Importation of Phalaenopsis Spp. Orchid Plants for Planting in Approved Growing Media From the Republic of Costa Rica Into the United States, 12441-12442 [2020-04282]
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12441
Proposed Rules
Federal Register
Vol. 85, No. 42
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains notices to the public of the proposed
issuance of rules and regulations. The
purpose of these notices is to give interested
persons an opportunity to participate in the
rule making prior to the adoption of the final
rules.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
7 CFR Part 319
[Docket No. APHIS–2019–0015]
Importation of Phalaenopsis Spp.
Orchid Plants for Planting in Approved
Growing Media From the Republic of
Costa Rica Into the United States
Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
We are proposing to authorize
the importation of Phalaenopsis spp.
orchid plants from the Republic of Costa
Rica in approved growing media into
the United States, including territories.
As a condition of entry, Phalaenopsis
spp. orchid plants in approved growing
media from the Republic of Costa Rica
would have to meet all relevant
requirements included in the U.S.
Department of Agriculture Plants for
Planting Manual and detailed in a
bilateral workplan. This proposed
action would allow for the importation
of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants for
planting from the Republic of Costa Rica
in approved growing media while
providing protection against the
introduction of plant pests.
DATES: We will consider all comments
that we receive on or before May 4,
2020.
SUMMARY:
You may submit comments
by either of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2019-0015.
• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery:
Send your comment to Docket No.
APHIS–2019–0015, Regulatory Analysis
and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station
3A–03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118,
Riverdale, MD 20737–1238.
Supporting documents and any
comments we receive on this docket
may be viewed at https://
www.regulations.gov/
lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with PROPOSALS
ADDRESSES:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:40 Mar 02, 2020
Jkt 250001
#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2019-0015 or
in our reading room, which is located in
Room 1141 of the USDA South
Building, 14th Street and Independence
Avenue SW, Washington, DC. Normal
reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30
p.m., Monday through Friday, except
holidays. To be sure someone is there to
help you, please call (202) 799–7039
before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Lydia E. Colo´n, Senior Regulatory
Specialist, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River
Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737–
1236; (301) 851–2302; Lydia.e.colon@
usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Under the regulations in ‘‘Subpart
H—Plants for Planting’’ (7 CFR 319.37–
1 through 319.37–23, referred to below
as the regulations), the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) prohibits or restricts the
importation of plants for planting
(including living plants, plant parts,
seeds, and plant cuttings) to prevent the
introduction of quarantine pests into the
United States.
Section 319.37–10 restricts the
importation of plants for planting in
approved growing media, with
exceptions. Paragraph (d) of § 319.37–10
states that certain types of plants for
planting, as listed in the USDA Plants
for Planting Manual, may be imported
when they are established in a growing
medium approved by the Administrator
and produced in accordance with
additional requirements specified in the
manual.
Section 319.37–20 contains
provisions for making changes to the list
of plants for planting that may be
imported in approved growing media, as
well as restrictions for the importation
of those types of plants for planting
beyond the general restrictions in
§§ 319.37–5 through 319.37–11. To
initiate a change to the list, APHIS will
publish in the Federal Register a notice
for public comment announcing our
proposal to add, change, or remove
restrictions on the importation of a
specific type of plants for planting. After
close of the comment period, we will
review comments and issue a second
notice announcing the specific
restrictions, if any, that APHIS has
determined to be necessary to mitigate
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
pest risk. Any changes to the list of
types of plants for planting whose
importation is subject to additional
restrictions, and the specific restrictions
applicable to them, will be made to the
USDA Plants for Planting Manual.
Currently, the entry of Phalaenopsis
spp. orchid plants in approved growing
media from the Republic of Costa Rica
into the United States is not authorized.
The Republic of Costa Rica has
requested that importation into the
United States of Phalaenopsis spp.
orchid plants in approved growing
media be allowed pursuant to § 319.37–
10(d).
