Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 164 / Friday, August 22, 2008 / Notices 49643 

The tentative agenda for the 

teleconference meeting includes: (1) 

Welcome and opening remarks; (2) 

Action on general recommendations 

from Board minutes of May 1, 2008 

teleconference meeting, (3) Financial 

status of the PVP Office, (4) PVP Office 

information technology infrastructure, 

(5) PVP outreach activities, and (6) 

Adjournment. 

The public may attend the 

teleconference at the following address: 

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service 

Conference Room, Room 3074, South 

Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20250. All 

attendees are required to register with 

the PVP Office at 301–504–5518 before 

September 5, 2008. Identification will 

be required to be admitted to the 

USDA’s South Building. 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation should be 

directed to the person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Minutes 

of the teleconference will be posted on 

the Internet Web site http:// 

www.ams.usda.gov/PVPO. 

Dated: August 18, 2008. 

Lloyd C. Day, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–19466 Filed 8–21–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

[Docket No. FSIS–2008–0030] 

National Advisory Committee on 

Microbiological Criteria for Foods 

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces that 

the National Advisory Committee on 

Microbiological Criteria for Foods 

(NACMCF) will hold public meetings of 

the full Committee and Subcommittees 

on September 22–26, 2008. The 

Committee will discuss: (1) Parameters 

for inoculated-pack challenge study 

protocols, and (2) Determination of the 

most appropriate technologies for the 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

(FSIS) to adopt in performing routine 

and baseline microbiological analyses. 

DATES: The full Committee will hold an 

open meeting on Friday, September 26, 

2008, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The 

Subcommittee on parameters for 

inoculated-pack challenge study 

protocols will hold open meetings on 

Monday, September 22, and Tuesday, 

September 23, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. to 

5 p.m. The Subcommittee on 

determination of the most appropriate 

technologies for the FSIS to adopt in 

performing routine and baseline 

microbiological analyses will hold open 

meetings on Wednesday, September 24, 

and Thursday, September 25, 2008, 

from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The September 22–25, 2008, 

Subcommittee meetings will be held at 

the Aerospace Center, 901 D Street, SW., 

Rooms 369–371, Washington, DC 20024. 

The September 26, 2008, full Committee 

meeting will be held in the conference 

room at the south end of the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

cafeteria located in the South Building, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250. All documents 

related to the full Committee meeting 

will be available for public inspection in 

the FSIS Docket Room, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Room 2534 South 

Building, Washington, DC 20250, 

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

Monday through Friday, as soon as they 

become available. The NACMCF 

documents will also be available on the 

Internet at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/ 

regulations/2008_Notices_Index/. 

FSIS will finalize an agenda on or 

before the meeting dates and post it on 

the FSIS Web page at http:// 

www.fsis.usda.gov/News/ 

Meetings_&_Events/. 

Please note that the meeting agenda is 

subject to change due to the time 

required for Committee discussions; 

thus, sessions could start or end earlier 

or later than anticipated. Please plan 

accordingly if you would like to attend 

a particular session or participate in a 

public comment period. 

Also, the official transcript of the 

September 26, 2008, full Committee 

meeting, when it becomes available, 

will be kept in the FSIS Docket Room 

at the above address and will also be 

posted on http://www.fsis.usda.gov/ 

About/NACMCF_Meetings/. 

The mailing address for the contact 

person is: Karen Thomas-Sharp, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, FSIS, Office 

of Public Health Science, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 333 

Aerospace Center, Washington, DC 

20250–3766. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Persons interested in making a 

presentation, submitting technical 

papers, or providing comments at the 

September 26, plenary session should 

contact Karen Thomas-Sharp, phone 

(202) 690–6620, fax (202) 690–6334, email Karen.thomas-sharp@fsis.usda.gov, 

or at the mailing address above. Persons 

requiring a sign language interpreter or 

other special accommodations should 

notify Mrs. Thomas-Sharp by September 

17, 2008. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The NACMCF was established in 

1988, in response to a recommendation 

of the National Academy of Sciences for 

an interagency approach to 

microbiological criteria for foods, and in 

response to a recommendation of the 

U.S. House of Representatives 

Committee on Appropriations, as 

expressed in the Rural Development, 

Agriculture, and Related Agencies 

Appropriation Bill for fiscal year 1988. 

