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agriculture-department

(19 articles)

Open for Comment: Direct Multifamily Housing Subsequent Loans for Acquisition

Agriculture Department — The Rural Housing Service (RHS or the Agency), a Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), proposes to amend the current regulation for the Direct Multifamily Housing (MFH) Loan and Grant Programs. The intent of this proposed rule is to include acquisition as an applicable form of assistance for direct MFH subsequent loans. This regulatory change would allow owners of MFH initially financed by the Agency to apply for Agency funds to help finance acquisition in preservation transactions, thereby reducing administrative and regulatory burden for both industry partners and the Agency. (60 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Organization, Functions, and Procedures; Public Notice and Comment for Standards, Criteria, and Guidance Applicable to Forest Service Programs

Agriculture Department — The United States Department of Agriculture (Department) is proposing to amend regulations governing the Directive System for the United States Forest Service (Forest Service or Agency); the scope of notice and comment requirements for the formulation of standards, criteria, and guidelines applicable to Forest Service programs; and associated agency procedures. These amendments enhance Agency employees' discretion to allow innovation in program implementation to account for the unique ecological conditions of affected landscapes and changing social and economic needs. (30 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978

Agriculture Department — The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing to update its regulations regarding the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (the AFIDA). The revisions would reflect Congressional directives to establish a streamlined process for electronic submission and retention of disclosures made under AFIDA, including the deployment of an internet database. It would also revise reporting requirements and strengthen enforcement measures. Through the implementation of modernization measures and expanded scope and depth of reporting, this proposed rule will help ensure the AFIDA regulations address foreign investment and ownership of American agricultural land, particularly as it might present a national security risk. (46 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Changes in Federal-State Administrative Cost Sharing

Agriculture Department — In response to Section 10106 of Public Law 119-21, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, this proposed rule would amend the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) regulations to codify the reduction of the amount of the Federal government's share of annual SNAP State administrative costs from 50 percent to 25 percent, effective beginning in fiscal year 2027. (61 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Cotton Board Rules and Regulations: Adjusting Supplemental Assessment on Imports (2025 Amendments)

Agriculture Department — The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is proposing to amend the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations to decrease the value assigned to imported cotton for the purposes of calculating supplemental assessments collected for use by the Cotton Research and Promotion Program. This amendment is required each year to ensure that assessments collected on imported cotton, and the cotton content of imported products, will be the same as those paid on domestically produced cotton. In addition, AMS is updating the Import Assessment Table to account for changes since the last assessment adjustment in 2024. (30 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Domestic Dates Produced or Packed in Riverside County, California; Increased Assessment Rate

Agriculture Department — This proposed rule would implement a recommendation from the California Date Administrative Committee (Committee) to increase the assessment rate established for the 2025-2026 crop year and subsequent crop years from $0.05 to $0.25 per hundredweight for domestic dates produced or packed in Riverside County, California. The proposed assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely until modified, suspended, or terminated. (32 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Request for Information on Modified Organisms Subject to the Plant Protection Act

Agriculture Department — On May 15, 2026, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published in the Federal Register (91 FR 27868) a Request for Information (RFI) on "Modified Organisms Subject to the Plant Protection Act," to solicit the public's input on regulatory considerations related to the review of modified organisms subject to the Plant Protection Act. The RFI provided for a 30-day comment period, which would have ended on June 15, 2026. USDA has determined that a 15- day extension on the comment period, until June 30, 2026, is appropriate. This extension will allow interested persons additional time to consider and prepare their comments. (21 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Request for Information on Modified Organisms Subject to the Plant Protection Act

Agriculture Department — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proffers this Request for Information (RFI) to solicit the public's input on regulatory considerations related to the review of modified organisms subject to the Plant Protection Act. The information provided will help identify factors for potential risk-based deregulation and could inform future rulemaking; input might also offer non-regulatory solutions. (29 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Administrative Site Leases

Agriculture Department — The United States Department of Agriculture (Department), Forest Service (Forest Service or Agency), is proposing to amend its land use regulations to exempt administrative site leases from the regulations for special uses. The purpose of this deregulatory action is to better align Forest Service leasing activities with private real estate market practices. (30 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Oranges and Grapefruit Grown in Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas; Increased Assessment Rate

