USDA Delivers Funding for Hurricane Sandy Recovery Projects in 11 States
U. S. Department of Agriculture / www.usda.gov
WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2012—As part of federal efforts to provide necessary support to those affected by Hurricane Sandy, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has provided $5.3 million in Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program funds to 11 states affected by the storm. EWP—an emergency recovery program—responds to emergencies created by natural disasters by helping people relieve imminent hazards to life and property.
"USDA is deploying resources to help those impacted by this challenging event," said Vilsack. "This funding will help communities undertake emergency measures to address public safety concerns and begin restoration efforts. This assistance also keeps farmers, ranchers, and landowners on their land, helping to keep American agriculture strong and profitable."
Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia each received $480,000 for recovery projects to address public safety and restoration efforts on private, public and tribal lands. With these new EWP funds on hand, NRCS state offices will be able to move swiftly as sponsors come forward for projects to reduce threats to life or property. All projects undertaken, with the exception of the purchase of floodplain easements, must have a project sponsor. When funding is allocated to a project, NRCS contracts the heavy construction work to local contractors, spurring creation of jobs. Typical projects funded under EWP include removing debris from waterways, protecting eroded stream banks, reseeding damaged areas, and in some cases, purchasing floodplain easements on eligible land. NRCS funds up to 75 percent of project costs, with local sponsors paying the remaining 25 percent in either cash or in-kind services. Funding is subject to Congressional approval.
NRCS also has posted online Plants for Atlantic Coastal Restoration, a large collection of guides, fact sheets and other sources of information on re-vegetating shorelines and stabilizing sand dunes after storms.
Additional information about assistance programs, safety tips and updates about USDA's hurricane relief efforts are posted at www.usda.gov/disaster. Information about the U.S. Government's hurricane response efforts is available at www.ready.gov.
NRCS helps America's farmers and ranchers conserve the nation's soil, water, air and other natural resources. All programs are voluntary and offer science-based solutions that benefit both the landowner and the environment.
For more information on NRCS and its programs and initiatives, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov, follow NRCS on Twitter, read conservation-related stories on the USDA Blog, or watch videos on NRCS' YouTube channel.
Harmonized System Update 1209 - Changes to the 2012 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the US
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / www.cbp.gov
Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1209 was created on November 5, 2012 and contains 23,570 ABI records and 120,404 harmonized tariff records.
Adjustments were made to implement Presidential Proclamation 8894 — To Implement the United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement and for Other Purposes. These changes were published in the Federal Register, Volume 77, Number 214 on Monday, November 05, 2012. These modifications were effective on 10/31/12.
Changes required by the verification of the 2012 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) are also included.
The updated records are currently available to all ABI participants and can be retrieved electronically via the procedures indicated in the CATAIR. For further information about this process, please contact your client representative. For all other questions regarding this message, please contact Jennifer Keeling via email at Jennifer.Keeling@dhs.gov.
Low Risk Fee Exemption Program
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service / www.fws.gov
Background: On October 26, 2012, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published an interim rule that p rovides an exemption from the designated port base inspection fee for businesses meeting certain criteria. This rulemaking recognizes that our current inspection fee schedule (adopted in 2009) may have placed an undue economic burden on businesses that exclusively trade in small volumes of low-value non-Federally protected wildlife parts and products. We have created a user fee exemption program as an interim measure while we work on a new economic analysis and determine any changes needed to the current user fee structure.
Action: Effective October 26, 2012, businesses may request to participate in the low risk user fee exemption program. To qualify for the program, a business and all of its wildlife import and export shipments must meet all of the following criteria:
- The wildlife does not require a permit or certificate under 50 CFR Parts 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, or 23 or is listed as injurious under 50 CFR Part 16;
- The wildlife is not live;
- Each shipment contains 25 or fewer wildlife parts or products;
- Each shipment contains wildlife parts or products valued at $5,000 or less;
- The business has not been assessed a civil penalty, issued a notice of violation, or convicted of any misdemeanor or felony violation for any wildlife import/export violation; and
- The business has had no more than 2 shipments that were refused clearance in the 5 years prior to the submission of the request to participate.
Businesses must make the request to participate through eDecs. We will review your request to ensure you meet the criteria and notify you of our determination by an eDecs generated e-mail. The eDecs Filer Account must indicate the owner or principal officer name as sho wn on the business’s Import/Export License, the Import/Export License number of the business and certify the following:
I certify that I will exclusively import and export non-living wildlife parts and products that do not require a permit or certificate under 50 CFR Parts 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, or 23 or are listed as injurious under 50 CFR Part 16.
I certify that each of my wildlife shipments will be valued at $5,000 or less and contain 25 or fewer wildlife parts or products.
Approved companies must file all declarations and accompanying documents electronically using eDecs and the eScan program (eScan includes the electronic interface with Fed-Ex and UPS). Any approved business that fails to meet the criteria after approval must pay designated port base inspection fees and will lose eligibility for the program. All other import/export requirements must be met, including licensin g and port exception permit requirements and fees.
