Department of Agriculture August 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to request revision and extension of a currently approved information collection, the Egg, Chicken, and Turkey Surveys. A revision to burden hours will be needed due to changes in the size of the target population, sampling design, and/or questionnaire length.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) administers rural utilities programs, including the Telecommunications Program. RUS announces the depreciation rates for telecommunications plant for the period ending December 31, 2017.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is initiating an environmental impact statement (EIS) and public rulemaking process to address the management of inventoried roadless areas on the Tongass National Forest within the State of Alaska. This rulemaking is the result of a petition submitted by Governor Bill Walker's administration in January 2018 on behalf of the State of Alaska, pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act. The petition was accepted by the Secretary of Agriculture in April 2018. The intent is to evaluate the regulatory exemption set forth in the petition, as well as to evaluate other management solutions that address infrastructure, timber, energy, mining, access, and transportation needs to further Alaska's economic development, while still conserving roadless areas for future generations.

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is issuing a new regulation to implement the Market Facilitation Program (MFP). MFP provides payments to producers with commodities that have been significantly impacted by actions of foreign governments resulting in the loss of traditional exports. This rule specifies the eligibility requirements, payment calculations, and application procedures for MFP. The details for specific commodities and the relevant application start dates will be announced in subsequent notices of funds availability (NOFAs).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on the proposed information collection. This is a revision of a currently approved collection associated with requests by State agencies to operate a Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) to temporarily provide food assistance to households following a disaster.

This Notice announces that the Rural Business-Cooperative Service (Agency) is accepting fiscal year (FY) 2018 applications for the Delta Health Care Services (DHCS) grant program. The Agency will publish the program funding level on the Rural Development website: https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/delta-health-care-s ervices- grants. The purpose of this program is to provide financial assistance to address the continued unmet health needs in the Delta Region through cooperation among health care professionals, institutions of higher education, research institutions, and economic development entities in the Delta Region.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announces solicitation for nominations to fill four vacancies on the Southern Region Recreation Resource Advisory Committee (RRAC). Members will be appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture and serve a three-year term.

This notice publishes the document ``Articles Subject to: Appendix 1, Historical Licenses; Appendix 2 Non-historical Licenses; and Appendix 3 and 4, Designated Importers Licenses for Quota Year 2018.'' The quantities in Appendices 1 and 2 have been revised under the Dairy Tariff-Rate Import Quota Licensing Regulation for the 2018 quota year to reflect the cumulative annual transfers from Appendix 1 to Appendix 2 for certain dairy product import licenses permanently surrendered by licensees or revoked by the Licensing Authority.

We are advising the public of our determination that canola designated as event B0050-027, which has been genetically engineered to accumulate the long chain omega-3 fatty acid known as docosahexaenoic acid in seed, is no longer considered a regulated article under our regulations governing the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms. Our determination is based on our evaluation of data submitted by Nuseed Americas Inc. in its petition for a determination of nonregulated status, our analysis of available scientific data, and comments received from the public in response to our previous notices announcing the availability of the petition for nonregulated status and its associated environmental assessment and plant pest risk assessment. This notice also announces the availability of our written determination and finding of no significant impact.

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture announces its stakeholder listening initiative ``NIFA Listens: Investing in Science to Transform Lives.'' This stakeholder listening opportunity informs the research, extension and education priorities of NIFA, which has the mission of investing in and advancing agricultural research, education and extension to solve societal challenges. For the purpose of this opportunity, Agriculture is defined broadly and includes research, extension, and education in food, fiber, forestry, range, nutritional and social sciences, including food safety and positive youth development. NIFA's investments in transformative science directly support the long-term prosperity and global pre-eminence of U.S. agriculture. This listening opportunity allows stakeholders to provide feedback on the following questions: ``When considering all of agriculture, what is the greatest challenge that should be addressed through NIFA's research, education, and extension?'', ``In your field, what is the most-needed breakthrough in science/technology that would advance your agricultural enterprise?'' and, ``What is your top priority in food and agricultural research, extension, or education that NIFA should address?'' This effort to obtain input regarding the challenges, needed breakthroughs, and priorities will be carried out through online and in-person submission mechanisms. Stakeholder input received from the two mechanisms is treated equally. The challenges, needed breakthroughs, and priorities identified by this effort will be evaluated in conjunction with input from NIFA staff. This information will be critical for NIFA's evaluation of existing science emphasis areas and to identify investment opportunities and gaps in the current portfolio of programs. The information obtained through this iterative analysis and synthesis will help to ensure the strategic positioning and relevancy of NIFA's investments in advancing agricultural research, education and extension.

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 National Poultry Improvement Plan.

