Department of Agriculture 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are giving notice that the Secretary of Agriculture is soliciting nominations for the election of a member at-large and regional members and their alternates for the General Conference Committee of the National Poultry Improvement Plan.

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 Agricultural Prices Surveys. Revision to burden hours will be needed due to changes in the size of the target population, sampling design, and/or questionnaire length.

This proposed rule would implement a recommendation from the Spearmint Oil Administrative Committee (Committee) to increase the assessment rate established for the 2020-2021 and subsequent marketing years. The proposed assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is issuing a final rule to implement statutory provisions of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill). The intent of this rule is to modify existing regulations to include the statutory revisions authorized by the 2018 Farm Bill.

This notice lists the newspapers that will be used by all Ranger Districts, Forests, Grasslands, and the Regional Office of the Northern Region to publish legal notices for public comment and decisions subject to predecisional administrative review. The intended effect of this action is to inform interested members of the public which newspapers will be used to publish legal notices for public comment or decisions, thereby allowing them to receive constructive notice of a decision, to provide clear evidence of timely notice, and to achieve consistency in administering the objection processes.

We are extending the comment period for our notice seeking input from the public as we prepare an update to our technical guidelines and science-based methods to quantify greenhouse gas sources and sinks from the agriculture and forest sectors at the entity-scale This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

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 the importation of live fish, fertilized eggs, and gametes from tilapia lake virus-susceptible species into the United States.

We are advising the public that we have added Indonesia to the list of regions that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service considers to be affected with African swine fever (ASF). We have taken this action because of confirmation of ASF in Indonesia.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has received a petition from Agrivida, Inc. (Agrivida) seeking a determination of nonregulated status for maize designated as Maize Event PY203, which has been genetically engineered for the production of phytase enzyme. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are making the Agrivida petition available for review and comment to help us identify potential issues and impacts that APHIS should be considering in our evaluation of the petition.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC Program or WIC) is issuing this Request for Information to obtain input from WIC State agencies, authorized vendors, food manufacturers, technology partners, and other interested stakeholders regarding the direction of the National Universal Product Code (NUPC) database. The NUPC database can be used by WIC State agencies delivering benefits via Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) to develop, update and maintain their Authorized Product Lists (APLs). FNS is specifically interested in obtaining stakeholder perspectives on the role of the NUPC database to the program community, and different options for operating, maintaining, and/or enhancing the database. FNS welcomes comments from all interested stakeholders. As a background, on January 30, 2020, FNS issued the initial Request for Information, beginning a 60-day public comment period. Public involvement opportunities including public meetings, are now being modified based on considerations for employee and public health and safety. We recognize that there is a need to reopen the comment period to accommodate meaningful public involvement. FNS is reopening the comment period to provide additional time for interested parties to review this Request for Information.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to request renewal of the approved information collection regarding poultry slaughter inspection. There are no changes to the existing information collection. The approval for this information collection will expire on September 30, 2020.

Jeff E. Schramm, the Forest Supervisor for the Chugach National Forest, Alaska Region, has signed the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Revised Land Management Plan (Land Management Plan) for the Chugach National Forest. The ROD documents the rationale for approving the Land Management Plan and is consistent with the Objection Review Official's response to objections and instructions.

We are advising the public of our decision to authorize the importation of five species of commercially produced fresh citrus fruit (pummelo, Nanfeng honey mandarin, ponkan, sweet orange, and Satsuma mandarin) from China into the continental United States. Based on the findings of the pest risk analysis, which we made available to the public to review and comment through a previous notice, we have concluded that the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of these five species of citrus fruit from China.

Lutsen Mountains Corporation (LMC) has submitted a proposal to the Superior National Forest (SNF) to implement select projects at Lutsen Mountains Resort (Lutsen Mountains). All projects are identified within the Lutsen Mountains 2016 Master Development Plan (MDP). The SNF is initiating the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze and disclose the potential environmental effects of implementing the projects.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the above-named Agency to request Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a revision of a currently approved information collection in support of the servicing of Loan Programs.

The U.S. Codex Office is sponsoring a public meeting on May 5, 2020. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and corresponding United States (U.S.) positions discussed at the 29th Session of the Codex Committee on Processed Fruits and Vegetables (CCPFV29), which is working by correspondence in preparation for U.S. participation in the Codex Alimentarius Commission. 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 29th Session of the CCPFV and to address items on the agenda.

The Rural-Business Cooperative Service (RBCS), Rural Housing Service (RHS), and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) agencies of the Rural Development mission area, hereinafter referred to as Agency, issued a notification in the Federal Register on March 31, 2020, that allows lenders with guaranteed loans with the Agency to unilaterally offer payment deferrals for the period specified in the notice to their customers who may be experiencing temporary cash flow issues due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This notification supplements the prior notification and includes additional servicing flexibilities regarding Agency guaranteed loan requirements as they relate to the new loans that are covered by Section 1102 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

This rule revises the reporting requirements prescribed under the Federal marketing order regulating the handling of pecans. This action reduces the number of monthly reporting requirements, revises the requirements for inter-handler transfers, and makes other conforming changes to the reporting requirements.

This notice announces Office of Communications' to request a revision and extension of a currently approved information collection, Event Appearance for the Secretary or Members of his Staff, OMB Control number 0506-0005.