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

78025 

Vol. 79, No. 248 

Monday, December 29, 2014 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

[Doc. No. AMS–NOP–14–0062; NOP–14–01] 

National Organic Program: Notice of 

Draft Guidance for Accredited 

Certifying Agents, Certified Operations 

and Applicants for Organic 

Certification 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of draft 

guidance with request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The National Organic 

Program (NOP) is announcing the 

availability of a draft guidance 

document intended for use by 

accredited certifying agents and 

certified operations. The draft guidance 

document is entitled as follows: Natural 

Resources and Biodiversity 

Conservation for Certified Organic 

Operations (NOP 5020). This draft 

guidance document is intended to 

inform the public of NOP’s current 

thinking on this topic. The Agricultural 

Marketing Service (AMS) invites organic 

producers, handlers, certifying agents, 

material evaluation programs, 

consumers and other interested parties 

to submit comments about these 

guidance provisions. 

A notice of availability of final 

guidance on this topic will be issued 

upon its final approval. Once finalized, 

this guidance document will be 

available from the NOP through, ‘‘The 

Program Handbook: Guidance and 

Instructions for Accredited Certifying 

Agents (ACAs) and Certified 

Operations.’’ This Handbook provides 

those who own, manage, or certify 

organic operations with guidance and 

instructions that can assist them in 

complying with the USDA organic 

regulations. The current addition of the 

Program Handbook is available online 

at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop or in 

print upon request. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before February 27, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written requests for 

hard copies of this draft guidance 

document to Stacy Jones King, 

Agricultural Marketing Specialist, 

National Organic Program, USDA– 

AMS–NOP, 1400 Independence Ave. 

SW., Room 2646—So., Ag Stop 0268, 

Washington, DC 20250–0268. See the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for 

electronic access to the draft guidance 

documents. 

Interested persons may submit 

comments on this draft guidance 

document using the following 

procedures: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Stacy Jones King, Agricultural 

Marketing Specialist, National Organic 

Program, USDA–AMS–NOP, 1400 

Independence Ave. SW., Room 2646— 

So., Ag Stop 0268, Washington, DC 

20250–0268. 

Written comments responding to this 

request should be identified with the 

document number AMS–NOP–14–0062; 

NOP–14–01. You should clearly 

indicate your position and the reasons 

supporting your position. If you are 

suggesting changes to the draft guidance 

document, you should include 

recommended language changes, as 

appropriate, along with any relevant 

supporting documentation. 

USDA intends to make available all 

comments, including names and 

addresses when provided, regardless of 

submission procedure used, on 

www.regulations.gov and at USDA, 

AMS, NOP, Room 2646—South 

building, 1400 Independence Ave. SW., 

Washington, DC, from 9 a.m. to noon 

and from 1 to 4 p.m., Monday through 

Friday (except official Federal holidays). 

Persons wanting to visit the USDA 

South building to view comments from 

the public to this notice are requested to 

make an appointment by calling (202) 

720–3252. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shannon Nally Yanessa, Acting 

Director, Standards Division, National 

Organic Program (NOP), USDA–AMS– 

NOP, 1400 Independence Ave. SW., 

Room 2646—So., Ag Stop 0268, 

Washington, DC 20250–0268, 

Telephone: (202) 720–3252, Email: 

NOP.Guidance@ams.usda.gov, or visit 

the NOP Web site at: 

www.ams.usda.gov/nop. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The draft guidance document 

announced through this notice was 

developed in response to a May 2009 

request from the National Organic 

Standards Board (NOSB) that AMS 

clarify the requirements and limitations 

of the general natural resources and 

biodiversity conservation requirement 

of the USDA organic regulations (7 CFR 

part 205). 7 CFR. 205.200 requires 

operations to ‘‘maintain or improve the 

natural resources of the operation, 

including soil and water quality.’’ 

Section 205.2 of the USDA organic 

regulations defines ‘‘natural resources of 

the operation’’ as the ‘‘physical, 

hydrological, and biological features of 

a production operation, including soil, 

water, wetlands, woodlands, and 

wildlife.’’ 

This draft guidance provides 

examples of production practices that 

support these conservation principles 

and demonstrate compliance with 7 

CFR. 205.200. This guidance also 

clarifies: (1) The certified organic 

operator’s responsibility to select, carry 

out, and record production practices 

that ‘‘maintain or improve the natural 

resources of the operation;’’ (2) the 

accredited certifying agent’s 

responsibility to verify operator 

compliance with this requirement; and 

(3) how domestic organic operations 

that participate in a USDA Natural 

Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) 

program and the NOP can reduce their 

paperwork burdens. 

II. Significance of Guidance 

This draft guidance document is being 

issued in accordance with the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

Bulletin on Agency Good Guidance 

Practices (GGPs) (January 25, 2007, 72 

FR 3432–3440). 

The purpose of GGPs is to ensure that 

program guidance documents are 

developed with adequate public 

participation, are readily available to the 

public, and are not applied as binding 

requirements. The draft guidance, when 

finalized, will represent the NOP’s 

current thinking on these topics. It does 

not create or confer any rights for, or on, 

any person and does not operate to bind 

the NOP or the public. Guidance 


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78026 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Notices 

documents are intended to provide a 

uniform method for operations to 

comply that can reduce the burden of 

developing their own methods and 

simplify audits and inspections. 

Alternative approaches that can 

demonstrate compliance with the 

Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA), 

as amended (7 U.S.C. 6501–6522), and 

its implementing regulations are also 

acceptable. The NOP strongly 

encourages industry to discuss 

alternative approaches with the NOP 

before implementing them to avoid 

unnecessary or wasteful expenditures of 

resources and to ensure the proposed 

alternative approach complies with the 

Act and its implementing regulations. 

