Pursuant to multiple cross-agency Administration initiatives, including but not limited to Executive Orders 13771, 13859, and the President’s Management Agenda, and longstanding commitment to robust retrospective review of federal regulations, this rule will reflect use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other advanced analytical tools to conduct a thorough analysis of the agency’s operative regulatory code in order to identify opportunities for administrative burden reduction. This may include reconciling conflicting, eliminating duplicative, or otherwise streamlining reporting requirements and other administrative burdens. It may also include corrections of typographical errors or broken and obsolete citations. Whereas this kind of a comprehensive code cleanup effort would previously required a costly and time-consuming manual effort, use of new technologies, such as natural language processing can support subject matter experts in an accelerated review of often thousands of pages of regulatory text.

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) issued rules, notices of funds availability, and corrections to implement the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). CFAP 1 and 2 provide assistance to agricultural producers impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. The CFAP rules established provisions for direct payments to producers of eligible commodities. The CFAP rules specify the eligibility requirements, payment calculations, and application procedures for CFAP.

This document revises the delegations of authority from the Secretary of Agriculture and general officers of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reflect changes and additions to the delegations required by the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 and for other purposes.

This rule amends the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations to implement Executive Order 13831, Establishment of a White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative. Among other changes, this rule provides clarity regarding the rights and obligations of faith-based organizations participating in USDA programs. This rulemaking is intended to ensure that USDA’s social service programs are implemented in a manner consistent with the requirements of Federal law, including the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The 2018 Farm Bill, section 7212, authorizes the Secretary to make competitive grants to support research, education, and extension activities for the purposes of facilitating the development of urban, indoor, and other emerging agricultural production, harvesting, transportation, aggregation, packaging, distribution, and markets.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) issues grants and cooperative agreements to a variety of entities including, but not limited to, colleges and universities, other Federal agencies, and individuals in support of agricultural research, education, and extension programs. The Agency's administrative provisions in 7 CFR part 3430, Competitive and Noncompetitive Non-formula Federal Assistance Programs, contain elements common to all competitive and noncompetitive grant programs it administers in subparts A through E. Subpart F and thereafter apply to specific grant programs.  These regulations do not, however, currently apply to any of the formula grant programs administered by NIFA. Therefore, NIFA will amend the regulations to expand the scope of 7 CFR part 3430 to include these programs and to rename the part Competitive, Noncompetitive, and Capacity Federal Assistance Programs.

At the time 7 CFR part 3430 was established, NIFA planned to eliminate some of its existing program-specific regulations in Title 7 and incorporate their provisions into part 3430.  Accordingly, this rule will remove 7 CFR parts 3402 (Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship Grants Program), 3405 (Higher Education Challenge Grants Program), 3406 (1890 Institution Capacity Building Grants Program), and 3415 (Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants Program) and incorporate their provisions into part 3430 as subparts N, R, S, and T.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) issues grants and cooperative agreements to a variety of entities including, but not limited to, colleges and universities, other Federal agencies, and individuals in support of agricultural research, education, and extension programs. The Agency's administrative provisions in 7 CFR part 3430 contain elements common to the competitive grant programs it administers in subparts A through E. Subpart F and thereafter apply to specific grant programs.

Section 7117 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-334, or the 2018 Farm Bill) added section 1446 to the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to establish a new competitive grant program entitled Scholarships for Students at 1890 Institutions. Section 7117 provides mandatory funding in the enacted amount of $40 million, to remain available until expended, for a scholarship program for eligible students at 1890 Institutions. This final rule establishes a new subpart V in 7 CFR part 3430 for this program.

This direct final rule provides uniform guidelines on the use, award, and administration of Federal financial assistance cost-reimbursable agreements the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) awards under the authority of 7 U.S.C. 3319a.

The USDA Farm Production and Conservation Service mission area will propose to revise and consolidate the Farm Service Agency, Commodity Credit Corporation, and Natural Resources Conservation Service environmental compliance regulations in response to the September 2020 changes to the Council on Environmental Policy's National Environmental Policy Act regulations.

The final rule will make changes in the regulations to be consistent with provisions of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill). Most of the changes made by the rule were self-enacting and have already been implemented administratively. In addition, the rule will make the changes for equitable relief and the State Agricultural Mediation Program, which are the only changes that were not self-enacting. The changes increase statutory loan limits or improve the various loan programs (direct farm ownership loans, direct and guaranteed loans, microloans, and emergency loans) and will relieve some restrictions to participation or otherwise encourage participation.

FSA will implement a regulation for a new relending program, authorized by changes that the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) made to the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act. The relending program will provide revolving loan funds to eligible intermediary lenders to resolve ownership and succession on farmland with multiple owners. The lenders will give loans to qualified individuals to resolve these ownership issues. The intermediary lenders will consolidate and coordinate the ownerships of the land-ownership interests.

The rule will change the regulations to be consistent with provisions of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill). Marketing Assistance Loans (MALs) and Loan Deficiency Payments (LDPs) will be available for crop years 2019 to 2023. Market loan gains from cash redemptions and LDPs will not be subject to a payment limit. The loan rates will be revised for all commodities except oilseeds, wool, mohair, honey, and peanuts. The calculation change for the upland cotton loan rate may not equal less than 98 percent of the loan rate for base quality of upland cotton from the preceding year.

The regulations in 7 CFR part 7 specify the election and functions of FSA county committees and the function of the FSA State committees. The regulations are being amended to add a requirement that, to be eligible to serve on an FSA county committee, a producer must not be banned or restricted from entering an FSA office.  The FSA county committee meetings are held in the FSA office.  Any producer who has been banned or restricted from an FSA county office will not be eligible to be a nominee for, or current member of, an FSA county committee.

The Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019 authorized the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus (WHIP+) to help agricultural producers who suffered from production losses due to natural disasters in 2018 and 2019. These disasters include hurricanes, floods, snowstorms, tornadoes, typhoons, volcanic activity and wildfires, and related conditions.  The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, added excess moisture and D3 and D4 drought to the list of qualifying natural disasters and expanded the scope of losses suffered due to these events to include quality losses.  This rule will amend the regulations to implement those legislative changes.  The rule will also correct a reference to payment factors in section 760.1511(a)(6). The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, also provided that the Secretary will pay sugar beet losses in 2018 and 2019 through cooperative processors.  Assistance for sugar beet losses for members of cooperative processors will be provided through a separate program; therefore, the rule will specify that those sugar beet losses are ineligible for payment under WHIP+.

The Deputy Administrator for Farm Loan Programs proposes multiple modifications of 7 CFR 761, 762 and 764 to improve program delivery and processing timeframes.  Enhancements are minor in nature with minimal impact to the public.

The final rule will remove regulations for farm programs that are obsolete, no longer authorized, or administered under different funding. For example, 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 final rule will finalize the mandatory changes for consistency with the provisions in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill).  The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) assists producers in conserving and improving soil, water, and wildlife resources by converting highly erodible and other environmentally sensitive acreage to a long-term vegetative cover. The core scope of CRP is not changing. In general, the regulatory changes are mandatory; however, there is some discretion on how some of the provisions have been implemented. The 2018 Farm Bill extends and modifies the authorization for CRP through fiscal year (FY) 2023. The CRP acreage cap is increased from 24 million acres to 27 million acres by FY 2023, and includes 8.6 million acres for continuous practices and 2 million acres for grasslands. Two new pilot programs are: the Clean Lakes, Estuaries, and Rivers initiative (CLEAR 30, which has 30-year contracts) and a Soil Health and Income Protection Program (SHIPP). The Farm Service Agency (FSA) expects to target at least 40 percent of continuous CRP acres for the practices considered as Clean Lakes, Estuaries, and Rivers (CLEAR). A proportional, historic State acreage allocation includes a portion of the acres available for enrollment. The 2018 Farm Bill authorizes up to $12 million in incentive payments for tree thinning and related activities and provides additional haying and grazing flexibilities. The final rule will finalize the required changes to the eligibility criteria for enrollment in CRP, the benefits available to participants, and the compliance provisions of CRP. A couple of examples of the discretionary regulatory changes are:  how regional drought concerns are addressed on the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) agreements, and the specific length of SHIPP contracts. CRP is a Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) program administered by FSA.  There were 63 comments submitted in response to the interim rule.  The final rule will address the issues raised in the comments.

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill) extends and revises the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) and authorizes funding to be appropriated through 2023. BCAP provides financial assistance to producers who establish and harvest biomass crops. The rule makes changes consistent with the 2018 Farm Bill changes. The rule will add algae as an eligible material. Other aspects of BCAP remain essentially unchanged; all biomass must be harvested in a manner that is consistent with a conservation plan, forest stewardship plan or equivalent plan. The rule will revise the definition of biobased to add renewable chemicals and clarify that renewable chemicals are not just an intermediate ingredient, but rather a biobased product, an output that we require for qualified biomass conversion facilities to produce. Finally, the rule will provide notification about adjustments to sign up expectations, in order to respond to the changes in funding.

The final rule will change the regulations as required in response to the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority’s decision to discontinue the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) interest rates effective December 31, 2021.  The FSA Farm Loan Programs regulations in 7 CFR part 762 references LIBOR when limiting the maximum interest rate lenders may charge their guaranteed loan customers at closing.  FSA must update this limit before the LIBOR data is unavailable.  FSA is also simplifying the maximum interest rate rules to make them more understandable for lenders and more practical for FSA to monitor.

In addition, FSA is clarifying that guaranteed loan applicants must not be ineligible for assistance due to disqualification resulting from a Federal Crop Insurance violation according to 7 CFR part 718.  This restriction already applies to FSA guaranteed loan applicants; however, FSA is adding this to 7 CFR 762 for consistency with the limitation in 7 CFR 764.101 applying to FSA’s direct loan applicants.

FSA is making a correction to the actively engaged provisions published in the final rule to change them back to what they were prior to the 8/24/2020 final rule.  In the final rule, FSA amended the regulation in 7 CFR part 1400 on behalf of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to implement changes consistent with provisions of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill). The rule expanded the definition of family member to include first cousin, niece and nephew, used for payment eligibility determinations for certain FSA and CCC programs. The rule changed the specific program payment or benefit applicability table. The change specified that the payment limit no longer applies to Marketing Loan Gains (MLGs), Loan Deficiency Payments (LDPs), Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees and Farm Raised Fish (ELAP), and the Tree Assistance Program (TAP). The rule amended the cash-rent tenant requirements. The rule changed the payment limitation for the Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) to specify a separate maximum limitation of $125,000 on payments for losses to crops with catastrophic coverage and a $300,000 maximum limitation on payments for losses to crops with buy-up coverage.

This rule proposes to replace the General Administrative Regulation; Submission of Policies, Provisions of Policies; Rates of Premium, and Non-Reinsured Supplemental Policies to implement the changes contained in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 to clarify existing regulations, lessen the burden of submitters of crop insurance policies, provisions of policies, or rates of premium, and provide guidance on the submission and payment for concept proposals. 

This rule amended the Common Crop Insurance Regulations, Forage Production and Forage Seeding Crop Insurance Provisions to update existing policy provisions and definitions to better reflect current agricultural practices and allow for variations in insurance provisions based on regional agronomic conditions and potential future expansions.

This rule amended the Common Crop Insurance Regulations, Dry Pea Crop Provisions for the 2021 and succeeding crop years to better reflect current agricultural practices and allow for regionally-specific agronomic conditions and potential future expansions.

This rule amended the Common Crop Insurance Policy Basic Provisions to implement the changes contained in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. Section 11122 of the 2018 Farm Bill required that FCIC research and develop methods of adjusting for quality losses that 1) Do not impact the actual production history of a producer; 2) Allow producers to exclude a quality loss from their actual production history when the quality loss is insufficient to trigger an indemnity payment; 3) Is optional for a producer to use; and 4) Is offered at an actuarially sound premium rate. In addition to changes mandated by the 2018 Farm Bill, FCIC made some discretionary changes to the CCIP Basic Provisions, the Area Risk Protection Insurance (ARPI) Basic Provisions, and the Coarse Grains Crop Insurance Provisions.

This rule will amend the Common Crop Insurance Policy Basic Provisions to revise prevented planting provisions, revise the Beginning Farmer or Rancher/Veteran Farmer or Rancher actual production history (APH) application, revise Mediation and Arbitration provisions, revise the Dry Pea Crop Provisions by making technical corrections to the final rule that published in June 2020, and revise the Sunflower Seed Crop Provisions to allow changes to end of insurance period dates.

Enactment of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-334) on December 20, 2018 provides the legal authority for this rulemaking. This rulemaking is a continuation of the directives given by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-79) and the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-234), and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-171).  The overall intent of this action is to add 2018 Farm Bill provisions for the Biobased Markets Program. Specifically, the action will propose to codify program guidance into the regulations.

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service will update the regulations for the Rural Energy for America Program to update section references for Combined Grant and Guaranteed Loan funding requirements and Energy Audit and Renewable Energy Development Assistance grants due to the removal of the guarantee loan provisions that will move to the OneRD Guaranteed Loan Rule (0572-AC43).  Program modifications that have been previously published via Federal Register Notice of Solicitation of Application (NOSA) will be incorporated into 7 CFR part 4280, subpart B, to eliminate the need for annual notification/renewal and to enhance program delivery and customer service.  Program enhancements that support a greater distribution of funds as well as processing and servicing clarifications are also being incorporated into this regulation.

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) will amend its regulation on the Intermediary Relending Program (IRP), updating it to fit the needs of the current rural economy and to reflect the changes required by the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill). In addition, section 6017 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill) amended the IRP’s authorization by moving it from Health and Human Services authority to the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (ConAct) (7 U.S.C. 1922 et seq.). As a result, this affected the requirements of the program. Though regulatory changes have been made to the program, the IRP regulations have been implemented on an ad hoc basis since inception of the program, causing disconnects and inconsistencies within the regulatory text. RBS will complete a holistic rewrite, clean up the regulations governing the program, and remove inconsistencies, thereby making the program more accessible to our customers.

Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) was authorized by section 379E of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (ConAct). This Act established the RMAP to provide loans and grants to support microentrepreneurs in the development and ongoing success of rural microenterprises. The loans establish or augment a rural microentrepreneur revolving loan fund and the grants provide technical assistance and training to microenterprises.

Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) will amend the current regulation by making changes designed to make the program run more efficiently, allow a more user-friendly program, bring the rules in line with other RBS programs and align the regulations to the new 2018 Farm Bill provisions under section 6422.