To be eligible for importation, plants
for planting in approved growing media
must be of approved plant taxa and
come from a facility that is part of an
approved growing media program
approved by APHIS. Basic
requirements 1 applicable to all plant
taxa in approved growing media are
listed in Chapter 7 of the USDA Plants
for Planting Manual. Among these basic
requirements, taxa imported in
approved growing media from approved
facilities must:
• Be accompanied by a phytosanitary
certificate issued by the national plant
protection organization (NPPO) of the
country in which the plants were
grown;
• Be only in approved growing
media;
• Be grown in compliance with a
written agreement (bilateral work plan);
• Be developed from mother stock
that was inspected and found free from
evidence of quarantine pests;
• Be grown solely in a greenhouse in
which sanitary procedures adequate to
exclude quarantine pests are always
employed;
• Be rooted and grown in an active
state of foliar growth for at least four
consecutive months immediately prior
to importation into the United States;
• Be grown from seeds germinated in
the greenhouse unit; or descended from
a mother plant that was grown for at
least 9 months in the exporting country
prior to importation into the United
States of the descendant plants;
• Be watered only with rainwater that
has been boiled or pasteurized, with
clean well water, or with potable water;
1 The basic requirements are listed in full under
‘‘Plants in Growing Media Program’’ in Chapter 7
of the Plants for Planting Manual: https://
www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/
manuals/ports/downloads/plants_for_planting.pdf.
E:\FR\FM\03MRP1.SGM
03MRP1
lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with PROPOSALS
12442
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 42 / Tuesday, March 3, 2020 / Proposed Rules
• Be rooted and grown in approved
growing media;
• Be stored and packaged only in
areas free of sand, soil, earth, and
quarantine pests; and
• Be inspected in the greenhouse and
found free from evidence of quarantine
pests by an APHIS inspector or an
inspector of the NPPO of the exporting
country.
In addition, the grower is required to
comply with the provisions of the
program and to allow inspectors, and
representatives of the NPPO of the
exporting country, access to where the
plants are grown. These requirements
have been used successfully to mitigate
the risk of pest introduction associated
with the importation into the United
States of approved plants established in
approved growing media.
Beyond the basic requirements for
import eligibility applicable to all taxa
in approved growing media, the Plants
for Planting Manual contains approved
growing media program requirements
specific to plant taxa and the country in
which they are grown. Programs for
importation of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid
plants in approved growing media from
approved facilities have been
established for three countries: China,
South Korea, and Taiwan.
In response to the request by the
Republic of Costa Rica, we conducted a
pest risk assessment to evaluate the risk
to the United States, including
territories, of importation of
Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in
approved growing media from the
Republic of Costa Rica. After a review
of the scientific literature, port-of-entry
pest interception data, and information
from the NPPO of the Republic of Costa
Rica, we conducted a pest risk
assessment listing all potential pests
with actionable regulatory status for the
United States and its territories that
occur in the Republic of Costa Rica and
are associated with Phalaenopsis spp.
orchid plants anywhere in the world.
We analyzed the pest risk potential of
these organisms and determined that
only one, Pseudococcus cryptus
Hempel, a mealybug, is a candidate for
risk management measures because it
meets the threshold to likely cause
unacceptable consequences if
introduced into the United States.
Based on the findings in the pest risk
assessment, we prepared a risk
management document (RMD) 2 to
determine mitigations that will
adequately prevent the introduction of
2 The
RMD can be viewed on the Regulations.gov
website (see the link under ADDRESSES) or by
contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:40 Mar 02, 2020
Jkt 250001
Pseudococcus cryptus Hempel into the
United States via Phalaenopsis spp.
orchid plants in approved growing
media from Republic of Costa Rica. In
order for Phalaenopsis spp. orchid
plants to be safely imported into the
United States from the Republic of Costa
Rica, the RMD specifies that the plants
must be grown in approved growing
media and meet the requirements
outlined in the USDA Plants for
Planting Manual. These requirements
are detailed in a written agreement
between APHIS and the Republic of
Costa Rica regarding risk management
measures to prevent the entry of
quarantine plant pests.
We have determined that these
requirements will be sufficient to
prevent the introduction of quarantine
pests into the United States, including
territories, via importation of
Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in
approved growing media from the
Republic of Costa Rica. Therefore, we
propose to amend the import
requirements in the USDA Plants for
Planting Manual by adding
Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants from
the Republic of Costa Rica to the
approved list of plant taxa established
in approved growing media.
