USDA has decided to amend its Title IX regulations to adopt the Department of Justice's Title IX common rule.  USDA's Title IX regulations have not been updated since 1979 and thus do not reflect intervening developments (including certain Supreme Court decisions), revisions by the Department of Education and the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (Public Law 100-259), and various Executive orders. By adopting the DOJ common rule, USDA brings its regulations up-to-date; complies with Executive Order 13777, "Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda," dated February 24, 2017; follows current guidance from DOJ; and makes it easier for recipients of USDA financial assistance to understand and comply with Title IX requirements.

In accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, which further amended the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, this interim final rule adjusts civil monetary penalties imposed by agencies within USDA to incorporate an inflation adjustment.

The Department of Agriculture is adopting this final rule to establish rules of practice and procedure governing formal rulemaking proceedings.  This final rule applies only to rulemakings that are not subject to the rules of practice and procedure for the promulgation of, or an amendment to, marketing orders or certain research and promotion orders, as are contained in 7 CFR part 900 and 7 CFR part 1200, respectively.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) proposes to revise 7 CFR part 3419 for the purpose of implementing the statutory amendments applicable to the matching requirements for Federal Agricultural research and extension capacity (formula) funds for 1890 land-grant institutions, including Central State University, Tuskegee University, West Virginia State University, and 1862 land-grant institutions in insular areas, and to remove the term "qualifying educational activities" from the definitions and use of Matching Funds sections to provide clarity on allowable uses of matching funds.

The Facility Guarantee Loan Program (FGP) provides payment guarantees to finance commercial exports of U.S. manufactured goods and services that will be used to improve or establish agriculture-related facilities in emerging markets, with the goal of enhancing U.S. agricultural commodity sales. Under the provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, the final rule will incorporate changes to allow for a waiver of U.S. content. The final rule will also simplify the implementation and application process of the FGP program and ensure the program's compliance with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Developments (OECD) Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits.

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) are revising debt collection and settlement regulations to conform with the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA) and the Federal Claims Collection Standards (FCCS) to consolidate the FSA debt collection and settlement regulations, and to remove FSA from the shared regulations in the CFR chapter used by rural development agencies. In addition, the changes would make it easier for farmers to find and understand the debt settlement regulations and result in saving them time and reducing their administrative burden.

This rule will amend provisions to make corrections and minor clarifications to Agriculture Risk Coverage(ARC) Program, Price Loss Coverage (PLC) Program, and Emergency Agricultural Disaster Assistance Programs.

In January 2016, FSA implemented a Direct Farm Ownership Microloan that will provide Farm Ownership loans of up to $50,000, expected to most benefit beginning farmers, farmers with small farms that have less traditional farm operations, and specialty crop producers seeking to purchase or enlarge relatively smaller plots of land who are not typically FSA customers. The final rulemaking publication for this initiative will clarify the Direct Microloans for borrowers with microloans for both operating loans and farm ownership loans.

The final rule will amend the regulations for the Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy) to allow dairy producers to opt out of MPP-Dairy participation for the 2018 program (calendar) year.  USDA has heard complaints from MPP-Dairy participants and others about paying the annual administrative fee to participate in MPP-Dairy.  As a result, and as part of the USDA regulatory reform initiative under Executive Order 13777, the Secretary is using the flexibility in the 2014 Farm Bill to allow MPP-Dairy participants to opt out of MPP-Dairy for the final year coverage.

The final rule will remove regulations for the farm programs that are obsolete; no longer authorized or being run under different funding.  For example, there are regulations for the Livestock Indemnity Program and other standing disaster assistance programs in the Farm Service Agency (FSA) regulations and the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) regulations; the current regulations are those in the CCC regulations; therefore, the old regulations in the FSA regulations will be removed.  In addition, several subchapter headings will be updated to remove obsolete references and a few CFR parts will be moved into a more logical subchapter.

The purpose of this proposed rule change is to solicit public comment on FCIC’s proposed action to amend 7 CFR part 400 subpart L, Reinsurance Agreement Standards for Approval; regulations for the 2018 and subsequent reinsurance years. The intended affect is to clarify, strengthen and improve the understanding and implementation of 7 CFR subpart L, Standards for Approval. The purpose of revising 7 CFR 400 subpart L is to better align the regulation with the existing Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA) and  Livestock Price Reinsurance Agreement (LPRA) and to minimize future revisions should the SRA and/or LPRA be renegotiated. In proposing these revisions, it is expected to result in a more current and focused regulation subpart L by eliminating passages that are no longer relevant to the current agri-business environment since certain products are no longer offered. A more streamlined and focused regulation will make it easier for all parties to implement and enforce.

This rule will propose to amend the Sugar Beet Crop Provisions to clarify and revise policy provisions. The major changes are to change the basis of insurance from standardized tons (of sugar beets) to pounds of raw sugar, allow joint ventures as an insurable interest, provide regionally determined replant costs, and make the stage removal option a permanent option.

This proposed rule will solicit public comments on FCIC’s proposed action to amend the Forage Seeding Crop Insurance Provisions to provide policy changes to better meet the needs of policyholders by updating existing policy provisions and definitions to better reflect current agricultural practices and allowing for variations in insurance offers based on regionally-specific agronomic conditions and potential future expansions.

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) plans to revise the General and Administrative Regulation subpart X: Interpretations of Statutory and Regulatory Provisions, to incorporate interpretations of procedures previously issued and administered in accordance with Manager's Bulletin MGR-05-018 and to provide a mechanism for interpretations of policy provisions that are not codified in the Code of Federal Regulations. This action would provide requestors with information on how to request a final agency determination or an interpretation of FCIC procedures and unpublished policy provisions within one administrative regulation, bring consistency and clarity to the processes used, and to clarify existing provisions.

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation plans to publish a final rule with request for comment to add a new policy to its regulations that provides insurance for California avocados. The provisions will be used in conjunction with the Common Crop Insurance Policy basic provisions, which contain standard terms and conditions common to most crop programs. The intended effect of this action is to convert the California avocado pilot crop insurance program to a regulatory insurance program.

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation plans to publish a final rule with request for comments to add a new policy to its regulations that provides insurance for cultivated clams. The provisions will be used in conjunction with the Common Crop Insurance Policy basic provisions, which contain standard terms and conditions common to most crop programs. The intended effect of this action is to convert the cultivated clam pilot crop insurance program to a regulatory insurance program.

This rule will amend the Catastrophic Risk Protection Endorsement, the Area Risk Protection Insurance basic provisions, and the Common Crop Insurance Policy Basic Provisions to provide administrative flexibility and reduce burdens on policyholders for various provisions related to Conservation Compliance, Enterprise Unit by Practice, Written Agreements and other areas.

RUS proposes to issue a final rule with request for comments which will allow the Agency to update the existing regulation to incorporate 2011 revisions to the Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS) issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the clarified audit standards issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in 2011, and 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, subpart F, Audit Requirements, issued by the Office of Management and Budget on December 26, 2013, and adopted by USDA on December 26, 2014. The Agency will expand regulations to include grant recipients, amend peer review requirements, amend reporting requirements, expand options for electronic filing of audits, update definitions, and clarify a number of existing audit requirements.

The rulemaking is necessary to update regulations, clarify audit policy, streamline procedure and provide uniformity and clarity in a number of existing audit requirements. The rulemaking will amend part 1773 to incorporate updates in USDA regulations and revisions to the 2011 GAGAS that reinforce principles of transparency and accountability and provide the framework for conducting high quality audits that add value.

