This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

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public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

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section.

Notices Federal Register

66351 

Vol. 79, No. 216 

Friday, November 7, 2014 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Guidelines for Designating Biobased 

Products for Federal Procurement 

AGENCY: Office of Procurement and 

Property Management, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of request for extension 

of a currently approved information 

collection. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice 

announces that the Department of 

Agriculture, Office of Procurement and 

Property Management, is hereby 

requesting an extension of a currently 

approved information collection, 

Guidelines for Designating Biobased 

Products for Federal Procurement. 

DATES: Comments received by January 6, 

2015 will be considered. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods. All 

submissions received must include the 

agency name. Also, please identify 

submittals as pertaining to the ‘‘Notice 

of Request for Extension of a Currently 

Approved Information Collection.’’ 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Email: biopreferred@usda.gov. 

Include ‘‘Notice of Request for 

Extension of a Currently Approved 

Information Collection’’ on the subject 

line. Please include your name and 

address in your message. 

• Mail/commercial/hand delivery: 

Mail or deliver your comments to: Ron 

Buckhalt, USDA, Office of Procurement 

and Property Management, Room 361, 

Reporters Building, 300 7th St. SW., 

Washington, DC 20024. 

• Persons with disabilities who 

require alternative means for 

communication for regulatory 

information (Braille, large print, 

audiotape, etc.) should contact the 

USDA TARGET Center at (202)720– 

2600 (voice) and (202)690–0942 (TTY). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron 

Buckhalt, USDA, Office of Procurement 

and Property Management, Room 361, 

Reporters Building, 300 7th St. SW., 

Washington, DC 20024; email: 

biopreferred@usda.gov; phone (202) 

205–4008. Information regarding the 

Federal biobased preferred procurement 

program (one part of the BioPreferred 

Program) is available on the Internet at 

http://www.biopreferred.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Guidelines for Designating 

Biobased Products for Federal 

Procurement. 

OMB Control Number: 0503–0011. 

Type of Request: Extension of a 

currently approved information 

collection. 

Abstract: The USDA BioPreferred 

Program provides that qualifying 

biobased products that fall under 

product categories (generic groups of 

biobased products) that have been 

designated for preferred procurement by 

rule making are required to be 

purchased by Federal agencies in lieu of 

their fossil energy-based counterparts, 

with certain limited exceptions. Further, 

USDA is required by section 9002 of the 

Farm Security and Rural Investment Act 

of 2002, as amended by the Food, 

Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 

and the Agricultural Act of 2014, to 

provide certain information on qualified 

biobased products to Federal agencies. 

To meet these statutory requirements, 

USDA will gather that information from 

manufacturers and vendors of biobased 

products. The information sought by 

USDA can be transmitted electronically 

using the Web site http://

www.biopreferred.gov. If for any reason 

the requested information cannot be 

electronically transmitted, USDA will 

provide technical assistance to support 

the transmission of information to 

USDA. The information collected will 

enable USDA to meet statutory 

information requirements that will then 

permit USDA to designate product 

categories for preferred procurement 

under the BioPreferred Program. Once 

product categories are designated, 

manufacturers and vendors of qualifying 

biobased products that fall under these 

designated product categories will 

benefit from preferred procurement by 

Federal agencies. 

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to average 40 hours per 

response. 

Respondents: Manufacturers and 

vendors of biobased products. 

Estimated Annual Number of 

Respondents: 220. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: One per manufacturer or 

vendor. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 8,800 hours, one time 

only. Manufacturers and vendors are 

asked to respond only once. Therefore, 

there is no ongoing annual paperwork 

burden on respondents. 

Comments are invited on: (1) whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (3) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (4) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on those who are to respond, including 

the use of appropriate automated, 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. All comments will 

become a matter of public record. 

Dated: October 29, 2014. 

Gregory L. Parham, 

Assistant Secretary For Administration, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture. 

[FR Doc. 2014–26458 Filed 11–6–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–93–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

[Docket No. FSIS–2014–0037] 

National Advisory Committee on 

Microbiological Criteria for Foods 

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice is announcing 

that the National Advisory Committee 

on Microbiological Criteria for Foods 

(NACMCF) will hold a meeting of the 

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