Department of Agriculture 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Forest Resource Coordinating Committee will meet in Washington, DC, February 6 and 7, 2014. The Committee is authorized under Section 8005 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-246). Additional information on the Forest Resource Coordinating Committee can be found by visiting the Committee's Web site at: https://www.fs.fed.us/spf/coop/ frcc/.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and organizations on the revision of the currently approved information collection, Federal Excess Personal Property (FEPP) and Firefighter Property (FFP) program Cooperative Agreements and Inventory.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS) is streamlining and reengineering its Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) regulation. This action is taken to reduce regulations, improve customer service, achieve greater efficiency, flexibility, and effectiveness in managing the program. The effect of this action is to provide better service to participating lenders and investors by removing Rural Development internal administrative procedures and make the necessary adjustments to reduce SFHGLP risk of loss.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS or Agency) is publishing policies and procedures for loan and guarantee financial assistance in support of energy efficiency programs (EE Programs) sponsored and implemented by electric utilities for the benefit of rural persons in their service territory. This final rule amends RUS regulations on General and Pre-Loan Policies and Procedures Common to Electric Loans and Guarantees, which were codified on December 20, 1993. The final rule also includes conforming amendments to additional RUS regulations. Under Section 2 of the Rural Electrification Act (RE Act), RUS is authorized to assist electric borrowers in implementing Demand side management, energy efficiency and conservation programs, and on-grid and off-grid renewable energy systems. The scope of this regulation falls within the authority of the Act.

The USDA, Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact statement to authorize the approval of grazing livestock within the lower Imnaha area, including allotments within the Lightning Creek, Tulley Creek, Cow Creek, and a portion of the Snake River watersheds of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. The Lower Imnaha Rangeland Analysis (LIRA) has previously been initiated through a scoping letter for environmental analysis for livestock grazing. The scoping letter was sent on August 26, 2011 to 159 individuals, organizations, and agencies which included tribal representatives, grazing permittees, state and federal resource management agencies, special interest organizations, and interested publics. As a result of scoping, a concern was brought forward regarding impacts to Silene spaldingii or Spalding's catchfly, a threatened species, which indicated the need for the LIRA to be analyzed in an environmental impact statement (EIS) instead of the environmental assessment (EA) that was indicated in the scoping letter. Since the proposed action has not changed since the scoping letter was released, a new scoping period will not be initiated. All scoping comments received during the 2011 30-day scoping period will be considered in the EIS.

This action terminates a rulemaking proceeding that proposed to establish a marketing agreement (agreement) under the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 (Act) to regulate the handling of fresh leafy green vegetables in the United States. The agreement that was proposed by members of the produce industry would have authorized the development and implementation of handling regulations (audit metrics) to reflect the United States Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), Good Handling Practices (GHPs), and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs).

We are advising the public of our preliminary concurrence with the World Organization for Animal Health's (OIE) bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) risk designations for 14 regions. The OIE recognizes these regions as being of either negligible risk for BSE or of controlled risk for BSE. We are taking this action based on our review of information supporting the OIE's risk designations for these regions.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, this notice announces the Food Safety and Inspection Service's (FSIS) intention to request a renewal of an approved information collection regarding pathogen reduction and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems requirements because OMB approval will expire on February 28, 2014.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is reopening the comment period for its proposed rule on the descriptive designation of needle- or blade-tenderized (mechanically tenderized) beef products that appeared in the Federal Register on June 10, 2013. FSIS is reopening this comment period for 21 days because the extended comment period on this proposed rule closed during the recent partial Government shutdown.

This notice announces that the Farm Service Agency (FSA), on behalf of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), intends to complete a Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (SPEIS) assessing the environmental impacts of potential changes to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), as required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The intent of this notice is to provide an initial summary introduction to the alternatives being considered for potential changes to CRP, and to request comments on these proposed alternatives. The input we receive as a result of this notice will enable us to refine the alternatives, begin to evaluate their impacts, and document results in the scoping report as required by NEPA.

We are advising the public that we are adding or revising certain treatment schedules for the Imported Fire Ant Program in the Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Treatment Manual. In a previous notice, we made available to the public for review and comment a treatment evaluation document that discussed the existing treatment schedules, described the new treatment schedules, and explained why these changes are necessary. We also made available an environmental assessment that explained pesticide use in the new and revised treatments in the imported fire ant program. Based on the treatment evaluation document, the environmental assessment, and the comments we received, we are announcing our determination to add those new and revised treatments to the PPQ Treatment Manual.

The Ashley Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) meeting scheduled on the date below is cancelled. The meeting was scheduled to meet in Vernal, Utah. The RAC is authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (the Act) (Pub. L. 110-343) and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (Pub. L. 92-463).

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is announcing a call for nominations to the Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee. The charter for the Committee was re-established for the 2013-2015 two-year term.

