Department of Agriculture January 17, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

GIPSA is announcing the designation of Sioux City Inspection and Weighing Service Company (Sioux City) to provide official services under the United States Grain Standards Act (USGSA), as amended. Sioux City's geographical territory is amended to include the part of the area previously designated to Fremont Grain Inspection Department, Inc. (Fremont).

Central Illinois Grain Inspection, Inc. (Central Illinois) geographical area is amended to include the area previously designated to Decatur Grain Inspection, Inc. (Decatur).

In a final rule that was published in the Federal Register on June 7, 2012, and effective on July 9, 2012, we amended the horse protection regulations to require horse industry organizations or associations that license Designated Qualified Persons to assess and enforce minimum penalties for violations of the Horse Protection Act. One of the minimum penalties was for violations related to shoeing the horse, but we neglected to include a citation to one of the shoeing violations for which the penalty should be assessed. This document corrects that error.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on the proposed collection of data for the WIC Nutrition Education Study. This is a NEW information collection. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is administered at the Federal level by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Through Federal grants to States, WIC provides supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non- breastfeeding postpartum women and to infants and children who are found to be at nutritional risk. The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-296, Sec. 305) mandates programs under its authorization, including WIC, to cooperate with USDA program research and evaluation activities. WIC's mission is to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care. Nutrition education is the program feature often viewed as pivotal to WIC's success in achieving its mission to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children. By Federal directive, all participants have the opportunity to participate in nutrition education at least two times during a 6-month period of eligibility or quarterly for a 12-month period. State and local WIC agencies have significant flexibility to design nutrition education appropriate for the demographics of their participants within established goals. This flexibility has yielded a range of messages, delivery systems and approaches, qualifications and training for educators, and quality. The WIC Nutrition Education Study will provide a nationally representative description of how nutrition education is currently being provided to WIC recipients across the country. It will also conduct a pilot study of the impact of nutrition education on WIC recipients' nutrition and physical activity behaviors. This study will provide FNS with a better understanding of nutrition education practices and methods used by WIC and of the effectiveness of current WIC nutrition education services. The study will document how nutrition education is being provided subsequent to several program changes, including the 2009 food package changes, the implementation of the initiative to Revitalize Quality Nutrition Services (RQNS), and the use of new technology, among a racially and ethnically diverse population. Understanding optimal educational topics and methods, how to maximize participant engagement, the best approaches for delivery and reinforcement of messages, and how to effectively prepare and support WIC nutrition educators is key to informing WIC nutrition education improvements.

The Office of the 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 are sponsoring a public meeting on February 11, 2014, from 9 a.m. to 12 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 46th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), taking place in Hong Kong, China, March 17-21, 2014. The Acting Under Secretary and FDA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 46th Session of the CCFA and to address items on the agenda.

This document directs that a referendum be conducted among eligible producers of peanuts to determine whether they favor continuance of the Peanut Promotion, Research and Information Order (Order).