Department of Agriculture – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is seeking nominations for individuals to serve on the USDA Grain Inspection Advisory Committee (Advisory Committee). The Advisory Committee meets no less than once annually to advise AMS on the programs and services it delivers under the U.S. Grain Standards Act (USGSA). The committee is governed in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Recommendations by the Advisory Committee help AMS better meet the needs of its customers who operate in a dynamic and changing marketplace.

The USDA Forest Service, Washington Office, in accordance with section 3(b) and section 3(d)(1) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, is transmitting the final boundary of Cottonwood Creek National Wild and Scenic River to Congress and is providing notice of availability of the Cottonwood Creek Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive River Management Plan. The comprehensive river management plan and boundary for Cottonwood Creek Wild and Scenic River are available for review online at the following websites: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/inyo/ ?project=57325 and https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/ 1505640/570.

Pursuant to the provisions of the rules and regulations of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), notice is hereby given that a public meeting of the Advisory Committee on Minority Farmers (ACMF) will be convened. During this public meeting, the ACMF will consider USDA programs and policies and their impacts on minority farmers. The ACMF will recommend action-oriented strategies that maximize the participation of minority farmers in USDA programs and services.

This notice announces the national average value of donated foods or, where applicable, cash in lieu of donated foods, to be provided in school year 2025 (July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025) for each lunch served by schools participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and for each lunch and supper served by institutions participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).

This notice lists the updated quantity-based trigger levels for products which may be subject to additional import duties under the safeguard provisions of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. This notice also includes the relevant period applicable for the trigger levels on each of the listed products.

This rulemaking implements a recommendation from the Florida Tomato Committee (Committee) to increase the assessment rate established for the 2023-2024 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.025 to $0.035 per 25-pound container of tomatoes or equivalent. The assessment rate will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

We are notifying the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is soliciting the public to respond to this Request for Information (RFI) as part of our stakeholder engagement to explore pathways to commercialization for modified microbes subject to APHIS jurisdiction, consistent with the APHIS regulations for the movement of organisms modified or produced through genetic engineering. In response to the Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP's) RFI "Identifying Ambiguities, Gaps, Inefficiencies, and Uncertainties in the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology" issued in December 2022 pursuant to Executive Order 14081, multiple commenters expressed a need for clear regulatory pathways to commercialization for modified microbes. Therefore, we are requesting comments from the public regarding pathways to commercialization, including needs, ideas, and concerns, regarding possible APHIS risk- based deregulation of modified microbes and other potential regulatory and non-regulatory pathways to commercialization. The information provided will help to identify potential criteria and mechanisms for risk-based deregulation, develop a regulatory framework that could inform future rulemaking, and identify potential non-regulatory solutions.

The Black Hills National Forest Advisory Board will hold a public meeting according to the details shown below. The board is authorized under the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, the National Forest Management Act of 1976, the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The purpose of the board is to provide advice and recommendations on a broad range of forest issues such as forest plan revisions or amendments, forest health including fire and insects and disease, travel management, forest monitoring and evaluation, recreation fees, and site-specific projects having forest- wide implications.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, is adopting multiple categorical exclusions (CEs) from several agencies as listed: Department of Commerce CEs A4 and A6; Department of Energy CE B5.23; Bureau of Land Management CE D2; National Telecommunications and Information Administration CEs C-4 through C-8; and Bureau of Indian Affairs CE L.1 pursuant to section 109 of the National Environmental Policy Act for future application to Forest Service decisions concerning land management activities that are similar in nature.. This notice describes the categories and details the consultation between the respective agencies.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS, Agency), a Rural Development (RD) agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces the availability of funding for applications under its Native Community Development Financial Institution (NCDFI) Relending Demonstration Program for fiscal year (FY) 2024. The purpose of this notice is to announce the opening and closing dates for receipt of applications for the NCDFI Relending Demonstration Program from eligible applicants, as well as submission requirements. These loans will be made to qualified NCDFIs to relend funds to low- and very low- income ultimate recipients to acquire, build, rehabilitate, improve, or relocate dwellings on Tribal Land in rural areas. This program has the amount of $5,000,000 available for FY 24. Applicants are responsible for any expenses incurred in developing their applications.

This notice informs the public of the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standard-setting activities of the Codex Alimentarius (Codex), in accordance with section 491 of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, as amended, and the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. This notice also provides a list of other standard-setting activities of Codex, including commodity standards, guidelines, codes of practice, and revised texts. This notice, which covers Codex activities during the time periods of June 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024, and June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025, seeks comments on standards under consideration and recommendations for new standards.