Public Law 106-553, which established the Local Television Loan Guarantee Board and the subsequent Local Television Loan Guarantee Program, was written with a sunset clause that stated that there would be no loan guarantees approved under this act after December 31, 2006.  The purpose of the Local Television Loan Guarantee Program was to facilitate access, on a technology neutral basis and by December 31, 2006, to signals of local television stations for households located in nonserved areas and underserved areas.

As part of the Presidential Executive Order on Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda, each Agency’s Regulatory Reform Task Force is directed to evaluate existing regulations (as defined in section 4 of Executive Order 13771) and make recommendations to the Agency head regarding their repeal, replacement, or modification, consistent with applicable law. Consistent with Executive Order 13771, RUS has identified the Local Television Loan Guarantee Board and the subsequent Local Television Loan Guarantee Program regulation as outdated. This final rule will remove 7 CFR 2200 and 2201 from the Code of Federal Regulations.

The Rural Utilities Service's (RUS) water and waste program is administered by Water and Environmental Programs (WEP) and authorized by various sections of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926 et seq.), as amended to provide loan and grant funds to rural areas to construct, enlarge, or improve rural water, sanitary sewage, solid waste disposal, and storm wastewater disposal facilities. Agency regulations provide for three-tier interest rate structure, market, intermediate, and poverty. In order to more effectively manage the subsidy rate and reduce the need for appropriations, beginning in FY 2018 RUS proposes to use the 20-GO Bond Index instead of the current 11-GO Bond Index to set the market rate. The Agency published this rule on September 19, 2017, that will use as guidance the average of the Bond Buyer Index (available in any Agency office or the program's web site) for the first four weeks prior to the first Friday of the last month before the beginning of the quarter.

The intent of the Agency is to streamline, clarify, and update the requirements and guidelines for applying for DLT grant funds.

The proposed action for the DLT Grant Program is expected to result in: (1) a decrease in regulatory burden for the applicant and Agency, (2) an increased efficiency in the application process for the applicant (i.e. reduction in information collection burden), (3) an increased efficiency in the evaluation and scoring of applications for the Agency and, (4) the program to avoid competitively disadvantaging applicants with the greatest economic needs who do not have the resources to exceed the minimal required funding match.

To implement these changes, the Agency will publish this as a final rule. The Administrative Procedure Act exempts from prior notice rules, relating to agency management or personnel or to public property, loans, grants, benefits, or contracts (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A)).

The Agency plans to consolidate and update the three regulations governing Community Facilities Loans and Grants programs, 7 CFR 1942-(A), 1942-(C), and 3570-(B), into a new regulation, 7 CFR 3570-(A). This new regulation will be used to administer the Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant programs as well as incorporate the Tribal College and Economic Impact Initiative grant programs. The existing regulations 7 CFR 1942-(A), 7 CFR 1942-(C), and 7 CFR 3570-(B) will be obsolete upon publication of the new 7 CFR 3570-(A). The proposed action includes the following: remove references to the RUS water and waste disposal program, which was moved to 7 CFR 1780-(A) in 1997 and update scoring priorities to reflect current needs in rural America. Incorporate information from staff instructions and guidance that have been renewed and republished for many years. Make pre-application optional for small (under $300,000) projects; clarify and coordinate applicant and project eligibility requirements among the Community Facilities Guarantee, Direct, and Grant regulations; update the regulation to reflect recent legal opinions/determinations; update audit requirements in accordance with the latest OMB directives; and add "Exception Authority" to allow for the granting of exceptions by the RHS Administrator to portions of regulations that are not statutory. The granting of exceptions is allowed in other rural development regulations under very defined and controlled circumstances.

The Rural Housing Service delegation of this loan approval authority to preferred lenders, i.e., those whose loans have performed well and demonstrated strong underwriting capability, would benefit the program and all of its stakeholders.  Preferred lenders will be responsible for certifying that both the applicant and property meet all program requirements and are eligible for the guarantee.  This will speed up approval processing times, benefiting applicants, preferred lenders, and the Agency.

The proposed rule would continue the Agency's efforts to improve and enhance the risk management of the single family housing guaranteed loan program.  By eliminating the property marketing period prior to claim settlement, transactional data is reduced thereby reducing the likelihood of improper payments. The amendment to the existing rule would give lenders the authority to assist the Agency in making the process more efficient and thus increasing the taxpayer savings by allowing the Customer Service Center to concentrate in other stages of the liquidation process.

This action would ease the financial costs of interim construction financing to the lender, define the maximum allowable interest rate for interim construction financing, and remove the need for loan modification or re-amortization once construction is complete.

Making 7 CFR 1940 subpart I obsolete will ensure compliance with the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) Integrated Mortgage Disclosures rule, commonly referred to as the TRID rule. With the TRID rule’s effective date of October 3, 2015, 7 CFR 1940 subpart I has become functionally obsolete since it refers to outdated processes, forms, and governing bodies. 

The Rural Housing Service published a proposed rule (68 FR 32872) on June 2, 2003, to streamline and consolidate 14 regulations into 7 CFR 3560, which sets forth requirements, policies, and procedures for originating, processing, and servicing Rural Development's Multi-Family Housing (MFH) direct loans and grants. The programs covered by this part are authorized by title V of the Housing Act of 1949. The Center for Immigration Studies and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimated in 2009 that the illegal population was 10.96 percent of the total population. The economic impact of implementation of this rule is a possible reduction of over $118 million in RA. An interim rule was published on November 26, 2004 (69 FR 69032-69176), to implement those changes with an effective date of February 24, 2005. The Agency published in the Federal Register on February 22, 2005, (70 FR 8503), to indefinitely delay the effective date of specific words in quotes in the following specific sections: Sections 3560.152(a)(1) "Be a United States citizen or qualified alien, and"; 3560.154(a)(7) ". . . and a certification that the applicant is a U.S. citizen or a qualified alien as defined in section 3560.11 . . ."; 3560.156(c)(12) ". . . their citizenship status, . . ."; and 3560.254(c)(3) "Whose head of the household is a U.S. citizen or a legal alien as defined in section 3560.11." The interim final rule contained requirements regarding citizenship eligibility about which the Agency received several comments. The comments suggested that Agency procedures unnecessarily imposed more requirements than those required under the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) procedures for similar programs. RHS plans to publish a proposed rule to implement the citizenship requirements and to harmonize RHS' requirements with those currently established by HUD.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS) published a proposed rule June 2, 2003 (68 FR 32872), to streamline and consolidate 14 regulations into 7 CFR 3560, which sets forth requirements, policies, and procedures for originating, processing, and servicing Rural Development's Multi-Family Housing (MFH) direct loans and grants. The programs covered by this part are authorized by title V of the Housing Act of 1949.  An interim rule was published November 26, 2004 (69 FR 69032-69176) to implement those changes, with an effective date of February 24, 2005.  This proposed rule is to amend the interim rule 7 CFR 3560, to change program requirements at the property level that will reduce operating costs for the project owner by changing financial reporting requirements for properties receiving assistance from both RD and HUD.  The current reporting requirements are redundant with HUD reporting requirements.  Rural Development (RD) is establishing a rule-based reporting threshold, similar to that of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), so that property managers only need to complete one audit rather than two.  RD’s Financial Reporting also aligns with HUD’s provisions by using a modified version of the "HUD IG Audit Guide.”

