Department of Agriculture 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule implements a recommendation from the Kiwifruit Administrative Committee (Committee) to increase the assessment rate established for the 2022-23 and subsequent fiscal periods. The assessment rate will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

The U.S Codex Office is sponsoring a public meeting on May 25, 2023. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft U.S. positions to be discussed at the 54th Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), which will convene in Beijing, China from June 26-July 1, 2023. 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 54th Session of the CCPR and to address items on the agenda.

The Forest Service (Forest Service or Agency), United States Department of Agriculture, is issuing a final permanent seasonal order prohibiting prairie dog hunting annually from February 1 to August 15 in Management Area 3.67 of the Douglas Ranger District in the Thunder Basin National Grassland, which covers approximately 42,000 acres in Campbell, Converse, and Weston Counties, Wyoming.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is seeking persons or governmental agencies interested in providing official services in the area noted below to submit an application for designation. Designation provides for private entities or state governmental agencies to be an integral part of the official grain inspection system (https:// www.ams.usda.gov/services/fgis/official-grain-inspection-weig hing- system). Designated agencies work under the supervision of the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) and are authorized to provide official inspection and/or weighing services in a defined geographical area. In addition, AMS requests comments on the USGSA service need in this area. AMS encourages submissions from traditionally underrepresented individuals, organizations, and businesses to reflect the diversity of this industry. AMS encourages submissions from qualified applicants, regardless of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service is extending the public comment period on the proposed rule, ``Child Nutrition Programs: Revisions to Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans,'' which published in the Federal Register on February 7, 2023. This action extends the public comment period from April 10, 2023, to May 10, 2023, to give the public additional time to review the proposed rule.

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 regulations governing importation of cattle and bison, specifically with regard to classification of regions at designated status levels for bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis, and establishing conditions for the importation of cattle and bison from regions with the various classifications.

The United States Grain Standards Act (USGSA) designations of the official agencies listed in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below will end on the prescribed dates. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is seeking persons or governmental agencies interested in providing official services in the areas presently served by these agencies to apply for designation. Designation provides for private entities or state governmental agencies to be an integral part of the official grain inspection system (https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/fgis/ official-grain-inspection-weighing-system). Designated agencies work under the supervision of the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) and are authorized to provide official inspection and weighing services in a defined geographic area. In addition, we request comments on the quality of services provided by the following designated agencies: Grain Inspection, Inc. (Jamestown); Lincoln Grain Inspection Service, Inc. (Lincoln); Midsouth Grain Inspection Service (Midsouth); Kansas Grain Inspection Service, Inc. (Kansas); Mid-Iowa Grain Inspection, Inc. (Mid-Iowa); Minot Grain Inspection, Inc. (Minot); Tri-State Grain Inspection, Inc. (Tri-State); Idaho Grain Inspection Service, Inc. (Idaho); Ohio Valley Grain Inspection, Inc. (Ohio Valley); California Agri Inspection Co., Ltd. (California); and Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (Virginia). AMS encourages submissions from traditionally underrepresented individuals, organizations, and businesses to reflect the diversity of this industry. AMS encourages submissions from qualified applicants, regardless of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. AMS is also asking for comments on the quality of official services at export port locations provided by delegated state agencies Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (Virginia) and Wisconsin Department of Agriculture (Wisconsin). AMS considers comments and other available information when determining certification.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, section 1408 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977, and the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announces a meeting of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board, National Genetic Resources Advisory Council (NGRAC), a subcommittee of NAREEE.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will hold a public meeting of the Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Advisory Committee (UAIPAC). UAIPAC will reconvene to continue the discussion of the interim recommendations for the Secretary of Agriculture on the development of policies and outreach relating to urban, indoor, and other emerging agriculture production practices. UAIPAC is authorized under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) intention to request approval, from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), for an extension of and revision to the currently approved information collection of the Federal Seed Act Labeling and Enforcement.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is proposing to amend the regulation that defines two of the seven spot designated spot markets and change the names of the affected markets. Specifically, cotton grown in Oklahoma and Kansas would be moved from the East Texas/ Oklahoma spot market to the West Texas spot market. It also changes the names of these two markets to describe the markets more accurately.

The Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is seeking nominations for the Secure Rural School Resource Advisory Committees (SRS RACs) pursuant to the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (the Act) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). Additional information on the SRS RACs can be found by visiting the SRS RACs website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/ working-with-us/secure-rural-schools.

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 governing approval and maintenance of livestock marketing establishments and facilities, withdrawal or denial of livestock marketing facilities and slaughtering and rendering facilities, and blood and tissue collection and recordkeeping at these facilities.

The Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement (OPPE) is seeking nominations for individuals to serve on the Advisory Committee on Minority Farmers (``Advisory Committee''). The Advisory Committee consists of 15 members who are expected to serve a 2-year term and may be reappointed for an additional two terms. Advisory Committee members will represent historically underserved farmers and farming communities and should also reflect the diversity of agriculture in geography, size, scale, type of production. The membership shall include: six (6) or more farmers or ranchers; two (2) or more individuals from minority serving institutions of higher education; two (2) or more individuals from community-based nonprofit organizations; and two (2) or more individuals with civil rights and equity expertise.

This rulemaking proposes to expand access to the Community Eligibility Provision by lowering the minimum identified student percentage participation threshold from 40 percent to 25 percent, which would give States and schools greater flexibility to choose to invest non-Federal funds to offer no-cost meals to all enrolled students. As a result, more students, families, and schools would have an opportunity to experience the benefits of the Community Eligibility Provision, including access to meals at no cost, eliminating unpaid meal charges, minimizing stigma, reducing paperwork for school nutrition staff and families, and streamlining meal service operations. When all students have access to healthy school meals, meal participation tends to increase, and more children can experience nutritional benefits that fuel their learning, growth, and development. This proposed rule would also support State and local choices to expand the availability of free school meals for all through programs supported by State or local funding. Lowering the eligibility threshold would allow States and local educational agencies to optimize use of the Community Eligibility Provision, helping them to support school meals in a more streamlined manner.

The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting according to the details shown below. The committee is authorized under the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The purpose of the committee is to provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) on the selection of collaborative forest landscape restoration proposals. General information can be found at the following website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/restoration/CFLRP/advisory- panel.shtml.

We are extending the comment period for our proposed rule that would amend the animal disease traceability regulations. The proposed rule would require that eartags applied on or after a date 6 months (180 days) after publication in the Federal Register of a final rule following the proposed rule to be both visually and electronically readable in order to be recognized for use as official eartags for interstate movement of cattle and bison covered under the regulations. We also proposed to clarify certain record retention and record access requirements and revise some requirements pertaining to slaughter cattle. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

This notice announces that the Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS, Agency), a Rural Development (RD) agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), invites applications for grants under the Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant (SDGG) program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. This notice is being issued to allow applicants sufficient time to leverage financing, prepare and submit their applications, and give the Agency time to process applications within FY 2023. A total of $3,000,000 in grant funding will be available for FY 2023. Successful applications will be selected by the Agency for funding and subsequently awarded to the extent that funding may ultimately be made available through appropriations. All applicants are responsible for any expenses incurred in developing and submitting their applications.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) requirement, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) is requesting comments from all interested individuals and organizations on a revision of two currently approved information collection requests, Direct Loan ServicingRegular and Servicing Minor Program Loans, respectively. In the Direct Loan ServicingRegular, the information is used to determine borrower compliance with loan agreements, assist the borrower in achieving business goals, and regular servicing of the loan account such as graduation, subordination, partial release, use of proceeds, and consent. In Servicing Minor Program Loans, the information collected is used to perform routine and special servicing actions for loans authorized and serviced under FSA's Minor Loan Program.

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is announcing the availability of funding to assist grain producers because eligible disaster events damaged or destroyed local commercial grain facilities. To assist producers in the impacted areas, FSA will provide financial assistance under the Emergency Grain Storage Facility Assistance Program (EGSFP). Eligible grain producers in affected counties impacted by eligible disaster events that damaged or destroyed local commercial grain elevators from December 1, 2021, to August 1, 2022, may be eligible for cost-share assistance to construct needed storage facilities to meet on-farm grain storage capacity and handling needs necessary to support the marketing of grain. Grain producers in affected counties in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee and any other affected counties as determined and announced by the Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs (DAFP) are eligible to apply.