[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 10, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57374-57375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-22857]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation Service


Notice of Proposed Changes to Section IV, Standards and 
Specifications, of the State Technical Guides of the Natural Resources 
Conservation Service in the State of California

AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Department of 
Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed changes in Section IV of the 
California State Technical Guides. NRCS is seeking review and comments 
to proposed changes.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 343 of Subtitle E of the Federal 
Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (FAIRA) that requires 
the Secretary of Agriculture to provide public notice and comment under 
Section 553 of Title 5, United States Code, with regard to any future 
revisions to the provisions of the Natural Resources Conservation 
Service (NRCS) State Technical Guides that are used to carry out 
Subtitles A, B, and C of Title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 
U.S.C.3801 et seq.), the Natural Resources Conservation Service, United 
States Department of Agriculture, gives notice of proposed revisions to 
selected conservation practice standards in Section IV of the State 
Technical Guides in California.
    These proposed revisions are subject to these provisions since one 
or more practices are used, or could be used, as a part of a 
conservation management system to comply with the Highly Erodible Land 
Conservation or Wetland Conservation requirements of the Food Security 
Act of 1985. These practice standards are also used to plan, design and 
implement conservation practices cost shared under USDA programs.
    Revisions are being proposed for the following practice standards: 
Closure of Waste Impoundment (360); Conservation Crop Rotation (328); 
Conservation Cover (327); Contour Farming (330); Contour Stripcropping 
(585); Cover Crop (340); Grassed Waterway (412); Irrigation System, 
microirrigation (441); Alley Cropping (311); Constructed Wetland (656); 
Firebreak (394); Forest Site Preparation (490); Forest Stand 
Improvement (666); Forest Trails and Landings (655); Heavy Use Area 
Protection (561); Irrigation System, Tailwater Recovery (447); Pipeline 
(516); Prescribed Burning (338); Riparian Forest Buffer (391); Spring 
Development (574); Tree/Shrub Establishment (612); Tree/Shrub Pruning 
(660); Use Exclusion (472); Watering Facility (614); Windbreak/
Shelterbelt Establishment (380); Windbreak/Shelterbelt Renovation 
(650); PAM Erosion Control (450); Composting Facility (317); Deep 
Tillage (324); Fish Passage (396); Land Reconstruction, Abandoned Mined 
Land (543); Land Reconstruction, Currently Mined Land (544); Stream 
Habitat Improvement and Management (395); Underground Outlet (620); 
Vegetative Barrier (601); Access Road (560); Diversion (362); Drainage 
Water Management (554); Fish Pond Management (399); Herbaceous Wind 
Barriers (603); Irrigation Land Leveling (464); Pond Sealing or Lining-
Bentonite Sealant (521C); Pond Sealing or Lining-Soil Dispersant 
(521B); Roof Runoff Structure (558); Surface Roughening (609); Waste 
Utilization (633); Dam, Diversion (348); Hedgerow Planting (422); 
Obstruction Removal (500); Prescribed Grazing (528A); Wastewater 
Treatment Strip (635); Water and Sediment Control Basin (638); Nutrient 
Management (590); Mulching (484); Recreation Area Improvement (562); 
Restoration and Management of Declining Habitats (643); Brush 
Management (314); and Runoff Management System (570).

DATES: Comments will be received for a period of 30 days following the 
publication date of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diane B. Holcomb, State Resource 
Conservationist, USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 430 G 
Street, Davis, California 95616-4164. Telephone: (530) 792-5667, FAX: 
(530) 792-5793, or e-mail [email protected].
    Copies of these proposed standards can be obtained on the Web at 
http://www.ca.nrcs.usda.gov/rts/rts.html, or will be made available 
upon written request. You may submit written comments to the address 
above. You may submit your electronic requests and comments to: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In California, ``State Technical Guides'' 
refers to the State Office Technical Guide maintained by the NRCS State 
Resource Conservationist in Davis, California, to the Area Technical 
Guides maintained at each NRCS Area Office in Red Bluff, Salinas, 
Fresno and Riverside, California, and to the Field Office Technical 
Guides maintained at each NRCS Field Office in California.
    Practice standards establish the minimum level of acceptable 
quality for planning, designing, installing,

[[Page 57375]]

operating, and maintaining conservation practices. National standards 
from the National Handbook of Conservation Practices form the basis for 
developing State supplements to the standards. All practice standards 
are reviewed by the State Technical Guide Committee at least once every 
five years from their date of issuance to determine if the standard is 
needed and reflects the latest acceptable technology.

Diane B. Holcomb,
State Resource Conservationist.
[FR Doc. 02-22857 Filed 9-9-02; 8:45 am]
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