Section 2(b) of the Transparency Act requires that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) establish a single searchable database that provides the public, at no cost, information related to all Federal awards which are made to entities, including a unique identifier of the entity receiving the award and any other information OMB requires. In October 2010, OMB promulgated government-wide regulations at 2 CFR parts 25 and 170 that require entities applying for and receiving Federal financial assistance to have Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering Systems (DUNS) number and maintain active registration in Central Contractor Registry (CCR), succeeded by the System for Award Management (SAM).

Since 2011, pursuant to OMB direction, NRCS has implemented OMB’s government-wide Transparency Act regulations, including cross-referencing these OMB regulations in NRCS conservation program regulations, policies, and conservation program agreements. NRCS customers have reported that these requirements are burdensome to their operations, and NRCS has expended Agency resources on implementing the provisions and addressing potential improper payments when such requirements cannot be fully met.   

Therefore, the purpose of this regulatory action is to relieve a requirement from farmers and ranchers and streamline program delivery by removing the DUNS/SAM requirements with respect to conservation program agreements which NRCS enters into directly with agricultural landowners and producers. In particular, the final rule will remove reference to 2 CFR parts 25 and 170 in the following NRCS program regulations:  

• the Healthy Forests Reserve Program (7 CFR part 625 at 625.4(b)(3))

• the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (7 CFR part 636 at 636.4(a)(12))

• the Grassland Reserve Program (7 CFR part 1415 at 1415.6(e))

• the Agricultural Management Assistance Program (7 CFR part 1465 at 1465.5(c)(12))

• the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (7 CFR part 1466 at 1466.6(b)(7))

• the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (7 CFR part 1468 at 1468.30(c)(3))

• the Conservation Stewardship Program (7 CFR part 1470 at 1470.6(a)(6))

We are soliciting public comment on potential revisions to the licensing requirements under our Animal Welfare Act regulations to promote compliance with the Act, reduce licensing fees, and strengthen existing safeguards that prevent any individual whose license has been suspended or revoked, or who has a history of noncompliance, from obtaining a license or working with regulated animals. We are soliciting public comment on these topics to help us consider ways to reduce regulatory burden and more efficiently ensure the sustained compliance of licensees with the Act.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 amended the Lacey Act to provide, among other things, that importers submit a declaration at the time of importation for certain plants and plant products. The declaration requirements of the Lacey Act became effective on December 15, 2008, and enforcement of those requirements is being phased in. We are proposing an exception to the declaration requirements for products containing composite plant materials. We are also proposing to establish an exception to the declaration requirement for products containing a minimal amount of plant materials. Both of these actions would relieve the burden on importers while continuing to ensure that the declaration requirement fulfills the purposes of the Lacey Act.

This rulemaking would amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of several varieties of fresh citrus fruit, as well as citrus hybrids, from the municipalities of General Terán and Montemorelos, Nuevo León, Mexico, into the continental United States without treatment for fruit fly. As a condition of entry, the fruit would have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that would include requirements for pest monitoring and pest control practices, orchard sanitation, and packinghouse procedures designed to exclude quarantine pests. The fruit would also be required to be imported in commercial consignments and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of Mexico with an additional declaration confirming that the fruit has been produced in accordance with the systems approach in a production site free of Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens (Loew)) in an area of low pest prevalence. This action would allow for the importation of untreated fresh citrus fruit, including Citrus hybrids, from the municipalities of General Terán and Montemorelos, Nuevo León, while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests into the United States.

This rulemaking will amend the Phytophthora ramorum regulations to remove regulated areas for Phytophthora ramorum from the regulations, as well as all regulatory requirements specific to such areas. The rule also amends the regulations to revise inspection and sampling requirements for certain nurseries that are in areas quarantined for Phytophthora ramorum and that ship regulated nursery stock interstate. It changes the nature of the inspection and sampling requirements to have them take into consideration additional potential sources of Phytophthora ramorum inoculum at the nurseries. Finally, it establishes conditions under which we will regulate nurseries that are located outside of the quarantined areas for Phytophthora ramorum, if sources of Phytophthora ramorum inoculum are detected at those nurseries and the nurseries ship certain articles interstate. We are making these changes on an immediate basis to provide regulatory relief to nurseries in areas that were regulated for Phytophthora ramorum, while also ensuring that nurseries that may pose a risk of disseminating Phytophthora ramorum through the interstate movement of regulated nursery stock are subject to measures that address this risk.

Currently, Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana) fruit from Ecuador is not admissible to the United States. This proposed rule will provide the public with the opportunity to comment on a pest risk analysis that identifies Ceratitis capitata as the pest of concern, and a risk management document that identifies pest risk mitigation measures for the pest of concern.

This rulemaking would amend the regulations to allow the importation of fresh pummelo fruit from Thailand into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, fresh pummelo fruit from Thailand would be subject to a systems approach that would include irradiation treatment, packinghouse processing requirements, and port of entry inspection. The fruit would also be required to be imported in commercial consignments and be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of Thailand. This action would allow for the importation of fresh pummelo fruit from Thailand, while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests into the continental United States. 

The Department of Agriculture is proposing to amend its regulations to exempt certain records in the Veterinary Services-Animal Welfare, USDA/APHIS-8, renamed as Animal Welfare Act and Horse Protection Act, USDA/APHIS-8, from one or more provisions of the Privacy Act because of civil and administrative law enforcement functions and responsibilities.

We are amending the regulations that set out our National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures. The amendments will clarify when we will complete an environmental impact statement or an environmental analysis for an action, provide additional categories of actions for which we will prepare such documents, expand the list of actions subject to categorical exclusion from further environmental documentation, and set out an environmental documentation process that could be used in emergencies. The changes are intended to update the regulations and improve their clarity and effectiveness.

We are revising our regulations regarding the movement of plant pests. We are establishing criteria regarding the movement and environmental release of biological control organisms, and establishing regulations to allow the importation and movement in interstate commerce of certain types of plant pests without restriction by granting exceptions from permitting requirements for those pests. We are also revising our regulations regarding the movement of soil. This action clarifies the factors that would be considered when assessing the risks associated with the movement of certain organisms and facilitates the movement of regulated organisms and articles in a manner that also protects U.S. agriculture.

This rulemaking will amend the regulations to clarify that the expiration date of a serial or subserial of a veterinary biologic should be computed from the date of the initiation of the first potency test. It will also require the expiration dating period (stability) of a product to be confirmed by conducting a real-time stability study with a stability-indicating assay, stability monitoring of products after licensing, and specify a single standard for determining the expiration date for veterinary biologics

This rulemaking amends the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and scrapie regulations regarding the importation of live sheep, goats, and wild ruminants and their embryos, semen, products, and byproducts. The scrapie revisions regarding the importation of sheep, goats, and susceptible wild ruminants for other than immediate slaughter are similar to those recommended by the World Organization for Animal Health in restricting the importation of such animals to those from scrapie-free regions or certified scrapie-free flocks.

This rulemaking will amend our regulations governing the importations of fruits and vegetables by broadening our existing performance standard to provide for consideration of all new fruits and vegetables for importation into the United States using a notice-based process. Rather than authorizing new imports through proposed and final rules and specifying import conditions in the regulations, the notice-based process uses Federal Register notices to make risk analyses available to the public for review and comment, with authorized commodities and their conditions of entry subsequently being listed on the Internet. It also will remove the region- or commodity-specific phytosanitary requirements currently found in these regulations. Likewise, we are proposing an equivalent revision of the performance standard in our regulations governing the interstate movements of fruits and vegetables from Hawaii and the U.S. territories (Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and the removal of commodity-specific phytosanitary requirements from those regulations. This action will allow for the consideration of requests to authorize the importation or interstate movement of new fruits and vegetables in a manner that enables a more flexible and responsive regulatory approach to evolving pest situations in both the United States and exporting countries. It will not, however, alter the science-based process in which the risk associated with importation or interstate movement of a given fruit or vegetable is evaluated or the manner in which risks associated with the importation or interstate movement of a fruit or vegetable are mitigated.

