27714 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 101 / Thursday, May 25, 1995 / Notices

commentators will discuss this and

other initiatives.

Plenary sessions are open to the

public. All participants with special

needs and/or who will require

assistance should contact Sharon D.

Anderson or Lavette M. Miller. Further

information on the meeting, including

copies of proposed recomendations,

may be obtained from the Office of the

Chairman, Suite 500, 2120 L Street,

N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037,

telephone (202) 254–7020.

Dated: May 18, 1995.

Jeffrey S. Lubbers,

Research Director.

[FR Doc. 95–12815 Filed 5–24–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6110–01–W

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forms Under Review by Office of

Management and Budget

May 19, 1995.

The Department of Agriculture has

submitted to OMB for review the

following proposal for the collection of

information under the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35) since the last list was

published. This list is grouped into new

proposals, revisions, extension, or

reinstatements. Each entry contains the

following information:

(1) Agency proposing the information

collection; (2) title of the information

collection; (3) Form number(s), if

applicable; (4) Who will be required or

asked to report; (5) An estimate of the

number of responses; (65) An estimate

of the total number of hours needed to

provide the information; (7) Name and

telephone number of the agency contact

person.

Questions about the items in the

listing should be directed to the agency

person named at the end of each entry.

Copies of the proposed forms and

supporting documents may be obtained

from: Department Clearance Officer,

USDA, OIRM, Room 404–W Admin.

Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20250, (202)

690–2118.

Emergency Collection

• Office of Inspector General

Commodity Origin Questionnaire for

Agricultural Commodities

Business or other for-profit; 100

responses; 200 hours

Raymond G. Poland, (202) 720–2887

Revision

• Rural Economic & Community

Development

7 CFR 1980–D, Rural Housing Loans

FmHA 1980–11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 20,

21; RECD 1980–80, 81, 86

Individuals or households Business or

other for-profit; State, Local or Tribal

government; 158–216 responses;

77,645 hours

Jack Holston (202), 720–9736

• Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

7 CFR 354 & 9 CFR 130 User Fees

PPQ 250 & VS 16–7

Individuals or households; Business or

other for-profit; Federal government;

State, local or Tribal government;

246,103 responses; 9,349 hours

Helen Schmitt, (301) 734–5901

• Cooperative State Research,

Education, and Extension Service

Application Kit

CSREES—55, 661, 662 and 663

Individuals or households; Business or

other for-profit; Not-for-profit; Federal

Government; State, Local or Tribal

Government; 5,200 responses; 23,600

hours

Sondra Watkins, (202) 401–5050

Extension

• Food and Consumer Service

WIC Program Annual Closeout Report

with Addendum

FCS–227 and FCS–227A

State, Local or Tribal government; 86

responses; 490 hours

Joan Carroll, (703) 305–2716

• Food and Consumer Service

WIC Local Agency Directory Report

FCS–648

State, Local or Tribal Government; 86

responses; 64 hours

Joan Carroll, (703) 305–2716

• Foreign Agricultural Service

List of Commodities by firm Available

for Exporting

Business or other for-profit; Farms; 4500

responses; 1125 hours

Jeffrey Hesse, (202) 690–3424.

Larry K. Roberson,

Deputy Departmental Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 95–12882 Filed 5–24–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–01–M

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 95–015N]

Guidelines for Preparing and

Submitting Experimental Protocols for

In-Plant Trials of New Technologies

and Procedures

AGENCY: Food Safety Inspection Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Food Safety and

Inspection Service has issued Directive

10,700.1, establishing guidelines for

preparing and submitting experimental

protocols for in-plant research or trials

of new technologies and procedures in

federally inspected meat and poultry

plants. This notice summarizes

Directive 10,700.1 and announces its

availability to interested persons.

ADDRESSES: To obtain a copy of FSIS

Directive 10,700.1, ‘‘Guidelines for

Preparing and Submitting Experimental

Protocols for In-Plant Trials of New

Technologies and Procedures,’’ contact

Ms. Diane Moore, Docket Clerk, room

4352, South Agriculture Building, Food

Safety and Inspection Service, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Washington,

DC 20250, (202) 720–3813.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

Pat Basu, Director, Technology

Assessment and Research Coordination

Division, Science and Technology, Food

Safety and Inspection Service, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, room 302,

Annex Building, 300 12th Street SW.,

Washington, DC 20250, (202) 720–8623.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Food Safety and Inspection

Service (FSIS) periodically issues

directives that either explain internal

administrative policies and procedures

or, as in the case of Directive 10,700.1,

clarify FSIS regulations and procedures

regarding meat and poultry product

safety and inspection. While these

directives are intended for FSIS

inspectors and other employees, they

are also regularly sent to other

interested persons, including meat and

poultry plant management, trade

associations, and State and local

governments. To ensure that all

interested persons are aware of the

substance and availability of this

directive, FSIS is publishing this notice.

Directive 10,700.1

As part of its comprehensive strategy

to reduce the occurrence and numbers

of pathogenic organisms in meat and

poultry for the purpose of reducing the

incidence of foodborne illness

associated with consumption of those

products, FSIS has proposed a series of

new requirements applicable to all

federally inspected meat and poultry

plants (‘‘Pathogen Reduction; Hazard

Analysis and Critical Control Points

(HACCP) Systems’’; February 3, 1995,

60 FR 6774–6889). In order to meet the

requirements proposed in that

document, the meat and poultry

industries may find it useful to develop

innovative technologies and procedures

that more effectively protect meat and

poultry products from microbiological
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 101 / Thursday, May 25, 1995 / Notices 27715

and other hazards. FSIS is committed to

fostering such innovation.

