[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 82 (Tuesday, April 29, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 22675]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-10546]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation Service


Notice of Proposed Changes in the National Handbook of 
Conservation Practices.

AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the intention of the Natural 
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to issue a series of new or 
revised conservation practice standards in its National Handbook of 
Conservation Practices. These standards include: Anaerobic Digester, 
Ambient Temperature; Anaerobic Digester, Controlled Temperature; 
Composting Facility; Constructed Wetland; Fish Raceway or Tank; 
Hedgerow Planting; Irrigation Water Management; Land Clearing; Land 
Reconstruction, Abandoned Mined Land; Land Reconstruction, Currently 
Mined Land; Monitoring Well; Mulching; Pasture and Hayland Planting; 
Residue Management, Mulch Till; Residue Management, No Till/Strip Till; 
Residue Management, Ridge Till; Residue Management, Seasonal; Riparian 
Forest Buffer; Sediment Basin; Spoil Spreading; Stream Habitat 
Improvement and Management; Tree/Shrub Establishment; Tree/Shrub 
Pruning; Upland Wildlife Habitat Management; Waste Facility Cover; 
Waste Storage Facility; Waste Treatment Lagoon; Waste Utilization; 
Wetland Creation; Wetland Enhancement; Wetland Restoration; Wetland 
Wildlife Habitat Management; Windbreak/Shelterbelt Establishment; and 
Windbreak/Shelterbelt Renovation. These standards are used to convey 
national guidance in developing Field Office Technical Guide Standards 
used in the States and the Pacific Basin and Caribbean areas. NRCS 
State Conservationists and Directors for the Pacific Basin and 
Caribbean areas who choose to adopt these practices for use within 
their States/areas will incorporate them into Section IV of their Field 
Office Technical Guide. These practices may be used in resource 
management systems that treat highly erodible land, or on land 
determined to be wetland.

EFFECTIVE DATES: Comments will be received on or before May 29, 2003. 
This series of new or revised conservation practice standards will be 
adopted after the close of the 30-day period.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Single copies of these standards are 
available from NRCS-CED in Washington, DC. Please submit individual 
inquiries and return any comments, in writing, to William Hughey, 
National Agricultural Engineer, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 
Post Office Box 2890, Room 6139-S, Washington, DC 20013-2890. The 
telephone number is (202) 720-5023. The standards are also available, 
and can be downloaded from the Internet, at: http://www.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/practice_stds.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 343 of the Federal Agriculture 
Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 requires NRCS to make available, for 
public review and comment, proposed revisions to conservation practice 
standards used to carry out the highly erodible land and wetland 
provisions of the law. For the next 30 days, NRCS will receive comments 
on the proposed changes. Following that period, a determination will be 
made by NRCS regarding disposition of those comments, and a final 
determination of change will be made.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on April 3, 2003.
Bruce I. Knight,
Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
[FR Doc. 03-10546 Filed 4-28-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-16-P