We are consolidating the regulations governing the importation of all plants for planting under the "plants for planting" regulations and adding prohibited plants for planting to the list of plants whose importation is not authorized pending pest risk analysis.  This consolidation will move restrictions on the importation of specific types of plants for planting from the regulations to the Plants for Planting Manual (PPM). Under the rule, changes to these restrictions will be made after taking public comment on notices published in the Federal Register, rather than through proposed rules and final rules as we currently do.  As part of this consolidation, we are removing several lists of approved items (for example, the lists of approved growing media, packing materials, and ports of entry) from the regulations; these lists will be provided to the public in the PPM. We proposed to update these lists, when necessary, using the same sort of notice-based process as will be used to update restrictions on specific types of plants for planting. We are also establishing a framework for the use of integrated pest risk management measures (IPRMS) in the production of specific types of plants for planting for importation into the United States, when the pest risk associated with the importation of a type of plants for planting can only be addressed only through the use of integrated measures. This action does not make any major changes to the restrictions that currently apply to the importation of plants for planting. These changes will make restrictions on the importation of specific types of plants for planting easier for readers to find and less cumbersome for us to change.

This rulemaking will amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation commercial consignments into the continental United States of fresh pomegranate fruit from Turkey. As a condition of entry, fresh pomegranate fruit from Turkey will have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that will include grove registration, sanitation, and pest control measures; packinghouse registration and procedures designed to exclude quarantine pests; cold treatment; and procedures for packing, storing, and shipping the pomegranate fruit. In addition, consignments will have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of Turkey. This action will allow for the importation of fresh pomegranates from Turkey into the continental United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests.

This rulemaking will amend the phytosanitary treatment regulations to establish generic criteria that would allow for the approval of new cold treatment facilities in the southern and western States of the United States. These criteria, if met, will allow us to approve new cold treatment facilities without rulemaking and facilitate the importation of fruit requiring cold treatment while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of pests of concern into the United States. We are also amending the fruit cutting and inspection requirements in the cold treatment regulations in order to expand cutting and inspection to commodities that have been treated for a wider variety of pests of concern. This action will provide for a greater degree of phytosanitary protection. We are also adding requirements concerning the establishment of compliance agreements for U.S. entities that operate fumigation facilities. Finally, we are harmonizing language concerning State compliance with facility establishment and parameters for the movement of consignments from the port of entry or points of origin in the United States to the treatment facility in the irradiation treatment regulations with language in the cold treatment regulations. These actions will serve to codify and make enforceable existing procedures concerning compliance agreements for these facilities.

This rulemaking will amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of several varieties of fresh citrus fruit, as well as citrus hybrids, into the continental United States from areas in the Republic of South Africa where citrus black spot has been known to occur. As a condition of entry, the fruit will have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes shipment traceability, packinghouse registration and procedures, and phytosanitary treatment. The fruit will also be required to be imported in commercial consignments and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of the Republic of South Africa with an additional declaration confirming that the fruit has been produced in accordance with the systems approach. This action will allow for the importation of fresh citrus fruit, including citrus hybrids, from the Republic of South Africa while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests into the United States.

In the 2014 Farm Bill, Congress amended the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) to provide the Secretary of Agriculture with the authority to determine what facilities and activities involving AWA regulated animals are de minimis and therefore exempt from licensure and oversight. We are amending the AWA regulations to enact this new provision. This change provides APHIS with the flexibility to exempt from licensing those dealers and exhibitors who provide adequate levels of humane care to their animals, allowing us to target our enforcement resources where they are most needed. Dealers and exhibitors operating at or below the threshold will be exempted from APHIS licensing and oversight under the AWA.

This rulemaking will amend the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act regulations concerning records and reports. This change requires veterinary biologics licensees and permittees to record and submit reports concerning adverse events associated with the use of biological products they produce or distribute. The information that must be included in the adverse event reports submitted to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will be provided in separate guidance documents. These records and reports will help ensure that APHIS can provide complete and accurate information to consumers regarding adverse reactions or other problems associated with the use of licensed biological products.

This rulemaking will amend the regulations to allow the importation of fresh cherimoya fruit from Chile into the continental United States, provided that fruit is produced in accordance with a systems approach, as an alternative to the currently required treatment. Commercial consignments of fresh cherimoya fruit are currently authorized entry into all ports of the United States from Chile subject to a mandatory soapy water and wax treatment. The systems approach includes requirements for production site registration, low pest prevalence area certification, post-harvest processing, and inspection at the packinghouse. The fruit will also be required to be imported in commercial consignments and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of Chile with an additional declaration stating that the consignment was produced in accordance with the regulations. Fresh cherimoya fruit that does not meet the conditions of the systems approach will continue to be allowed to be imported into the United States subject to treatment. This action will allow for the importation of fresh cherimoya fruit from Chile while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests into the continental United States.

This rulemaking will amend the regulations to allow the importation of fresh apple and pear fruit from certain countries of the European Union into the continental United States, provided that the fruit is produced in accordance with a systems approach, as an alternative to importation under the current preclearance program. The systems approach for fresh apple and pear fruit consists of production site and packinghouse registration, inspection of production sites, production site pest control and sanitation, post-harvest safeguards, fruit culling, traceback, sampling, cold treatment against Mediterranean fruit fly in countries where the pest is known to occur, a phytosanitary certificate, port of entry inspection, and importation as commercial consignments only. Fresh apple and pear fruit that does not meet the requirements of the systems approach will continue to be allowed to be imported into the United States from certain countries of the European Union subject to the conditions of the preclearance program currently in the regulations. This action will provide an alternative for the importation of fresh apple and pear fruit from certain countries of the European Union while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests into the continental United States.

This rulemaking would amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to list lemon (Citrus limon (L.) Burm. f.) from Chile as eligible for importation into the continental United States subject to a systems approach. Under this systems approach, the fruit would have to be grown in a place of production that is registered with the Government of Chile and certified as having a low prevalence of Brevipalpus chilensis. The fruit would have to undergo pre-harvest sampling at the registered production site. Following post-harvest processing, the fruit would have to be inspected in Chile at an approved inspection site. Each consignment of fruit would have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that the fruit had been found free of Brevipalpus chilensis based on field and packinghouse inspections. This proposed rule would allow for the safe importation of lemons from Chile using mitigation measures other than fumigation with methyl bromide.

This rulemaking will amend the regulations concerning the importation of fruits and vegetables to allow the importation of fresh raspberry fruit from Morocco into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, the raspberries will have to be produced under a systems approach employing a combination of mitigation measures for the quarantine pest Monilinia fructigena and will have to be inspected prior to exportation from Morocco and found free of this pest. The raspberries will have to be imported in commercial consignments only, produced at registered places of production, and field inspected for signs of Monilinia fructigena infection 30 days prior to harvest. The raspberries will also have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that the conditions for importation have been met. Raspberry consignments will be subject to further inspection at the port of entry into the continental United States. This systems approach will allow the importation of raspberries from Morocco while continuing to protect against the introduction of plant pests into the United States.

