65828 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 213 / Thursday, November 2, 2000 / Notices

clearly discusses and demonstrates that

effective communication will exist

among staff. Proposals should include a

project timeline and organization chart

showing key activities and dates. The

timeline provides adequate, realistic

periods to complete the proposed

activities/tasks. Letters have been

submitted to document any resources

available to the project from other

sources.—15 points

Budget Appropriateness and Efficiency

25 Total Points

The proposed budget request is

adequate to support the project and both

Federal and non-Federal resources are

provided.—10 points

Budget justifications are provided,

including descriptions of how

categorical costs were derived,

discussions of the necessity,

reasonableness, and allocability of

proposed costs, and links between

expenditures and specific activities/

tasks.—10 points

The level of Federal support

requested is economical and reasonable

in relation to the proposed scope and

effort of the project.—5 points

Presentation 10 Total Points

The grant proposal is well presented,

well organized, complete, clear, and

succinct. Proposals should be relatively

brief and concise. The maximum

acceptable proposal length is 25 pages.

Bonus Points 6 Total Points

Up to six additional points will be

awarded to grant proposals that include

a nutrition education component. These

additional points will be added to the

panel’s total score, so that the maximum

total points a proposal could receive is

a total of 106 points.

C. Grant Awards

After the panel evaluates and scores

the grant applications, they will be

ranked by score, starting with the

highest score. In general, CCC will

award the grants in rank order until the

total available funds are committed.

However, the selecting official may take

into account CCC priorities in addition

to the scores. Also, if the selecting

official determines that some or all of

the applications lack technical merit,

CCC may decide to award no grants, or

less than the total amount of funds set

aside for this purpose. Finally, CCC

reserves the right to fund successful

applications at an amount less than

requested if it is judged that the

application can be implemented with

less, or if Federal funding is not

sufficient to fully fund all successful

applications. CCC also reserves the right

to deny an otherwise worthwhile

application if the success of the

application is dependent upon an

amount of funding that is not available.

We will notify grant applicants of

awards as soon as possible after the

applications have been reviewed. We

expect to complete the review by early

January 2001. CCC will provide funding

for approved grant applications upon

receipt of a properly executed grant

agreement and subject to available

funding.

Dated: October 30, 2000.

August Schumacher, Jr.,

President, Commodity Credit Corporation.

[FR Doc. 00–28201 Filed 10–30–00; 4:41 pm]

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 00–042N]

HACCP-Based Inspection Models

Project (HIMP): Performance

Standards for Young Turkey, Young

Chicken, and Market Hog HIMP Plants

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection

Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Food Safety and

Inspection Service (FSIS) is publishing

the performance standards for food

safety and non-food safety conditions

that it will apply in a limited number of

young turkey and market hog slaughter

plants that participate in the HACCPbased Inspection Models Project

(HIMP). FSIS has already announced the

performance standards for young

chicken HIMP plants at public meetings,

but the Agency is including them in this

Notice.

DATES: There is no formal comment

period for this Notice; however,

comments are welcome.

ADDRESSES: Submit one original and

two copies of written comments to FSIS

Docket Clerk, Docket #00–042N, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Food Safety

and Inspection Service, Room 102

Cotton Annex Building, 300 12th Street,

SW., Washington, DC 20250–3700. All

comments submitted in response to this

Notice will be available for public

inspection in the Docket Clerk’s Office

between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.,

Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Michael Grasso, Project Manager, FSIS,

at 202 205–0025, FAX 202 205–0058, email Mike.Grasso@usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FSIS

began HIMP in 1998 to determine

whether new government slaughter

inspection procedures, along with new

plant responsibilities, can improve food

safety and increase consumer

protection. The pilot project is a natural

extension of the Agency’s Hazard

Analysis and Critical Control Points

(HACCP) approach in place nationwide

within all meat and poultry plants. The

Agency adopted the HACCP approach

in its Pathogen Reduction; Hazard

Analysis and Critical Control Point

(HACCP) Systems; Final Rule of July 25,

1996 (61 FR 38806).