The charter for the NACMCF is 

available for viewing on the FSIS 

Internet Web page at http:// 

www.fsis.usda.gov/About/ 

NACMCF_Charter/. 

The NACMCF provides scientific 

advice and recommendations to the 

Secretary of Agriculture and the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services 

on public health issues relative to the 

safety and wholesomeness of the U.S. 

food supply, including development of 

microbiological criteria and review and 

evaluation of epidemiological and risk 

assessment data and methodologies for 

assessing microbiological hazards in 

foods. The Committee also provides 

scientific advice and recommendations 

to the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention and the Departments of 

Commerce and Defense. 

Dr. H. Scott Hurd, Deputy Under 

Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, is the 

Committee Chair; Dr. Stephen Sundlof, 

Director of the Food and Drug 

Administration’s Center for Food Safety 

and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), is the 

Vice-Chair; and Gerri Ransom, FSIS, is 

the Executive Secretary. 

• At the subcommittee meetings the 

week of September 22–25, 2008 the 

groups will discuss: 

• Parameters for inoculated-pack 

challenge study protocols, and 

• Determination of the most 

appropriate technologies for the FSIS to 

adopt in performing routine and 

baseline microbiological analyses. 

Documents Reviewed by NACMCF 

FSIS intends to make available to the 

public all materials that are reviewed 

and considered by NACMCF regarding 

its deliberations. Generally, these 

materials will be made available as soon 

as possible after the full Committee 

meeting. Further, FSIS intends to make 

these materials available in electronic 

format on the FSIS Web page, as well as 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
49644 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 164 / Friday, August 22, 2008 / Notices 

in hard copy format in the FSIS Docket 

Room. Often, an attempt is made to 

make the materials available at the start 

of the full Committee meeting when 

sufficient time is allowed in advance to 

do so. 

Disclaimer: NACMCF documents and 

comments posted on the FSIS Web site 

are electronic conversions from a variety 

of source formats. In some cases, 

document conversion may result in 

character translation or formatting 

errors. The original document is the 

official, legal copy. 

In order to meet the electronic and 

information technology accessibility 

standards in Section 508 of the 

Rehabilitation Act, NACMCF may add 

alternate text descriptors for non-text 

elements (graphs, charts, tables, 

multimedia, etc.). These modifications 

only affect the online copies of the 

documents. 

Copyrighted documents will not be 

posted on the FSIS Web site, but will be 

available for inspection in the FSIS 

Docket Room. 

Additional Public Notification 

Public awareness of all segments of 

rulemaking and policy development is 

important. Consequently, in an effort to 

ensure that minorities, women, and 

persons with disabilities are aware of 

this notice, FSIS will announce it online 

through the FSIS Web page located at 

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/ 

2008_Notices_Index/. FSIS will also 

make copies of this Federal Register 

publication available through the FSIS 

Constituent Update, which is used to 

provide information regarding FSIS 

policies, procedures, regulations, 

Federal Register notices, FSIS public 

meetings, and other types of information 

that could affect or would be of interest 

to constituents and stakeholders. The 

Update is communicated via Listserv, a 

free electronic mail subscription service 

for industry, trade groups, consumer 

interest groups, health professionals, 

and other individuals who have asked 

to be included. The Update is also 

available on the FSIS Web page. 

Through the Listserv and Web page, 

FSIS is able to provide information to a 

much broader and more diverse 

audience. In addition, FSIS offers an email subscription service which 

provides automatic and customized 

access to selected food safety news and 

information. This service is available at 

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/ 

news_and_events/email_subscription/. 

