Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 158 / Friday, August 15, 1997 / Notices 43695

Cascades Province Advisory Committee

meetings are open to the public.

Interested citizens are welcome to

attend.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Direct questions regarding this meeting

to Paul Hart, Designated Federal

Official, USDA, Wenatchee National

Forest, 215 Melody Lane, Wenatchee,

Washington 98801, 509–662–4335.

Dated: August 5, 1997.

Sonny J. O’Neal,

Forest Supervisor, Wenatchee National

Forest.

[FR Doc. 97–21626 Filed 8–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Southwest Oregon Provincial

Interagency Executive Committee

(PIEC), Advisory Committee

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Meeting.

SUMMARY: The Southwest Oregon PIEC

Advisory Committee will meet on

August 26 at the Illinois Valley Visitor

Center in Cave Junction, Oregon. The

meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. and

continue until 5:00 p.m. The meeting

will be primarily a field tour.

Agenda its to be covered include: (1)

Marbled Murrelet habitat; (2)

information management; (3) Regional

Ecosystem Office presentation; (4)

Forest Service and National Park local

issues; (5) Oregon Caves tour; and (6)

field stops for mining issues. All

Province Advisory Committee meetings

are open to the public. Interested

citizens need to contact Chuck

Anderson ahead of time for this field

trip.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Direct questions regarding this meeting

to Chuck Anderson, Province Advisory

Committee staff, USDA, Forest

Service,Rogue River National Forest,

333 W. 8th Street, Medford, Oregon

97501, phone 541–858–2322.

Dated: August 7, 1997.

Charles J. Anderson,

Acting Forest Supervisor, Designated Federal

Official.

[FR Doc. 97–21663 Filed 8–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Yakima Provincial Advisory Committee

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of field tour.

SUMMARY: The Yakima Provincial

Advisory Committee will meet on

September 25, 1997, at the Cle Elum

Ranger District Office, 803 W. 2nd

Street, Cle Elum, Washington. The

Provincial Advisory Committee

members will meet at the Ranger

District Office at 9:00 a.m., then proceed

to the field tour in the Swauk Creek

drainage area. The tour will end at 4:00

p.m. This field tour will focus primarily

on dry forest management projects. All

Yakima Province Advisory Committee

meetings are open to the public.

Interested citizens are welcome to

attend.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Direct questions regarding this meeting

to Paul Hart, Designated Federal

Official, USDA, Wenatchee National

Forest, 215 Melody Lane, Wenatchee,

Washington 98801, 509–662–4335.

Dated: August 5, 1997.

Sonny J. O’Neal,

Forest Supervisor, Wenatchee National

Forest.

[FR Doc. 97–21627 Filed 8–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration

United States Standards for Whole Dry

Peas, Split Peas, and Lentils

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration, USDA.

ACTION: Notice with Opportunity to

Comment.

SUMMARY: The Grain Inspection, Packers

and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA)

is proposing to revise the United States

Standards for Whole Dry Peas, Split

Peas and Lentils. Specifically, GIPSA is

proposing to eliminate the classes

Persian and Mixed lentils, and to

establish a new class, Miscellaneous

peas, and a new grading factor for

lentils, Inconspicuous Admixture.

GIPSA is proposing to change these

standards to facilitate the marketing of

peas and lentils.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before September 15, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be

submitted to Sharon Vassiliades at

GIPSA, USDA, STOP 3649, 1400

Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20250–3649; faxed to

(202) 720–4628; or e-mailed to

svassili@fgisdc.usda.gov.

All comments received will be made

available for public inspection at the

above address during regular business

hours (7 CFR 1.27(b)).

The current United States Standards

for Whole Dry Peas, Split Peas and

Lentils, along with the proposed

changes, is available either through the

above addresses or by accessing GIPSA’s

Home Page on the Internet at:

www.usda.gov/gipsa/strulreg/standard.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Contact Sharon Vassiliades at (202)

720–1738.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

203(c) of the Agricultural Marketing Act

of 1946, 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 * * *.’’ GIPSA

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 United

States Standards for Whole Dry Peas,

Split Peas and Lentils do not appear in

the Code of Federal Regulations but are

maintained by the U.S. Department of

Agriculture.

GIPSA is proposing to change the

United States Standards for Whole Dry

Peas, Split Peas and Lentils using the

procedures it published in the Federal

Register on February 13, 1997 (62 FR

6705). Specifically, GIPSA is proposing

to eliminate the classes Persian and

Mixed lentils, and to establish a new

class, Miscellaneous peas, and a new

grading factor for lentils, Inconspicuous

Admixture.

GIPSA representatives are continually

meeting with pea and lentil producers,

processors, handlers, and merchandisers

concerning the U.S. Standards for

Whole Dry Peas, Split Peas, and Lentils

in order to gain a better understanding

of their views on changes needed to

improve the existing standards. On the

basis of comments received and other

available information, GIPSA is

proposing several changes to the

standards.

Classes of Lentils

The present U.S. Standards for Lentils

provide for three classes of lentils:

Lentils, Persian Lentils, and Mixed
43696 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 158 / Friday, August 15, 1997 / Notices

Lentils. The class Lentils is defined as

‘‘All lentils of the Chilean type, with not

more than 2.0 percent of Persian

lentils.’’ Persian lentils are defined as

‘‘All lentils of the Persian type, with not

more than 2.0 percent of Chilean

lentils.’’ Mixed lentils are ‘‘Any mixture

of lentils consisting predominately of

Chilean lentils or of Persian lentils,

which contains more than 2.0 percent of

lentils other than those of the

predominating class.’’