This rulemaking will amend the fruit and vegetable regulations to allow the importation of tree tomatoes from Ecuador into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, the tree tomatoes will have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that would include requirements for importation in commercial consignments, registration and monitoring of places of production, field monitoring and pest-control practices, trapping, and inspection for quarantine pests by the national plant protection organization of Ecuador. This action will allow the importation of tree tomatoes from Ecuador while continuing to protect against the introduction of plant pests into the United States.

This rulemaking will amend the regulations governing the importation of plants for planting to add orchid plants of the genus Dendrobium from Taiwan to the list of plants that may be imported into the United States in an approved growing medium, subject to specified growing, inspection, and certification requirements. We are taking this action in response to a request from the Taiwanese Government and after determining that the plants could be imported, under certain conditions, without resulting in the introduction into, or the dissemination within, the United States of a quarantine plant pest or noxious weed.

This rulemaking will amend the regulations governing the importation of plants for planting to authorize the importation of Campanula spp. plants for planting from Denmark in approved growing media into the United States, subject to a systems approach. The systems approach will consist of measures that are currently specified in the regulations as generally applicable to all plants for planting authorized importation into the United States in approved growing media. This action will allow for the importation of Campanula spp. plants for planting from Denmark in approved growing media, while providing protection against the introduction of plant pests.

This rulemaking would amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation into the continental United States of commercial consignments of five species of fresh citrus fruit from China. As a condition of entry, the citrus fruit would have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes requirements for registration of places of production and packinghouses, sourcing of pest-free propagative material, inspection for quarantine pests at set intervals by the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of China, bagging of fruit, safeguarding, post-harvest processing and sampling, and importation in commercial consignments. Additionally, it would require places of production to trap for several species of Bactrocera fruit flies, and would require the fruit to be treated for those species of fruit flies. In addition, consignments would have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the NPPO of China that declares that the conditions for importation have been met and that the consignments have been inspected and found free of quarantine pests. Finally, the NPPO of China would have to provide an operational workplan to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture that details the activities that the NPPO of China will carry out to meet these requirements. This proposed rule would allow for the importation of fresh citrus from China into the continental United States while providing protection against the introduction of plant pests.

This rulemaking would amend the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act regulations concerning testing for avian lymphoid leukosis in veterinary biologics to specify that the test is for the detection of extraneous replicating avian leukosis virus; require such testing to be conducted using a procedure that will detect extraneous replicating avian leukosis virus and that is acceptable to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; require firms to develop a procedure to test for lymphoid leukosis virus contamination in the case of vaccine virus cytopathic to chick embryo cell cultures; and specify the equivalent inoculum dose of vaccine to be used when testing certain specified chicken vaccines for lymphoid leukosis virus. These proposed changes would update the testing for lymphoid leukosis virus contamination by prescribing a test procedure that increases the probability of detecting atypical lymphoid leukosis viruses such those recently found in a contaminated vaccine.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service administers the provisions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), and the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981, as amended, that pertain to plants. This rulemaking will update our regulations that set forth our forfeiture procedures with regard to plants or plant products seized under the authority of the ESA and the Lacey Act.

This action is regarding whether and how we should amend our process for responding to domestic chrysanthemum white rust (CWR) outbreaks and the importation of plant material that is a host of CWR.

We are withdrawing a proposed rule that would have defined a low-risk classical swine fever region in Mexico from which we would have allowed the importation of fresh pork and pork products into the United States under certain conditions. We are taking this action after reopening our risk evaluation of the classical swine fever status of Mexico using updated information.  

This rulemaking amends the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of fresh pitahaya fruit into the continental United States from Ecuador. As a condition of entry, the fruit will have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes requirements for fruit fly trapping, pre-harvest inspections, approved production sites, and packinghouse procedures designed to exclude quarantine pests. The fruit will also be required to be imported in commercial consignments and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of Ecuador stating that the consignment was produced and prepared for export in accordance with the requirements of the systems approach. This action allows for the importation of fresh pitahaya fruit from Ecuador while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests into the United States.

APHIS proposed to revise its regulations regarding the importation, interstate movement, and environmental release of certain genetically engineered organisms. This review was undertaken in light of advances in genetic engineering and understanding of the risks posed by genetically engineered organisms.  

This rulemaking will amend the regulations governing the importation of certain animals, meat, and other animal products by allowing, under certain conditions, the importation of bone-in ovine meat from Uruguay. Based on the evidence in a risk assessment that we prepared, we believe that bone-in ovine meat can safely be imported from Uruguay, provided certain conditions are met. This final rule will provide for the importation of bone-in ovine meat from Uruguay into the United States, while continuing to protect the United States against the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease.

This rulemaking amends the regulations governing the importation of plants for planting to add orchid plants of the genera Phalaenopsis and Cymbidium from the Republic of Korea to the list of plants that may be imported into the continental United States in an approved growing medium, subject to specified growing, inspection, and certification requirements. We are taking this action in response to a request from the Republic of Korea and after determining that the plants could be imported under certain conditions without resulting in the introduction into, or the dissemination within, the United States of a plant pest or noxious weed.

This rulemaking will amend the regulations to allow the importation of fresh mango fruit from Vietnam into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, fresh mango fruit from Vietnam will be subject to a systems approach that includes orchard or packinghouse requirements, irradiation treatment, and port of entry inspection. The fruit will also be required to be imported in commercial consignments and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of Vietnam, with an additional declaration stating that the consignment was inspected and found free of Macrophoma mangiferae and Xanthomonas campestris pv. mangiferaeindicae. This action will allow for the importation of fresh mango fruit from Vietnam while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests into the continental United States.

This rulemaking will amend the regulations concerning the importation of fruits and vegetables to allow the importation of fresh persimmons from New Zealand into the United States. As a condition of entry, the persimmons must be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes requirements for orchard certification, orchard pest control, post-harvest safeguards, fruit culling, traceback, sampling, and treatment with either hot water or modified atmosphere treatment. The persimmons will also have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that they were produced under, and met all the components of, the systems approach and were inspected and found to be free of quarantine pests in accordance with the requirements. This action allows the importation of fresh persimmons from New Zealand while continuing to protect against the introduction of plant pests into the United States.

This rulemaking amends the regulations concerning the importation of fruits and vegetables to allow the importation of fresh persimmon with calyxes from Japan into the United States. As a condition of entry, the persimmon must be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes requirements for orchard certification, orchard pest control, post-harvest safeguards, fruit culling, traceback, and sampling. The persimmons will also have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that they were produced under, and met all the components of, the agreed upon systems approach and were inspected and found to be free of quarantine pests. This action will allow the importation of persimmon with calyxes from Japan while continuing to protect against the introduction of plant pests into the United States.

This rulemaking amends the regulations to allow the importation of fresh Hass avocado fruit from Colombia into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, fresh Hass avocado fruit from Colombia will have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes orchard and packinghouse requirements and port of entry inspection. The fruit will also be required to be imported in commercial consignments and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of Colombia with an additional declaration stating that the fruit has been produced in accordance with the requirements. This action allows for the importation of fresh Hass avocado fruit from Colombia while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests into the continental United States.

The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is proposing to revise the fees for sampling, inspection, weighing, and certification of processed and graded commodities (other than rice) performed under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (AMA), as amended.  The AMA provides GIPSA’s Federal Grain Inspection Service with the authority to charge and collect reasonable fees to cover the cost of performing official services and costs associated with managing the program. Additionally, GIPSA is proposing to revise two definitions in the regulations such that private agencies providing official services under the AMA would be considered cooperators and revise inspection licenses to terminate every five years instead of every three years. Given current data, this action is expected to increase fees by approximately five percent for fiscal year 2018.

