Department of Agriculture September 30, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given of a public hearing to receive evidence on proposed amendments to Marketing Order No. 982 (order), which regulates the handling of hazelnuts grown in Oregon and Washington. Two amendments are proposed by the Hazelnut Marketing Board (Board), which is responsible for local administration of the order. The proposed amendments would add both the authority to regulate quality and the authority to establish different regulations for different markets. In addition, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) proposes to make any such changes as may be necessary to the order to conform to any amendment that may result from the hearing. The proposals are intended to aid in pathogen reduction and meet the needs of different market destinations.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting, as a final rule, without change, an interim rule implementing a recommendation from the Texas Valley Citrus Committee (Committee) that relaxed the container and pack requirements prescribed under the marketing order for oranges and grapefruit grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas (order). The Committee locally administers the order and is comprised of producers and handlers of Texas citrus operating within the area of production. The interim rule added the word ``approximate'' to the size specifications of three regulated containers to make the language consistent with other containers specified under the order. This change provides uniformity in the descriptions of containers and helps prevent potential compliance violations stemming from slight variations in container dimensions.