Pursuant to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act (Act), the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary), with the publication of this Notice, transfers administrative jurisdiction to approximately 11,760 acres of land (Federal land), located in the Chippewa National Forest in Cass County, Minnesota, to the Secretary of the Interior to be held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, referred to in the Act as the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (LLBO or Tribe). A table containing the legal descriptions of the lands to which administrative jurisdiction is hereby transferred, along with accompanying Exhibit A, identifying existing public roads, and Exhibit B, identifying existing Forest roads and a Forest trail that the Forest Service will continue to operate pursuant to the terms of reserved easement rights approved by the Tribe, are provided at the end of this notice.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking public input on procedures for the quantification, reporting, and verification of the effect of climate-smart farming practices on the greenhouse gas (GHG) net emissions estimates associated with the production of domestic (i.e., grown in the U.S.) agricultural commodities used as biofuel feedstocks. Agricultural management practices that mitigate GHG emissions and/or sequester soil carbon can be integrated into GHG analysis to reflect the differing GHG outcomes of feedstocks based on their production. However, many clean transportation fuel programs currently do not assign lower carbon intensity (CI) estimates (i.e., lower lifecycle GHG emissions of the fuel per unit of energy) to crops grown with climate-smart practices relative to the same crops grown with conventional farming practices. This Request for Information seeks information on practices that have the potential to mitigate GHG emissions and/or sequester carbon, and quantification, reporting, and verification approaches for the GHG outcomes associated with domestic agricultural commodities used as biofuel feedstocks.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is revising the U.S. Standards for Grades of Pecans in the Shell and the U.S. Standards for Grades of Shelled Pecans by replacing the current grades with U.S. Extra Fancy, U.S. Fancy, U.S. Choice, and U.S. Standard grades. In addition, AMS is updating terminology, definitions, and defect scoring guides.

We are advising the public of the changes made to our lists of domestic quarantined areas in the past year. These changes may be viewed on the relevant plant pest programs' websites.

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS), Rural Housing Service (RHS), and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), agencies of the Rural Development mission area within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), hereinafter collectively referred to as the Agency, offer loan guarantees through four programs: Community Facilities (CF) administered by the RHS; Water and Waste Disposal (WWD) administered by the RUS; and Business and Industry (B&I) and Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) administered by the RBCS. This notice provides applicants with the Guarantee Fee rates, Guarantee percentage for Guaranteed Loans, the Periodic Retention Fee, and Fee for Issuance of the Loan Note Guarantee Prior to Construction Completion for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. These fees are to be used when applying for loan note guarantees under the guaranteed loan types listed above during FY2025. This notice is being published prior to the passage of a FY 2025 appropriation. Should the fees need to be adjusted after passage of the FY 2025 appropriations, the agency will publish a subsequent notice in the Federal Register.

The U.S. Codex Office is sponsoring a public meeting on September 3, 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 44th Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU44) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), which will convene in Dresden, Germany, from October 2-6, 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 44th Session of the CCNFSDU and to address items on the agenda.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS or the Agency), a Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is issuing this document to continue to waive two regulatory requirements for the Section 504 Direct Single Family Housing Loans and Grants (DSFHLG) pilot program while the Agency contemplates a future rulemaking to remove regulatory barriers to assist eligible applicants with improved ease of use for very low-income homeowners seeking to repair or rehabilitate their homes. This document briefly discusses the waivers that the Agency intends to continue and provides contact information for additional details about the pilot program.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, FSIS is announcing its intention to renew an approved information collection regarding partner collaboration in response to illness outbreaks associated with FSIS-regulated food products. This information collection continues to inform FSIS partner outreach efforts to effectively investigate and prevent foodborne illnesses. There are no changes to the existing information collection. The approval for this information collection will expire on November 30, 2024.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the Foreign Agricultural Service to request approval to revise the currently approved information collection for the USDA's Trade Missions and Trade Shows programs.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposes to revise the regulations governing the inspection and certification for fresh fruits, vegetables, and other products by amending certain fees charged for Section 8e import inspections from a per-carlot basis to a per-pound basis, reducing the fee for each additional sublot by 50 percent, and establishing a new fee calculation for lots less than a carlot. These revisions are necessary to recover, as nearly as practicable, the costs of performing inspection services on imported commodities in accordance with the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 the Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS or Agency), an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rural Development (RD), announces its intention to request an extension to a currently approved information collection package for Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) program. The Agency invites comments on this information collection for which it intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS') intention to request approval of a new information collection associated with the APHIS National Incident Management System Training and Exercise Program that provides Federal Emergency Management Agency- related training to respondents responding to plant, pest, and animal disease outbreaks.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) proposes to adjust the number of members on the United Soybean Board (Board) to reflect changes in production levels that have occurred since the Board was last reapportioned in 2021. As required by the Soybean Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act (Act), membership on the Board is reviewed every 3 years and adjustments are made accordingly. The proposed changes would result in a decrease in Board membership for the State of North Dakota from 4 members to 3 members and an increase in Board membership for the State of New York from 1 member to 2 members, thus the total number of Board members would remain at 77. These changes would be reflected in the Soybean Promotion and Research Order (Order) and would be effective with the Secretary of Agriculture's (Secretary) appointments for terms in the year 2025.