Department of Agriculture 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 7101 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 requires the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to establish a process through which institutions may apply for designation as a NLGCA. Designation as a NLGCA is one way an institution may qualify to receive an exemption from the new matching fund requirement described in Section 7128 of the Agricultural Act of 2014. NLGCA designation also satisfies the eligibility requirement for the Capacity Building Grants for Non-Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture program, which is authorized under 7 U.S.C. 3319i. This notice outlines the criteria to qualify for NLGCA designation and the steps to obtain such designation. Additionally, McIntire- Stennis and Hispanic-serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities may opt out of their current designation and request NLGCA designation.

The Office of Procurement and Property Management (OPPM) of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) amends the Agriculture Acquisition Regulation (the ``AGAR'') by adding a new clause entitled ``Fire Suppression and Liability.'' Section 8205 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Act) provided the USDA Forest Service with permanent authority for stewardship end results contracting by adding a new section 604 to the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003. Section 8205 contains a requirement that the agency use a fire liability provision in all stewardship contracts and agreements that is in substantially the same form as the fire liability provisions contained in the integrated resource timber contract in Forest Service contract numbered 2400-13, part H, section H.4. This interim rule establishes a new clause in the AGAR, the USDA supplement to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), for use in Integrated Resource Service Contracts (IRSC) subject to the FAR. This new AGAR clause addresses fire liability on stewardship contracts as requred in the 2014 Agricultural Act.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces its Public Television Station Digital Transition Grant Program application window for fiscal year (FY) 2014. The FY 2014 funding for the Public Television Station Digital Transition Grant Program is $2,000,000.

This is a request for proposals for guaranteed loans under the Section 538 Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing Program (GRRHP) pursuant to 7 CFR 3565.4 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, Public Law 113-76 (January 17, 2014) appropriated $150 million in FY 2014. The commitment of program dollars will be made first to approved and complete applications from prior years' notices, then to applicants of selected responses in the order they are ranked under this Notice that have fulfilled the necessary requirements for obligation. Successful applications will be selected by the Agency for funding and subsequently awarded to the extent that funding may ultimately be made available to the Agency through appropriations. Expenses incurred in developing applications will be at the applicant's risk. The following paragraphs outline the timeframes, eligibility requirements, lender responsibilities, and the overall response and application processes. Eligible lenders are invited to submit responses for new construction and acquisition with rehabilitation of affordable rural rental housing. The Agency will review responses submitted by eligible lenders, on the lender's letterhead, and signed by both the prospective borrower and lender. Although a complete application is not required in response to this Notice, eligible lenders may submit a complete application concurrently with the response. Submitting a complete application will not have any effect on the respondent's response score.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice announces NRCS' intention to request an extension for, and a revision to, a currently approved information collection for Long-Term Contracting.

The Rural Housing Service is amending its regulations for the section 502 direct single family housing loans program by reinstating language pertaining to payment assistance method 1 that was inadvertently changed or omitted when the payment subsidy regulation was revised on December 27, 2007. This action will make clear to the public that under this method, the amount of subsidy granted is the difference between the installment due on the promissory note and the greater of the payment amortized at the equivalent interest rate or the payment calculated based on the required floor payment.

Through this action, the Rural Housing Service (RHS or Agency) proposes to amend its regulations for the section 502 direct single family housing loan program by reinstating language pertaining to payment assistance method 1 that was inadvertently changed or omitted when the payment subsidy regulation was revised on December 27, 2007. This action will make clear to the public that under this method, the amount of subsidy granted is the difference between the installment due on the promissory note and the greater of the payment amortized at the equivalent interest rate or the payment calculated based on the required floor payment.

This Notice announces the funds available for loans and grants under the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) pursuant to 7 CFR part 4280, subpart D for fiscal year (FY) 2014.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Food Safety and Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback on service delivery by the Food Safety and Inspection Service. The Office of Management and Budget prepared and published the first notice for comments on the original information collection.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intent of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to request revision and extension of a currently approved information collection, the Livestock Slaughter Survey. Revision to burden hours may be needed due to changes in the size of the target population, sampling design, and/or questionnaire length.

This is a notice to inform the public of an upcoming meeting of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Animal Health. The meeting is being organized by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to discuss matters of animal health.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS') intention to request approval of a new information collection for information technology account management to ensure the security of APHIS systems from unauthorized access.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is soliciting nominations for membership on the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI). The full Committee consists of not more than 20 members, and each person selected is expected to serve a 2-year term.