The project represents the Agency’s

effort to apply HACCP principles with

respect to industry and FSIS roles and

responsibilities in slaughter operations,

which should allow FSIS to better focus

its in-plant resources and regulatory

verification activities on public health

concerns. HIMP does not involve

processing plants.

Under HIMP, FSIS has developed new

inspection models for pilot testing in a

limited number of plants slaughtering

young, healthy, and uniform animals,

specifically young poultry, fed cattle,

and market hogs. With these models,

FSIS designs HACCP-based slaughter

inspection procedures, and plants

develop appropriate controls for

meeting FSIS requirements.

Through an independent contractor,

the Agency conducted baseline

sampling in volunteer plants that

slaughter young chickens, young

turkeys, and market hogs. The baseline

sampling results reflect the

accomplishments of current slaughterline inspection procedures in the pilot

plants and provide a measure—a

‘‘performance standard’’—for judging

the accomplishments of these same

plants operating under new HIMP

procedures. The performance standards

address both food safety and non-food

safety conditions. The food safety

performance standards for young

turkeys and market hogs are set at zero

to protect consumers from conditions

that may be harmful. As stated above,

the performance standards for non-food

safety conditions—collectively termed

‘‘other consumer protection’’ or OCP—

reflect the baseline data collected by the

independent contractor in participating

plants before the new models were

instituted. These baseline data thus

represent the accomplishments of the

current inspection system.

For OCP concerns, 2000 samples were

collected by the independent contractor

at each of five young turkey and five

market hog plants over five weeks and

evaluated organoleptically—by the

senses. As with young chickens, the

new OCP performance standards have

been set at the level that the top 75

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 213 / Thursday, November 2, 2000 / Notices 65829

percent of the plants and our inspectors

achieved for each category of defects.

For young turkeys and market hogs,

with five plants each, the 75th

percentile was set slightly below the 4th

of the five baseline results, using the

formula: 75th percentile = (.25 * 3rd

place values) + (.75 * 4th place values).

Participating plants must meet these

tighter performance standards for food

safety and non-food safety concerns.

Plants are expected to revise their

HACCP systems to achieve the food

safety standards and to develop process

control plans to achieve OCP standards.

Plants are responsible for identifying

and removing carcasses that do not meet

these standards for reprocessing or

condemnation, as appropriate. FSIS

inspectors are responsible for inspection

and for verifying that plants are

continuously achieving the required

outcomes.

Microbial sampling was also

conducted by the independent

contractor: 600 carcasses were sampled

at each plant, 300 for Salmonella and

300 for generic E. coli. Levels of these

organisms are evaluated according to

the performance standards and criteria

set forth in the Agency’s Pathogen

Reduction/HACCP Final Rule

mentioned above.

FSIS conducts continuous inspection

in HIMP plants to make a critical

appraisal of carcasses to determine that

they are not adulterated as defined

under FSIS regulations and are thus

eligible to receive the mark of

inspection.

YOUNG TURKEY HIMP PERFORMANCE

STANDARDS BASED ON CURRENT INSPECTION SYSTEM

Food Safety 1 Condition—Infectious (e.g., septicemia, toxemia).Zero*

Food Safety 2 Contamination—

Digestive Content (fecal material).

Zero**

OCP 1 Condition—Animal Diseases (e.g., airsacculitis, arthritis, ascites, cadaver, enteritis,

erysipelas, generalized inflammatory process, neoplasms,

nephritis, osteomyelitis, pericarditis, pneumonia, tenosynovitis).

1.2%

OCP 2 Condition—Miscellaneous

(e.g., breast blister, bruises, external mutilation, fractures,

overscald, sores, scabs, and localized inflammatory process).

56.6%

OCP 3 Contamination—Digestive

Content (e.g., ingesta).

12.7%

OCP 4 Dressing Defects—Other

(e.g., extraneous material-other,

feathers, lung, oil gland, trachea, bile).

95.9%

YOUNG TURKEY HIMP PERFORMANCE

STANDARDS BASED ON CURRENT INSPECTION SYSTEM—Continued

OCP 5 Dressing Defects—Digestive Tract Tissue (e.g., bursa of

fabricius, cloaca, crop, esophagus, intestine).