Pursuant to the Congressional Review
Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs
designated this rule as not a major rule,
as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
Done in Washington, DC, this 25th day of
February 2020.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2020–04282 Filed 3–2–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–34–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 50
[Docket No. PRM–50–114; NRC–2016–0204]
Power Reactors in Extended
Shutdowns
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; denial.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is denying a petition
for rulemaking dated September 1, 2016,
submitted by Mr. David Lochbaum on
behalf of the Union of Concerned
Scientists and two co-petitioners (the
petitioners). The petition was docketed
by the NRC on September 14, 2016, and
was assigned Docket No. PRM–50–114.
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
The docket for the petition for
rulemaking, PRM–50–114, is closed on
March 3, 2020.
DATES:
Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2016–0204, when contacting the
NRC about the availability of
information regarding this petition. You
may obtain publicly-available
information related to this petition by
any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2016–0204. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463;
email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For
technical questions, contact the
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
document.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, select
Begin Web-based ADAMS Search. For
problems with ADAMS, please contact
the NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR)
reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–
415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@
nrc.gov. For the convenience of the
reader, instructions about obtaining
materials referenced in this document
are provided in the ‘‘Availability of
Documents’’ section.
• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and
purchase copies of public documents at
the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
AGENCY:
SUMMARY:
The petitioners requested that the NRC
amend its regulations to ‘‘promulgate
regulations applicable to nuclear power
reactors with operating licenses issued
by the NRC but in an extended outage.’’
The NRC is denying the petition
because the NRC already has regulatory
processes in place to address the issues
identified in the petition.
Dennis Andrukat, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards,
telephone: 301–415–3561; email:
Dennis.Andrukat@nrc.gov; U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington DC
20555–0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents:
I. The Petition
II. Public Comments on the Petition
III. Reasons for Denial
IV. Availability of Documents
V. Conclusion
E:\FR\FM\03MRP1.SGM
03MRP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 3, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12441-12442]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04282]
========================================================================
Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 42 / Tuesday, March 3, 2020 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 12441]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Part 319
[Docket No. APHIS-2019-0015]
Importation of Phalaenopsis Spp. Orchid Plants for Planting in
Approved Growing Media From the Republic of Costa Rica Into the United
States
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We are proposing to authorize the importation of Phalaenopsis
spp. orchid plants from the Republic of Costa Rica in approved growing
media into the United States, including territories. As a condition of
entry, Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in approved growing media from
the Republic of Costa Rica would have to meet all relevant requirements
included in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plants for Planting
Manual and detailed in a bilateral workplan. This proposed action would
allow for the importation of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants for
planting from the Republic of Costa Rica in approved growing media
while providing protection against the introduction of plant pests.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before May
4, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2019-0015.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2019-0015, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may
be viewed at https://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2019-
0015 or in our reading room, which is located in Room 1141 of the USDA
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC.
Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you,
please call (202) 799-7039 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lydia E. Col[oacute]n, Senior
Regulatory Specialist, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale,
MD 20737-1236; (301) 851-2302; [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Under the regulations in ``Subpart H--Plants for Planting'' (7 CFR
319.37-1 through 319.37-23, referred to below as the regulations), the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits or restricts the importation
of plants for planting (including living plants, plant parts, seeds,
and plant cuttings) to prevent the introduction of quarantine pests
into the United States.
Section 319.37-10 restricts the importation of plants for planting
in approved growing media, with exceptions. Paragraph (d) of Sec.
319.37-10 states that certain types of plants for planting, as listed
in the USDA Plants for Planting Manual, may be imported when they are
established in a growing medium approved by the Administrator and
produced in accordance with additional requirements specified in the
manual.
Section 319.37-20 contains provisions for making changes to the
list of plants for planting that may be imported in approved growing
media, as well as restrictions for the importation of those types of
plants for planting beyond the general restrictions in Sec. Sec.
319.37-5 through 319.37-11. To initiate a change to the list, APHIS
will publish in the Federal Register a notice for public comment
announcing our proposal to add, change, or remove restrictions on the
importation of a specific type of plants for planting. After close of
the comment period, we will review comments and issue a second notice
announcing the specific restrictions, if any, that APHIS has determined
to be necessary to mitigate pest risk. Any changes to the list of types
of plants for planting whose importation is subject to additional
restrictions, and the specific restrictions applicable to them, will be
made to the USDA Plants for Planting Manual.
