Farm Service Agency 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) are announcing that the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Four Corners Power Plant (FCPP) and Navajo Mine Energy Project is available for public review. The Deputy Secretary for the Department of the Interior, Director of OSMRE, Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) signed the ROD on [July 15, 2015], which constitutes the final decision of the Department.

We (the U.S. Geological Survey) are notifying the public that we have submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the information collection request (ICR) described below. To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this ICR.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (hereinafter Service or we) is proposing to establish the 2015-16 early-season hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds. We annually prescribe frameworks, or outer limits, for dates and times when hunting may occur and the maximum number of birds that may be taken and possessed in early seasons. Early seasons may open as early as September 1, and include seasons in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These frameworks are necessary to allow State selections of specific final seasons and limits and to allow recreational harvest at levels compatible with population status and habitat conditions. This proposed rule also provides the regulatory alternatives for the 2015-16 duck hunting seasons.

Pursuant to Public Law 106-503, the National Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council (NEPEC) will hold its next meeting at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. The Committee is comprised of members from academia, industry, and State government. The Committee shall advise the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on matters relating to the USGS's participation in the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. At the meeting, the Council will receive briefings and updates on: The USGS's strategic plan for operational earthquake forecasting and outcomes of a user-needs workshop on that subject held in March 2015; on USGS work to calculate the probability of future earthquakes in areas of the U.S. subject to induced seismicity; on the estimation of aftershock probabilities and on new modeled estimates of earthquake likelihood along the Wasatch fault zone by a technical working group; and on development of a plan for rapid communication of earthquake information in the Cascadia region. The NEPEC will review USGS procedures for calculating and communicating aftershock probabilities following large earthquakes in areas outside of California and the application of these procedures following the M7.8 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake of April 2015. The council will also finalize a statement for public release summarizing the proper procedures for posing and testing earthquake predictions and forecasts. Meetings of the National Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council are open to the public. A draft meeting agenda is available upon request from the Executive Secretary on request (contact information below). In order to ensure sufficient seating and hand-outs, it is requested that visitors pre-register by September 13. Members of the public wishing to make a statement to the Council should provide notice of that intention by August 26 so that time may be allotted in the agenda. A meeting summary will be posted by September 30 to the committee Web site: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/aboutus/nepec/.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) prohibits activities with listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activities. The ESA requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

BOEM has prepared a Record of Decision for proposed oil and gas WPA Lease Sale 246, which is scheduled for August 19, 2015. The proposed lease sale is in the Gulf of Mexico's WPA off the states of Texas and Louisiana. Proposed WPA Lease Sale 246 is the fourth WPA lease sale scheduled in the OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012- 2017. In making its decision, BOEM considered two alternatives to the proposed action, the potential impacts as presented in the WPA 246 and 248 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and all comments received throughout the National Environmental Policy Act process. The Western Planning Area 246 and 248 Supplemental EIS evaluated the environmental and socioeconomic impacts for proposed Western Planning Area Lease Sale 246.

On March 26, 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) made a determination that the suspension on the import of sport-hunted African elephant trophies taken in Zimbabwe on or after April 4, 2014, would be continued until further notice. The decision to continue the suspension on importation of African elephant trophies taken in Zimbabwe through the 2015 hunting season and future hunting seasons is due to the Service's inability to determine that the killing of the animal whose trophy is intended for import into the United States would enhance the survival of the species in the wild. The suspension on importation of trophies taken during calendar year 2015 or future hunting seasons could be lifted if additional information on the status and management of elephants in Zimbabwe becomes available which satisfies the conditions of the 4(d) special rule under the Endangered Species Act (Act).

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), are announcing that the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed stream protection rule is available for public review and comment.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has officially filed the plats of survey of the lands described below in the BLM Idaho State Office, Boise, Idaho, effective 9:00 a.m., on the dates specified.