Options range from recalls to export 

information to regulations, directives 

and notices. Customers can add or 

delete subscriptions themselves, and 

they have the option to password 

protect their accounts. 

Done at Washington, DC on August 19, 

2008. 

Alfred V. Almanza, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. E8–19540 Filed 8–21–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P 

COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM 

PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR 

SEVERELY DISABLED 

Procurement List; Additions 

AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From 

People Who Are Blind or Severely 

Disabled. 

ACTION: Additions to the Procurement 

List. 

SUMMARY: This action adds to the 

Procurement List products and services 

to be furnished by nonprofit agencies 

employing persons who are blind or 

have other severe disabilities. 

DATES: Effective Date: September 21, 

2008. 

ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase 

From People Who Are Blind or Severely 

Disabled, Jefferson Plaza 2, Suite 10800, 

1421 Jefferson Davis Highway, 

Arlington, Virginia 22202–3259. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kimberly M. Zeich, Telephone: (703) 

603–7740, Fax: (703) 603–0655, or email CMTEFedReg@jwod.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Additions 

On June 20 and June 27, 2008, the 

Committee for Purchase From People 

Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled 

published notice (73 FR35118; 35119; 

36492) of proposed additions to the 

Procurement List. 

The following comments pertain to 

Bulletin Rails; Bulletin Board; and 

Marker Board, Wall Mounted: 

Comments were received from a 

contractor that provides some of the 

same commodities and is an authorized 

distributor of AbilityOne products. The 

contractor stated that adding the 

proposed products to the Procurement 

List will have a significantly adverse 

effect on her company. However, the 

contractor did not demonstrate that her 

firm holds a contract specifically for the 

proposed products versus holding a 

multiple award contract for a broad 

category of products such as office 

supplies. The Committee determined 

that its action will not have a severe 

adverse impact on this contractor, as the 

company continues to be able to do 

business with the government and may 

sell the AbilityOne products in lieu of 

commercial equivalents to its federal 

customers. 

Comments were received from a 

manufacturer’s representative group, 

stating that the addition of the proposed 

products to the Procurement List will 

have significant impact on her business 

and a substantial number of small 

entities who can no longer sell 

commercial equivalent products to 

federal customers. The commenter 

stated that companies are struggling to 

survive in the current economy without 

having to compete with AbilityOne. The 

commenter questioned whether the 

products would in fact be produced 

with 75% direct labor from people who 

are blind and whether the products 

would be compliant with the Trade 

Agreements Act (TAA). 

The commenter did not support the 

claim that there was significant impact 

on her business with specific contract or 

financial information. As stated above, 

large and small office supply dealers 

will continue to be able to do business 

with the government if they become 

authorized to sell the AbilityOne 

manufactured products in the place of 

commercial equivalents. In addition, the 

AbilityOne Program pertains to federal 

purchasing, which is a small share of 

the U.S. market for office supplies. The 

nonprofit agency designated to 

manufacture the proposed products is in 

full compliance with Committee 

regulations for direct labor by people 

who are blind, and proposes to 

manufacture the subject items with 81% 

direct labor provided by people who are 

blind, creating over 10 new jobs 

annually for these individuals. The 

production will include several cutting 

functions, assembling, attaching/ 

including hardware and packaging the 

products, constituting a substantial 

transformation. The resulting products, 

once added to the Procurement List, 

will be compliant with the TAA. 

The following comment pertains to 

Stapler, Spring Power: 

A comment was received from an 

AbilityOne nonprofit agency employing 

persons with severe disabilities that 

currently supplies staplers under the 

AbilityOne Program to Federal 

customers. In its comment, the 

nonprofit stated that the addition of the 

spring powered staplers would have a 

significant negative impact on its 

current line of staplers and indicated 

that the spring powered staplers should 

be awarded to them as a product line 

extension. 

The Javits-Wagner-O’Day (JWOD) Act 

establishes a clear priority for products 

produced and offered for sale by 

qualified nonprofit agencies for the 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES