Department of Agriculture 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This is an extension, without change, of a currently approved information collection request (ICR). 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 for the Annual State Report of Verification of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Participation. The purpose of the Annual State Report of Verification of SNAP Participants is to ensure that no person who is deceased, or has been permanently disqualified from SNAP, improperly received SNAP benefits for the fiscal year preceding the report submission. Section 4032 of the Agriculture Act of 2014 is the basis for this collection. Section 4032 mandates that States will ``submit to the Secretary a report containing sufficient information for the Secretary to determine whether the State agency has, for the most recently concluded fiscal year preceding that annual date, verified that the State agency in that fiscal year(1) did not issue benefits to a deceased individual; and (2) did not issue benefits to an individual who had been permanently disqualified from receiving benefits.'' An email from each State agency to the corresponding Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Regional SNAP Program Director containing the answers to the above questions will be used as the mechanism for State agencies to report their compliance with Sec. 4032 of the Agriculture Act of 2014.

The Rural Housing Service announces the low loan-to-cost ratio required for loans guaranteed under Option Three (Continuous Guarantee) of the Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing Program (GRRHP). The low loan- to-cost ratio is defined as a maximum of 70 percent in order for a loan to be eligible for a single continuous guarantee for construction and permanent loans. The Rural Housing Service is not modifying the lease- up reserves or percent of guarantee previously established for this program.

This rule contains formatting changes to subpart references to bring the headings into conformance with the Office of Federal Register requirements. In addition, we are updating authority citations and making minor editorial changes to the regulations.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, intends to grant to Golden Valley Organics, Inc. dba BioWest Ag Solutions of Nampa, Idaho, an exclusive license to U.S. Patent No. 9,578,884, ``PSEUDOMONAS SPECIES HAVING WEED-SUPPRESSIVE ACTIVITY AND BENIGN SOIL SURVIVAL TRAITS FOR ANNUAL GRASS WEED MANAGEMENT'', issued on February 28, 2017.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request the reinstatement of an information collection associated with the Federal plant pest and noxious weeds regulations.

This rule implements 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 will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) proposes to amend its regulations to update a number of outdated administrative and organizational references, clarify agency action as it relates to the withdrawal or denial of service, update the official shields and grademarks associated with the grading service, and make reference to the use of instrument grading equipment as a means of determining official grades on beef and lamb carcasses.

This rule will remove seven voluntary U.S. grade standards and one consumer standard for fresh fruits and vegetables from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). This regulatory action is being taken as part of USDA's work to eliminate regulations that are outdated, unnecessary, ineffective, or impose costs that exceed benefits. None of the eight voluntary standards slated for removal from the CFR are related to a current, active marketing order, import regulation, or export act. The cost of printing these eight standards in the CFR annually exceeds the benefits of further inclusion in the CFR. These voluntary standards and all subsequent revisions or new standards for these products will be available in a separate publication. The standards for the affected commodities will continue to be administered by the AMS Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) Division and catalogued using the existing numbering system for voluntary standards. Any proposed, new, or revised voluntary standards will appear in the Federal Register with the opportunity for public comment.

This proposed rule invites comments on a recommendation to revise the size requirements currently prescribed under the federal marketing order for Irish potatoes grown in Colorado. This action would revise the minimum size requirement for U.S. No. 2 or better grade round potatoes to align with the current size requirements for all other types of U.S. No. 2 or better grade potatoes. In addition, this rule would revise the size requirements for smaller size profile U.S. Commercial grade or better potatoes.

This proposed rule would establish regulations for hunting and trapping seasons, harvest limits, and methods and means related to taking of wildlife for subsistence uses during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 regulatory years. The Federal Subsistence Board is on a schedule of completing the process of revising subsistence taking of wildlife regulations in even-numbered years and subsistence taking of fish 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 cycle. When final, the resulting rulemaking will replace the existing subsistence wildlife taking regulations. This rule would also amend the general regulations on subsistence taking of fish and wildlife.