Department of Agriculture December 14, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents
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National Organic Program (NOP); Sunset 2015 Amendments to the National List
This final rule addresses recommendations submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) following their October 2014 meeting. These recommendations pertain to the 2015 Sunset Review of substances on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List). Consistent with the recommendations from the NOSB, this final rule removes two nonorganic agricultural substances from the National List for use in organic handling, fortified cooking winesmarsala wine and sherry wine. This final rule also removes two listings for synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production on the National List, streptomycin and tetracycline, as their use exemptions expired on October 21, 2014.
Pistachios Grown in California, Arizona, and New Mexico; Increased Assessment Rate
This proposed rule would implement a recommendation from the Administrative Committee for Pistachios (Committee) to increase the assessment rate established for the 2015-16 and subsequent production years from $0.0005 to $0.0035 per pound of assessed weight pistachios handled under the marketing order for pistachios grown in California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The Committee locally administers the order and is comprised of producers and handlers of pistachios operating within the area of production. Assessments upon pistachio handlers are used by the Committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The production year begins on September 1 and ends August 31. The assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.
Amendment to Notice of Solicitation of Applications for the Rural Energy for America Program
The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (Agency) published a notice in the Federal Register of October 6, 2015 (80 FR 60349), announcing the acceptance of applications for funds available under the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016. The 2014 Farm Bill provides funding for the program for FY 2016. This notice provides an amendment to Section V. Application Review Information, subsection A. Evaluation Criteria, to allow points to be awarded if any of the criteria are met and to maintain consistency with other Rural Development programs on how poverty areas are defined.
Guarantee Fee Rates for Guaranteed Loans for Fiscal Year 2016; Maximum Portion of Guarantee Authority Available for Fiscal Year 2016; Annual Renewal Fee for Fiscal Year 2016
This notice helps to improve applicants' awareness of the Guarantee Fee Rates for Guaranteed Loans for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016; Maximum Portion of Guarantee Authority Available for FY 2016; Annual Renewal Fee for FY 2016 when applying for guaranteed loans under the Business and Industry (B&I) program. The Agency was authorized by the 2012 Appropriations Bill, and subsequent Appropriations Acts, to charge a maximum of 3 percent for its guarantee fee for FY 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The guarantee fee for FY 2016 will be 3 percent. The Agency has established that not more than 12 percent of the Agency's quarterly apportioned B&I guarantee authority will be reserved for loan requests with a reduced fee, and not more than 15 percent of the Agency's quarterly apportioned guarantee authority will be reserved for guaranteed loan requests with a guarantee percentage exceeding 80 percent. Once the respective quarterly limits are reached, all additional loans for that quarter will be at the standard fee and guarantee limits. The Agency is establishing the renewal fee rate at one-half of 1 percent for the B&I Guaranteed Loan Program. This rate will apply to all loans obligated in FY 2016 that are made under the B&I program.
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