Department of Agriculture April 22, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Siskiyou, Oregon Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet in Gold Beach, Oregon. The committee is authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (Pub. L. 110- 343) (the Act) and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The purpose of the committee is to improve collaborative relationships and to provide advice and recommendations to the Forest Service concerning projects and funding consistent with the title II of the Act. The meeting is open to the public. The purpose of the meeting is orientation of RAC members.

This rule decreases the assessment rate established for the Spearmint Oil Administrative Committee (Committee), for the 2014-15 and subsequent marketing years from $0.10 to $0.09 per pound of spearmint oil handled. The Committee locally administers the marketing order which regulates the handling of spearmint oil produced in the Far West. Assessments upon spearmint oil handlers are used by the Committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The marketing year begins June 1 and ends May 31. The assessment rate will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated. Effective April 23, 2014. Comments received by June 23, 2014, will be considered prior to issuance of a final rule.

The U.S. Forest Service requests proposals for the following two separate funding opportunities that are being announced at the same time for administrative efficiency, but have separate and unique application criteria, requirements, and review processes: (A) 2014 Statewide Wood Energy Teams (SWET) Cooperative Agreement, and (B) 2014 Hazardous Fuel Wood to Energy (W2E) Grant. The outcomes anticipated under these two separate funding mechanisms will advance the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s initiative to expand wood energy use that supports forest management. These two funding opportunities enhance each other and collectively create opportunities for wood energy projects to access other USDA Rural Development programs. The SWET cooperative agreement helps communities do initial planning, educational outreach, and preliminary assessments to identify promising wood energy opportunities, whereas the W2E grant funds the design and other pre- construction needs for specific wood energy projects. Both of these funding programs promote use of woody biomass from National Forest System lands and place more emphasis this year on encouraging clustering of projects that improve efficiencies and economies of scale. The requirements for the cooperative agreement and grant applications are presented separately after the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this announcement. In the rare case that an applicant qualifies and would like to apply for both the cooperative agreement and grant, then the applicant must submit separate application packages according to the requirements for each funding opportunity.