Agriculture Department — This proposed rule would implement a recommendation from the Texas Valley Citrus Committee (Committee) to increase the assessment rate established for the 2025-2026 fiscal period and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.04 to $0.07 per 7/10-bushel carton or equivalent of oranges and grapefruit grown in Texas. The proposed assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated. (29 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program-Limited Party Concessions

Agriculture Department — The Rural Housing Service (RHS or Agency), an agency of the Rural Development (RD) mission area within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), proposes to amend the current Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) regulation to specify that real estate commission fees are excluded from interested party limitations. (62 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Dairy Tariff-Rate Quota Import Licensing Program

Agriculture Department — On March 9, 2026, FAS published in the Federal Register a notice of a proposed rule (91 FR 11174) entitled "Dairy Tariff-Rate Quota Import Licensing Program," proposing to amend the regulation that provides for the issuance of annual licenses to import certain dairy articles under tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) as set forth in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. The proposed rule provided for a 30-day comment period, which would have ended on April 8, 2026. FAS has determined that a 15-day extension on the comment period, until April 23, 2026, is appropriate. This extension will allow interested persons additional time to analyze the proposal and prepare their comments. (14 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program-Income Producing Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Provisions

Agriculture Department — The Rural Housing Service (RHS or the Agency), an agency of the Rural Development mission area within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is issuing a proposed rule to amend the current Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) regulation. These proposed changes are intended to allow the Agency to finance a single family home with a single or multiple income producing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU). Additionally, we propose to clarify that borrowers can finance properties with features designed to accommodate home-based operations with non-commercial real estate features. The plain language summary of the proposal is available on Regulations.gov in the docket for rulemaking. (61 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Softwood Lumber Board Assessment Rate Clarification and Changes to Membership

Agriculture Department — This proposed rule invites comments on changes to the Softwood Lumber Research, Promotion, Consumer Education and Industry Information Order (Order). These changes include clarifying the assessment rate for softwood lumber imported into the United States and revising the membership of the Softwood Lumber Board (Board or SLB). (30 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Standards for the Care of Breeding Female Dogs and Exercise and Socialization of Dogs

Agriculture Department — We are reopening the comment period for a request for information soliciting comments regarding appropriate standards for the care of breeding female dogs at dog breeding facilities and exercise and socialization of dogs subject to the Animal Welfare Act. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments. (26 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Revising Establishment Size Definitions

Agriculture Department — FSIS is considering revising how it defines establishment sizes for purposes of its oversight of meat and poultry establishments and egg products plants. Since 1996, FSIS has used Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) size categories, which are based on employee count and annual sales, to analyze the impact of regulations and tailor assistance to small entities. More recently, FSIS has also applied volume-based thresholds to categorize establishments to analyze the impact of regulations and for establishing Agency sampling frequencies or setting sampling requirements for the regulated industry. This advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) requests stakeholder input on whether FSIS should update its establishment size definitions and, if so, how. (63 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: National Organic Program: National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances per October 2021, October 2022, and October 2024 Recommendations (Crops and Livestock)

Agriculture Department — This proposed rule would amend the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) organic regulations related to organic crop and livestock production. The proposed rule would provide additional tools to organic producers, allowing carbon dioxide in organic crop production and meloxicam as a pain treatment in organic livestock production. Additionally, this rulemaking would remove overly burdensome restrictions for methionine, an amino acid, in organic poultry feed and would affirm that sodium nitrate may be used as a fertilizer in organic crop production, with certain conditions to protect soil quality. (59 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Almonds Grown in California; Amendment to the Marketing Order

Agriculture Department — This proposed rule invites comments on a proposed amendment to Marketing Order No. 981, which regulates the handling of almonds grown in California. The proposed amendment would establish the authority to borrow funds from a commercial lending institution. (58 days remaining)

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Open for Comment: Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems; Delay of Effective Date

Agriculture Department — The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS or the Agency) is proposing to delay the effective date of the Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems final rule published in the Federal Register on January 16, 2025, to allow time for further consideration of possible actions that may be taken regarding the disposition of the rule. The current effective date is July 1, 2026. AMS is proposing to delay the effective date to December 31, 2027. (28 days remaining)

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