III. Electronic Access 

Persons with access to Internet may 

obtain the draft guidance at either 

NOP’s Web site at http://

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

www.regulations.gov. 

Requests for hard copies of the draft 

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. 6501–6522. 

Dated: December 22, 2014. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30303 Filed 12–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

[Document No. AMS–ST–14–0066] 

Plant Variety Protection Board; 

Request for Nominations 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Plant Variety Protection 

Office (PVPO) is seeking candidates for 

the Plant Variety Protection Board (PVP 

Board). The PVP Board consists of 14 

members, each of whom is appointed 

for a 2-year period, with no member 

appointed for more than three 2-year 

periods. The term of the present Board 

will expire in May 2015. In order to 

provide the Secretary of Agriculture 

with a broad choice from a diverse 

group of applicants, the PVPO is asking 

for nominated members to serve on the 

Board for 2 years from the date of 

appointment. PVP Board members will 

serve without compensation, except for 

standard government reimbursable 

expenses. 

DATES: Nomination packages (an 

Application for Committee Membership 

(AD–755) and resume) must be received 

on or before February 6, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Nominations should be sent 

to Paul Zankowski, Plant Variety 

Protection Office (PVPO), Science and 

Technology, AMS, USDA, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW., Room 4512, 

Washington, DC 20250; Telephone: 

(202) 720–1128; Fax: (202) 260–8976; 

Email: Paul.Zankowski@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Plant 

Variety Protection Act (PVPA) (7 U.S.C. 

2321 et seq.) provides legal protection in 

the form of intellectual property rights 

to developers of new varieties of plants, 

which are reproduced sexually by seed 

or are tuber-propagated. A Certificate of 

Plant Variety Protection is awarded to 

an owner of a crop variety after an 

examination shows that it is new, 

distinct from other varieties, and 

genetically uniform and stable through 

successive generations. The term of 

protection is 20 years for most crops and 

25 years for trees, shrubs, and vines. 

The PVPA also provides for a 

statutory Board to be appointed by the 

Secretary of Agriculture (7 U.S. C. 

2327). The duties of the Board are to: (1) 

Advise the Secretary of Agriculture 

concerning the adoption of rules and 

regulations to facilitate the proper 

administration of the PVPA; (2) provide 

advisory counsel to the Secretary of 

Agriculture on all appeals from the 

Examiner; and (3) advise the Secretary 

of Agriculture on any other matters 

under the Regulations and Rules of 

Practice and on all questions under 

section 44 of the PVPA, ‘‘Public Interest 

in Wide Usage’’ (7 U.S.C. 2404). 

Reestablishing the PVP Board is 

necessary and in the public interest. 

The PVPA provides that ‘‘The Board 

shall consist of individuals who are 

experts in various areas of varietal 

development covered by this Act.’’ (7 

U.S.C. 2327(a)). The Board membership 

‘‘shall include farmer representation 

and shall be drawn approximately 

equally from the private or seed 

industry sector and from the sector of 

government or the public.’’ (7 U.S.C. 

2327(a)). 

The PVP Board consists of 14 

members, each of whom is appointed 

for a 2-year period, with no member 

appointed for more than three 2-year 

periods. The term of the present Board 

will expire in May 2015. The first 

meeting of the new Board will most 

likely be held in the summer of 2015. In 

order to provide the Secretary of 

Agriculture with a broad choice from a 

diverse group of applicants, the PVPO is 

asking for nominated members to serve 

on the Board for 2 years from the date 

of appointment. PVP Board members 

will serve without compensation, except 

for standard government reimbursable 

expenses. 

To ensure that the recommendations 

of the PVP Board take into account the 

needs of the diverse groups served by 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) (from research and production 

to trade, use, and consumption), the 

USDA will vet every candidate who 

applies for membership to the Federal 

Advisory Committee. Each applicant 

must clear all stages of the vetting 

process. Vetting is a comprehensive 

personal and professional background 

investigation that specifically includes, 

but is not limited to, an analysis of each 

candidate’s criminal history, bankruptcy 

filings, liens and judgments, affiliations 

and associations, lobbyist status, and 

prior involvement with USDA. This 

process is used to ensure that the finest 

candidates are selected to represent the 

interests of the USDA. 

Nomination packages with completed 

AD 755 background information forms 

and resumes should be submitted no 

later than February 6, 2015. Final 

selection of members will be made by 

the Secretary of Agriculture. All 

nomination materials should be mailed 

in a single, complete package to: Paul 

Zankowski, Commissioner; Plant 

Variety Protection Office; 1400 

Independence Avenue SW., Room 4512; 

Washington DC 20250. 

USDA has special interest in assuring 

that women, minority groups, and the 

physically disabled are adequately 

represented on these advisory 

committees. Nominations for female, 

minority, or disabled candidates are 

welcomed and encouraged. 

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

PVPO and click on PVPO Board (under 

Resources on the right side) for 

information on the Charter, and AD 755 

form. The AD–755 form can also be 

found on the USDA Advisory 

Committee Web site (www.usda.gov/

advisory_committees.xml). The Charter 

for the PVP Board is available on the 

Web site at: http://

www.facadatabase.gov/

download.aspx?fn=Charters/1309_

2013.09.11_PVPBCharter2.7.13_(2013- 

09-11-05-03-31).pdf or may be requested 

by contacting the individual identified 

in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. 

USDA prohibits discrimination in all 

its programs and activities on the basis 

of race, color, national origin, gender, 

religion, age, disability, political beliefs, 

sexual orientation, and marital or family 

status. Persons with disabilities who 

require alternative means for 

communication of program information 


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