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

5164 

Vol. 78, No. 16 

Thursday, January 24, 2013 

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT 

FOUNDATION 

Board of Directors Executive Session 

Meeting 

Meeting: African Development 

Foundation, Board of Directors 

Executive Session Meeting 

Time: Tuesday, February 5, 2013, 9:00 

a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

Place: 1400 Eye Street NW., Suite 

1000, Washington, D.C. 20005 

Date: Tuesday, February 5, 2013 

Status: 

1. Open session, Tuesday, October 23, 

2012, 9:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. 

2. Closed session, Tuesday, October 

23, 2012, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

Shari Berenbach, 

President/CEO, USADF. 

[FR Doc. 2013–01396 Filed 1–23–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

[Doc. No. AMS–NOP–12–0057; NOP–12–15] 

Notice of Agricultural Management 

Assistance Organic Certification CostShare Program 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of Funds Availability: 

Inviting Applications From State 

Departments of Agriculture for the 

Agricultural Management Assistance 

Organic Certification Cost-Share 

Program. 

SUMMARY: This notice invites the 

following eligible States: Connecticut, 

Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, 

Massachusetts, Nevada, New 

Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, 

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, 

Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming, 

to submit an Application for Federal 

Assistance (Standard Form 424), and to 

enter into a Cooperative Agreement with 

the Agricultural Marketing Service 

(AMS) for the allocation of organic 

certification cost-share funds. The AMS 

has allocated $1.425 million for this 

organic certification cost-share program. 

Funds are available to 16 designated 

States to provide cost-share assistance to 

organic crop and livestock producers 

certified under the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) Organic Standards 

(7 CFR 205) that either receive organic 

certification or incur expenses for 

continued certification during the 

period of October 1, 2012 through 

September 30, 2013. Eligible States 

interested in obtaining cost-share funds 

for their organic producers must submit 

an Application for Federal Assistance 

(Standard Form 424) via http:// 

www.grants.gov and enter into a 

Cooperative Agreement with AMS for 

the allocation of funds. 

DATES: Completed Applications for 

Federal Assistance (Standard Form 424) 

and signed Cooperative Agreements 

must be received by February 7, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Applications for Federal 

Assistance (Standard Form 424) must be 

submitted via Grants.Gov. Paper 

applications will not be accepted. 

Instructions and additional information 

are available on the NOP Web site at 

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

NOPCostSharing. 

Signed cooperative agreements should 

be sent via express mail to Patricia 

Atkins, Agricultural Marketing 

Specialist, National Organic Program, 

USDA/AMS/NOP, Room 2648-South, 

Ag Stop 0268, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250– 

0268. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patricia Atkins, Agricultural Marketing 

Specialist, NOP, USDA/AMS/NOP, 

Room 2648-South, Ag Stop 0268, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0268; 

Telephone: (202) 720–3252. Email: 

Patricia.Atkins@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

Organic Certification Cost-Share 

Program is part of the Agricultural 

Management Assistance (AMA) Program 

authorized under the Federal Crop 

Insurance Act (FCIA), as amended, (7 

U.S.C. 1524). Under the applicable FCIA 

provisions, USDA is authorized to 

provide cost-share assistance to organic 

producers in the States of Connecticut, 

Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, 

Massachusetts, Nevada, New 

Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, 

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, 

Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. 

The AMS has allocated $1.425 million 

for this year’s organic certification costshare program. This program provides 

financial assistance to organic producers 

certified under the USDA Organic 

Regulations (7 CFR 205), which were 

authorized under the Organic Foods 

Production Act of 1990, as amended (7 

U.S.C. 6501 et seq.). 

To participate in the program, eligible 

States, through their State Departments 

of Agriculture, must complete an 

Application for Federal Assistance 

(Standard Form 424) and enter into a 

written Cooperative Agreement with 

AMS. State Departments of Agriculture 

refers to agencies, commissions, or 

departments of State government 

responsible for implementing 

regulation, policy or programs on 

agriculture within their State. The 

program will provide cost-share 

assistance, through participating States, 

to organic crop and livestock producers 

receiving certification or incurring 

expenses for the continuation of 

certification by a USDA accredited 

certifying agent during the period of 

October 1, 2012 through September 30, 

2013. USDA has determined that 

payments will be limited to 75% 

(seventy-five percent) of an individual 

producer’s certification costs, up to a 

maximum of $750 (seven-hundred and 

fifty dollars). 

To receive cost-share assistance, 

organic crop and livestock producers 

should contact their State agencies. 

Procedures for applying are outlined in 

the cost share policies and procedures at 

http://1.usa.gov/OrganicCostShare. The 

total amount of cost-share payments 

provided to any eligible producer under 

all AMA programs cannot exceed 

$50,000. 

How To Submit Applications: To 

receive fund allocations to provide costshare assistance, a State Department of 

Agriculture must complete an 

Application for Federal Assistance 

(Standard Form 424), and enter into a 

written Cooperative Agreement with 

AMS. Interested States must submit the 

Application for Federal Assistance 

(Standard Form 424) electronically via 

Grants.gov, the Federal grants Web site, 


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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 16 / Thursday, January 24, 2013 / Notices 5165 

at http://www.grants.gov. For 

information on how to use Grants.Gov, 

please consult http://www.grants.gov/ 

GetRegistered. Applications must be 

received by February 7, 2013. 