This action is intended to implement the provisions of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) related to section 10102 for the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) Program and section 7608 for the Agriculture Innovation Center (AIC) Program and modernize section 6412 for the Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program (RCDG). In addition, this action will support ways to simplify and streamline Rural Development (RD) program delivery by removing outdated and ineffective definitions, requirements and scoring criterion for the grant regulations (programs) under 7 CFR 4284. The specific tasks under this action plan align with RD's strategic goals to drive innovation and build and implement partnerships by removing regulatory barriers to rural prosperity.

The Rural Innovation Stronger Economy (RISE) Grant Program is a newly authorized program enacted as part of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-334) (2018 Farm Bill) to help struggling communities by funding job accelerators in (meaning more focused job training, such as tractor repair or solar array maintenance) low-income rural communities. This proposed rule would establish regulations to implement the provisions of section 6424 of the 2018 Farm Bill and would describe the program purpose, the eligible uses of program funds, and entities eligible for assistance under the RISE Grant Program that align with the Farm Bill language. The proposed new regulation would also include competitive grant scoring criteria and cost sharing requirements of the Program.

USDA's Rural Business Cooperative Service (RBCS) received funding and authority through Division B, Title I of the CARES Act to provide for additional funds for use under the Business & Industry (B&I) Guaranteed Loan Program.  In accordance with the CARES Act, the purposes of the additional B&I funding is to prevent, prepare for and respond to the effects of the pandemic. It is the Agency’s intent that guaranteed loan funds will be primarily for working capital loan purposes to support business operations and facilities in rural areas. The Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program’s funding is depleted and this funding is the only source to fill the gap for our Rural Businesses that are severely impacted due to the economic impacts of COVID19. This critical funding will allow Rural Businesses to get bridge funding for operating expenses to allow them to stay open at this time. This action will supplement the current Business and Industry (B&I) Guaranteed Loan Program in 7 CFR 4279, Guaranteed Loan Making and 7 CFR 4287, Servicing, with the new B&I CARES Act Guaranteed Loan Program.

The agency will issue a final rule to implement section 6401 of the Agriculture Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill). This program was initially authorized under section 6025 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill) and was re-authorized under the 2018 Farm Bill, with some modifications. Similar to the 2014 Farm Bill, the 2018 Farm Bill does not change the underlying eligible program's provisions (e.g., eligibility, applications, award decisions, scoring and servicing provisions), but rather establishes a funding priority set-aside and process by which applicants may apply for and receive the set-aside funds for each included program.

The 2018 Farm Bill establishes funding priority for all applicable programs under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (ConAct) (7 U.S.C. 2008v) for projects that support the implementation of a strategic community investment plan on a multisectoral and multijurisdictional basis.

The rule will amend the set aside from the current 10 percent to up to 15 percent of appropriated funds for a fiscal year and update the definition of a strategic community investment plan and its requirements.

On July 16, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a final rule to update its regulations for Federal agencies to implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The final rule comprehensively updated, modernized, and clarified the regulations to facilitate more efficient, effective, and timely NEPA reviews by Federal agencies in connection with proposals for agency action. The rule will improve interagency coordination in the environmental review process, promote earlier public involvement, increase transparency, and enhance the participation of States, Tribes, and localities. The amendments will advance the original goals of the CEQ regulations to reduce paperwork and delays, and promote better decisions consistent with the national environmental policy set forth in section 101 of NEPA.

Due to CEQ’s issuance of comprehensive updates to its NEPA regulations at 40 CFR part 1500 et. seq., (effective September 14, 2020), Rural Development is required to conform its NEPA regulations to CEQ’s updated regulations.  Sections throughout the regulation will require updating as CEQ’s regulation is the first in roughly 40 years, so updates are pervasive. Examples include updating the authorities and CEQ references throughout RD regulation to match the new CEQ references. Focus is on conforming changes to what CEQ updated, including definitions, responsible parties, actions requiring review, when to raise the level of review, timing, limits, alternatives, public involvement, extraordinary circumstances, etc. Most sections of 7 CFR 1970 will need to be updated to correspond with the new CEQ regulations. Rural Development modernized its Environmental Policies and Procedures recently and will focus revisions exclusively on bringing the regulation into compliance with the revised CEQ regulation.

The Rural Utilities Service will amend its regulations in 7 CFR part 1738 to implement statutory changes made by the 2018 Farm Bill. The statutory changes affecting 7 CFR part 1738 are found in various sections of title VI of the 2018 Farm Bill, including sections 6201, 6205, 6207, 6208, 6209 and 6212. The changes in title VI include but are not limited to amendments to the program’s current grant funding; priority consideration; project eligibility; broadband service requirements; broadband build out requirements; program funding instruments; technical assistance and training; treatment of outdated broadband systems; public notice, assessment, and reporting requirements; environmental reviews; use of loan proceeds for refinancing; and Federal broadband program coordination.

This final rule will implement the statutory changes made to titles II and IV of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (RE Act) by the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, Public Law 115-334 (2018 Farm Bill).

The Rural Telephone Loan Program finances the improvement, expansion, construction, acquisition, and operation of telephone lines, facilities, or systems to furnish and improve telephone service in eligible rural areas.

RUS will publish a final rule with comment period to amend existing program regulations in 7 CFR parts 1735, and 1737, and to implement the multiple statutory changes to title II as required by the 2018 Farm Bill.

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) made mandatory changes to several programs administered by the Electric Program of the Rural Utilities Service.  The final rule will make revisions to 7 CFR parts 1710, 1720, and 1785 to adopt the statutory changes made by the 2018 Farm Bill, including:

SECTION 6501. Amendments to section 2 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (a) Electric Loan Refinancing
SECTION 6503. Cushion of Credit Payments Program
SECTION 6505. Guarantees for Bonds and Notes Issued for Electrification or Telephone Purposes
SECTION 6507. Cybersecurity and Grid Security Improvements

Rural Development (RD) will implement one mission-area-wide regulation to cover all three RD agencies’ loan and grant programs related to broadband programs. The rule will implement provisions as set forth in section 6210 of the 2018 Farm Bill.  Funds may be used for any activity for which assistance is provided under section 601 (Access to Broadband Telecommunications Services in Rural Areas) of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 and/or funds may be used to construct other broadband infrastructure (such as middle mile facilities, etc.). Limitations on the use of funding assistance will be addressed in the rule as imposed by Section 6210 of the 2018 Farm Bill:

1. Not more than 10 percent of any financial assistance may be used to provide retail broadband service; in cases where retail broadband service is being proposed, applicants will need to comply with the public notice requirements of section 6207 of the [2018 Farm Bill];

2. Funds may only be used in an area that is not being provided with the minimum acceptable level of broadband (established under 601(d) of the RE Act);

3. This authority shall not be construed to limit the availability of any borrower to finance or deploy services previously authorized; and

4. This authority cannot be used if it would result in competitive harm to any Rural Development grant, loan, or loan guarantee recipient.

As this new rule applies to all RD agencies, each agency, at their sole discretion, will determine which agency regulations will require conforming amendments after enactment of this new rule.

On March 23, 2018, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (the 2018 Act) (Pub.L. 115-141) which established a broadband loan and grant pilot program, the ReConnect Program. The Act originally appropriated $600 million to be used on an expedited basis. On January 3, 2019, Congress appropriated (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019) an additional $550 million for the ReConnect Program. Once again, on December 20, 2019 Congress appropriated (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020) $555 million to continue the ReConnect Program.

The ReConnect Program provides funding in the form of loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to facilitate broadband deployment in rural areas. One of the essential goals of the ReConnect Program is to expand broadband service to rural areas without sufficient access to broadband, defined as 10 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream and 1 Mbps upstream, including on farms to utilize precision agriculture.

