This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

45606 

Vol. 74, No. 170 

Thursday, September 3, 2009 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Farm Service Agency 

Information Collection; Request for 

Aerial Photography; Correction 

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments; correction. 

SUMMARY: We are making a correction to 

the notice that requested a revision of a 

currently approved information 

collection associated with Request for 

Aerial Photography. The notice was 

published in the Federal Register on 

April 1, 2009 (74 FR 14769–14770). The 

original notice inadvertently only 

included the burden for one of the two 

forms in the information collection 

request. This corrects that oversight. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mary Ann Ball, Regulatory Review 

Group, (202) 720–4283, or e-mail: 

maryann.ball@wdc.usda.gov. 

Correction 

In the Federal Register notice 

published on April 1, 2009 (74 FR 

14769–14770), on page 14770, first 

column, under SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION which begins on page 

14769, correct the burden estimated 

numbers by replacing the estimates to 

read: 

Estimate of Burden: The public 

reporting burden for this information 

collection is estimated to average 36 

minutes per respondent. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

6300. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 1. 

Estimated Total Annual Number of 

Respondents: 6300. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 3770. 

Signed in Washington, DC, on August 28, 

2009. 

Carolyn B. Cooksie, 

Acting Administrator, Farm Service Agency. 

[FR Doc. E9–21294 Filed 9–2–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Commodity Credit Corporation 

Farm Service Agency 

Notice of Intent To Prepare a 

Supplemental Environmental Impact 

Statement for the Conservation 

Reserve Program 

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation 

and Farm Service Agency, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) and 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces that 

the Farm Service Agency (FSA), on 

behalf of the Commodity Credit 

Corporation (CCC), intends to complete 

a Supplemental Environmental Impact 

Statement (SEIS) assessing the 

environmental impacts of changes to the 

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) 

required by the Food, Conservation, and 

Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill). 

DATES: To ensure the full range of the 

issues and alternatives related to CRP 

are addressed, FSA invites comments. 

We will consider comments that we 

receive by October 19, 2009. Comments 

received after this date will be 

considered to the extent possible. See 

the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

for dates and addresses for nine public 

meetings. 

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit 

comments on this Notice of Intent. In 

your comments, include the volume, 

date, and page number of this issue of 

the Federal Register. You may submit 

comments by any of the following 

methods: 

• E-Mail: CRPcomments@tecinc.com. 

• Online: Go to http://public.geomarine.com. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: (757) 594–1469. 

• Mail: CRP SEIS, c/o TEC Inc., 8 San 

Jose Drive, Suite 3–B, Newport News, 

Virginia 23606. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver 

comments to the above address. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

Comments may be inspected in the 

Office of the Director, CEPD, FSA, 

USDA, 1400 Independence Ave, SW., 

Room 4709 South Building, 

Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Matthew Ponish, National 

Environmental Compliance Manager, 

USDA, FSA, CEPD, Stop 0513, 1400 

Independence Ave, SW., Washington, 

DC 20250–0513, (202) 720–6853, or 

email: Matthew.Ponish@wdc.usda.gov. 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means for communication 

(Braille, large print, audio tape, etc.) 

should contact the USDA Target Center 

at (202) 720–2600 (voice and TDD). 

More detailed information on CRP may 

be obtained at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/ 

FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=copr

&topic=crp. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

The SEIS is being prepared on CRP to 

provide FSA decision makers and the 

public with an analysis that evaluates 

program effects in appropriate contexts, 

describes the intensity of adverse as 

well as beneficial impacts, and 

addresses cumulative impacts of CRP. 

CRP is authorized by the Food Security 

Act of 1985 (the 1985 Farm Bill), as 

amended and is governed by regulations 

published in 7 CFR part 1410. CRP is a 

voluntary program that supports the 

implementation of long-term 

conservation measures designed to 

improve the quality of ground and 

surface waters, control soil erosion, and 

enhance wildlife habitat on 

environmentally sensitive agricultural 

land. In return, CCC provides 

participants with rental payments and 

cost share assistance under contracts 

extending from 10 to 15 years. CRP is 

a CCC program administered by FSA 

with the support of other Federal and 

local agencies. 

In 2003, an Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) was completed by FSA 

for the CRP evaluating the 

environmental consequences of 

implementing the Farm Security and 

Rural Investment Act of 2002. This SEIS 

will assess the potential environmental 

impacts of changes made to the program 

in provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill 

(Pub. L. 110–246). The changes that will 

be assessed in the SEIS are: 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 170 / Thursday, September 3, 2009 / Notices 45607 

• In general, the CRP purposes now 

explicitly include addressing issues 

raised by state, regional and national 

conservation initiatives (see 16 U.S.C. 

3831(a)). 

• The cropping history requirements 

are updated to 4 of 6 years from 2002 

to 2007 (see 16 U.S.C. 3831(b)). 

• The enrollment authority is set at 

39.2 million acres through 2009 and 

reduced to 32.0 million acres for fiscal 

years 2010, 2011, and 2012 (see 16 

U.S.C. 3831(d)). 

• Alfalfa and multiyear grasses and 

legumes in a rotation practice with an 

agricultural commodity may contribute 

towards meeting crop history 

requirements (see 16 U.S.C. 3831(g)). 

• The authority is granted to except 

acreage enrolled under continuous 

signup and the Conservation Reserve 

Enhancement Program provided county 

government concurs (see 16 U.S.C. 