Cooperative Agreements will be sent by 

the AMS to participating State 

Departments of Agriculture via express 

mail. The Cooperative Agreement must 

have the original signature of an official 

who has authority to apply for Federal 

assistance. The signed cooperative 

agreement must be sent by express mail 

or courier service and received by the 

NOP at the address under the 

ADDRESSES section of this Notice by 

February 7, 2013. 

The AMA Organic Certification CostShare Program is listed in the ‘‘Catalog 

of Federal Domestic Assistance’’ under 

number 10.171. Subject agencies must 

adhere to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act 

of 1964, which bars discrimination in 

all Federally-assisted programs. 

Additional information on the AMA 

Organic Certification Cost-Share 

Program can be found on the NOP’s 

Web site at http://www.ams.usda.gov/ 

NOPCostSharing. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1524. 

Dated: January 18, 2013. 

David R. Shipman, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2013–01409 Filed 1–23–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

First Phase of the Forest Planning 

Process for the Bio-Region 

AGENCY: U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Pacific 

Southwest Region, California. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to initiating the 

first phase of the forest planning process 

for the Bio-Region. 

SUMMARY: Come gather ’round people 

Wherever you roam 

And admit that the waters 

Around you have grown 

And accept it that soon 

You’ll be drenched to the bone 

If your time to you is worth savin’ 

Then you better start swimmin’ or 

you’ll sink like a stone 

For the times, they are a-changin’. 

Bob Dylan, The Times They Are Achangin’ © 1963, 1964, 1991, 1992. 

The Pacific Southwest Region is 

initiating the first phase of the forest 

planning process pursuant to the 2012 

Forest Planning Rule which will 

describe the strategic direction for 

management of forest resources for the 

next ten to fifteen years. This notice 

communicates that the informal phase 

of the Bio-Regional Assessment has 

begun. 

DATES: The Bio-Regional Assessment 

Report will be completed in July 2013. 

The Forest-level Assessment Reports for 

the three early adopter Forests which 

will tier from the Bio-Regional 

Assessment Report and will be 

completed in December, 2013. The 

formal revision process will begin in 

2014. 

ADDRESSES: U.S. Forest Service, Pacific 

Southwest Region 5, Attn.: Ecosystem 

Planning, 1323 Club Drive, Vallejo, 

California, 94592. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ronald L. Pugh, Deputy Director, 

Ecosystem Planning, 707–562–8951. 

Individuals who use telecommunication 

devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the 

Federal Information Relay Service 

(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 between 8 

a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday 

through Friday. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The Pacific Southwest Region of the 

United States, United States Department 

of Agriculture, along with the Sierra, 

Inyo, and Sequoia National Forests, are 

initiating the first phase of the forest 

planning process pursuant to the 2012 

Forest Planning Rule. Forest plans 

describe the strategic direction for 

management of forest resources for the 

next ten to fifteen years, and are 

adaptive and amendable as conditions 

change over time. This initial phase 

includes the assessment of resource 

condition and trend at the bioregional 

and forest scales. Although not required 

by the new Planning Rule, the Region 

will complete a Bio-Regional 

Assessment to help provide a landscape 

scale perspective to the required forest 

assessments. An assessment is the first 

step in revising forest plans. 

Under the 2012 Planning Rule, the 

planning process is continuous and 

includes three stages extending over the 

life of the Revised Forest Plan. The first 

stage is the assessment of resources, and 

occurs in the first year. The second stage 

is the formal process required by the 

National Environment Policy Act 

(NEPA) and includes the preparation of 

Draft Environmental Impact Statements 

and Revised Forest Plan for public 

review and comment, and the 

preparation of the Final Environmental 

Impact Statement and Revised Forest 

Plan. We expect the second stage to take 

two years. The third stage of the process 

is monitoring and feedback, which is 

ongoing over the life of the revised 

forest plans. 

We are committed to collaboration 

and to strengthening public engagement 

throughout the process. Collaboration 

and communication plans are being 

developed with the help of stakeholders 

at the regional and forest levels. Each 

plan is unique to the needs of the 

people and communities being served. 

The goal is not complete agreement; we 

seek common context and 

understanding. 

Regional and forest specialists have 

begun collecting information to describe 

existing resource conditions and trends. 

The Bio-Regional Assessment Report 

will be completed in July 2013. 

Responsible Official 

Regional Forester Randy Moore, 

Pacific Southwest Region, U.S.D.A. 

Forest Service. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

Region-wide conditions and trends 

will be addressed in the Bio-Regional 

Assessment to help provide a landscape 

scale context for the Sierra Nevada, 

southern Cascades, and the Modoc 

Plateau. The bio-regional Assessment 

Report will be completed in July 2013. 

Scoping Process 

At this phase of forest plan revision 

there is no formal Scoping Process; 

however, we are committed to 

collaboration and to strengthening 

public engagement throughout the 

process. A collaboration and 

communication plan that was 

developed with the help of stakeholders 

is in place. 

For information on current events, 

meetings, workshops, important dates 

and how to participate in forest plan 

revision, visit the Pacific Southwest 

Region 5 Web site: http:// 

www.fs.usda.gov/r5/; and Our Forest 

Place: http://ourforestplace.ning.com/. 

Dated: January 9, 2013. 

Randy Moore, 

Regional Forester. 

[FR Doc. 2013–01254 Filed 1–23–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Ashley Resource Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Ashley Resource 

Advisory Committee will meet in 

Vernal, Utah. The committee is meeting 


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