This proposed rule would implement a recommendation from the Texas Valley Citrus Committee (Committee) to decrease the assessment rate established for the 2018-19 and subsequent fiscal periods. The assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget regulations, this notice announces the request of the Agricultural Research Service, permission to collect information from North Dakota landowners in nine counties, to gain their perspective on their grasslands in the Northern Great Plains. A mail survey composed of 42 questions will be mailed to landowners. Topics for which information will be collected from respondents include farm/ranch characteristics, land management style, land use practices, opinions about new grass species, opinions about Kentucky bluegrass and what producers are doing about it, Kentucky bluegrass management, and personal characteristics.

Notice is hereby given of the intention of NRCS to issue a series of revised conservation practice standards in the NHCP. These standards include Combustion System Improvement (Code 372), Dust Control on Unpaved Roads and Surfaces (Code 373), Integrated Pest Management (Code 595), Nutrient Management (Code 590), Pesticide Mitigation (Code 594), Subsurface Drain (Code 606), Waste Facility Closure (Code 360), and Wildlife Habitat Planting (Code 420). NRCS State Conservationists who choose to adopt these practices in their States will incorporate them into Section IV of their respective electronic Field Office Technical Guide. These practices may be used in conservation systems that treat highly erodible land (HEL) or on land determined to be a wetland. Section 343 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 requires NRCS to make available for public review and comment all proposed revisions to conservation practice standards used to carry out HEL and wetland provisions of the law.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health 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 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Rural Utilities Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), invites comments on this information collection for which approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will be requested.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is a new information collection for the Study of School Food Authority (SFA) Procurement Practices. This study is intended to describe and assess the practices of SFAs related to procuring goods and services for school meal programs (e.g., National School Lunch Program [NSLP], and the School Breakfast Program [SBP]), and to better understand how SFAs make decisions that lead to these procurement practices. The SFA Procurement Practices study will go beyond previous studies that concentrated on single food service or Child Nutrition programs (e.g., NSLP, SBP, or the Summer Food Service Program [SFSP]) or studies that focused on single procurement practices (e.g., use of Food Service Management Companies [FSMCs]) at the SFA level. This collection includes a mixed-methods approach of qualitative and quantitative information utilizing a structured web-based survey, as well as in-depth interviews (IDIs) to be conducted by telephone. Data will be collected from a subsample of the SFA population participating in the second year of the Child Nutrition Program Operations Study-II (CN-OPS II) (OMB Number 0584-0607).

The Flat Country Project is located on the western slope of the Cascades, extending from Scott Mountain to the upper reach of the McKenzie River, eight miles east of McKenzie Bridge, Oregon. The project area is approximately 74,063 acres. There is a high amount of mid-seral stands, moving the seral distribution away from historic levels and limiting stand structure and species diversity across the landscape. This project proposes to thin, reduce the number of trees, and increase the size and structure of the remaining forest over time. Activities proposed include forest management treatments across approximately 5,001 acres, including forest thinning (including riparian reserve thinning) and regenerating harvests. Additional proposed activities would include road work (including maintenance, reconstruction, temporary road construction, and decommissioning), and meadow enhancements.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS or Agency) seeks public comments on updating the provisions of the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP), specifically regarding the maximum interest rate, its impact on loan making to potential SFHGLP borrowers, and possible changes to the interest rate cap. RHS is soliciting input regarding the maximum interest rate to help the Agency determine whether the interest rate cap should be modified in order to support the agency's mission to offer applicants, who are unable to secure the credit necessary for such housing from other sources under conventional credit terms, an opportunity to acquire new or existing housing for use as a primary residence; finance the repair and rehabilitation costs associated with the purchase of the home; and refinance an existing Section 502 loan to lower the interest rate. These opportunities are provided to applicants under terms and conditions which the applicant can reasonably be expected to fulfill.

This Notice informs the public that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will not proceed with revisions to the United States Standards for Grades of Pork Carcasses (pork standards) at this time.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on the proposed collection. This is a revision of a currently approved collection in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and concerns Retail Store Applications (Forms FNS-252; FNS-252-E; FNS-252- FE; FNS-252-R; FNS-252-2; and FNS-252-C).

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is exploring potential sites for a proposed new headquarters location for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Economic Research Service (ERS). The need for a proposed NIFA facility would be approximately 90,000 square feet to house approximately 360 employees. The need for a proposed ERS facility would be up to 70,000 square feet to house up to 260 employees. Appropriations will dictate the ultimate size of the selection. USDA is requesting Expressions of Interest from State and Local governments, industry, academia, interested parties and organizations for potential locations that would accommodate the construction and/or lease and operation of a NIFA and/or ERS headquarters facility. USDA is interested in exploring options to house the headquarters of NIFA and ERS jointly or in separate locations.