Summary

• The House Agriculture Committee plans on holding a Tuesday night debate on the committee’s reconciliation bill text for the fiscal year with implications on many food and nutrition programs impacting Indian Country. The bill text is expected to be released 24 hours prior to the hearing.  

• Also this week, the Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on conservation programs, while the House Committee on Natural Resources will hold a hearing on improving land management. 

• The Bureau of Indian Affairs is holding a series of Tribal consultations from May 20 – June 6 with Tribes, to receive input from these leaders on departmental operational improvements in Executive Order 14210. Check back for the comment template letter and an IFAI background briefing document later this week on our website. 

• The U.S. Small Business Administration is holding a Tribal consultation about 8(a) Programs on June 13.  

• Last week there were several ag-focused hearings, with USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins testifying.  

• Check out Federal Register notices including a Food and Nutrition Service final rule rescinding an obsolete CACFP data collection requirement effective July 11 and the FDA’s notice to extend the comment period on a proposed rule about food labeling.  

Calendar

Tribal Consultation/Listening Sessions/Advisory Committee Meetings

Title of Event: Indian Affairs Workforce Efficiency and Productivity – EO14210 

About: The U.S. Department of Interior Indian Affairs will conduct a series of Tribal consultations 

with federally recognized Tribes to receive formal input on how the Department and its agencies (including the Bureau of Indian Affairs) can implement operational improvements. The consultations vary in format: virtual and/or in-person.  

Date(s), Time, and Location: 

• • May 20, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Alaska Time – Alaska Register Here 

• • May 22, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time – California Register Here 

• • May 27, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mountain Time – Albuquerque Register Here 

• • May 29, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Central Time – Minnesota Register Here 

• • May 30, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time – Virtual Register Here 

• • June 3, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Central Time – Oklahoma Register Here 

• • June 5, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time – Washington, DC Register Here 

• • June 6, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time – Virtual Register Here 

Written comments must be submitted by July 7, 2025 either by email to consultation@bia.gov or by mail to the Department of the Interior, Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative Action, 1001 Indian School Road NW, Suite 229, Albuquerque, NM 87104. 

Tribal Consultation for 8(a) Business Development Program and Mentor-Protégé Program Issues and Best Practices 

About: The U.S. Small Business Administration is hosting a Tribal consultation to seek feedback about how the 8(a) program is working in terms of efficiency and reducing regulatory burden. The link to the Federal Register Notice is here. 

• Date(s), Time, and Location: 

• • June 13, 2025, from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Alaska  

• Consultation will be held in person at Z.J. Loussac Public Library, 3600 Denali Street, Anchorage, AK 99503 

• Pre-registration deadline is June 6, 2025 

• Send pre-registration requests to attend and/or testify to Diane Cullo, Assistant Administrator, Office of Native American Affairs, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street SW, Washington DC 20416; or by email to Diane.Cullo@sba.gov; or Facsimile to (202) 481-2177. 

• Information about virtual attendance: TBD 

Congressional Sessions:

Looking back: 

Hearing: Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee– May 5, 2025 

Topic: Vaden/ Clarkson Nominations 

Hearing: Senate Appropriations Committee– May 6, 2025 

Topic: Fiscal Year 20226 Agriculture Budget 

Highlights: Discussions about the critical issues facing the agricultural community, including funding, research, nutrition programs, regulatory efficiency, and international trade. The Secretary also raised the need for timely and effective support for farmers and the importance of maintaining essential programs and services. 

Hearing: Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee– May 6, 2025 

Topic: Legislative hearing to review S.1462, the Fix Our Forests Act.  

Highlights: Discussions around the need for streamlined procedures, expanded categorical exclusions, and improved forest management tools, while also noting some areas for technical changes and concerns about certain provisions. 

Hearing: House Appropriations Committee– May 7, 2025 

Topic: Fiscal Year 2026 Agriculture Budget 

Highlights: Discussions subsequent to the USDA Secretary’s testimony about the Department’s activities over the past few months and the President’s vision for agriculture. The Secretary also highlighted the USDA’s budget priorities, focusing on food safety, reducing wasteful spending, and empowering states. 

Looking ahead:

Hearing: House Committee on Agriculture – May 13 at 7:30 p.m. eastern 

Topic: SNAP Integrity and Farm Security Full Committee Markup 

Hearing: Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry – May 13, 2025, at 3 p.m. eastern 

Topic: Perspectives from the Field, Part 4: Conservation. 

Hearing: House Committee on Natural Resources – May 15, 2025, at 10 a.m. eastern 

Topic: Improving land management. 

Regulatory/Rulemaking Actions

Title: Child and Adult Care Food Program: Rescission of Obsolete Data Collection Requirements 

• USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has finalized a rule that will rescind an obsolete data collection requirement in regulations regarding Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).  

• Effective May 2, 2007, FNS implemented a final rule called “Data Collection Related to the Participation of Faith-Based and Community Organizations”.  

• The rule required State agencies that administer CACFP to collect and report data related to participating institutions for each fiscal year from 2006 to 2009, ceasing in 2010.  

• The final rule to rescind this data collection requirement is effective July 11, 2025. 

Posted: Week of May 12, 2025 

Title: Food Labeling: Front-of-Package Nutrition Information; Extension of Comment Period 

• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is extending the comment period for a proposed rule originally published on January 16, 2025.  

• The proposed rule requires certain nutrient information to be displayed on the principal display panel of the product packaging.  

• FDA would also like to align certain nutrient content claims with current nutrition science. 

• The new deadline for comment submission is May 16, 2025. 

Posted: Week of May 12, 2025 

Title: Agency Information Collection Activities: Federal – State Supplemental Nutrition Programs Agreement (Form FNS-339) 

• USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is seeking public comments about a revision to the reporting and recordkeeping burden related to the State Supplemental Nutrition Programs Agreement or Form FNS-339.  

• FNS-339 is an annual contract between USDA and each State, Territory, and Indian Tribal Government agency that wish to operate nutrition programs such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and the Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP). 

• This revision requested is about the burden hours due to Program adjustments that primarily reflect expected changes in the number of WIC, FMNP, and/or SFMNP State agencies from year to year. 

• Comments submitted by June 30, 2025, will be considered.  

Posted: Week of May 5, 2025 

• USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) issued a final rule, authorized by the Relief Act of 2025, to reauthorize the Dairy Forward Pricing Program (DFPP) to allow handlers to enter into new contracts until Sept. 30, 2025, with a deadline subject to a Sept. 30, 2028, expiration date.
• The DFPP allows milk handlers to pay producers or cooperative associations of producers a negotiated price for producer milk.
• Participation in the DFPP is voluntary for dairy farmers, dairy farmer cooperatives, and handlers.
• This final rule took effect on April 24, 2025

Posted: Week of April 28, 2025

• Effective April 25, 2025, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) withdrew the proposed rule and proposed determination called the “Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products.” 
• The proposed rule and proposed determination was initially published in the Federal Register on Aug. 7, 2024. 
• After reviewing 7, 089 comments on the proposed framework, FSIS believes that the comments raised several important issues that warrant further consideration.  
• The comments received also included alternative approaches other than the proposed 2024 framework.  

Posted: Week of April 28, 2025 

• USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) seeks comments its plan to provide SNAP households advance or concurrent notice for a State agency to store unused SNAP benefits offline due to inactivity of three or more months.  
• This information collection is also about providing advance or concurrent notice to SNAP households before the State agency expunges unused SNAP benefits from the household’s Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT). 
• Tribal Governments are among the expected respondents.  
• Comments submitted by May 27, 2025, will be considered.  

Posted: Week of April 28, 2025