All lentils grown and marketed in the

United States, regardless of their size,

shape, or color, are considered to be of

the Chilean type and classed as

‘‘Lentils.’’ Furthermore, the class names

‘‘Persian lentils’’ and ‘‘Mixed lentils’’

are neither domestically nor

internationally recognized terms. With

the recent introduction of small-seeded

Chilean types, there is an increased risk

that such lentils may be misclassified as

Persian lentils. This could confuse lentil

importers and needlessly disrupt the

market. To provide greater uniformity

within the U.S. lentil standards, GIPSA

is proposing to eliminate the classes

Persian and Mixed lentils.

Inconspicuous Admixture

Lentils—like most other crops—are

susceptible to field contamination by

volunteer crops and weeds. Most such

weeds can be controlled with herbicide

solutions. However, even if reasonable

measures are taken, some weed seeds,

volunteer grain, and other undesirable

plant material are usually harvested

with the lentils. Small and large seeded

weeds/grain can be easily removed from

the thresher-run lentils (i.e., dockage)

and seeds that are the same size as

lentils can also be removed with relative

ease (i.e., foreign material). But, seeds

that are the same size, shape, and color

as lentils are very difficult to virtually

impossible to remove. Fortunately,

packers, exporters, and end-users do not

view seeds that closely mimic the

appearance of lentils, such as Vicia

sativa (commonly known as vetch,

mimics, or rogue lentils ), as being as

detrimental to quality as dockage or

foreign material. Hence, the U.S. lentil

industry feels that such seeds should

not be considered as foreign material,

but as a separate factor.

The U.S. lentil industry is committed

to quality and has encouraged producers

to take all appropriate action to control

the spread of lentil-mimics. To facilitate

this process and to ensure that lentil

quality is determined accurately, GIPSA

is proposing to establish a new factor,

Inconspicuous Admixture. This factor

will be defined as ‘‘Any seed which is

difficult to distinguish from a lentil,

including, but not limited to Vicia

sativa.’’

U.S. Standards for Whole Dry Peas

The present U.S. Standards for Peas

provide for five classes of peas: Smooth

Green Dry peas, Smooth Yellow Dry

peas, Wrinkled Dry peas, Winter Dry

peas, and Mixed Dry peas. In recent

years, several new types of peas have

been developed or introduced that do

not readily fit within any of the current

classes. To better facilitate the

marketing of these peas, GIPSA is

proposing to revise the U.S. Standards

for Whole Dry Peas to establish a new

class, Miscellaneous peas. Accordingly,

peas that are not otherwise classified in

the standards would be classified and

designated according to the commonly

accepted commercial name for the pea,

e.g., Marrowfat peas. These proposed

standard changes were recommended to

us and reviewed by the affected trade.

Therefore, GIPSA is publishing these

proposed standard changes with a 30-

day comment period which will provide

a sufficient amount of time for

interested persons to comment on

changes to the standards.

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.

Dated: August 8, 1997.

James R. Baker,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–21570 Filed 8–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–EN–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service

Plains Electric Generation and

Transmission Cooperative, Inc.; Intent

To Hold Public Workshops and

Prepare an Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to conduct

public scoping workshops and prepare

an Environmental Assessment.

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service

(RUS) intends to hold public scoping

workshops and prepare an

Environmental Assessment (EA) in

connection with possible RUS financing

assistance relating to a project proposed

by Plains Electric Generation and

Transmission Cooperative, Inc. (Plains),

of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The

project consists of the construction,

operation and maintenance of a 230 kV

transmission line from a proposed

substation near Gladstone in Colifax

County, New Mexico, to the Walsenburg

Substation in Huerfano County,

Colorado.

DATES: RUS will conduct five public

scoping workshops as follows:

September 17, 1997

4:00–8:00 p.m.—Walsenburg City Hall,

525 S. Albert Street, Walsenburg,

Colorado 81089.

September 18, 1997

4:00–8:00 p.m.—Trinidad Community

Center, 1309 Beashoar Drive,

Trinidad, Colorado 81082.

September 22, 1997

4:00–8:00 p.m.— Holiday Inn, 473

Clayton Road, Raton, New Mexico

87740.

September 23, 1997

4:00–8:00 p.m.— Springer Electric

Cooperative, 420 Maxwell Avenue,

Springer, New Mexico 87747.

September 24, 1997

4:00–8:00 p.m.—Clayton Air Park

Convention Center, Cedar Road,

Clayton, New Mexico 88415.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dennis E. Rankin, Engineering and

Environmental Staff, Rural Utilities

Service, 1400 Independence Avenue,

S.W., Stop 1571, Washington, DC 20250,

telephone (202) 720–1784, or Rick

Precek, Plains Electric Generation and

Transmission Cooperative, Inc., P.O.

Box 6551, Albuquerque, New Mexico

87197, telephone (505) 889–7207.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Plains is

proposing to construct approximately

115 miles of 230 kV transmission line

from a new substation near Gladstone in

Colifax County, New Mexico, to the

Walsenburg Substation in Huerfano

County, Colorado.

Alternatives to be considered by RUS

include no action, local generation,

system alternatives, transmission

alternatives and alternative routes.

Comments regarding the proposed

project may be submitted orally or in

writing at the public scoping workshops

or in writing no later than October 24,

1997, to RUS or Plains at the addresses

provided in this notice.

Plains and its consultant have

prepared an Alternative Evaluation and

Macro-Corridor Study for the project.

The Alternative Evaluation and MacroCorridor Study is available for public

review at RUS or Plains at the addresses

provided in this notice. The documents

can also be reviewed at Springer Electric

Cooperative, Inc., Springer, New Mexico

87747; Southwestern Electric

Cooperative, Inc., Clayton, New Mexico

88145; and in the libraries in the towns

of Walsenburg and Trinidad, Colorado,

and Raton, Clayton and Springer, New

Mexico.