WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 2008—U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources
Conservation Service Chief Arlen Lancaster today announced the release of the
interim final rule for State Technical Committees, which amended requirements
regarding the composition and responsibilities of these advisory committees
nationwide.
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) expands
agricultural and forestry involvement in the committees, expands the committees’
authority to review local working groups’ efforts to address state program
priorities, and requires the Secretary of Agriculture to standardize committee
operations nationwide.
The State Technical Committee interim final rule is available for public comment
and can be found at
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (USDA-NRCS) Web site, at the
official government
regulation Web site, and at the
Federal Register’s Web site.
Public comments must be submitted by Jan. 26, 2009. These comments will be used
to revise the interim final rule, which establishes policy for State Technical
Committees. USDA will publish a final rule that will address the public
comments.
Each state has an advisory State Technical Committee that is chaired by the
USDA-NRCS state conservationist. State Technical Committee members include
agricultural producers and other Federal, state, Tribal and non-profit
organization professionals that represent various disciplines in the soil,
water, wetland, plant, forestry and wildlife sciences. The committees meet
regularly and advise the state conservationist and other USDA officials on
technical considerations related to implementation of Farm Bill conservation
programs, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation
Stewardship Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives
Program, Conservation Reserve Program, Grasslands Reserve Program, and Farm and
Ranch Lands Protection Program.
The committees also advise the NRCS state conservationists on other technical
matters, technical guides, criteria for evaluating projects, cost-share and
incentives payment levels, and measures related to achieving a program balance
regardless of agricultural sector or farm or ranch size. They can also advise
the state conservationists on strategies to reach underserved customers.
The committees also accept recommendations from their subcommittees, including
local working groups, as they establish natural resource priorities for the
state.
Mailed comments on the interim final rule can be submitted to: Director,
Conservation Technical Assistance Programs Division, USDA-Natural Resources
Conservation Service, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., Room 6015-S, Washington, D.C.
20250-2890.
Comments can be faxed to (202) 720-2998 and e-mailed to
STC2008@wdc.usda.gov. People with
disabilities who are interested in submitting comments can contact the USDA
Target Center at (202) 720-2600. Comments also can be submitted through the
Regulations.gov Web site’s
public comment feature.
For additional information about State Technical Committees, please visit
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/StateTech/.
#
|