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), operating through the Risk Management Agency (RMA), announces its intent to award approximately $5,000,000 to fund cooperative agreements under the Crop Insurance Education in Targeted States Program. Dates: All applications, which must be submitted electronically through https://rvs.umn.edu/Home.aspx, must be received by close of business (COB) on [11:59 p.m. EST] June 30, 2014. Hard copy applications will NOT be accepted. A tutorial on how to apply is available at https://rvs.umn.edu/rmaresources. Purpose: The purpose of the Targeted States program is to deliver crop insurance education and information to U.S. agricultural producers in States where there is traditionally, and continues to be a low level of Federal crop insurance participation and availability, and producers are underserved by the Federal crop insurance program. These states, defined as Targeted States for the purposes of this RFA, are Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Any cooperative agreements that may be funded will not exceed the maximum funding amount established for each of the Targeted States. Awardees must agree to the substantial involvement of RMA in the project. Applications submitted under this RFA must demonstrate how the proposed crop insurance education activities will help producers in Targeted States understand: The kinds of risks addressed by crop insurance; The features of existing and emerging crop insurance products such as AGR/AGR-lite or Whole Farm, Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO), and Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) where available; The use of crop insurance in the management of risk; How the use of crop insurance can affect other risk management decisions, such as the use of marketing and financial (including farm financial benchmarking) tools; and How to make informed decisions on crop insurance prior to the sales closing date deadline.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, intends to grant to Washington State Crop Improvement Association of Pullman, Washington, an exclusive license to the chickpea variety named ``Nash.''

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) is requesting comments from all interested individuals and entities on an extension of a currently approved information collection associated with the FSA County Committee Elections. The collection of information from FSA Farmers and Ranchers is used to receive nominations from eligible voters for the County Committee.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is making available for public comment a draft framework for implementing and maintaining a foreign animal disease zoning arrangement between the United States and Canada. The draft framework provides an operational plan for the two countries to recognize each other's decisions to control a highly contagious foreign animal disease outbreak through zoning. The draft framework also establishes a structure for maintaining the arrangement over time and strategies for engaging governmental and non-governmental stakeholders in any actions taken under the arrangement, including planning and preparedness. This zoning arrangement will facilitate continued trade between disease-free areas of the United States and Canada while safeguarding animal health in both countries.

This rule increases the assessment rate established for the California Desert Grape Administrative Committee (Committee) for the 2014 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.0165 to $0.0200 per 18-pound lug of grapes handled. The Committee locally administers the marketing order, which regulates the handling of grapes grown in a designated area of southeastern California. Assessments upon grape handlers are used by the Committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The fiscal period began on January 1 and ends on December 31. The assessment rate will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

The Fishlake Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet in Richfield, Utah. 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 Title II of the Act. The meetings are open to the public. The purpose of the meetings is to welcome new and returning members, review roles and responsibilties, elect a chairperson and review and recommend projects proposed for funding.

In a final rule that was published in the Federal Register on October 5, 2012, we amended and republished the list of select agents and toxins that have the potential to pose a severe threat to animal or plant health, or to animal or plant products; reorganized the list of select agents and toxins based on the relative potential of each select agent or toxin to be misused to adversely affect human, plant, or animal health; and amended the regulations in order to add definitions and clarify language concerning security, training, biosafety, biocontainment, and incident response. In that final rule we neglected to precisely align all of our regulatory language with that used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in their regulations and, in some cases, did not align our language in the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regulations concerning plant health and plant products with that concerning animal health and animal products. As APHIS co-administers the select agent regulations with CDC, this document corrects inconsistencies in language between APHIS and CDC regulations. We are also correcting an improper term used in those sections of the regulations associated with identification of a viral strain or subspecies that is excluded from the requirements of the regulations, modifying the terms used when a select toxin is excluded from the regulations, clarifying those parts of the regulations that deal with temporary exemptions granted during periods of agricultural or public health emergencies, and adding language to specify that individuals not approved for access to registered space for activities not related to select agents or toxins (e.g., routine cleaning, maintenance, and repairs) would not have to be continuously escorted by an approved individual so long as those non-approved persons would not be able to gain access to select agents or toxins.