Feds Ease Farm Credit Regulations Proposed Changes Will Remove 3,500 Pages Of Federal Rules

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said he’s sweeping away or consolidating federal regulations involving farm credit, rural housing and school lunches.

The secretary, in a prepared statement, said 3,500 pages of federal regulations are being eliminated and 8,200 pages are being consolidated under President Clinton’s reinventing government program.

“We are cutting or improving over 80 percent of the regulations we have on the books,” Glickman said.

Among the changes:

Nine loan-making regulations in the farm credit program are being merged into one.

“It’s going to save about 15,000 hours of paperwork for people applying for these kinds of loans,” said Denise Kaplan, a USDA budget officer. He said it would translate into a savings of $550,000 a year in time and printing costs.

Government loans for rural, single-family housing will now be made according to a simple formula that already is under way for loans made by private lenders and guaranteed by the government.

Regulations for school lunches and breakfast are being folded into a single comprehensive rule to stream-line administration for local school lunch administrators, the USDA said.