Currently, RUS implements the ReConnect Program by issuing Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs). RUS is proposing a new regulation to implement the ReConnect Program. This regulation is intended to codify existing policies through statutory language on eligibility requirements, types and terms of funding, program requirements and processing procedures.

The Revolving Fund Program (7 CFR 1783) helps qualified nonprofits create revolving loan funds that can provide financing to extend and improve water and waste disposal systems in rural areas.

Section 6403 of the The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) amended the amount allowed for total project costs.

The revision to 7 CFR 1783 will amend 1783.15(a)(3) from Shall not exceed the lesser of $100,000 or 75 Percent of the total cost of a project...." with Shall not exceed the lesser of $200,000 or 75 percent ...."

 The Rural Utilities Service (RUS or Agency) will streamline procedures for Electric Program borrowers, including loan application requirements, approval of construction workplans, long-range plans, and system design procedures.

The recommended process improvements such as simplifying policies and procedures and removing unnecessary and outdated RUS Electric Program requirements. are a result of the Electric Program Staff’s experience with working with the RUS stakeholders. The intent of these proposed changes is to streamline and improve the efficiency of the requirements for applying for Electric Program loans, as well as to streamline pre and post-loan procedures. These actions are expected to increase program flexibility which will improve overall customer satisfaction and improve process efficiencies in program delivery.

The regulation changes will decrease the workload to borrowers and RUS employees by eliminating unnecessary policies and requirements and, improving business processes which  are expected to improve time management and potential savings for borrowers.  

Rural Development will combine into a single regulation, called OneRD, its four guaranteed loan programs: 1) Water and Waste Disposal, 2) Community Facilities, 3) Business and Industry, and 4) Rural Energy for America. The new regulation will encompass the policies and procedures for guaranteed loan making and servicing, lender reporting, and program monitoring. This action will enable Rural Development to simplify, improve, and enhance the delivery of these four guaranteed loan programs and better manage the risks inherent with making and servicing guaranteed loans, and will result in an improved customer experience for lenders trying to access these programs. This new structure will also make it more efficient and faster to promulgate regulations associated with amending existing programs or incorporating newly authorized programs in the future.

Through this regulation, Rural Development will include statutory changes to implement sections 6103, 6402, 6418, 9001 and 9007 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill).

• Section 6103 provides for refinancing of a debt obligation of a rural hospital as an eligible loan purpose for guarantees.

• Section 6402 expands the population cap for guaranteed lending for the Water and Waste program and the Community Facilities program to 50,000.

• Section 6418 provides that Rural Development may charge and collect fees in such amounts as to bring down the costs of subsidies of a guaranteed loan.

• Section 9001 amends the definition of "renewable energy system" to include other components and ancillary infrastructure of a system, such as a storage system.

• Section 9007 allows loan guarantees for the purchase and installation of energy efficient equipment or systems for agricultural production or processing for agricultural producers only.

The Rural Utilities Service will issue a new regulation that will implement the Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP) authorized under section 6407 of the 2002 Farm Bill, as amended. RESP helps rural families and small businesses achieve cost savings by providing loans to qualified consumers to implement durable cost-effective energy efficiency measures.  The USDA, through the Rural Utilities Service, provides RESP loans to eligible entities that agree to, in turn, make loans to qualified consumers for the purpose of implementing energy efficiency measures. These loans are made available under the authority of section 6407. Eligible energy efficiency measures must be for, or at, a property or properties served by a RESP borrower, using commercially available technologies that would allow qualified consumers to decrease their energy use or costs through cost-effective measures. Loans made by RESP borrowers under this program may be repaid through charges added to the consumer’s bill for the property or properties for, or at which, energy efficiency measures are or will be implemented. The purpose of the program is to help rural families and small businesses achieve cost savings by providing loans to qualified consumers to implement durable cost-effective energy efficiency measures.

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. 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. On February 22, 2005, the Agency published in the Federal Register (70 FR 8503) an interim final rule to delay indefinitely 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 November 2004 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 that would implement the citizenship requirements and harmonize RHS's requirements with those currently established by HUD.

RHS will issue a proposed rule to set forth the design features of the Rural Development Voucher Program, including the eligibility of tenants, the inspection of the housing units, and the calculation of the subsidy amount.  A rule would provide clarity of policy and provide consistency in program implementation. Since Fiscal Year 2006, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has received funding for its Rural Development Voucher Program as authorized under section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949, as amended (42 USC 1490r). Under section 542, the voucher program offers assistance to very low-income families and persons residing in rental housing in rural areas. This program has been operating since 2006 using a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) published annually in the Federal Register incorporating the supplemental appropriation requirements.

On August 13, 2013, RHS published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to add a subpart Q to 7 CFR part 3560 specifically for the Voucher Program. A 60-day comment period was provided that ended October 15, 2013 (78 FR 49374- 49379). As significant time has passed since that proposed rule, RHS will re-propose permanent regulations that reflect the statutory provisions in section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949, as amended. This proposed rule would also provide procedural guidance for the Rural Development Voucher Program.

The Rural Housing Service is proposing to amend its current regulation to delegate loan approval authority to preferred lenders, i.e., those whose loans have performed well and demonstrated strong underwriting capability, to benefit the program and its stakeholders.  Preferred lenders would be responsible for certifying that both the applicant and property meet all program eligibility and underwriting requirements and thus are eligible for the guarantee, without the prior review by agency staff which takes place today. This change will speed up approval processing times, benefiting applicants, preferred lenders, and the Agency. The change to delegated authority would alter the risk management dynamics of the program, and with the proposed rule the agency should be able to proceed in a manner that assures its risk profile for the program would not increase.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS) published a proposed rule on June 2, 2003 [68 FR 32872], to streamline and consolidate 14 regulations into 7 CFR part 3560. Part 3560 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 1949, as amended. 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.

This proposed rule would amend the provisions established by the interim rule in order to 1) implement programmatic changes related to development of a sustainability plan for the Rental Assistance (RA) Program, including new Agency flexibilities in managing the RA distribution; 2) integrate new asset management policies; and 3) incorporate technical corrections to clarify reference and formatting issues in the regulations.

Rural Development (RD) provides Federal financial assistance to rural communities through its housing, community, and business programs on an equal opportunity basis. RD is responsible for ensuring non-discrimination for persons and entities in activities conducted by the USDA and for ensuring non-discrimination in its federally assisted programs and activities. This proposed rule would cover all those items that are specific to RD and not already addressed in 7 CFR part 15. 

This proposed rule would update policies and procedures for implementing the regulations of the Department of Agriculture issued pursuant to title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, Executive Order 11246 and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, as they relate to the USDA Rural Development or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354. Nothing herein shall be interpreted to prohibit preference to American Indians on Indian Reservations.

Currently 7 CFR part 3555 allows lenders to submit loan guarantee requests by using the Agency's automated Guaranteed Underwriting System (GUS) or manually (paper-based submission). GUS is widely accepted among Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Programs (SFHGLP) lenders and approximately 98 percent of loan guarantee requests are submitted through the system. The Agency will publish a proposed rule that would mandate the use of GUS to better monitor the performance of the guaranteed loan portfolio, reduce program risk, and decrease time-consuming and expensive review of manual files for loan guarantee requests. At this time, all loan products with the exception of the streamlined assist refinance are supported in GUS; thus the Agency will continue to accept manually underwritten files for the streamline assist refinance. Specifically, RHS proposes to amend 3555.107(b) and (c) of 7 CFR part 3555 to require utilization of GUS and remove the option to submit loans manually except for unsupported loan products.

