63378 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 2014 / Notices 

comply that can reduce the burden of 

developing their own methods and 

simplify audits and inspections. 

Alternative approaches that can 

demonstrate compliance with the 

Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act, as 

amended, (7 U.S.C. 1621 note) will be 

considered. As with any alternative 

approach, TM strongly encourages 

States and industry to discuss 

alternative approaches with TM before 

implementing them to avoid 

unnecessary or wasteful expenditures of 

resources and to ensure the proposed 

alternative approach complies with the 

Act. 

III. Electronic Access 

Persons with access to Internet may 

obtain the guidance at either AMS’ 

Specialty Crop Block Grant Web site at 

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/

scbgp or http://www.regulations.gov. 

Requests for hard copies of the guidance 

documents can be obtained by 

submitting a written request to the 

person listed in the ADDRESSES section 

of this Notice. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621 note. 

Dated: October 20, 2014. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25270 Filed 10–22–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

[Doc. # AMS–FV–13–0018] 

United States Standards for Grades of 

Creole Onions 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Final notice. 

SUMMARY: This Notice revises the U.S. 

Standards for Grades of Creole Onions, 

which are issued under the Agricultural 

Marketing Act of 1946. The Agricultural 

Marketing Service (AMS) is amending 

the similar varietal characteristic 

requirement to allow mixed colors of 

onions, when designated as a mixed or 

specialty pack, to be certified to a U.S. 

grade. In addition, AMS will correct 

language and remove the ‘‘Unclassified’’ 

category from the standards. These 

revisions will align the standards with 

today’s marketing practices and provide 

the industry with greater flexibility. 

DATES: Effective Date: November 24, 

2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Dave Horner, Standardization Branch, 

Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) 

Division, (540) 361–1128 or 1150. The 

current U.S. Standards for Grades of 

Creole Onions are available on the SCI 

Division Web site at http://www.ams.

usda.gov/scihome. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

203(c) of the Agricultural Marketing Act 

of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621–1627), as 

amended, directs and authorizes the 

Secretary of Agriculture ‘‘to develop and 

improve standards of quality, condition, 

quantity, grade and packaging, and 

recommend and demonstrate such 

standards in order to encourage 

uniformity and consistency in 

commercial practices.’’ AMS is 

committed to carrying out this authority 

in a manner that facilitates the 

marketing of agricultural commodities 

and makes copies of official standards 

available upon request. The U.S. 

standards for grades of fruits and 

vegetables that are not connected with 

marketing orders or U.S. import 

requirements no longer appear in the 

Code of Federal Regulations, but are 

maintained by USDA, AMS, Fruit and 

Vegetable Program, and are available on 

the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/

scihome. 

AMS is revising the voluntary U.S. 

Standards for Grades of Creole Onions 

using the procedures that appear in Part 

36, Title 7 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (7 CFR part 36). 

Background and Comments 

The industry, particularly in Idaho, 

Oregon, Texas, and Washington, are 

packing mixed colors of onions. 

Currently, the Creole onion standards 

do not permit certifying a U.S. grade to 

a pack that comingles colors, such as 

white onions with yellow to brownish 

red onions. 

On August 22, 2013, AMS published 

a notice in the Federal Register (78 FR 

52131) proposing to revise the U.S. 

Standards for Grades of Creole Onions 

to allow mixed color packs of onions to 

be certified to a U.S. grade. We apprised 

the onion industry of this notice to 

foster widespread participation in the 

Part 36 process. The comment period 

closed on October 21, 2013. No 

comments were received. Based on the 

information gathered, AMS will amend 

the similar varietal characteristic 

requirement in the U.S. No. 1 and U.S. 

No. 2 sections of the standards by 

adding ‘‘except color when designated 

as a specialty or mixed pack.’’ The U.S. 

Combination grade section also will be 

amended to reflect this change. 

In addition, AMS will eliminate the 

‘‘Unclassified’’ section. AMS is 

removing this section from standards for 

all commodities as they are revised. 

This category, which is not a grade and 

only serves to show that no grade has 

been applied to the lot, is no longer 

necessary. 

Furthermore, AMS will replace the 

capital ‘‘S’’ with a small ‘‘s’’ on the 

word ‘‘Seedstems’’ in the U.S. No. 1 and 

U.S. No. 2 sections of the standards to 

correct a formatting error. 

These revisions will facilitate onion 

marketing in the competitive U.S. 

market. 

The official grade of a lot of Creole 

onions covered by these standards will 

be determined by the procedures set 

forth in the Regulations Governing 

Inspection, Certification, and Standards 

of Fresh Fruits, Vegetables and Other 

Products (Sec. 51.1 to 51.61). 

The U.S. Standards for Grades of 

Creole Onions will be effective 30 days 

after publication of this notice in the 

Federal Register. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627. 

Dated: October 17, 2014. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25195 Filed 10–22–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Black Hills National Forest Advisory 

Board 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Black Hills National 

Forest Advisory Board (Board) will meet 

in Rapid City, South Dakota. The Board 

is established consistent with the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act of 

1972 (5 U.S.C. App. II), the Forest and 

Rangeland Renewable Resources 

Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et. 

seq.), the National Forest Management 

Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. sec. 1612), and 

the Federal Public Lands Recreation 

Enhancement Act (Pub. L. 108–447). 

Additional information concerning the 

Board, including the meeting summary/ 

minutes, can be found by visiting the 

Board’s Web site at: http://www.fs.usda.

gov/main/blackhills/workingtogether/

advisorycommittees. 

DATES: The meeting will be held 

Wednesday, November 19, 2014 at 1 

p.m. 

All meetings are subject to 

cancellation. For updated status of 

meeting prior to attendance, please 

contact the person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 

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