Department of Agriculture – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail (PNT) Advisory Council will hold public meetings according to the details shown below. The Council is authorized under the National Trails System Act (the Act) and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The purpose of the Council is to advise and make recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Chief of the Forest Service, on matters relating to the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail as described in the Act.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announces the availability of the Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the AMS Local Meat Capacity Grant Program.

We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk analysis that evaluates the risks associated with importation of fresh rhizomes of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) for consumption from Mexico into the United States. Based on the analysis, we have determined 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 fresh rhizomes of turmeric from Mexico. We are making the pest risk analysis available to the public for review and comment.

In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Oil Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision, and the Consent Decree referenced below, the Federal and State natural resource trustee agencies for the Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group (MS TIG) have prepared and are making available to the public the ``Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group Final Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats; Nutrient Reduction (Nonpoint Source), and Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities'' (Final RP4 and EA); and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The Final RP4 and EA analyzes projects to partially restore wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats; reduce nutrient pollution (nonpoint source); and provide and enhance recreational opportunities to compensate for lost recreational use in the Mississippi Restoration Area resulting from the DWH oil spill. The Final RP4 and EA evaluates a reasonable range of project alternatives under OPA, the OPA Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) regulations, and NEPA and the NEPA implementing regulations, and selects seven projects for funding and implementation. A No Action alternative is also evaluated for each of the restoration types. The estimated cost to implement MS TIG's proposed action (seven preferred alternatives) is $26.4 million. Of this amount, $18,500,000 will be funded from the Wetlands, Coastal and Nearshore Habitats restoration allocation, $5,000,000 from the Nutrient Reduction restoration allocation, and $2,853,000 from the Recreational Use restoration allocation.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS or Agency), a Rural Development (RD) agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), proposes to amend its regulation to implement changes related to the smoke alarm requirements for properties that receive funding from the MFH Section 515 Rural Rental Housing and the Section 514/516 Farm Labor Housing Direct Loan and Grant programs. These proposed changes are intended to align the Agency's smoke alarm requirements with the new qualifying smoke alarm standards set forth in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (Act). The Act requires each unit of federally assisted housing to contain hardwired or 10-year non- rechargeable, sealed, tamper-resistant, battery-powered smoke alarm devices.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights to request a renewal to a currently approved information collection for race, ethnicity, and gender along with comments.

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS, Agency), a Rural Development (RD) agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), invites applications under the Rural Innovation Stronger Economy (RISE) program for fiscal year (FY) 2024, subject to the availability of funding. The Agency estimates $2,000,000 will be available for the RISE Program for FY 2024. Selected applicants will use Agency grant funds to provide financial assistance in support of innovation centers and job accelerator programs that improve the ability of distressed rural communities to create high wage jobs, accelerate the formation of new businesses, and help rural communities identify and maximize local assets. All applicants are responsible for any expenses incurred in developing their applications.

This notice announces the reconvening of the national public hearing which began on August 23, 2023, in Carmel, Indiana, to consider and take evidence on proposals to amend the pricing formulas in the 11 Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs).

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is correcting non- substantive errors in the regulatory text of the Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards (OLPS) final rule published on November 2, 2023. The corrections are intended to improve readability and clarity.

This proposed rule would implement a recommendation from the California Date Administrative Committee (Committee) to decrease the assessment rate established for the 2023-2024 and subsequent crop years. The proposed assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

The U.S. Codex Office is sponsoring a public meeting on February 5, 2024. 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 Food Hygiene (CCFH) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). CCFH54 will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from March 11-March 15, 2024. 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 CCFH and to address items on the agenda.

Pursuant to section 135 of the Trade Act of 1974 and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, notice is hereby given that the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary), in coordination with the United States Trade Representative (Trade Representative or USTR), is soliciting nominations for the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC) and the related Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees (ATACs) for Trade to provide detailed policy and technical advice, information, and recommendations regarding trade barriers, negotiation of trade agreements, and implementation of existing trade agreements affecting food and agricultural products, including the performance of other advisory functions relevant to U.S. agricultural trade policy matters. The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) continues to welcome nominations for persons to serve on APAC and ATACs. The APAC and ATACs charters were renewed on June 13, 2023, and the committees are in the public interest in connection with the duties of USDA imposed by the Trade Act of 1974, as amended.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will hold a public meeting of the Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Advisory Committee (UAIPAC). UAIPAC will convene to discuss proposed 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.