The Agency also proposes to amend 3555.107(i)(4) and (5) to require lenders to submit loan closing documentation and fees through the Agency's automated Lender Loan Closing (LLC) system. The LLC is widely used among SFHGLP lenders with approximately 98 percent of guaranteed loan closings submitted through this system. The Agency proposes to make the use of the LLC mandatory to enhance monitoring of portfolio performance, lessen program risk, reduce paperwork and time burden on lenders and the Agency, and decrease expensive manual processing of loan closings. Specifically, RHS proposes to amend 3555.107(0(4) and (5) of 7 CFR Part 3555, to remove the option of mailed/overnighted, facsimile, and emailed packages and require the use of the LLC for all lenders.

The Agency proposes to revise policy and procedures to strengthen oversight and management of the growing Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Programs (SFHGLP) portfolio. The Agency's intent is to be consistent with the Office and Management and Budget (OMB) standards for managing credit programs and better align written policies and best practices with those of similar Federal mortgage loan programs. The Agency proposes to impose minimum financial and experience requirements for lenders not supervised by a Federal financial institution regulatory agency (non-supervised lenders). The purpose is to implement management practices that would ensure the goals of the credit program are met while controlling costs as outlined in the OMB Circular A-129. In addition, the proposed rule would require principal officials at non-supervised lenders to establish an oversight process in order to continue participation in the SFHGLP, to ensure that prudent underwriting standards are maintained.

The Agency also proposes to amend 3555.51(a)(9) and (10) to remove additional criteria for supervised lenders as they have been deemed as a class to have demonstrated ability to originate, underwrite, and service SFHGLP loans. The Agency also proposes to relax the regulation requiring counseling for first-time homebuyers. Instead, the Agency will recommend that lenders encourage counseling sources to first time homebuyers, when available.

The Agency also proposes that applicants with delinquent child support payments subject to collection by administrative offset are deemed ineligible unless the delinquent amount is otherwise satisfied. The proposal would align the regulations with Executive Order 13016, Supporting Families: Collecting Delinquent Child Support Obligations,” 61 FR 51763 (October 3, 1996).

The Agency also proposes to amend 3555.105(b)(4) to revise criteria for the credit history and criminal background of construction builders. The revised guideline focuses on the ability of the builder to perform duties based on their experience, reputation and financial ability and aligns with those of other Federal agencies.

The Agency plans to consolidate and update three regulations governing Community Facilities Loans and Grants programs, 7 CFR part 1942, subparts A and C, and 7 CFR part 3570, subpart B, into a new regulation, 7 CFR part 3570, subpart 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 in 7 CFR part 1942, subparts A and C, and 7 CFR part 3570, subpart B, will be removed as obsolete. The final rule includes the following: remove references to the RUS water and waste disposal program, which was moved to 7 CFR part 1780 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 preapplications optional for small projects ($500,000 or less); 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 well-defined and very controlled circumstances. We will also add language implementing the 2018 Farm Bill to include priority for projects that provide substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery services; and to allow as an eligible loan purpose the refinancing of certain rural hospital debt.

Rural Housing Service is revising 7 CFR part 3550, which outlines the requirements of the Direct Single Family Housing (SFH) programs. Since the reengineering and reinvention of the direct SFH program in 2003, revisions to make improvements have been limited. Through this action, the Rural Housing Service will reduce regulatory burdens in 7 CFR part 3550, enhance program delivery and customer service, promote consistency with the guaranteed SFH loan program where feasible, and reflect current housing market conditions and mortgage loan practices.

Rural Development will issue a Final Rule to implement section 6301 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill).  The rule will establish a new part to outline the policies and procedures that communities must follow in order to request exclusion of populations incarcerated on a long-term or regional basis, as well as the first 1,500 individuals residing in housing on military bases, from the rural area determination for purposes of qualifying for authorized RD programs that use the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act’s definition of rural.  The regulation will include required information that the agency will accept to document such population exclusions.

The Community Facilities (CF) Program currently utilizes seven existing regulations to service the CF Direct Loans (7 CFR part 1951, subparts E, F, and 0; 7 CFR part 1955, subparts A, B, and C; and 7 CFR part 1956, subpart C). The CF Program will be removed from the existing seven regulations. The Agency will place all regulation for servicing the loans and grants of the CF program into one streamlined regulation; that regulation will apply solely to the CF Program. The Agency will also make changes to improve the servicing options available to CF borrowers.

Section 538 of the Housing Act of 1949, as amended (42 U.S.C. section 1490p-2), authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to charge certain fees to lenders for loan guarantees to offset costs associated with loan guarantees. The Agency's implementing regulation at 7 CFR part 3565 sets the exact amount of the initial guarantee fee and the annual guarantee that is being charged by the Agency. This final rule will remove from the regulations a specification of the amount that the Agency will charge for the initial and annual guarantee fees. This change will allow the Agency the flexibility to establish or make any future changes to the initial and annual guarantee fees without the need for a regulatory change. To provide the public advance notice, the Agency will be required to publish any changes to the initial and annual guarantee fees in the Federal Register.

The final rule finalizes changes made by the interim rule that provides financial and technical assistance to help conserve agricultural lands and wetlands through easements. The interim rule made the regulation consistent with the changes the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) makes to subtitle H of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985.  For example:  (1) specify the criteria by which the Secretary may enter into a legal arrangement with an eligible entity that is pursuing a "Buy-Protect-Sell" transaction, (2) modify the non-Federal share contribution requirements provided by the eligible entity, remove the requirement that 50 percent of the non-Federal share be provided by cash resources of the eligible entity, and determine the extent to which the non-Federal share can be comprised by other sources, such as a qualified charitable donation by the landowner; (3) specify the existing policy of the Secretary to adjust ranking and evaluation criteria for geographic differences and to give priority to applications that maintain agricultural viability; (4) introduce additional terms and conditions that may be included in the agricultural land easement deed; (5) specify the existing policy of the Secretary to ensure that a Reserve Grazing Rights Wetland Reserve Easement complies with a grazing management plan, which must be reviewed and modified as needed every 5 years, (6) identify the criteria under which NRCS may authorize the restoration of the easement area to hydrologically appropriate native vegetative communities or alternative naturalized vegetative communities, subject to certain requirements, and (7) incorporate changes to NRCS’s modification, subordination, exchange, or termination of ACEP easements.  The final rule will address the issues raised in the comments received on the interim rule.

The final rule finalizes changes made by the interim rule in the regulations that are consistent with the changes made by the 2018 Farm Bill for several conservation programs. The NRCS regulations affected are: State Technical Committees, Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention, Healthy Forests Reserve Program, Technical Service Provider, and Voluntary Public Access-Habitat Incentives Program. The rule is necessary due to mandatory changes made by the 2018 Farm Bill to update the regulations to be consistent with the law. The final rule will address issues raised in the 17 comments received on the interim rule.

