units of the NFS. Public comment is invited and will be considered in developing the final directives.

GIPSA is announcing the designation of Titus Grain Inspection, Inc. (Titus) to provide Class X or Class Y weighing services under the United States Grain Standards Act (USGSA), as amended. DATES: Effective Date: November 20, 2012.

The New Meadows Ranger District of the Payette National Forest will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Lost Creek-Boulder Creek Landscape Restoration Project. The Lost Creek- Boulder Creek Landscape Restoration Project area is located approximately 10 miles north and west of New Meadows, Idaho in in Boulder Creek, a tributary to the Little Salmon, and in the headwaters of the Weiser River and the West Fork of the Weiser River. It comprises approximately 80,000 acres and is within the boundaries of the New Meadows District of the Payette National Forest, in Adams County Idaho. The project is designed to improve wildlife habitat, reduce forest fuels, and improve watershed conditions through a variety of activities including commercial and noncommercial vegetation management and road system modifications and maintenance.

This notice lists the newspapers that Ranger Districts, Forests, and the Regional Office of the Rocky Mountain Region will use to publish notices for pubic comments on actions subject to the provisions of 36 CFR part 215 or 218. The intended effect of this action is to inform interested members of the public which newspapers will be used to publish legal notices of actions subject to public comment and decisions subject to appeal under 36 CFR part 215 or objection under 36 CFR part 218. Responsible Officials in the Rocky Mountain Region of the USDA Forest Service will publish notices of availability for comment and notices of decisions that may be subject to administrative appeal under 36 CFR part 215. These notices will be published in the legal notice section of the newspapers listed in the Supplementary Information section of this notice. As provided in 36 CFR 215.5, 215.6, and 215.7, such notice shall constitute legal evidence that the agency has given timely and constructive notice for comment and notice of decisions that may be subject to administrative appeal. Newspaper publication of notices of decisions is in addition to direct notice to those who have requested notice in writing and to those known to be interested in or affected by a specific decision. Additionally, Responsible Officials in the Rocky Mountain Region of the USDA Forest Service will publish notices of availability for comment and notices of decisions that may be subject to the objection process under 36 CFR part 218. These notices will be published in the legal notice section of the newspapers listed in the Supplementary Information section of this notice. As provided in 36 CFR 218.4 and 218.9, such notice shall constitute legal evidence that the agency has given timely and constructive notice for comment and notice of decisions that may be subject to the objection process. Newspaper publication of notices of decisions is in addition to direct notice to those who have requested notice in writing and to those known to be interested in or affected by a specific decision.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is changing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or Program) regulations pertaining to SNAP client benefit use, participation of retail food stores and wholesale food concerns in SNAP, and SNAP client participation in the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). These changes to SNAP regulations address mandatory provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, Public Law 110-246 (hereinafter referred to as ``the 2008 Farm Bill'') to allow for the disqualification of a SNAP client who intentionally obtains cash by purchasing, with SNAP benefits, products that have container deposits, subsequently discarding the product, and returning the container(s) in exchange for cash refund of deposit(s); or who intentionally resells or exchanges products purchased with SNAP benefits for purposes of obtaining cash and/or other non-eligible items. Through existing authority under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, FNS is also stipulating penalties for certain Program abuses committed by retailers. These abuses include stealing of SNAP benefits, by retailers, without client complicity, and other forms of trafficking through complicit arrangements between the retailer and the SNAP client. Examples of the latter would be the purchase, by retailers, of products originally purchased by clients with SNAP benefits and re-sold to stores in exchange for cash or other non-eligible items; or retailers taking possession of SNAP client cards and PINs, using the SNAP benefits to purchase stock for the store, and subsequently returning the card and PIN to the client with cash or other non- eligible items provided in exchange for having used the SNAP benefit. FNS is also addressing the mandatory 2008 Farm Bill provisions requiring disqualification in SNAP when an individual is disqualified from FDPIR, and under existing authority, clarifying the prohibition against dual participation in SNAP and FDPIR.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Rural Housing Service's intention to request an extension for a currently approved information collection in support of the program for 7 CFR part 3575-A.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-503), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidelines on the Conduct of Matching Programs (54 FR 25818 published June 19, 1989), and OMB Circular No. A-130, revised November 28, 2000, the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Finance Center (NFC) is publishing notice of a computer matching program (CMP) that NFC will conduct on behalf of itself and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) utilizing records from the Social Security Administration (SSA).

The Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, State and Private Forestry (S&PF), Technology Marketing Unit, located at the Forest Products Laboratory, requests proposals for wood energy projects that require engineering services. These projects will use woody biomass, such as material removed from forest restoration activities, wildfire hazardous fuel treatments, insect and disease mitigation, forest management due to catastrophic weather events, and/or thinning overstocked stands. The woody biomass shall be used in a bioenergy facility that uses commercially proven technologies to produce thermal, electrical or liquid/gaseous bioenergy. The funds from the Hazardous Fuels Woody Biomass Utilization Grant program (WBU) must be used to further the planning of such facilities by funding the engineering services necessary for final design and cost analysis. Examples of projects might include engineering design of a woody biomass boiler for steam at a sawmill, hospital or school; non-pressurized hot water system for various applications; and biomass power generation facility. To join in support of the public interest and general welfare, to protect communities and critical infrastructure, the applicants applying to this program seek assistance to complete the necessary engineering design work required to secure public and/or private funding for construction for developing local enterprises to better utilize woody biomass. An example of public funding is the USDA Rural Development grants and loan programs that might help fund construction of such facilities. The lack of a professional engineering design often limits the ability of an applicant or business to secure Federal, State or private funding.

This notice lists the newspapers that Ranger Districts, Forests, and the Regional Office of the Rocky Mountain Region will use to publish notices for pubic comments on actions subject to the provisions of 36 CFR part 215 or 218. The intended effect of this action is to inform interested members of the public which newspapers will be used to publish legal notices of actions subject to public comment and decisions subject to appeal under 36 CFR 215 or objection under 36 CFR 218. Responsible Officials in the Rocky Mountain Region of the USDA Forest Service will publish notices of availability for comment and notices of decisions that may be subject to administrative appeal under 36 CFR Part 215. These notices will be published in the legal notice section of the newspapers listed in the Supplementary Information section of this notice. As provided in 36 CFR 215.5, 215.6, and 215.7, such notice shall constitute legal evidence that the agency has given timely and constructive notice for comment and notice of decisions that may be subject to administrative appeal. Newspaper publication of notices of decisions is in addition to direct notice to those who have requested notice in writing and to those known to be interested in or affected by a specific decision. Additionally, Responsible Officials in the Rocky Mountain Region of the USDA Forest Service will publish notices of availability for comment and notices of decisions that may be subject to the objection process under 36 CFR part 218. These notices will be published in the legal notice section of the newspapers listed in the Supplementary Information section of this notice. As provided in 36 CFR 218.4 and 218.9, such notice shall constitute legal evidence that the agency has given timely and constructive notice for comment and notice of decisions that may be subject to the objection process. Newspaper publication of notices of decisions is in addition to direct notice to those who have requested notice in writing and to those known to be interested in or affected by a specific decision.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice announces the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) intention to request an extension for and revision of a currently approved information collection for Almonds Grown in California, M.O. No. 981.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Action of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice announces the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Appeals Division's request for an extension to a currently approved information collection for Customer Service Survey.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is publishing for public comment a summary of a proposed information collection. The proposed collection is a revision of a currently approved collection for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for the form FNS-388, State Issuance and Participation Estimates, and FNS-388A, Project Area Data Format.