The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is proposing to revise the fee structure for sampling, inspection, weighing, and certification of rice performed by GIPSA under the AMA. The AMA authorizes GIPSA’s Federal Grain Inspection Service to charge and collect reasonable fees to cover the costs of performing official services, and the costs of managing the program.  Given current data, this action is expected to decrease fees by approximately five percent for fiscal year 2018.  Additionally, GIPSA plans to proposing removing the fee tables from the Code of Federal Regulations. 

On December 20, 2016, the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) published an interim final rule on the subject matter that was set to become effective on February 21, 2017.  GIPSA published a notice in the Federal Register that extended the comment period of the interim final rule until March 24, 2017, and delayed its effective date until April 22, 2017.  GIPSA sought additional comments through a new proposed rule on possible actions the Department may take that will result in delayed full implementation of the rule.

GIPSA published a notice delaying the effective date of the interim final rule for an additional 180 days, until October 19, 2017.

Title XI of the 2008 Farm Bill required the Secretary of Agriculture to issue a number of regulations under the P&S Act. Among these instructions, the 2008 Farm Bill directed the Secretary to identify criteria to be considered in determining whether an undue or unreasonable preference or advantage has occurred in violation of the P&S Act. In June of 2010, the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) published a proposed rule addressing this statutory requirement along with several other rules required by the 2008 Farm Bill. Proposed 201.211 to the regulations under the P&S Act would have established criteria that the Secretary may consider in determining if conduct would violate section 202(b) of the P&S Act (undue or unreasonable preference or advantage). While many commenters provided examples of similarly situated poultry growers and livestock producers receiving different treatment, other commenters were concerned about the impacts of the provision on marketing arrangements and other beneficial contractual agreements. Beginning with the FY 2012 appropriations act, USDA was precluded from working on certain proposed regulatory provisions related to the P&S Act, including criteria in this proposal regarding undue or unreasonable preferences or advantages. Consequently, GIPSA did not finalize this rule in 2011. The prohibitions are not included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016. This rulemaking is necessary to fulfill statutory requirements. Section 201.210 will illustrate by way of examples types of conduct GIPSA would consider unfair, unjustly discriminatory, or deceptive.

Through this action, GIPSA sought additional comments on possible actions the Department may take on 0580-AB25.

On July 29, 2016, the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 was amended to establish a National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (Law) (Pub. L. 114-216). Pursuant to the law, this NPRM will propose requirements that, if finalized, will serve as a national mandatory bioengineered food disclosure standard for bioengineered food and food that may be bioengineered.

This action is necessary to implement several National Organic Standards Board recommendations forwarded to the Secretary from November 2000 to April 2015.

The Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices final rule, published on January 19, 2017, adds provisions to the USDA organic regulations to address livestock and poultry living conditions, health care practices, and animal handling and transport, and during slaughter. The final rule was originally scheduled to become effective on March 20, 2017; the effective date was subsequently delayed to May 19, 2017.  AMS published a notice further delaying the effective date to November 14, 2017. Per a document published on November 14, 2017, the January 2017 rule was further delayed to May 14, 2018. As stated within the November 2017 publication, this proposed rule requests public comments on: (1) the scope of the Secretary’s authority under of the Organic Foods Production Act including 7 USC 6509; (2) whether the requirements in the final rule are the most innovative and least burdensome tool for meeting regulatory objectives; and, (3) whether the revised benefits calculations, which corrected a mathematical error in the final rule, justify the estimated costs.

This action would establish standards that support additional practice standards for organic livestock and poultry production. This action would add provisions to the USDA organic regulations to address and clarify livestock and poultry living conditions (for example, outdoor access, housing environment and stocking densities), health care practices (for example physical alterations, administering medical treatment, euthanasia), and animal handling and transport to and during slaughter.

The proposed revisions to the regulations would provide greater direction to growers that employ growers’ agents on how they may preserve their trust rights under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).  The proposed revisions would also clarify the definition of written notification and the jurisdiction of the USDA to investigate alleged violations under the PACA.

This rule invites comments on a proposed national research and promotion (R&P) program for certified organic products. The proposed program would cover the range of organic products that are certified and sold per the Organic Foods Production Act and its implementing regulations as well as organic products imported into the U.S. under an organic equivalency arrangement.

This rule would change import reporting requirements to implement the use of electronic forms submissions and makes other administrative changes to the reporting requirements.

The Hardwood Lumber and Hardwood Plywood Research and Promotion Program would be implemented under the Commodity, Promotion, Research and Information Act of 1996. The program would help increase the consumption of hardwood lumber and plywood products in the United States. Consumption of U.S. hardwoods has declined significantly.

This rule addresses eleven 2017 sunset review recommendations submitted to the Secretary by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) following their October 2015 meeting.

This rule expanded the applicability of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) uniform rules of practice governing adjudicatory proceedings (7 CFR part 1) to include actions initiating adjudicatory hearings under subtitles B, Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR), and D, Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, as amended (1946 Act).  The addition of LMR and COOL to USDA’s rules of practice enables USDA to assess civil penalties for violations to the 1946 Act as authorized under 7 USC 1636(b) for LMR and 7 USC 1638(b) for COOL.

This action would amend the beef promotion and research rules and regulations.

This proposed rule would adjust representation on the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board.

This action would amend the Soybean Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Order and the Beef Promotion and Research Order.

This action would provide AMS the ability to track exported apple and grape shipments to ensure that those exports meet inspection and certification requirements through the automated filing of export information by the trade.

This proposed rule presents the Peanut Standards Board (Board) recommendation to relax the allowance for damaged kernels in farmers stock peanuts when determining segregation and grade to the industry and the public.

This action would amend the regulations under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA), as recent court decisions invalidated the trust claims of unpaid growers against their growers’ agent because the growers did not file a trust notice directly with the growers’ agent and deemed this action necessary.

Because of significant policy and legal issues within the final rule (0581-AD44), the public was asked to comment on which of the following four actions they believed would be best for USDA to take with regard to the disposition of the final rule (0581-AD44).  The options were:

• Let the rule become effective on November 14, 2017;
• Suspend the rule indefinitely;
• Delay the effective date of the rule further, beyond the effective date of November 14, 2017; and
• Withdraw the rule so that USDA would not pursue implementation of the rule.

Comments were received on all four options.  Based on the content of the comments received and the evaluation those comments generated, this action will determine the disposition of the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices rule published on January 19, 2017.  The option chosen was to Delay the effective date of the rule further, beyond the effective date of November 14, 2017.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to require official egg products plants to develop and implement Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), consistent with HACCP and Sanitation SOP requirements in the meat and poultry products inspection regulations. FSIS also is proposing to require egg products plants to produce egg products using a process that will eliminate detectable pathogens from the finished product. Plants would be expected to develop HACCP systems that ensure that pathogens cannot be detected in finished egg products.