Through the interim rule, NRCS established RCPP as a separate program as authorized by 2018 Farm Bill. RCPP was first authorized in the Agricultural Act of 2014 as a part of other NRCS programs to enhance conservation and restoration on a regional or watershed scale. The final rule finalizes the regulation as implemented by the interim rule.  RCPP establishes coordination between NRCS and its partners to help producers and landowners increase the restoration and sustainable use of soil, water, and wildlife on a regional or watershed scale. The 2018 Farm Bill reauthorizes RCPP and makes significant changes to how the program is funded, introduces RCPP contracts, changes the funding pool” mechanism, streamlines the program, allows project renewals, expands activity eligibility, and makes other changes.  The final rule will address issues raised in the comments received on the interim rule.

The Food Security Act of 1985, as amended, requires producers participating in the different programs administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to abide by certain conditions (hereafter "conservation compliance provisions") on any land owned or farmed that is highly erodible or that is considered a wetland.  Producers participating in these programs and any person or entity considered to be an "affiliated person" of the producer are subject to these conservation compliance provisions. The regulations for conservation compliance are in 7 CFR part 12. Conservation compliance requires producers to apply a conservation system if they plant annually tilled crops on highly erodible soil and prohibits producers from planting an agricultural commodity on a converted wetland or converting a wetland to make possible the production of an agricultural commodity. The final rule finalizes changes to 7 CFR part 12 related to how USDA makes wetland determinations under the conservation compliance provisions to ensure that the regulations are consistent with the current technical standards being applied.

The final rule finalizes changes made by the interim rule that includes the following to be consistent with the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) changes:  (1) Confirms validity of CSP contracts entered into prior to 2018 Farm Bill enactment, authorizes the ability to extend contracts that are due to expire on or before December 31, 2019, and authorizes renewal of such contracts through the new CSP authority; (2) defines new terms and adjusts existing terms, such as expanding the definition of "conservation activities” and defining the term "stewardship threshold” and "advanced grazing management”; (3) simplifies CSP ranking criteria and requires that both new contracts and contract renewals be ranked based on those criteria; (4) provides opportunity for participants to renew their contracts in the first half of the fifth year of the 5-year contract.  The final rule will address the issues raised in the 110 comments received on the interim rule.

The final rule finalizes changes made by the interim rule in the regulations in 7 CFR part 1466 that are consistent with the changes made by the 2018 Farm Bill for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).  The changes relate to practices eligible for increased payments, payments for water conservation and system efficiency, incentive contracts, addressing weather volatility and drought resiliency measures, advance payments, payment limitations, and Conservation Innovation Grants.  The final rule will address the issues raised in the comments received on the interim rule.

This proposed action would solicit comments on the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS’) intention to administratively implement fees to cover the Government’s full cost for providing services related to the following APHIS programs: Licenses for animal dealers under the Animal Welfare Act, veterinary biologics product approval, and regulatory review of genetically engineered organisms. These user fees were included in the President’s Fiscal Year 2020 USDA Budget Proposal to Congress. USDA currently provides services that benefit these specific industries through appropriations.

This rulemaking would amend the Animal Welfare Act regulations to add requirements for contingency planning and training of personnel by research facilities and by dealers, exhibitors, intermediate handlers, and carriers. This action would heighten the awareness of licensees and registrants regarding their responsibilities and help ensure a timely and appropriate response should an emergency or disaster occur.

In accordance with the Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act of 2002, we are soliciting public comment regarding the list of select agents and toxins that have the potential to pose a severe threat to animal or plant health, or to animal or plant products. The Act requires the biennial review and republication of the list of select agents and toxins and the revision of the list as necessary. Accordingly, we are soliciting public comment on the current list of select agents and toxins in our regulations and suggestions regarding any addition or reduction of the animal or plant pathogens currently on the list of select agents.

APHIS is proposing to revise the domestic quarantine regulations for plant pests to remove the lists of quarantined areas from the CFR and place them on the APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) website. APHIS is also proposing to remove lists of regulated articles from the domestic quarantine regulations and place them on the PPQ website. Changes to the lists would be announced through notices published in the Federal Register.

This proposed rule would amend the Animal Welfare Act regulations by removing the requirement that research facilities update their registration every 3 years; removing the requirement that research facilities request an inactive status; clarifying the duration of a registration and conditions for termination; replacing the requirement for continuous review of research animal use activities with a complete review of IACUC approved protocols at 3-year intervals; and removing the requirement that the Institutional Official or CEO sign the annual report.

APHIS is proposing to revise its national Brucellosis eradication program. Currently, the program assigns statuses to States based on the prevalence of brucellosis within the State. The current statuses in the classification system are, from highest to lowest: Class Free, Class A, and Class B. APHIS is proposing a new classification system in which States would be assigned statuses based on whether a State is consistent or inconsistent with regard to standards contained in a Program Standards document regarding surveillance, epidemiological investigations, and affected herd management. In addition, APHIS proposes to remove the list of brucellosis State classifications for both the cattle and bison and swine programs from the CFR and move the list to the APHIS website, and to revise conditions for interstate movement of cattle, bison, and swine to reflect the new State classification system. Finally, APHIS is proposing to align vaccination and branding requirements in the regulations with current operational practices.

This rulemaking would revise APHIS' National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372) to ensure consistency with the recent "Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act' final rule (85 FR 43304-43376). These updates from the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) govern all Federal NEPA actions.

We are proposing to amend the regulations regarding the importation of live dogs by requiring all live dogs imported into the United States for resale purposes to be microchipped for permanent identification, and to require importers to procure a microchip reader and make it available to port-of-entry officials as requested. This action would also add microchipping as one of three identification options for dogs and cats used by dealers, exhibitors and research facilities.  In addition, APHIS is proposing to require a verifiable signature on the health certificate and rabies certificate accompanying imported live dogs, an endorsement of the health certificate by a government official in the country of origin, and the mandatory use of forms provided by APHIS.

We are proposing to eliminate the APHIS Trichinae Voluntary Certification Program and remove its associated regulations from the regulations. This action would also notify the public that APHIS will no longer maintain the Trichinae Voluntary Certification Program, nor any activity associated with the program, such as training for Qualified Accredited Veterinarian, on-farm audits, or any other administrative process associated with program maintenance and support. The program generates little producer participation, and by eliminating it, we would be able to direct APHIS resources to areas of greater need.

We are proposing to amend the regulations for the importation of equines.  Specifically, we are proposing to amend the requirements for temporary export of horses to contagious equine metritis (CEM)-affected regions and the requirements for horses imported from screwworm-affected regions.  We are also proposing to amend the requirements describing the general testing and quarantine requirements for horses imported by air by replacing the specific test requirement with performance standards describing health certification statements and permit requirements. Finally, APHIS proposes to amend the requirements for import of horses from Canada to remove distinctions between temporary and permanent import and remove the requirement for inspection by an APHIS port veterinarian of horses presented for permanent entry.  These changes will streamline and standardize the requirements for equine imports and may reduce the burden on importers.

We are amending the regulations governing the importation of animals and animal products to revise conditions for the importation of live sheep, goats, and certain other non-bovine ruminants, and products derived from sheep and goats, with regard to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and scrapie. We are removing BSE-related import restrictions on sheep and goats and most of their products, and adding import restrictions related to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies for certain wild, zoological, or other non-bovine ruminant species. The conditions we are adopting for the importation of specified commodities are based on internationally accepted scientific literature and will, in general, align our regulations with guidelines established in the World Organization for Animal Health's Terrestrial Animal Health Code.

This rulemaking would amend the animal disease regulations to provide for a National List of Reportable Animal Diseases, along with animal disease reporting responsibilities, to streamline State and Federal cooperative animal disease eradication efforts. This action would enhance and consolidate current disease reporting mechanisms, and would complement and supplement existing animal disease tracking and reporting at the State level.

