[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 16, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76331-76332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-29654]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation


Notice of Finding of No Significant Impact on the Final 
Programmatic Environmental Assessment for 2008 Farm Bill Provisions 
Regarding the Conservation Reserve Program

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; Finding of No Significant Impact.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Commodity Credit Corporation 
(CCC) has completed a Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) 
and is issuing a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) with respect 
to the implementation of changes to the Conservation Reserve Program 
(CRP) and changes to the Farmable Wetlands Program (FWP) authorized by 
the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill). FWP 
operates as part of CRP.

DATES: We will consider comments that we receive by January 15, 2009.

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments on this Final PEA. In your 
comments, include the volume, date, and page number of this issue of 
the Federal Register. You may submit comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     E-Mail: marine.com">2008crpfarmbill@geo-marine.com.
     Fax: (202) 720-4619.
     Mail: 2008 Farm Bill PEA Comments, c/o Geo-marine 
Incorporated, 2713 Magruder Boulevard, Suite D, Hampton, Virginia 
23666.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver comments to the above 
address.
    Comments may be inspected in the Office of the Director, CEPD, FSA, 
USDA, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., Room 4709 South Building, 
Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except holidays. A copy of the FONSI and Final PEA is available through 
the FSA home page at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?

[[Page 76332]]

area=home&subject=ecrc&topic=nep-cd.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Ponish, National Environmental 
Compliance Manager, USDA, FSA, CEPD, Stop 0513, 1400 Independence Ave., 
SW., Washington, DC 20250-0513, (202) 720-6853, or e-mail: 
[email protected]. Persons with disabilities who require 
alternative means for communication (Braille, large print, audio tape, 
etc.) should contact the USDA Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice 
and TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Final PEA assesses the potential 
environmental impacts associated with implementing the mandatory 
changes to CRP (Proposed Action) required by sections 1604, 2106, and 
2109 of the 2008 Farm Bill (Pub. L. 110-246) related to income 
limitations, FWP (a component of CRP), and cost-sharing provisions, 
respectively. FWP changes include the enrollment eligibility expansion 
to three new categories of land under FWP:
    (1) Land on which a constructed wetland designed to provide 
nitrogen removal and other wetland functions is to be developed to 
receive flow from a row crop agricultural drainage system;
    (2) Land that was devoted to commercial pond-raised aquaculture in 
any year during 2002 through 2007; and
    (3) Land that, after January 1, 1990, and before December 31, 2002, 
was cropped during at least three of 10 years and was subject to the 
natural overflow of a prairie wetland.
    In addition, the 2008 Farm Bill authorizes enrollment into CRP 
buffer land adjacent to a wetland that would enhance wildlife benefits, 
to the extent practicable in terms of upland to wetland ratios, as 
determined by the Secretary. The 2008 Farm Bill also changed provisions 
for income limitations and cost-sharing that apply to CRP as a whole. 
The new adjusted gross income limitation of $1 million applies to CRP; 
however, consistent with section 1001D of the 1985 Farm Bill, as 
amended by section 1604 of the 2008 Farm Bill, CCC may waive the 
average adjusted income limitation on a case-by-case basis to protect 
environmentally sensitive land of special significance.
    The new cost sharing provisions relate to thinning of trees, 
windbreaks, shelterbelts, and wildlife corridors to improve resources 
on the land.
    The final PEA analyzes the potential environmental impacts to CRP 
associated with implementing select provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill. 
FSA analyzed the No Action Alternative (continuation of CRP as 
currently implemented) as an environmental baseline.
    The final PEA also provides a means for the public to voice any 
suggestions they may have about the program and any ideas for 
rulemaking. The final PEA can be reviewed online at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=ecrc&topic=nep-cd.
    The PEA was completed as required by NEPA, the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing the Procedural 
Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and FSA's policy and 
procedures (7 CFR part 799). Additional analysis under the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347) of potential 
impacts associated with certain implementation alternatives not 
included in the PEA may be conducted, as appropriate.

Determination

    In consideration of the analysis documented in the Final PEA and 
the reasons outlined in the FONSI, the preferred alternative (Proposed 
Action) would not constitute a major State or Federal action that would 
significantly affect the human environment. In accordance with the 
NEPA, 40 CFR part 1502.4, ``Major Federal Actions Requiring the 
Preparation of Environmental Impact Statements,'' and 7 CFR Part 799, 
``Environmental Quality and Related Environmental Concerns--Compliance 
with the National Environmental Policy Act,'' and implementing the 
regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR parts 1500-
1508), I find that neither the proposed action nor any of the 
alternatives analyzed constitute a major Federal action significantly 
affecting the quality of the human environment. Therefore, no 
environmental impact statement will be prepared.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on December 10, 2008.
Teresa C. Lasseter,
Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit Corporation.
 [FR Doc. E8-29654 Filed 12-15-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P