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

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Rural BusinessCooperative Service, an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA), invites comments on this information collection for which the Agency intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The Payette National Forest will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to document the potential effects of the Granite Meadows Project. The Granite Meadows Project is located north of New Meadows, Idaho and north and west of McCall, Idaho on the Boise Meridian, within Adams, Valley and Idaho Counties. The analysis will evaluate and disclose the effects of implementing treatments on the National Forest to meet the purpose and need for the project. Proposed treatments include timber harvest, thinning, prescribed fire, road treatments and road decommissioning, watershed improvement and restoration treatments, and recreation improvements. Coordination with existing permittees on grazing schedules would also be included to meet the purpose and need related to fuels reduction.

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 citrus from Peru into the continental United States.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) invites comments on this information collection for which the Agency intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

We are advising the public that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its sub-agency, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), are considering developing a conservation program pursuant to the Endangered Species Act for the southwestern willow flycatcher, a small, neotropical migrant bird found in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah. We are also planning to prepare an environmental assessment to analyze the effects of the proposed conservation program. This notice identifies potential issues, alternatives, and conservation measures that USDA and APHIS propose to review, and requests public comments to determine the relevant scope of issues and range of alternatives to be addressed in the environmental process from individuals, organizations, Tribes, and government agencies on this topic.

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 to prevent the spread of citrus greening and its vector, Asian citrus psyllid, to noninfested areas of the United States.

This proposed rule would implement a recommendation from the Raisin Administrative Committee (Committee) to increase the assessment rate established for the 2018-19 and subsequent crop years. The assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

The Monongahela National Forest is withdrawing the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Big Rock Project. The original NOI was published in the Federal Register on July 30, 2014. The environmental analysis for this project is proceeding under an Environmental Assessment.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is soliciting nominations of veterinary service shortage situations for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) for fiscal year (FY) 2019, as authorized under the National Veterinary Medical Services Act (NVMSA). This notice initiates the nomination period and prescribes the procedures and criteria to be used by eligible nominating officials (State, Insular Area, DC and Federal Lands) to nominate veterinary shortage situations. Each year all eligible nominating officials may submit nominations, up to the maximum indicated for each entity in this notice. NIFA is conducting this solicitation of veterinary shortage situation nominations under an approved information collection (OMB Control Number 0524-0050).

The U.S Codex Office is sponsoring a public meeting on December 5, 2018. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States (U.S.) positions to be discussed at the 4th Session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, in Thiruvananthapuram, India, January 21-25, 2019. The U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius and the Under Secretary, Office of Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 4th Session of the CCSCH and to address items on the agenda.

This final rule amends Marketing Order No. 982 (Order), which regulates the handling of hazelnuts grown in Oregon and Washington. The amendments were proposed by the Hazelnut Marketing Board (Board) and add the authority to regulate quality for the purpose of pathogen reduction and to establish different regulations for different markets. This final rule also makes administrative revisions to subpart headings to bring the language into conformance with the Office of Federal Register requirements.

This rule implements a recommendation to change the container requirements under the Marketing Order for oranges and grapefruit grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. This action removes five containers from the list of authorized containers and adds seven new containers to the list. This change also modifies the descriptions of two authorized containers.

The U.S Codex Office is finalizing the U.S. Codex Program's

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, notice is hereby given that U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is soliciting nominations and applications to serve on the Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers (the ``Committee''). Applications and nomination packages can be downloaded at the link below: https:// www.ocio.usda.gov/document/ad-755.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, intends to grant to Zoetis, LLC of Kalamazoo, Michigan, an exclusive license to U.S. Patent No. 9,528,094, ``ATTENUATED AFRICAN SWINE FEVER VIRUS VACCINE BASED IN THE DELETION OF MGF GENES'', issued on December 27, 2016 and U.S. Patent No. 9,808,520, ``RATIONALLY DEVELOPED AFRICAN SWINE FEVER ATTENUATED VIRUS STRAIN PROTECTS AGAINST CHALLENGE WITH PARENTAL VIRUS GEORGIA 2007 ISOLATE'', issued on November 7, 2017.

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) finalizes the General Administrative Regulations; Subpart LReinsurance Agreement Standards for Approval; Regulations for the 2019 and Subsequent Reinsurance Years. The intended effect of this action is to clarify and improve Subpart L to better align with the existing Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA) and Livestock Price Reinsurance Agreement (LPRA) and to eliminate language that is no longer relevant.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared a supplement to an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact relative to an oral rabies vaccination field trial in New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Vermont, and West Virginia. Based on its finding of no significant impact, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that an environmental impact statement need not be prepared.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is soliciting nominations for membership for the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI). The full Committee consists of 20 members, and each person selected is expected to serve a 2-year term. There are 15 available positions.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to renew the approved information collection regarding records to be kept by official establishments and retail stores that grind raw beef products. The approval for this information collection will expire on February 28, 2019. FSIS is making no changes to the approved collection.

This proposed rule would implement a recommendation from the Far West Spearmint Oil Administrative Committee (Committee) to increase the quantity of Class 3 (Native) spearmint oil that handlers may purchase from, or handle on behalf of, producers during the 2018-2019 marketing year. The Committee recommended this action to avoid extreme fluctuations in supplies and prices and to help maintain stability in the Far West spearmint oil market.

This proposed rule invites comments on a proposal to revise the reporting requirements under the Federal marketing order for pecans. The revised reporting requirements would enable the American Pecan Council (Council) to collect information from handlers on the average handler price paid and the average shelled pecan yield. The Council would use this information to provide important statistical reports to the industry and meet requirements under the marketing order.

This final rule establishes regulations for seasons, harvest limits, and methods and means related to the taking of wildlife for subsistence uses in Alaska for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 regulatory years. The Federal Subsistence Board (Board) completes the biennial process of revising subsistence hunting and trapping regulations in even-numbered years and subsistence fishing and shellfish regulations in odd-numbered years; public proposal and review processes take place during the preceding year. The Board also addresses customary and traditional use determinations during the applicable biennial cycle. This rule also revises the general regulations on subsistence taking of fish and wildlife and customary and traditional use determinations for wildlife.