7.5%

* Baseline result was 0.0% at 75th percentile.

** Baseline result was 0.3% at 75th

percentile.

MARKET HOGS HIMP PERFORMANCE

STANDARDS BASED ON CURRENT INSPECTION SYSTEM

Food Safety 1 Condition-Infectious (e.g., septicemia/toxemia,

pyemia, Cysticercus).

Zero *

Food Safety 2 Contamination-Digestive Content (e.g., fecal material, ingesta, milk).Zero **

Food Safety 3 Ante-mortem suspect (e.g., neurologic conditions, moribund, pyrexic, severe

lameness).

Zero

OCP 1 Carcass-Pathology (e.g.,

arthritis, emaciation, erysipelas,

localized abscess, mastitis, metritis, mycobacteriosis [M.

Avium], neoplasms, pericarditis,

pleuritis, pneumonia, uremia).

4.1%

OCP 2 Condition-Visceral Pathology * (e.g., cystic kidneys, enteritis/gastritis, fecal contamination of viscera, nephritis/pyelonephritis, parasites-other than

Cysticercus, peritonitis).

7.2%

OCP 3 Miscellaneous (e.g., anemia/Pale Soft Exudative pork,

bile, bruise, edema, external

mutilation, fractures, icterus,

odor, skin lesions, scabs,

untrimmed hair, toenails not removed).

20.5%

*Baseline result was 0.0% at 75th percentile. **Baseline result was 2.6% at 75th

percentile.

YOUNG CHICKEN HIMP PERFORMANCE

STANDARDS BASED ON CURRENT INSPECTION SYSTEM

Food Safety 1 Condition-Infectious (e.g., septicemia, toxemia).Zero *

Food Safety 2 Contamination-Digestive Content (e.g., fecal material).Zero **

OCP 1 Condition-Animal Diseases (e.g., airsacculitis).1.7%

OCP 2 Condition-Miscellaneous

(e.g., bruises, sores, and other

processing defects).

52.5%

OCP 3 Contamination-Digestive

Content (e.g., ingesta).

18.6%

OCP 4 Dressing Defects-Other

(e.g., feathers).

80.0%

YOUNG CHICKEN HIMP PERFORMANCE

STANDARDS BASED ON CURRENT INSPECTION SYSTEM—Continued

OCP 5 Dressing Defects (e.g., digestive tract tissue).20.8%

*Baseline result was 0.1% at 75th percentile. **Baseline result was 1.5% at 75th

percentile.

Additional Public Notification

Public awareness of all segments of

rulemaking and policy development is

important. Consequently, in an effort to

better ensure that minorities, women,

and persons with disabilities are aware

of this notice, FSIS will announce it and

provide copies of this Federal Register

publication in the FSIS Constituent

Update. FSIS provides a weekly FSIS

Constituent Update, which is

communicated via fax to more than 300

organizations and individuals. In

addition, the update is available on-line

through the FSIS web page located at

http://www.fsis.usda.gov. The update is

used to provide information regarding

FSIS policies, procedures, regulations,

Federal Register notices, FSIS public

meetings, recalls, and any other types of

information that could affect or would

be of interest to Agency constituents or

stakeholders. The constituent fax list

consists of industry, trade, and farm

groups, consumer interest groups, allied

health professionals, scientific

professionals, and other individuals

who have requested to be included.

Through these various channels, FSIS is

able to provide information to a much

broader, more diverse audience.

For more information and to be added

to the constituent fax list, fax your

request to the Congressional and Public

Affairs Office, at 202 720–5704.

Done in Washington, DC, on October 25,

2000.

Thomas J. Billy,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 00–28147 Filed 11–1–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation

Service

Notice of a Finding Of No Significant

Impact (FONSI) for the Stony Creek

Watershed, Clinton and Ionia Counties,

Michigan

AGENCY: Natural Resources

Conservation Service.

ACTION: Notice of a Finding Of No

Significant Impact.