This rulemaking will remove the domestic quarantine regulations for the plant pest emerald ash borer. This action will discontinue the domestic regulatory component of the emerald ash borer program as a means to more effectively direct available resources toward management and containment of the pest. Funding previously allocated to the implementation and enforcement of these domestic quarantine regulations will instead be directed to a non-regulatory option of research into, and deployment of, biological control agents for emerald ash borer, which will serve as the primary tool to mitigate and control the pest.

This rulemaking will revise the procedures for regulating and deregulating domestic quarantined areas for pale cyst nematode (PCN) by making the protocol for regulating and deregulating fields available for public review and comment. The regulations would specify that fields will be designated as PCN-infested or associated with PCN-infested fields and removed from quarantine in accordance with the protocol document, indicate where on the internet the protocol document may be found, and specify that APHIS will publish notices in the Federal Register, with an opportunity for public comment, whenever APHIS proposes to change the protocol document.

This rulemaking will amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of 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 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.

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.

We are proposing to 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 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 soliciting public comment on regulatory options that could address certain issues that have arisen with the implementation of the declaration requirement for composite plant materials. 

We are proposing to amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation into the continental United States of fresh avocado fruit from continental Ecuador. As a condition of entry, fresh avocado fruit from continental Ecuador would have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that would include production site registration, field sanitation, packinghouse procedures designed to exclude the quarantine pests, and procedures for packing, storing, and shipping the avocado fruit. The fruit would also have to be imported in commercial consignments, with each consignment identified throughout its movement from place of production to port of entry in the continental United States. The systems approach for all fresh avocado fruit from continental Ecuador, except Hass avocados, would also have to include production site pest control measures. Consignments would have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of Ecuador certifying that the fruit was produced in accordance with the systems approach. This proposed rule would allow for the importation of fresh avocados from continental Ecuador into the continental United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests.

This advance notice of proposed rulemaking will solicit input from the public on defining the term bred for use in research to clarify an exclusion from the Animal Welfare Act’s definition of animal for birds, rats of the genus Rattus , and mice of the genus Mus that are bred for use in research.

This rulemaking would extend APHIS enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) to birds, other than birds bred for use in research.  This would help ensure the humane care and treatment of such birds.

We are amending the regulations governing the importation of cattle and bison with respect to bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis. The changes will make these requirements clearer and assure that they more effectively mitigate the risk of introduction of these diseases into the United States.

This rulemaking will amend the licensing requirements under the Animal Welfare Act regulations to promote compliance, reduce licensing fees, and strengthen existing safeguards that prevent individuals and businesses who have a history of noncompliance from obtaining a license or working with regulated animals. This action reduces regulatory burden with respect to licensing and more efficiently ensures licensees’ sustained compliance with the Act. This rulemaking strengthens the veterinary care and watering standards for regulated dogs to better align the regulations with the humane care and treatment standards set by the Animal Welfare Act.

This rulemaking will amend the regulations pertaining to the domestic quarantine notices to remove all pine shoot beetle (PSB) quarantined areas and all Federal regulatory requirements related to the import and movement of PSB and associated host material. We prepared an analysis of regulatory options, which we made available for public review and comment, that evaluates the effectiveness of the regulatory program in slowing the spread of the pest and reducing damages. This action will provide flexibility to the States as they manage PSB, will allow Federal resources spent on this program to be allocated elsewhere, and will remove PSB-related interstate movement restrictions on PSB regulated articles.

We are proposing to amend the regulations that allow the importation of peppers from the Republic of Korea to increase the mesh size of the screening over vent openings from 0.6 mm to 1.6 mm, and to require the use of colored sticky traps as an additional measure for pest monitoring. We have determined that, when used alongside other mitigations in the regulations, there is no additional pest risk related to the change in mesh size. This action would modify the conditions under which peppers from the Republic of Korea may be imported into the continental United States while continuing to protect against the introduction of quarantine pests.

APHIS is revising its regulations regarding the importation, interstate movement, and environmental release of certain genetically engineered organisms in order to update the regulations in response to advances in genetic engineering and APHIS' understanding of the plant health risk posed by genetically engineered organisms, thereby reducing the burden for regulated entities whose organisms pose no plant health risks.

We are amending the regulations governing the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) by updating and clarifying several provisions, including those concerning NPIP participation, voting requirements, testing procedures, and standards. These changes were voted on and approved by the voting delegates at the NPIP's 2018 National Plan Conference.

This proposed action would solicit comments on the Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) intention to administratively implement fees to cover the Government’s full cost for providing services for activities related to the following AMS programs: Domestic Hemp Production Program Licenses; Packers and Stockyards Licensing Activities; Federal Grain Regulatory Activities; and Administration of Marketing Agreements and Orders. These user fees were included in the President’s Fiscal Year 2020 USDA Budget Proposal to Congress. USDA currently provides services that benefit these specific industries through appropriations.

This action will allow Federal Grain Inspection Service to gather information on stakeholder needs prior to the implementation of the nonuse of service exceptions. Public comments and suggestions, including industry input, would be used to develop a proposed rule for further public comment.

This action would change the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List) based on recommendations from the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) at their October 2019 meeting. The National List is a list of substances that are allowed or prohibited in organic farming, handling and processing.

This action proposes establishing a standardized formula model for U.S. Grain Standards Act supervision fee adjustments. This will not be a new fee but only a revision in the formula. This will allow the fee and or user fee account to be in alignment with other AMS and FGIS user fee accounts, such as providing for an annual review of the operating reserve. AMS would publish in the Federal Register annually to notify the public of the fee adjustments and then post the updated fees on the AMS website.

The action will solicit comments on updates to the List of Bioengineered Foods in order to comply with the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard.

This action would change the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List) based on recommendations from the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) at their 2019, 2020, and 2021 meetings. The National List is a list of substances that are allowed or prohibited in organic farming, handling and processing.

The Pecan Research, Promotion, and Information Order would be established under the Commodity Promotion, Research and Information Act of 1996. The purpose of the program would be to strengthen the position of pecans in the marketplace, maintain and expand markets for pecans, and develop new uses for pecans. 

The Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) rulemaking will address 2018 Farm Bill mandates. In summary, SOE will propose the following requirements that align with the Farm Bill:

• Limiting the types of operations in the organic supply chain that are not required to obtain organic certification;
• Imported organic products must be accompanied by an electronic import certificate to validate organic status;
• Import certificates will be submitted to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE);
• Certifying agents must notify USDA within 90 days of the opening of any new office that conducts certification activities; and,  
• Entities acting on behalf of certifying agents may be suspended when there is noncompliant activity.

This final rule amends the regulations issued under the Packers and Stockyards Act (P&S Act) by adding new regulations that specify the criteria the Secretary could consider in determining whether conduct or action by packers, swine contractors, or live poultry dealers constitutes an undue or unreasonable preference or advantage and a violation of the P&S Act.

This action will initiate a new part 990 establishing rules and regulations for the domestic production of hemp. This action is required to implement provisions of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Farm Bill).

The National List is a list of substances that can be used in organic farming, handling, and processing. This action would make two changes to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List) based on recommendations that the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) submitted to the Secretary.  

AMS is issuing a final rule on the Origin of Organic Livestock. This action follows the reopening of the public comment period on a proposed rule published in April 2015 to allow for additional input prior to rule finalization. The final rule clarifies the requirements for transitioning nonorganic dairy animals to organic production.

This action would make three changes to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List) based on recommendations that the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) submitted to the Secretary. The National List is a list of substances that can be used in organic farming, handling and processing.

This final rule changes import reporting requirements to implement the use of electronic forms submissions and make other administrative changes to the reporting requirements.

This final rule revises the Federal Seed Act (FSA) Regulations. The purpose of the revision is to align the FSA regulations with current industry practices, harmonize FSA testing methods with industry rules, and clarify confusing or contradictory language.

This advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeks public comments to inform future Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) regulations for the labeling of meat and poultry products made using animal cell culture technology.  The Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA; 21 USC 601 et seq.) and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA; 21 USC 451 et seq.) require that meat and poultry products be truthfully and accurately labeled and that their labels be pre-approved by FSIS(21 USC 607(d) and 457(c), respectively), prior to movement in commerce.  FSIS issues labeling regulations and reviews and approves meat and poultry product labels pursuant to these statutory labeling requirements.  Food products made using animal cell culture technology and derived from the cells of livestock subject to the FMIA (cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and fish of the order Siluriformes) or the PPIA (chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guineas, ratites, and squabs) are subject to the labeling (and other applicable) requirements of these Acts and the regulations issued thereunder.

FSIS is proposing to revise the regulations prescribing the statistical methods to be used in measuring the performance of chemistry laboratories in its voluntary Accredited Laboratory Program (ALP) and to expand the program to include pathogen testing. Additionally, the Agency is proposing to make various minor edits and changes to the regulation for the sake of clarity, to incorporate all sample types under the jurisdiction of FSIS as appropriate for the associated analyses, and to improve program flexibility.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend its regulations to establish a uniform time period requirement for the filing of appeals of certain Agency inspection decisions and actions. The rulemaking would also clarify and simplify appeals procedures generally. Specifically, FSIS is proposing changes to various subsections of the Federal meat, poultry, and egg regulations. These include requiring any person or establishment subject to certain inspection decisions and actions to appeal the decision or action within 30 calendar days after receiving notification of the decision or action.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to expand the categories of meat and poultry product labels that it will deem generically approved and thus not required to be submitted to FSIS. These reforms will reduce the regulatory burden on producers seeking to bring products to market, as well as the Agency costs expended to evaluate the labels. FSIS is proposing to make these changes by revising its labeling regulations in 9 CFR part 412.

FSIS is proposing to amend the Federal meat inspection regulations to remove unnecessary provisions related to oral permission requirements, consolidate provisions in the meat inspection regulations that prescribe reinspection requirements for previously inspected and passed meat and poultry products before these products may enter an official establishment, and clarify that official establishments that transport adulterated or misbranded product under establishment or FSIS controls to another official establishment for appropriate disposition are not required to notify or obtain permission from FSIS prior to transporting the product. 

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to exempt certain records from the FSIS system "USDA/FSIS-0005, AssuranceNet" from the access and notification provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 to prevent interference with law enforcement investigations. This rule will list the name of the system of records as exempt under the FSIS Freedom of Information and Public Information regulations.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to eliminate its regulations at 9 CFR part 355, thus ending the program under which FSIS inspectors provide fee-for-service certification that certain foods for dogs, cats and other carnivora (pet food) are produced under sanitary conditions and meet compositional and labeling requirements. The certified pet food regulations are outdated, and FSIS is unaware of any establishments currently paying for FSIS certification services for pet food. Additionally, the fact that both USDA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspect pet food has led to industry and consumer confusion, and both agencies agree that stakeholders will benefit from the simplification of Federal jurisdiction over pet food.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend the poultry products inspection regulations to rescind the regulation that requires condemnation of poultry carcasses affected with any of the forms of avian leukosis complex. Under the proposal, avian leukosis lesions would be addressed by the current regulation that provides for any organ or other carcass part affected with tumors to be trimmed and the unaffected parts of the carcass to be inspected and passed. The proposed rule would also rescind the regulation that requires young chicken slaughter establishments operating under the New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS) to provide a location along the production line at which an FSIS inspector may inspect the first 300 carcasses of each flock together with associated viscera for leukosis and the regulation that prescribes inspection procedures for avian visceral leukosis in NPIS young chicken slaughter establishments.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend the poultry products inspection regulations to permit young chicken slaughter establishments operating under the NPIS to operate at line speeds up to 175 bpm if certain criteria are met. Young chicken NPIS establishments approved to operate at a maximum line speed of 175 bpm would need to continue to meet these criteria to continue to operate at line speeds faster than 140 bpm and up to 175 bpm. The proposed amendments would allow certain young chicken establishments to slaughter birds more efficiently while continuing to ensure food safety and effective online carcass inspection.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service is proposing to amend the Federal meat inspection, poultry product, and egg regulations to require establishments that have an Internet connection to provide FSIS access to it for the purposes of conducting and recording inspection verification activities.  Internet service is essential to FSIS personnel for the inspection of meat, poultry, and egg products, given the need to fully employ the FSIS Public Health Information System (PHIS). PHIS assigns inspectors tasks to verify the establishment meets regulatory requirements and to respond to public health incidents promptly.  Inspectors also enter their activities in PHIS.  FSIS views Internet service as a necessary utility, like lighting, heating, and laundry services, that should be provided by establishments as a regulatory condition of receiving inspection.  Similar to the provision that small plants requiring less than one full time inspector need not furnish facilities such as office space, lighting, heat, janitor services, and lockers, FSIS will not require establishments without Internet access to purchase the services or to upgrade services that are not sufficient for FSIS’ use.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) intends to propose to amend its regulations to define the conditions under which the labeling of meat product labels can bear voluntary statements indicating that the product is of United States (U.S.) origin, such as Product of USA, or Made in the USA.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to rescind the regulations at 9 CFR 424.22 that require FSIS to collect samples of pumped bacon from producing establishments and analyze them for nitrosamines because FSIS no longer conducts this testing.

FSIS also is proposing to amend its labeling requirements for meat and poultry products to establish new definitions for cured and uncured.

Consistent with the changes that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending 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. The final rule will: (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 revising the format and appearance of the Nutrition Facts Panel; amending the definition of a single-serving container; requiring dual-column labeling for certain containers; and updating and modifying several reference amounts customarily consumed (RACCs or reference amounts). FSIS is also consolidating 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 amending its labeling regulations to remove provisions that require packages of meat or poultry products that contain at least one pound or pint, but less than four pounds or one gallon, to express the net weight or net contents as a dual declaration on the product label. Conforming amendments will also be made to regulations currently providing exceptions to the dual declaration requirements for random weight, small, and multi-unit packages, as well as certain packages containing margarine and bacon (9 CFR 317.2(h)(9) and (12); 9 CFR 381.121 (c)(8) and (9)).

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending its regulations to define Yak and include it among exotic animals eligible for voluntary inspection under 9 CFR part 352.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is removing a provision from the Federal meat inspection regulations that requires the defibrination of livestock blood saved for edible purposes. This final action eliminates a regulatory requirement and its associated costs to industry without affecting food safety. Moreover, it allows industry to fulfill a demand for whole congealed blood products.

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) will 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 will require egg products plants to produce egg products using a process that will eliminate detectable pathogens from the finished product.

In addition, FSIS is amending 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 proposed action will address section 744 of Division A of the 2017 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which requires the Secretary of Agriculture to prescribe the manner by which households certified to participate in SNAP must report when they move out of the State in which they were certified.