05-7580. Notice of Proposed Changes to the Natural Resources Conservation Service's National Handbook of Conservation Practices

AGENCY:

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), USDA.

ACTION:

Notice of availability of proposed changes in the NRCS National Handbook of Conservation Practices for public review and comment.

SUMMARY:

Notice is hereby given of the intention of NRCS to issue 11 new or revised conservation practice standards in its National Handbook of Conservation Practices. These standards include: Alley Cropping (Code 311), Prescribed Burning (Code 338), Multistory Cropping (Code 379), Windbreak-Shelterbelt Establishment (Code 380), Riparian Forest Buffer (Code 391), Tree-Shrub Site Preparation (Code 490), Tree-Shrub Establishment (Code 612), Windbreak-Shelterbelt Renovation (Code 650), Forest Trails and Landings (Code 655), Tree-Shrub Pruning (Code 660), and Forest Stand Improvement (Code 666). NRCS State Conservationists who choose to adopt these practices for use within their States will incorporate them into Section IV of their respective electronic Field Office Technical Guides. These practices may be used in conservation systems that treat highly erodible land or on land determined to be wetland.

DATES:

Effective Dates: Comments will be received for a 30-day period commencing with this date of publication. This series of new or revised conservation practice standards will be adopted after the close of the 30-day period. Send comments electronically to [e-mail], or in writing to Daniel Meyer, National Agricultural Engineer, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Post Office Box 2890, Room 6139-S, Washington, DC 20013-2890.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Copies of these standards can be downloaded or printed from the following Web site: ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/NHQ/practice-standards/federal-register/. Single copies of these standards also are available from NRCS in Washington, DC. Submit individual inquiries to [e-mail], or in writing to Daniel Meyer, National Agricultural Engineer, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Post Office Box 2890, Room 6139-S, Washington, DC 20013-2890.

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 relative to the proposed changes. Following that period, a determination will be made by NRCS regarding disposition of those comments, and a final determination of changes will be made.

Signed in Washington, DC, on April 7, 2005.

Bruce I. Knight,

Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service.