The U.S. Department of the Interior published a notice inviting nominations for non-Federal members of the Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science (Committee). The initial closing date for nominations was June 1, 2015, and this nomination period was extended to July 8. This Federal Register Notice reopens the nomination and comment period for an additional 30 days, for state government nominees only. If you have already submitted information to be considered for appointment to the Committee you do not have to resubmit it.

This notice presents a summary of the Record of Decision (ROD) regarding the alternative selected for implementation from the Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (SPEIS) for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). CRP is a voluntary program that supports the implementation of long-term conservation measures designed to improve the quality of ground and surface waters, control soil erosion, and enhance wildlife habitat on environmentally sensitive agricultural land. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) administers CRP on behalf of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). The ROD was signed on April 17, 2015, but will not be implemented for at least 30 days following publication of this notice.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) is requesting comments from all interested individuals and organizations on a new information collection associated with the Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Customer Feedback on FSA Service Delivery. This is a relatively new option for approval that will streamline the timing to implement certain types of surveys and related collection of information. FSA will use the approval to cover the instruments of collection (such as a survey, a window pop-up survey, a focus group, or a comment card) to get customer feedback on FSA service delivery for various programs. This request for approval broadly addresses FSA's need for information about what our customers think of our services so that we can improve service delivery; specific information collection activities will be incorporated into the approval as the need for the information is identified. For example, when we implement a new program and provide information about the services for the program on our Web site, we may provide a voluntary customer service questionnaire about how well the program is working for our customers and specifically within the areas of our customer service.

This interim rule implements Section 6025, Strategic Economic and Community Development, under the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill). Unless the Agency provides otherwise, the Agency will reserve up to 10 percent of the funds appropriated to certain Rural Development (RD) programs each fiscal year to fund projects that support the implementation of strategic economic and community development plans across multi-jurisdictional areas. The programs from which funds will be reserved are community facility programs, water and waste disposal programs, and rural business and cooperative development programs. To be eligible for the reserved funds, projects must be first eligible for funding under the programs from which the funds are reserved. In addition, projects must be carried out solely in rural areas. Any reserved funding that is not obligated by June 30 of the fiscal year in which the funds were reserved will be returned to the programs' regular funding accounts.

This document corrects technical errors in the direct final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on February 24, 2015, entitled ``Rural Development RegulationsUpdate to FmHA References and to Census Regulations.''

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service is amending its regulations for Debt Settlement. This amendment would allow the Rural Business Service's (referred to as Agency throughout the remainder of the text) Administrator to use the statutory authority that has been delegated to him/her in accordance with title 331(b)(4) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (CONACT), but is currently not being used for all of RBS's revolving loan programs, which include: The Intermediary Relending Program (IRP) loans, Rural Development Loan Fund (RDLF) loans, and the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP)loans. This regulation will allow the RBS to be consistent across all of its loan programs; all of RBS's other loan programs have regulations in place to settle debt. This Direct Final Rule is intended to authorize the Agency to use its independent debt settlement authority under CONACT. Nothing in this Direct Final Rule is intended to affect the requirements of the Agency to follow other applicable Federal debt collection law such as the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, as amended. Further nothing in this Direct Final Rule is intended to alter any requirements the Agency must follow when making collection referrals to the Department of Justice or the Treasury Department.

Rural Development (RD) is amending its regulations by updating references to the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) and clarifying and updating references to the census data. These actions will provide consistency in terminology between program regulations. In addition, clarifying and updating references to census data is needed to account for changes to the decennial Census, which, starting with the 2010 decennial Census is no longer reporting income and unemployment data. Additional revisions are being implemented to show the regulations that do not apply to the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and to remove outdated or unnecessary language.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) are requesting comments from all interested individuals and organizations on an extension with a revision of a currently approved information collection associated with various assignment and joint payment forms, including ``Assignment of Payment'', ``Joint Payment Authorization'', ``Notice of Assignment'', and ``Instrument of Assignment''. The information on the forms is used by FSA employees in order to record the payment or contract being assigned, the amount of the assignment, the date of the assignment, and the name and address of the assignee and the assignor. This will enable FSA employees to pay the proper party when payment becomes due.