Department of Agriculture July 22, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This proposed rule invites comments on the termination of Marketing Order No. 947 (order), which regulates the handling of Irish potatoes grown in Modoc and Siskiyou Counties, California, and in all counties in Oregon, except Malheur County, and the rules and regulations issued thereunder. The order is administered locally by the Oregon-California Potato Committee (Committee), which recommended termination of the marketing order at a meeting held on March 7, 2013. This recommendation is based on the Committee's determination that the order is no longer an effective marketing tool for the Oregon- California potato industry, and that termination would best serve the current needs of the industry while also eliminating the costs associated with operating the marketing order.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA), Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is amending the regulations that cover the official grain inspection and weighing service procedures that GIPSA's Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) performs under the authority of the United States Grain Standards Act (USGSA), as amended. Specifically, GIPSA is amending the regulations issued under the USGSA pertaining to grain exported in large reusable containers typically loaded onto export ships. In this final rule, GIPSA will add new definitions for ``composite'' and ``average'' grades, limit the number of containers that may be averaged or combined to form a single lot, restrict the inspection and weighing of container lots to the official service provider's area of responsibility, specify a 60-day retention period for file samples representing such container lots, make consistent the weighing certification procedures for container lots with those for inspection certification procedures, and make other miscellaneous changes. GIPSA believes that these revisions will help facilitate the marketing of U.S. grain shipped for export.

GIPSA is announcing the designation of East Indiana; Fremont Grain Inspection Department, Inc. (Fremont); Maryland Department of Agriculture (Maryland); and Titus Grain Inspection, Inc. (Titus) to provide official services under the United States Grain Standards Act (USGSA), as amended. East Indiana Grain Inspection, Inc.'s (East Indiana) geographical territory is amended to include the area previously designated to Indianapolis Grain Inspection and Weighing Service, Inc. (Indianapolis). In addition, this Notice corrects the Federal Register Notice published on December 28, 2012 concerning the opportunity for designation in the Fremont and Titus areas, which incorrectly omitted grain elevators located outside of Fremont and Titus geographical areas assigned to Fremont and Titus, respectively, and grain elevators inside of Fremont's geographical area assigned to another official agency.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA), published a Federal Register Notice on December 28, 2012, announcing the opportunity for Designation for the Cairo, IL and Belmond, IA Areas. The Notice incorrectly omitted grain elevators assigned inside and/or outside of the geographical areas.