U.S. Department of Transportation to Lead Interstate Petroleum Transport Team to Speed Hurricane Response Efforts
U.S. Department of Transportation / www.dot.gov
WASHINGTON – The Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today announced it is leading an Interstate Petroleum Transport Team to ensure the fastest and most efficient movement of fuel to the region devastated by Hurricane S andy. The team will serve as a single point of contact for states, the trucking industry, and other agencies to assist in the removal of barriers to the quick delivery of fuel. Since many of the necessary legal authorities reside at the state level, such as restrictions on truck size and weight and the authority to travel across state lines, the team will help coordinate state level activities within the region. The team has already launched a hotline number to help address any individual registration, certification, tax, or other barriers to the flow of fuel transportation to affected states.
“This team will help get fuel delivered to states and communities recovering from Hurricane Sandy even faster and more efficiently than before, by streamlining multiple state regulations for trucks,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “The president has asked us to ensure fuel moves as quickly as possible, and we are answering that call, starting with a hotline number that will give trucks, states and others a one-stop solution to ensure the swift delivery of relief goods.”
Trucks bringing fuel to the impacted region must follow different state regulations. The team will coordinate information on a variety of waivers to ensure each state is on the same page on key regulatory issues that should be addressed to assist the flow of petroleum products to affected states, including:
• Driver Hours-of-Service
• Oversize and Overweight
• Low Sulfur Diesel Waivers
• Toll Waivers
• Vehicle Registration Waiver (International Registration Plan -- IRP)
• Fuel Tax Waiver (International Fuel Tax Authority -- IFTA)
For further information, DOT has set up a hotline at 1-800-832-5660.
FMCSA has already issued an Eastern Regional Emergency Declaration to temporarily lift hours-of-service requirements and other regulations to assist interstate motor carrier drivers and operators providing direct emergency relief, including transporting generators and fuel. Working with FEMA and the Defense Logistics Agency, FMCSA has also helped connect fuel distributors with companies that have fuel pump trucks.
For additional information, please visit www.fmcsa.dot.gov.
Baltimore CBP Intercepts First in Nation Bruchid Beetle
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / www.cbp.gov
Baltimore – A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) entomologist confirmed today that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists at the Port of Baltimore seaport made a first in nation pest discovery when they intercepted an insect, Brachytarsus sp., or bruchid beetle, while inspecting a shipment of corn from Argentina on Oct. 26.
Bruchid beetles could pose a significant agriculture threat because their larvae can tunnel into the developing seeds of bean and corn crops. The larvae pupate in the seed and when fully mature the adults hatch and bite through the wall of the seed leaving characteristic circular exit holes.
“CBP agriculture specialists take their job of detecting foreign invasive plants and plant pests very seriously,” said Ricardo Scheller, CBP port director for the Port of Baltimore. “This is another example of our agriculture specialist performing a thorough inspection and finding a new potential threat to the U.S. agriculture industry.”
The beetles were discovered in an eight container 315,898 pound shipment of corn from Argentina. CBP forwarded specimens of the beetle to a USDA- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) - Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) entomologist for identification. CBP agriculture specialists have subsequently found bruchid beetles in two other containers. All eight containers will be inspected for pest infestation.
CBP issued an Emergency Action Notification to the importer requiring the shipment to be re-exported or destroyed. The importer has yet to make a decision.
CBP agriculture specialists work closely with USDA’s, APHIS, PPQ to protect our nation’s agriculture resources against the introduction of foreign plant pests and animal diseases.
For more on the USDA, APHIS, PPQ program, please visit the USDA Web site. (www.usda.gov)
CBP agriculture specialists have extensive training and experience in the biological sciences and agricultural inspection. On a typical day, they inspect tens of thousands of international air passengers, and air and sea cargoes nationally being imported to the United States and seize 4,291 prohibited meat, plant materials or animal products, including 470 insect pests.
Photos of CBP Operations in New York/New Jersey
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / www.cbp.gov
Photos
Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells and Modules from China Injure U.S. Industry, says USITC
U.S. International Trade Commission / www.itc.gov
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) today determined that a U.S. industry is materially injured by reason of imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules from China that the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) has determined are subsidized and sold in the United States at less than fair value.
All six Commissioners voted in the affirmative.
As a result of the USITC's affirmative determinations, Commerce will issue antidumping and countervailing duty orders on imports of these products from China.
The Commerce Department previously made affirmative critical circumstances determinations in its investigations. Therefore, the Commissioners who made affirmative determinations today are required to determine whether imports covered by the Commerce critical circumstances determinations are likely to undermine seriously the remedial effect of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders Commerce will issue.
With respect to critical circumstances, Commissioners Daniel R. Pearson, Shara L. Aranoff, David S. Johanson, and Meredith M. Broadbent voted in the negative. Chairman Irving A. Williamson and Commissioner Dean A. Pinkert voted in the affirmative with respect to critical circumstances.
As a result of the Commission's negative determinations regarding critical circumstances, the antidumping and countervailing duty orders concerning these imports will not apply retroactively to goods that entered the United States prior to the date of publication in the Federal Register of the Department of Commerce's affirmative preliminary determinations.
The Commission's public report Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells and Modules from China (Investigation Nos. 701-TA-481 and 731-TA-1190 (Final), USITC Publication 4360, November 2012) will contain the views of the Commissioners and information developed during the investigations.
FACTUAL HIGHLIGHTS