Department of Agriculture May 11, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule amends Marketing Order No. 984, which regulates the handling of walnuts grown in California. The amendment, which was proposed by the California Walnut Board (Board), was approved by growers in the referendum. This action authorizes the Board to borrow from a commercial lending institution to fund operations and marketing/research expenses for the program.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request a revision to and extension of approval of an information collection associated with the regulations for the importation of mangoes from Australia.

This proposed rule would implement a recommendation from the Cherry Industry Administrative Board (Board) to establish free and restricted percentages for the 2017-18 crop year under the Marketing Order for tart cherries grown in the states of Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. This action would establish the proportion of tart cherries from the 2017 crop which may be handled in commercial outlets. This action should stabilize marketing conditions by adjusting supply to meet market demand and help improve grower returns.

The USDA Forest Service, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest (RRSNF), High Cascade Ranger District, is providing notice that it will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Stella Landscape Restoration Project (Project), which would implement multiple landscape restoration actions on National Forest System lands within an approximately 64,000-acre project planning area. Restoration actions include vegetation treatments, prescribed fire, sustainable recreation, and sustainable roads actions. Included in the project area is approximately 4,000 acres on the Umpqua National Forest, in the Huckleberry Special Interest Area, which is adjacent to the RRSNF. Only non-commercial activities are proposed on the Umpqua National Forest. In order to implement the Project, the RRSNF also identified the need for a project-specific amendment to the Rogue River Land and Resource Management Plan to exempt the Big Game Winter Range Management Strategy from the thermal cover requirement.

This final rule amends National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) regulations for the purpose of implementing the statutory amendments applicable to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) matching requirements for Federal agricultural research and extension capacity (formula) funds for 1890 land-grant institutions (LGUs), including Central State University, Tuskegee University, and West Virginia State University, and 1862 land-grant institutions in insular areas, and to remove the term ``qualifying educational activities.'' These matching requirements were amended by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act; the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008; and the Agricultural Act of 2014.