In addition, FSIS is proposing to amend the egg products inspection regulations by removing the current requirements for prior approval by FSIS of egg products plant drawings, specifications, and equipment prior to their use in official plants; providing for the generic labeling of egg products; requiring safe handling labels on shell eggs and egg products; and changing the Agency’s interpretation of the requirement for continuous inspection in official plants.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend the Federal meat inspection regulations to establish a new inspection system for swine slaughter establishments demonstrated to provide greater public health protection than the existing inspection system. The Agency is also proposing several changes to the regulations that would affect all establishments that slaughter swine, regardless of the inspection system under which they operate.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend the Federal meat inspection regulations and poultry inspection regulations to allow establishments that prepare uninspected articles, such as pet food, in edible product areas, to conduct these operations outside the hours of inspection.  Establishments already are required to address the production of these articles in their Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Plan, Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs) or Prerequisite Program to the extent necessary to prevent the adulteration of meat and poultry products manufactured as human food.  These regulations were issued before FSIS published its HACCP and Sanitation SOP regulations, when prescriptive regulatory requirements were deemed necessary to prevent the adulteration of meat and poultry products by the preparation of inedible products in the same establishment. 

FSIS is proposing to eliminate a regulatory requirement for cleaning of hog carcasses at 9 CFR 310.11, which require that all hair, scurf, dirt, hoofs and claws be removed from hog carcasses and that carcasses be thoroughly washed and cleaned before any incision is made for inspection or evisceration. These requirements are no longer necessary to ensure food safety. FSIS regulations at 9 CFR 310.18 also require that establishments handle carcasses, organs, and other parts in a sanitary manner to prevent contamination with fecal material, urine, bile, hair, dirt, or foreign matter. Additionally, official establishments that slaughter hogs are required to prevent the adulteration of meat and the creation of unsanitary conditions, whereby products could become adulterated, through the implementation of HACCP, Sanitation SOP or other prerequisite programs. The prescriptive requirements of 9 CFR 310.11 were issued before FSIS published its HACCP and Sanitation SOP regulations, when prescriptive regulatory requirements were deemed necessary to prevent the adulteration of meat products.

FSIS is proposing to eliminate a regulatory provision that requires livestock carcasses inspected and passed in a slaughter establishment to be marked with the official inspection legend at the time of inspection when the carcass is to be moved to further processing within the same slaughter establishment. This requirement was put into place when it was far more common for slaughter establishments to transport carcasses to other establishments for further processing into primal, subprimal, and other meat cuts and products. It is now more common for slaughtering and further processing to take place in the same establishment. The proposed rule would continue to require that inspected and passed carcasses be marked with the official inspection legend if the carcasses are to be shipped to another establishment for further processing.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) proposed to add Honduras to the list of countries eligible to export poultry products to the United States. Under this proposal, slaughtered poultry or parts or other products thereof processed in certified Honduran establishments would be eligible for export to the United States. All such products will be subject to re-inspection at United States ports of entry by FSIS inspectors.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) proposed to amend the Federal meat inspection regulations to eliminate the requirements for both ready-to-eat (RTE) and not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) pork and pork products to be treated to destroy trichina (Trichinella spiralis) because the regulations are inconsistent with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulations, and these prescriptive regulations are no longer necessary. If this supplemental proposed rule is finalized, FSIS will end its Trichinella Approved Laboratory Program (TALP program) for the evaluation and approval of non-Federal laboratories that use the pooled sample digestion technique to analyze samples for the presence of trichina. FSIS also proposed to consolidate the regulations on thermally processed, commercially sterile meat and poultry products (i.e., canned food products containing meat or poultry).

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is developing final regulations to amend its poultry inspection regulations to add Poland to the list of countries eligible to export poultry products to the United States. Poland is currently not listed as eligible to export such products to the United States. If this final rule is adopted, any poultry and poultry products exported to the United States from Poland will be subject to re-inspection at ports-of-entry by FSIS inspectors.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend the poultry products inspection regulations to list the PRC as eligible to export to the United States poultry products from birds slaughtered in the PRC. The PRC is currently eligible to export processed poultry products to the United States if the products are derived from poultry slaughtered in the United States or in other countries eligible to slaughter and export poultry to the United States. FSIS has reviewed the PRC’s laws, regulations, and poultry slaughter inspection system as implemented and has determined that the PRC’s poultry slaughter inspection system is equivalent to the system that the United States has established under the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) and its implementing regulations.

Should this rule become final, slaughtered poultry, or parts or other products thereof, processed in certified PRC establishments, would be eligible for export to the United States. Although the PRC may be listed in FSIS’s regulations as eligible to export poultry products to the United States, the products must also comply with all other applicable requirements of the United States, including those of USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), before any products can enter the United States. All such products would be subject to re-inspection at United States ports-of-entry by FSIS inspectors.

Consistent with the recent changes that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend the Federal meat and poultry products inspection regulations to update and revise the nutrition labeling requirements for meat and poultry products to reflect recent scientific research and dietary recommendations and to improve the presentation of nutrition information to assist consumers in maintaining healthy dietary practices. FSIS is proposing to (1) update the list of nutrients that are required or permitted to be declared; (2) provide updated Daily Reference Values (DRV) and Reference Daily Intake (RDI) values that are based on current dietary recommendations from consensus reports; and (3) amend the requirements for foods represented or purported to be specifically for children under the age of four years and pregnant and lactating women and establish nutrient reference values specifically for these population subgroups. FSIS is also proposing to revise the format and appearance of the Nutrition Facts Panel; amend the definition of a single-serving container; require dual-column labeling for certain containers; and update and modify several reference amounts customarily consumed (RACCs or reference amounts). FSIS also is proposing to consolidate the nutrition labeling regulations for meat and poultry products into a new Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing the 2017 rates it will charge meat and poultry establishments, egg products plants, and importers and exporters for providing voluntary, overtime, and holiday inspection and identification, certification, and laboratory services.  The 2017 basetime, overtime, holiday, and laboratory services rates will be applied on the first FSIS pay period approximately 30 days after the publication of this notice. This pay period begins on January 10, 2017.

The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended (the Act), establishes a time limit for SNAP participation of three months in three years for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) who are not working. The Act provides State flexibility by allowing State agencies to waive the time limit if an area that an individual resides in has an unemployment rate of over 10 percent or does not have a sufficient number of jobs to provide employment for individuals.  The ANPRM would request public input on a proposed framework for modifying ABAWD time limit waivers with the goal of moving individuals to work as the best solution for poverty, and to advance this goal consistent with the structure and the intent of the Act.

This rule would reduce administrative burden by modifying the regulatory requirements for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) that require eligible for-profit child and adult care centers to verify monthly that the requirements of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act are met. 

This rule would add more flexibility to the hiring requirements for new School Nutrition Program Directors in small local educational agencies (LEAs) and new State Directors of School Nutrition Programs under the professional standards regulations and, thus, facilitate recruitment and hiring of qualified candidates for the school meal programs.

This rule provides additional flexibilities to retailers applying to participate in SNAP as authorized food stores.  The Agricultural Act of 2014 amended the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to increase the requirement that certain Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) authorized retail food stores have available on a continuous basis at least three varieties of items in each of four staple food categories, to a mandatory minimum of seven varieties.  The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) codified these mandatory requirements.  This change will provide retailers with more flexibility in meeting the variety standards of the enhanced SNAP eligibility requirements.

Section 738 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, (Pub. L. 110-161) extends simplified cost accounting procedures to Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sponsors in all States. Beginning on January 1, 2008, sponsors received the maximum rates of reimbursement for the eligible meals they served. This final rule will amend 7 CFR part 225 to eliminate the program assistance requirements that no longer apply and to implement a number of other actions that would further streamline SFSP administration.

This final rule implements provisions of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-79, the Farm Bill) with regard to the processing of donated foods, and to further amend current regulations to provide more efficient and effective service to State distributing and recipient agencies, including School Food Authorities.