In the past few years, innovative

technologies and procedures have been

developed by the meat and poultry

industry and allied enterprises to

enhance industry productivity and

profitability. FSIS believes that industry

innovation should also be directed to

improving food safety. FSIS intends as

part of its comprehensive long-term

food safety strategy to increase the

incentives for such innovation by

establishing public health-driven

targets, guidelines, and standards that

establishments will be held accountable

for meeting. Also, FSIS is redoubling its

efforts to facilitate experimentation in

the meat and poultry industries.

Specifically, FSIS is encouraging inplant experimentation, which both aids

in the development of new production

and processing techniques and provides

the requisite confirmation that new

technologies and procedures are

efficacious, practical, and manageable in

commercial plant environments. FSIS

has reviewed its policies and

procedures governing review and

approval of in-plant experimentation

with the intention of simplifying them

to the maximum extent possible, while

ensuring that important safety and

efficacy issues are considered. As a

result, on April 11, 1995, FSIS issued

Directive 10,700.1, ‘‘Guidelines for

Preparing and Submitting Experimental

Protocols for In-Plant Trials of New

Technologies and Procedures.’’

Directive 10,700.1 explains that a

written proposal and protocol must be

submitted to FSIS, reviewed, and

approved prior to any in-plant research

or demonstration of technologies and

procedures that could affect product

safety, worker safety, environmental

safety, or inspection procedures. The

written proposal and protocol must

contain a statement of purpose, a

scientific literature review, including

data from laboratory studies supporting

further in-plant trials, a detailed

description of the research methodology

to be used, and other administrative

information. Also, proposals for

research on technologies or procedures

that could alter inspection procedures,

affect food safety, or are to be approved

for general use must include a detailed

study design and a commitment to

submit final research results. Applicants

must submit proposals and protocols at

least 60 days before any experiments

begin, so that FSIS may have adequate

time to both review the proposal and

notify, if necessary, the local FSIS

inspection staff who would observe the

approved experiment.

FSIS will not approve any proposal or

protocol for in-plant experimentation

that could result in an increased risk for

the public and accordingly has placed

certain restrictions on experiments

involving the artificial contamination of

food products. For example, in

experiments where researchers

artificially contaminate carcasses with

fecal material that may contain human

pathogens, any products from these

carcasses must be removed from

commercial channels or reconditioned

to be wholesome and fit for sale. Also,

in tests where researchers artificially

contaminate carcasses with surrogate

organisms that approximate the growth

or spread of human pathogens,

trimming of treated areas followed by an

antimicrobial wash is required before

product can be moved into commerce.

Furthermore, while FSIS will not

approve experiments that unreasonably

interfere with our inspection

responsibilities, requests for modest

changes in inspection during an

experiment will be considered on a

case-by-case basis.

FSIS requires that certain proposal

and protocol submissions include

approvals from other agencies. If any

chemical reagents or other such

materials are to be used in an

experiment, those materials must have

been approved by Food and Drug

Administration. Also, certain proposals

for experiments that may affect worker

safety must be accompanied by

appropriate regulatory citations or by

written approval from the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

and/or the Occupational Safety and

Health Administration. And, some

proposals for experiments that may

impact environmental safety must be

accompanied by approvals from EPA.

During approved in-plant

experimentation, FSIS reserves the right

to have on-site observers present and to

review interim data. Should unexpected

safety concerns arise at any time, for

example, if food products affected by

the experiment are in violation of food

safety statutes or present an increased

risk to the public, FSIS will require

termination of the experiment. FSIS also

reserves the right to have an approved

proposal, as well as experimental

results, reviewed by outside parties, as

long as proprietary rights are

safeguarded. Further, FSIS reserves the

right to request the ‘‘raw’’ data initially

collected from the experiment when

evaluating the results of in-plant

experiments.

FSIS has established a new unit, the

Technology Assessment and Research

Coordination Division (TARCD), which

will function as the single point of entry

for in-plant research protocols and

experimental results. TARCD will

perform the initial review of proposals

for acceptability and completeness and

then forward the proposals to teams

within FSIS for technical review.

TARCD also will be responsible for

conveying results from FSIS technical

reviews to the researchers requesting

approval for in-plant experiments.

TARCD will similarly coordinate the

review of results and facilitate the

policy decision process.

Proposals and protocols that are

unapproved or in the approval process

will be unavailable to the public.

Approved proposals and protocols will

be available and on file in the FSIS

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

reading room. FSIS will ensure FOIA

protection for proprietary information

contained in proposals and protocols

available to the public.

Development and dissemination of

these guidelines, as well as the

establishment within FSIS of a single

office for receiving proposed protocols

for in-plant research, is intended to

encourage the technological and

procedural innovation necessary to

enhance food safety within the meat and

poultry industries.

Done at Washington, DC on May 19, 1995.

Michael R. Taylor,

Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety.

[FR Doc. 95–12883 Filed 5–24–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P

Forest Service

Notice of Intent

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Revision of notice of intent to

prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement.

SUMMARY: On May 13, 1992, the Forest

Service filed a notice of intent in the

Federal Register to prepare an

environmental impact statement (EIS) to

analyze revision of management

guidelines for the Desolation Wilderness

on the Pacific and Placerville Ranger

Districts of the Eldorado National Forest

and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management

Unit, El Dorado County, California. A

subsequent notice was filed on May 2,

1994, because the draft EIS was delayed

more than 6 months. This notice is

being filed because the EIS has been

delayed more than 6 months and

because the responsible official has been

changed.

ADDRESSES: John Phipps, Forest

Supervisor, Eldorado National Forest,

ATTN: Desolation Wilderness EIS, 100