USDA announces the availability of competitive grant funding through the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program. Approximately $10.5 million in carry over funding from fiscal year (FY) 2013 is available to help agricultural producers enter into value-added activities. This NOFA is being published prior to the Congressional enactment of a full-year appropriation for FY 2014. Should additional funding be made available during FY 2014 for this program RBS will continue to fund applications received under this announcement based upon the applications score. At this time, the exact amount of funding that will be made available to this program for FY 2014 is unknown. Anyone interested in submitting an application for funding under this program should consult the Rural Development Value Added Producer Grant Program Web site at https://www.rurdev.usda.gov/BCP_VAPG.html periodically for updated information regarding any FY 2014 funding for the program. The program purpose is to help U.S. agricultural producers enter into value-added activities. Awards may be made for either economic planning or working capital activities related to the processing and/or marketing of valued-added agricultural products. The maximum grant amount for a planning grant is $75,000 and the maximum grant amount for a working capital grant is $200,000. There is a matching funds requirement of at least $1 for every $1 in grant funds provided by the Agency (matching funds plus grant funds must equal proposed total project costs). Matching funds may be in the form of cash or eligible in-kind contributions and may be used only for eligible project purposes. Matching funds must be available at time of application and must be certified and verified as described in 7 CFR 4284.931(b)(3) and (4). 7 CFR 4284.925 and 7 U.S.C. 1632(a) provide for the reservation of ten percent of available funds for applications submitted by Beginning and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers or Ranchers, and an additional ten percent of available funds for applications from farmers or ranchers proposing development of Mid-Tier Value Chains. For this announcement, Reserved Funds were not obligated prior to June 30, 2013 as required by 7 CFR 4284.925 and 7 U.S.C. 1632(a). Therefore, no reserves are available to fund these categories from FY 2013 carry over monies. However, 7 CFR 4284.925 and 7 U.S.C. 1632(a) allow the Secretary to repurpose and reuse these funds for the general VAPG competition. Beginning and Socially-Disadvantaged Farmers or Ranchers and applicants proposing Mid-Tier Value Chains can still compete and benefit by receiving priority through the award of Priority Points. Should FY 2014 funds become available, 20 percent of those funds will be reserved for these categories.

This rule decreases the assessment rate established for the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, Area No. 2 (Committee), for the 2013-2014 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.0051 to $0.0033 per hundredweight of potatoes handled. The Committee locally administers the marketing order, which regulates the handling of Irish potatoes grown in Colorado. Assessments upon potato handlers are used by the Committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The fiscal period begins September 1 and ends August 31. The assessment rate will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

The Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest is proposing to add eleven cabins to the recreation rental program and charge fees for the overnight rental of these facilities. The cabins and proposed fee structure include: (1) Payson Lakes Cabin, available from June 1 to September 30 at $125 per night. The cabin can accommodate up to 10 people and has running water, flush toilets, shower, electric heat, and electric appliances. (2) Card Guard Station, available from June 1 through October 15 at $125 per night. The cabin can accommodate up to 10 people and has running water, flush toilet, shower, electricity and modern appliances. (3) Current Creek Work Center, available from June 1 through October 15 at $200 per night. The cabin is a duplex that can accommodate up to 14 people. There are also three trailer pads with hookups. The cabin has running water, flush toilets, electricity and modern appliances. (4) Rice Creek Field Station, available from June 1 through October 1 at $100 per night. The cabin can accommodate up to 10 people and has running water, flush toilet, shower, propane cook stove, electric lights and modern appliances. (5) Mirror Lake Guard Station, available from July 1 through September 15 at $100 per night. The cabin can accommodate up to four people and has running water, shower, flush toilets, propane heat, and propane lights and appliances. (6) Mill Hollow Guard Station, available from June 1 through September 30 at $100 per night. The cabin can accommodate up to eight people and has running water, shower, flush toilets, wood stove, and propane lights and appliances. (7) Tony Grove Guard Station, available year-round at $85 per night. The cabin can accommodate up to four people and has running water (summer only), pit toilet, propane heat, and extra space for camping. (8) Monte Cristo Guard Station, available from year-round at $85 per night. The cabin can accommodate up to eight people and has running water (summer only), flush toilets, shower, propane heat, and propane lights and appliances. (9) Ledgefork Guard Station, available from June 1 through September 30 at $85 per night. The cabin can accommodate up to six people and has running water, flush toilets, shower, propane heat, and electric lights and appliances. Electricity to appliances is provided by a generator. (10) Blacksmith Fork Guard Station, available year-round at $75 per night. The cabin can accommodate up to six people and has a vault toilet, wood stove, and propane lights and appliances. (11) Diamond Fork Guard Station, available year-round at $50 per night. The cabin can accommodate up to eight people and has a vault toilet, wood stove, and propane lights and appliances. Fees are assessed based on the level of amenities and services provided, cost of operations and maintenance, and market comparison. A market comparison of the nearby rental cabins with similar amenities shows that the proposed fees are reasonable and typical of similar sites in the area. Funds from fees would be used for the continued operation and maintenance and improvements of these rental cabins.

El Yunque National Forest, located in Puerto Rico, is initiating the development of a land management plan revision (forest plan) for El Yunque National Forest (NF). A Draft Assessment is being posted to our Web site. We are inviting the public to help us develop a preliminary ``need for change'' and a proposed action for the land management plan revision.

We are amending the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of commercial shipments of fresh beans, shelled or in pods (French, green, snap, and string), from Jordan into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, the beans must be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes requirements for packing, washing, and processing. The beans must also be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate attesting that all phytosanitary requirements have been met and that the consignment was inspected and found free of quarantine pests. This action allows for the importation of fresh beans, shelled or in pods, from Jordan into the continental United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests.