A comprehensive summary of today’s judicial, legislative, and regulatory developments in agriculture and food. Email important additions HERE.
REGULATORY: includes AMS, ARS, USDA, EPA, FWS, FDA, and NOAA rules and notices.
AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE: Rule would require food manufacturers and other entities that label foods for retail sale to disclose information about BE food and BE food ingredient content. Details here.
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE: Notice announces the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) intention to request an extension of a currently approved information collection, Form AD-761, USDA Patent License Application for Government Invention that expires October 31, 2018. Info here.
AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT:
Notice announces a forthcoming meeting of The Council for Native American Farming and Ranching (CNAFR), a public advisory committee of the Office of Tribal Relations (OTR). Details here.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY:
Rule EPA is taking final action to approve revisions to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) portion of the applicable Clean Air Act state implementation plan (SIP) for the State of Arizona. Agency is approving revisions that are primarily intended to correct deficiencies in ADEQ’s SIP-approved rules for the issuance of New Source Review (NSR) permits for stationary sources. Details here.
Rule EPA is approving the portion of Georgia’s July 26, 2017, State Implementation Plan (SIP) submittal changing reliance from the Clean Air Interstate Rule to the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule for certain regional haze requirements. Info here.
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: Notice FWS seeks comment on applications to conduct certain activities with foreign endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) prohibits activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is acquired that allows such activities. Details here.
FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: Rule FDA is extending the compliance dates by approximately 1.5 years for the final rules providing updated nutrition information on the label of food, including dietary supplements; defining a single-serving container; requiring dual-column labeling for certain containers; updating, modifying, and establishing certain reference amounts customarily consumed; and amending the label serving size for breath mints. Details here.
FOREST SERVICE:
Notice FS is submitting a request to the Office of Management and Budget for review and approval under the emergency processing procedures for a new information collection request, Post-Hurricane Research and Assessment of Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Communities in the U.S. Caribbean, and is seeking comments from all interested individuals and organizations. Details here.
Notice the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests are revising their Land and Resource Management Plan and will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the revised Forest Plan. Details here.
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION:
Notice that Living Planet Productions/ Silverback Films, 1 St. Augustine Yard, Gaunts Lane, Bristol, BS1 5DE, UK, has applied in due form for a permit to conduct commercial or educational photography on bottlenose dolphins. Info here.
Notice NMFS has received a request from Deepwater Wind New England, LLC, for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to marine site characterization surveys off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the area of the Commercial Lease of Submerged Lands for Renewable Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf and along potential submarine cable routes to a landfall location in Rhode Island, Massachusetts or New York. Info here.
Notice NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, for authorization to take one species of marine mammal incidental to confined blasting in the East Channel of the Big Bend Channel in Tampa Harbor, Tampa, Florida. Details here.