3831(b)). 

• CCC requires management by the 

participant throughout the contract term 

to implement the conservation plan (see 

16 U.S.C 3843). 

• CCC provides exceptions to general 

prohibitions (see 16 U.S.C. 3844) on use 

including: 

Æ Managed harvesting with 

appropriate vegetation management 

during named periods and with a 

payment reduction, 

Æ Managed harvesting for biomass 

with appropriate vegetation 

management during named periods and 

with a payment reduction, 

Æ Grazing for invasive species with 

appropriate vegetation management 

during named periods and with a 

payment reduction, and 

Æ Installation of wind turbines with 

appropriate vegetation management 

during named periods and with a 

payment reduction. 

• Annual survey of dryland and cash 

rental rates by the National Agricultural 

Statistics Service (see 16 U.S.C. 

3843(c)). 

• Incentives for beginning or socially 

disadvantaged farmers or ranchers to 

facilitate a transition of land enrolled in 

CRP from a retired or retiring owner or 

operator to return some or all of the land 

to agricultural production using 

sustainable grazing or crop production 

methods (see 16 U.S.C. 3835). 

• Adds incentives for socially 

disadvantaged farmers and ranchers as 

well as limited resource farmers and 

ranchers and Indian tribes to participate 

in conservation programs (see 16 U.S.C. 

3844). 

• Development of habitat for native 

and managed pollinators and use of 

conservation practices that benefit them 

are encouraged for any conservation 

program (see 16 U.S.C. 3844). 

The SEIS will help FSA review 

potential environmental impacts 

resulting from the 2008 Farm Bill 

changes to the CRP program. The results 

of the SEIS will be used in 

implementing and modifying CRP 

administration. The record of decision 

resulting from the SEIS will also serve 

as guidance to FSA program decision 

makers when considering future CRP 

changes. 

Under the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA), the SEIS process 

provides a means for the public to 

provide input on program 

implementation alternatives and on 

environmental concerns. The public is 

urged to participate in helping to define 

the scope of the proposed SEIS. In 

addition to allowing the opportunity to 

comment via mail, the internet, and email as provided in the above 

ADDRESSES section, FSA plans to hold 

nine public scoping meetings to provide 

information and opportunities for 

discussing the issues and alternatives to 

be covered in the draft SEIS, and to 

receive oral and written comments. The 

meetings will be held at the following 

locations and times: 

Date Time Location information 

September 15, 2009 ..... 5:30–7:30 p.m. local 

time.

Hilton Garden Inn Spokane Airport, 9015 West SR Highway 2, Spokane, WA 99224, (509) 

244–5866. 

September 17, 2009 ..... 5–7 p.m. local time ..... Hampton Inn Great Falls, 2301 14th St., SW., Great Falls, MT 59404, (406) 453–2675. 

September 21, 2009 ..... 5–7 p.m. local time ..... AmericInn Lodge & Suites and Event Center of Moorhead, 600 30th Ave., S., Moorhead, 

MN 56560, (218) 287–7100. 

September 23, 2009 ..... 5–7 p.m. local time ..... Clarion Hotel, 530 Richards Drive, Manhattan, KS 66502, (785) 539–5311. 

September 25, 2009 ..... 5–7 p.m. local time ..... Hilton Garden Inn, Springfield, 3100 S. Dirksen Parkway, Springfield, IL 62703, (217) 529– 

7171 ext. 507. 

September 29, 2009 ..... 5–7 p.m ....................... Oklahoma City Marriott Hotel, 3233 N.W. Expressway, Oklahoma City, OK 73112, (405) 

879–7042. 

October 1, 2009 ............ 5–7 p.m. local time ..... La Quinta Inn & Suites Clovis, 4521 N. Prince St., Clovis, NM 88101, (575) 763–8777. 

October 6, 2009 ............ 5–7 p.m. local time ..... Hilton Garden Inn Albany, 101 S. Front Street, Albany, GA 31701, (229) 888–1590. 

October 8, 2009 ............ 5–7 p.m. local time ..... Courtyard by Marriott Harrisburg/Hershey, 725 Eisenhower Blvd, Harrisburg, PA 17111, 

(717) 558–8544 ext. 6504. 

Please check http://public.geomarine.com for specific meeting 

locations, times, directions, and 

comment forms. 

Description of Preliminary Alternatives 

FSA has developed a set of 

preliminary alternatives to be studied in 

the draft SEIS to initiate the process. 

The alternatives will be amended, as 

appropriate, based on input by the 

public and agencies during the public 

scoping process. The SEIS will address 

the following alternatives, which 

include recommended changes to the 

program: 

• No Action Alternative— 

continuation of CRP as currently 

implemented. 

• Action Alternative 1—full 

implementation of the applicable 2008 

Farm Bill provisions in accordance with 

current procedures. 

• Action Alternative 2— 

implementation of CRP in accordance 

with applicable 2008 Farm Bill 

provisions exercising discretion that 

differs from current procedures. 

Signed in Washington, DC on August 28, 

2009. 

Jonathan W. Coppess, 

Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit 

Corporation, and Administrator, Farm 

Service Agency. 

[FR Doc. E9–21236 Filed 9–2–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Farm Service Agency 

Advisory Committee on Beginning 

Farmers and Ranchers 

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, USDA. 


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