Currently, the entry of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in approved
growing media from the Republic of Costa Rica into the United States is
not authorized. The Republic of Costa Rica has requested that
importation into the United States of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants
in approved growing media be allowed pursuant to Sec. 319.37-10(d).
To be eligible for importation, plants for planting in approved
growing media must be of approved plant taxa and come from a facility
that is part of an approved growing media program approved by APHIS.
Basic requirements \1\ applicable to all plant taxa in approved growing
media are listed in Chapter 7 of the USDA Plants for Planting Manual.
Among these basic requirements, taxa imported in approved growing media
from approved facilities must:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The basic requirements are listed in full under ``Plants in
Growing Media Program'' in Chapter 7 of the Plants for Planting
Manual: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/manuals/ports/downloads/plants_for_planting.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by
the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of the country in
which the plants were grown;
Be only in approved growing media;
Be grown in compliance with a written agreement (bilateral
work plan);
Be developed from mother stock that was inspected and
found free from evidence of quarantine pests;
Be grown solely in a greenhouse in which sanitary
procedures adequate to exclude quarantine pests are always employed;
Be rooted and grown in an active state of foliar growth
for at least four consecutive months immediately prior to importation
into the United States;
Be grown from seeds germinated in the greenhouse unit; or
descended from a mother plant that was grown for at least 9 months in
the exporting country prior to importation into the United States of
the descendant plants;
Be watered only with rainwater that has been boiled or
pasteurized, with clean well water, or with potable water;
[[Page 12442]]
Be rooted and grown in approved growing media;
Be stored and packaged only in areas free of sand, soil,
earth, and quarantine pests; and
Be inspected in the greenhouse and found free from
evidence of quarantine pests by an APHIS inspector or an inspector of
the NPPO of the exporting country.
In addition, the grower is required to comply with the provisions of
the program and to allow inspectors, and representatives of the NPPO of
the exporting country, access to where the plants are grown. These
requirements have been used successfully to mitigate the risk of pest
introduction associated with the importation into the United States of
approved plants established in approved growing media.
Beyond the basic requirements for import eligibility applicable to
all taxa in approved growing media, the Plants for Planting Manual
contains approved growing media program requirements specific to plant
taxa and the country in which they are grown. Programs for importation
of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in approved growing media from
approved facilities have been established for three countries: China,
South Korea, and Taiwan.
In response to the request by the Republic of Costa Rica, we
conducted a pest risk assessment to evaluate the risk to the United
States, including territories, of importation of Phalaenopsis spp.
orchid plants in approved growing media from the Republic of Costa
Rica. After a review of the scientific literature, port-of-entry pest
interception data, and information from the NPPO of the Republic of
Costa Rica, we conducted a pest risk assessment listing all potential
pests with actionable regulatory status for the United States and its
territories that occur in the Republic of Costa Rica and are associated
with Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants anywhere in the world. We analyzed
the pest risk potential of these organisms and determined that only
one, Pseudococcus cryptus Hempel, a mealybug, is a candidate for risk
management measures because it meets the threshold to likely cause
unacceptable consequences if introduced into the United States.
Based on the findings in the pest risk assessment, we prepared a
risk management document (RMD) \2\ to determine mitigations that will
adequately prevent the introduction of Pseudococcus cryptus Hempel into
the United States via Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in approved
growing media from Republic of Costa Rica. In order for Phalaenopsis
spp. orchid plants to be safely imported into the United States from
the Republic of Costa Rica, the RMD specifies that the plants must be
grown in approved growing media and meet the requirements outlined in
the USDA Plants for Planting Manual. These requirements are detailed in
a written agreement between APHIS and the Republic of Costa Rica
regarding risk management measures to prevent the entry of quarantine
plant pests.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ The RMD can be viewed on the Regulations.gov website (see
the link under ADDRESSES) or by contacting the person listed under
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have determined that these requirements will be sufficient to
prevent the introduction of quarantine pests into the United States,
including territories, via importation of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid
plants in approved growing media from the Republic of Costa Rica.
Therefore, we propose to amend the import requirements in the USDA
Plants for Planting Manual by adding Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants
from the Republic of Costa Rica to the approved list of plant taxa
established in approved growing media.
Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.),
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs designated this rule
as not a major rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
Done in Washington, DC, this 25th day of February 2020.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-04282 Filed 3-2-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
