Department of Agriculture June 25, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are proposing to amend the Phytophthora ramorum regulations to remove regulated areas for P. ramorum from the regulations, as well as all regulatory requirements specific to such areas. We are proposing to amend the regulations by revising the inspection and sampling requirements for certain nurseries that are in areas quarantined for P. ramorum and that ship regulated nursery stock interstate. We are proposing to change the nature of the inspection and sampling requirements to have them take into consideration additional potential sources of P. ramorum inoculum at the nurseries. Finally, we are proposing to establish conditions under which we would regulate nurseries located outside of the quarantined areas for P. ramorum, if sources of P. ramorum inoculum are detected at those nurseries and the nurseries ship certain articles interstate. These changes would provide regulatory relief to nurseries in areas that are regulated for P. ramorum, while also ensuring that nurseries that may pose a risk of disseminating P. ramorum through the interstate movement of regulated nursery stock are subject to measures that address this risk.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS), an Agency within Rural Development, announces that it is soliciting competitive applications under its Housing Preservation Grant (HPG) program. This action is taken to comply with Agency regulations which requires the Agency to announce the opening and closing dates for receipt of pre-applications for HPG funds from eligible applicants. The Agency has published the amount of funding received in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Pub. L. 115-141, March 23, 2018) on its website at https://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/notices- solicitation-applications-nosas. Expenses incurred in developing applications will be at the applicant's risk.