|
Federal
Register Watch by Mike Powers March
31 - April 4, 2003
The Federal
Register is the official daily publication for Rules, Proposed Rules,
and Notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as Executive
Orders and other Presidential Documents.
This column attempts to summarize the highlights (or lowlights)
of the Federal Register during the preceding week. Instructions
for subscribing to the Federal Register can be found at the end of the
column. MARCH
31, 2003: FOREST
SERVICE - The
purpose of the National Tree-Marking Paint Committee is to “discuss
activities, improvements, and concerns related to the handling and use
of tree-marking paint by personnel of the Forest Service and the
Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management.” According
to the Forest Service, a field trip will be held on May 6 and is
designed to supplement information related to tree-marking paint. This
trip is open to any member of the public participating in the public
meeting on May 7-8. However,
transportation is provided only for committee members. Should be fascinating. A can’t miss opportunity for all! http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-7684.htm APRIL
1, 2003: CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE – The
Corporation announces the availability of up to $600,000 in grant money
over the next three years to a single organization selected to provide
administrative and technical support in the development and
implementation of the President’s Volunteer Service Awards Program. Apparently,
the one thing that is not voluntary about this program is the
taxpayer money that is confiscated to implement it.
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-7626.htm APRIL
3, 2003: COMMODITY
CREDIT CORPORATION –
$100 MILLION
IN GRANTS FOR THE FARMLAND PROTECTION PROGRAM The
Farm Security and Rural Investment Program of 2002 amended the Food
Security Act of 1985 to include the Farmland Protection Program.
The program, designed to allow the federal government to acquire conservation easements on farms and ranches to protect the land
from “urban sprawl,” provides up to $100
million in financial assistance for fiscal year 2003. Eligible
land includes “farm and ranch land that has prime, unique, or other
productive soil, or that contains historical or archaeological
resources.” According
to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a division of the United
States Department of Agriculture, “there continues to be an important national interest in the protection
of farmland. Land use
devoted to agriculture provides an important contribution to
environmental quality, protection of the Nation's historical and
archaeological resources, and scenic
beauty.” Apparently,
one of the most important interests in protecting farmland via taxpayer
funds is to preserve the jobs of the government bureaucrats who implement these
types of programs. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-8029.htm
FARM
SERVICE AGENCY – The
rule amends regulations that govern how marketing quotas, allotments,
and acreage are maintained, monitored, divided, and reallocated. These
regulations determine an agricultural producer's ability to market
certain crops and their eligibility to receive marketing loans, support
prices, and other Commodity Credit Corporation and Farm Service Agency
program benefits. This
rule is the result of the horrific Farm Security and Rural Investment
Act of 2002, the legislation that was overwhelmingly supported by
Democrats and Republicans alike. Soviet-style
central planning of the nation’s agricultural production, courtesy
of the federal government. One
would assume that the failed communist policies of the past and present
in countries throughout the world would reveal the inefficiency of
central planning, but the federal bureaucrats have yet to figure that
out. http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a030403c.html
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION – This
ruling is intended to protect the privacy of consumers by governing
unwanted telephone solicitations through the establishment of a national
Do-Not-Call list. I
wonder if I can add the Internal Revenue Service to my Do-Not-Call list?
I no longer require their “service.” http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-8077.htm APRIL
4, 2003: PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS – Yet
the President could immediately end the suffering of those waiting
for transplants if he really wanted to.
How? By legalizing the
sale of human organs. Creating
a market unfettered by government intervention always
results in surpluses of goods and services, no matter what the good
or service is. Yet, the sale
of organs is widely opposed on a moralistic basis, and those who are
offended by the idea of someone else selling their organs will often
seek government force to prevent them from doing so.
Sadly, this will result in a continuous shortage of organs and
tissues for donation, prolonging the unnecessary suffering of many
citizens. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-8429.htm To
subscribe to the Federal Register Table of Contents LISTSERV electronic
mailing list, go to http://listserv.access.gpo.gov
and select Online mailing list archives, FEDREGTOC-L, Join or leave the
list (or change settings); then follow the instructions. Link to the current edition of Federal Register Watch at www.strike-the-root.com/3/frw/frw.html
|
