Department of Agriculture 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) invites comments on this information collection for which approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will be requested.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service is giving notice of its intent to close the Mark Twain National Forest to the hunting of feral swine in advance of the public comment period for the proposed closure. At the end of the notice of intent period, the Forest Service will solicit public comments, as specified in this notice, on the proposed forest order that would prohibit hunting of feral swine by the public on the Mark Twain National Forest in support of interagency efforts to eliminate feral swine across all land ownership in the State of Missouri.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing Service (RHS) invites comments on this information collection for Community Facilities Technical Assistance and Training Grant Program, for which the Agency intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will be requested. The Community Facilities Technical Assistance and Training (TAT) is a competitive grant program, which RHS administers. Section 306 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (CONACT), was amended by Section 6006 of the Agriculture Act of 2014 to establish the Community Facilities Technical Assistance and Training Grant. Section 6006 authorized grants be made to public bodies and private nonprofit corporations (including Indian Tribes) that will serve rural areas for the purpose of enabling the grantees to provide to associations technical assistance and training with respect to essential community facilities authorized under Section 306(a)(1) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act. Grants can be made for 100 percent of the cost of assistance.

The South Central Idaho Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet in Jerome, Idaho. The committee is authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (the Act) and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The purpose of the committee is to improve collaborative relationships and to provide advice and recommendations to the Forest Service concerning projects and funding consistent with Title II of the Act.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974 as amended; Section 12204 of the Agricultural Act of 2014, Rural Development (RD) gives notice of its proposal to modify the system of records entitled USDA/RD-1 Current or Prospective Producers or Landowners, Applicants, Borrowers, Grantees, Tenants, and other participants in RD programs. To communicate the revision to the USDA RD-1 Systems of Records Notice in which the addition of Routine Use 26 below is published. However, this was not the only revised Routine Usethese were also revised: 1. Routine Use 21 was revised, 2. Routine Use 22 was added [OMB M-17-12 items], 3. In addition, Routine Uses 23 and 24 were renumbered to 24 and 25, respectively.

We are advising the public of our decision to revise the conditions regarding the importation into the continental United States of peppers from the Republic of Korea. We have decided that the mesh size of screenings over vent openings can be increased from 0.6 mm to 1.6 mm, provided that sticky traps are used as an additional measure for pest monitoring. This action modifies the conditions under which peppers from the Republic of Korea may be imported into the continental United States while continuing to protect against the introduction of quarantine pests.

We are notifying the public that we propose to make changes to the import requirements in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plants for Planting Manual for imports of Dianthus spp. (carnation) cuttings from Kenya. Currently, Dianthus spp. cuttings from Kenya require mandatory postentry quarantine within the United States. We are proposing to allow Dianthus spp. cuttings from Kenya to be imported into the United States without postentry quarantine, subject to certain conditions. These changes to the USDA Plants for Planting Manual would relieve restrictions on Dianthus spp. cuttings from Kenya while continuing to address the possible introduction of quarantine pests through the importation of such cuttings. We are making these changes available to the public for review and comment.

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

The U.S Codex Office is sponsoring a public meeting on June 21, 2019. 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 42nd Session of the of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 8- 12, 2019. The U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius and the Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 42nd Session of the CAC and to address items on the agenda.

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 an extension, without change, of a currently approved collection for annual outcome data for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment and Training (E&T) programs, as mandated by Section 16(h)(5) of the Food and Nutrition Act (FNA) and as amended by section 4022 of the Agricultural Act of 2014.

The Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill) made several minor changes to certain of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation programs and related requirements. The conservation programs and related requirements include the administration of the State Technical Committee, the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act Program, the Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP), the Technical Service Provider (TSP) Assistance provisions, and the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP). This rule makes changes to the existing regulations for the conservation programs that are consistent with the changes made by the 2018 Farm Bill.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposes to revise the U.S. Standards for Grades of Apples by removing smooth net-like russeting as a grade-determining factor in the U.S. Extra Fancy, U.S. Fancy, and U.S. No. 1 grades for Fuji apples. In addition, AMS proposes to remove obsolete references to the location where color standards may be examined and purchased. The changes will modernize the standards and meet growing consumer demand by providing greater marketing flexibility.

The Alabama Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet in Montgomery, Alabama. The committee is authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (the Act) and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The purpose of the committee is to improve collaborative relationships and to provide advice and recommendations to the Forest Service concerning projects and funding consistent with Title II of the Act. RAC information, including the meeting summary/minutes can be found at the following website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/alabama/workingtogether/ advisorycommittees.

The Southeast Washington Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet in Pomeroy, Washington. The committee is authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (the Act) and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The purpose of the committee is to improve collaborative relationships and to provide advice and recommendations to the Forest Service concerning projects and funding consistent with Title II of the Act.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and public agencies to comment on a proposed information collection. This collection is an extension, without change, of a currently approved collection for maintaining the National Disqualified List of institutions, day care home providers, and individuals that have been terminated or otherwise disqualified from Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) participation. These federal requirements affect eligibility under the CACFP. The State Agencies are required to enter data as institutions and individuals become disqualified from participating in the CACFP. The collection is the result of a FNS web-based system constructed to update and maintain the list of disqualified institutions and individuals so that no State agency or sponsoring organization may approve any entity on the National Disqualified List to ensure the integrity of the Program.

We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk analysis that evaluates the risks associated with importation of fresh mamey sapote fruit from Mexico into the continental United States. Based on the analysis, we have determined that the application of one or more phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of fresh mamey sapote fruit from Mexico. We are making the pest risk analysis available to the public for review and comment.

We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk analysis that evaluates the risks associated with importation of fresh soursop fruit from Mexico into the continental United States. Based on the analysis, we have determined that the application of one or more phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of fresh soursop fruit from Mexico. We are making the pest risk analysis available to the public for review and comment.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Rural Business-Cooperative Service's intention to request an extension for a currently approved information collection in support of the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program.

We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk analysis that evaluates the risks associated with the importation of fresh citrus fruit (pomelo, Nanfeng honey mandarin, ponkan, sweet orange, and Satsuma mandarin) from China into the continental United States. Based on the analysis, we have determined that the application of one or more phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of fresh citrus fruit from China. We are making the pest risk analysis available to the public for review and comment.

This final rule amends the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List) section of the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) organic regulations to implement recommendations submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). This rule adds elemental sulfur to the National List for use in organic livestock production and reclassifies potassium acid tartrate from a non- agricultural substance to an agricultural substance and requires the organic form of the ingredient when commercially available. This rule also corrects the amendatory instructions to ensure proper placement of the regulatory text.