FSIS is announcing the 2024 rates it will charge meat, poultry, and egg products establishments, and importers and exporters for providing voluntary, overtime, and holiday inspection and identification, certification, and laboratory services. Additionally, FSIS is announcing that there will be no changes to the fee FSIS assesses to exporters that choose to apply for export certificates electronically through the export component of the Agency's Public Health Information System. The 2024 basetime, overtime, holiday, and laboratory services rates will be applied on January 14, 2024.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) is requesting comments from all interested individuals and entities on an extension of a currently approved information collection associated with FSA county committee elections. The collection of information from FSA farmers and ranchers is used to receive nominations from eligible voters for the FSA county committee.

The United States Department of Agriculture (Department) is proposing to amend all land management plans for units of the National Forest System (128 plans in total) to include consistent direction to conserve and steward existing and recruit future old-growth forest conditions and to monitor their condition across planning areas of the National Forest System. The intent is to foster the long-term resilience of old-growth forest conditions and their contributions to ecological integrity across the National Forest System. This notice initiates a scoping period on a preliminary proposed action and advises the public that the Department is preparing an environmental impact statement to evaluate the effects of amending the 128 land management plans.

The Northwest Forest Plan Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting according to the details shown below. The Committee is authorized under the National Forest Management Act (the Act) and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The purpose of the Committee is to provide advice and pragmatic recommendations regarding potential regional scale land management planning approaches and solutions within the Northwest Forest Plan Area within the context of the 2012 planning rule.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed to make changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program's Quality Control (SNAP QC) system to strengthen and improve the integrity and accuracy of the system and to better align SNAP QC with requirements in the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA). When published, the proposed rule included an incorrect email address for comments; the reopening of the comment period is intended to allow additional time for the public to submit comments in the event the original comment submission was returned as undeliverable due to the incorrect email address.

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is requesting information on proposed revisions to the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act Report (FSA-153 form). The FSA-153 requires updating. Specifically, the FSA-153 form needs clarification and updating to ensure that foreign owners (or long-term lessees) who are required to file the FSA- 153 form have clear instructions and that USDA is collecting the most precise and meaningful data, so that the report to Congress is as accurate and insightful as possible. Foreign owners are investors who buy, sell, or hold a direct or indirect interest in U.S. agricultural land (or who hold long-term leases on agricultural land) and must report their holdings and transactions to USDA on the FSA-153 form. USDA uses the information on the submitted forms to generate the report that it submits to Congress. FSA is moving towards modernizing the collection of information process, clarifying and modernizing the FSA- 153 form, and if funding becomes available, creating an electronic submission system that will allow foreign owners to report by filing electronically. In addition, this document requests public input for our plan to revise not only the information request, but ultimately, the regulation (which will likely result in further modifications at a later date to the FSA-153 form).

The Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest Regions of the Forest Service, USDA, are proposing to amend the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP). The amendment would apply to those Forest Service units, or parts thereof, with land management plans amended in 1994 by the NWFP or with land management plans developed later to include provisions of the NWFP. Units in the Pacific Northwest Region (Region 6) include: Deschutes National Forest, Fremont-Winema National Forest, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Mt. Hood National Forest, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, Olympic National Forest, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Siuslaw National Forest, Umpqua National Forest, and Willamette National Forest. Units in the Pacific Southwest Region (Region 5) include: Klamath National Forest and Butte Valley National Grassland, Lassen National Forest, Mendocino National Forest, Modoc National Forest, Six Rivers National Forest, and Shasta-Trinity National Forest. This notice initiates a scoping period on a preliminary proposed action and advises the public that the Forest Service is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the effects of amending the Northwest Forest Plan.