Department of Agriculture November 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

As part of a Federal Government-wide effort to streamline the process to seek feedback from the public on service delivery, the Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Service Agency (FSA) has submitted a Generic Information Collection Request (Generic ICR): ``Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery'' to OMB for approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).

This document corrects the Supplementary Information to a proposed rule published in the Federal Register on October 5, 2020, regarding amendments to the Lamb Promotion, Research, and Information Order. This correction clarifies the assessment remittance process described in Examples 1 and 2 and removes the first paragraph in Example 5.

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. This rule adds non-organic tamarind seed gum as an allowed ingredient in organic products when certified organic tamarind seed gum is not commercially available.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS or the Agency), an agency of the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA or the Department), is issuing a final rule to add regulations that will ensure the integrity of the supplemental allotments created by Section 1101 of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), as amended by the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act (CR) for households with children who would have otherwise received free or reduced price school meals under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, but for school closures or reduction in the number of days or hours that students attend school in response to the ongoing and national Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency. Such allotments are referred to as Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P- EBT) benefits. The CR extended the authority for P-EBT through Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, and also authorized P-EBT for households with at least one child enrolled in a covered child care facility (as defined by Section 1101(i)(1) of the FFCRA, as amended) and the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) when the covered child care facility is closed or has reduced attendance or hours or one or more schools in the area of the covered child care facility are closed or have reduced attendance or hours. This final rule would also safeguard the integrity of SNAP, as P-EBT operates within the SNAP infrastructure. USDA FNS is responsible for administering P-EBT and SNAP at the Federal level.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has received a petition from Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. seeking a determination of nonregulated status for DP23211 maize (corn). The corn is engineered for insect resistance against corn rootworm and contains the gene that codes for the phosphinothricin acetyltransferase protein responsible for tolerance to glufosinate-ammonium herbicides. DP23211 corn also contains the gene that encodes for the phosphomannose isomerase protein, which is used as a selectable marker. We are making the petition available for review and comment to help us identify potential issues and impacts that APHIS may determine should be considered in our evaluation of the petition.