This interim final rule provides flexibilities consistent with those currently available by Congressional directive to program operators participating in the Child Nutrition Programs for School Year 2018-2019. These flexibilities include: (1) providing operators the option to offer flavored, low-fat (one percent fat) milk in the Child Nutrition Programs; (2) extending the State agencies’ option to allow individual school food authorities to include grains that are not whole grain-rich in the weekly menu offered under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP); and (3) revising the sodium reduction timeline for the NSLP and SBP.

The SNAP: Certification, Eligibility, and Employment and Training Provisions of the Food, Energy and Conservation Act of 2008 final rule was published on January 6, 2017. The interim final portion of the rule increased requirements for Group Living Arrangements and Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers.   All comments received on the interim changes were negative and indicated that the regulatory change presented significant technical and administrative challenges.  For these reasons, FNS wants to determine how best to address the needs of this particular population through separate, focused rulemaking.  This final rule will remove some or all of the interim provisions published on January 6, 2017 and return to the administrative requirements previously in place.

This rule would remove a regulatory requirement for the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) at 7 CFR 253.11(i)(2) requiring State agencies and Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) to return to the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) any unobligated funds within 90 days following the close of each Federal fiscal year, which ends on September 30.  This requirement is no longer necessary now that the funds are provided on a two-year basis. 

The Agency proposes to reform its NEPA regulations (36 CFR 220) through this proposed rule, and will concurrently propose reforms to its internal NEPA directives FSM 1950 and FSH 1909.15. The proposed rule revises the NEPA process, including aspects of the analysis framework, scoping and public engagement, and determining significance. In addition, the proposed rule develops additional categorical exclusions. The Agency has identified reforms needed to achieve greater efficiency in its NEPA implementation including eliminating outdated requirements, clarifying existing concepts and requirements, and incorporating new concepts.  

This procedural final rule will provide greater opportunity for public participation in the formulation of standards, criteria and guidelines applicable to Forest Service programs by: (1) expanding the scope of documents subject to such review; (2) utilizing technologies that were not available when these regulations were last amended in 1984 to ensure a broader swath of the interested public is notified of opportunities to review and comment on policy changes; and (3) increasing the efficiency of the directive revision process to reduce administrative costs and permit more frequent and timely updates. Consistent with 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1), this rule is issued as a final rule as it imposes no additional burdens on any governmental entity or the public but expands the ability of such parties to comment upon the issuance of Agency policies set forth in Forest Service rules and guidance. 

The Forest Service is proposing a revision of its policy procedures in Forest Service Handbook 2409.18, Timber Sale Preparation Handbook, chapter 90, Programs With Small Business Administration, to drop structural changes in the Forest Service Directives. This proposed revision would better reflect the current timber sale program, make the recomputation process as fair as possible, and simplify the process by which market share is determined. This proposed policy change would not affect scheduled and special recomputations.

A new servicewide handbook, Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Water and Soil Conservation, will provide consistent national guidance for implementing the agency's nonpoint source pollution control program in accordance with the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly referred to as the Clean Water Act; 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 311(f) et seq.), Department regulation (9500-007), and Agency policy (FSM 2532).

This handbook and guidance formalizes this program. Existing regional BMPs, soil and water conservation practices, and monitoring programs that have proven to be successful are the foundation of the policy. Common aspects of these programs are being combined to standardize and streamline current Forest Service nonpoint source water pollution prevention programs for improved efficiency, consistency, and reporting. 

The Forest Service National BMP Program has two parts: a set of BMPs that encompasses water resource protection measures for a full range of National Forest System land management activities and a monitoring program to determine if practices are implemented and effective at meeting water resource and beneficial use protection objectives.

Enactment of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-234) on January 3, 2008 provides the legal authority for this proposed rulemaking. Specifically, Section 9002(a)(3)(B)(iii) states that the BioPreferred Program (Program) guidelines shall "automatically designate items composed of intermediate ingredients and feedstocks designated under clause (ii), if the content of the designated intermediate ingredients and feedstocks exceeds 50 percent of the item (unless the Secretary determines a different composition percentage is appropriate)". This proposed rule will designate, for preferred procurement approximately 50 finished product categories including biodegradable foams, exterior paints and coatings, facial care products, paper products office paper, rugs and floor mats, safety equipment, and traffic and zone marking paints. In Round 11, the Program proposed the designation of several intermediate ingredient or feedstock product categories. The products that fit these intermediate product categories are typically used to manufacture finished products that may be grouped in the proposed finished product categories. Furthermore, there are currently United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Certified Biobased Products that meet the definitions of these proposed finished product categories. Therefore, designating these product categories for preferred procurement would be an added benefit for the manufacturers of the USDA Certified Biobased Products and would bring the BioPreferred Program's two major initiatives more closely aligned in terms of the product categories recognized.

Pursuant to the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, all agencies are expected to revise their FOIA-implementing regulations to comport with the statute's new requirements by December 28, 2016. The Department of Commerce will promulgate changes to 15 CFR part 4 in order to comply with that requirement and will also change one definition to align with a recent D.C. Circuit decision that struck down the same definitional language in another agency's regulations.

The Office of Security publishes this rule to announce a change in the contact and address for submitting requests for review for declassification. This action is being taken to provide the correct location where the mandatory reviews for declassification are received.

This rule proposes revisions to the Department of Commerce's (Department) regulations under the Privacy Act. The Privacy Act regulations are being updated to make technical changes to the applicable exemptions and to reflect organization changes affecting the Department's officials authorized to deny requests for records under the Freedom of Information Act, and requests for records and for correction or amendment under the Privacy Act.

The Census Bureau proposes to amend its regulations in order to clarify that the data collected from the Kimberley Process Certificates (KPCs) are collected in compliance with the Clean Diamond Trade Act and not under the Census Bureau's laws and regulations. In addition, this rule clarifies the submission requirements and permissible uses of the KPCs.

The Census Bureau is seeking public comments to perform a review of routed export transactions. In particular, the Census Bureau is interested in comments regarding the definition of a routed export transaction as well as the responsibilities of parties in routed export transactions, as detailed in the FTR, 15 CFR part 30. Routed export transactions are transactions in which the Foreign Principal Party in Interest (FPPI) controls the movement of the goods out of the country. There are a variety of reasons why the FPPI assumes this responsibility such as the use of a preferred carrier and the desire to not disclose the ultimate consignee to the U.S. Principal Party in Interest (USPPI). Since the FPPI controls the movement of the goods in a routed transaction and cannot file Electronic Export Information (EEI), the Census Bureau requires the FPPI to authorize a U.S. authorized agent or the USPPI to file the EEI on its behalf. This ensures that the Census Bureau collects the statistical information.

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) issued this proposed rule to update the regulations implementing the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, as amended (PWEDA). In particular, EDA proposed important changes to the regulations governing the Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) program that are intended to reflect current best practices and strengthen EDA's efforts to evaluate, monitor, and improve RLF performance by establishing a risk-based management framework to evaluate and manage the RLF program. EDA also proposed to reorganize the RLF regulations to improve their readability and clarify the requirements that apply to the distinct phases of an RLF award. In addition, EDA proposed specific changes to RLF requirements to make RLF awards more efficient for Recipients to administer and EDA to monitor. EDA also proposed important, but less comprehensive updates to other parts of its regulations, including revising definitions, replacing references to superseded regulations to reflect the promulgation of the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements (2 CFR part 200) (Uniform Guidance), streamlining the provisions that outline EDA's application process, and clarifying EDA's property management regulations.