Decision To Recognize Freedom From Citrus Longhorned Beetle and Asian Longhorned Beetle in Certain Countries, 49824-49825 [2024-12830]
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Notices
Federal Register
Vol. 89, No. 114
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains documents other than rules or
proposed rules that are applicable to the
public. Notices of hearings and investigations,
committee meetings, agency decisions and
rulings, delegations of authority, filing of
petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are
examples of documents appearing in this
section.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
[Docket No. APHIS–2018–0074]
Decision To Recognize Freedom From
Citrus Longhorned Beetle and Asian
Longhorned Beetle in Certain
Countries
Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
We are notifying the public
that we are updating the U.S.
Department of Agriculture Plants for
Planting Manual by recognizing the
United Kingdom and 21 European
Union Member States as being free from
citrus longhorned beetle (CLB) and
Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) and
removing them from the list of countries
where CLB and ALB are present. We are
also changing the entry conditions in
the manual for imports of certain host
plant taxa of CLB and ALB from
Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom because they
have previously approved genera
exempted from the category of plants
Not Authorized Pending Pest Risk
Analysis. These changes will relieve
certain restrictions on imports of host
plants of CLB and ALB into the United
States from Belgium, Denmark, the
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom
while continuing to mitigate the risk of
introducing quarantine pests into the
United States.
DATES: The changes to the entry
conditions are effective June 12, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Narasimha C. Samboju, Senior
Regulatory Policy Specialist, PHP, PPQ,
APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 137,
Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 851–2038;
narasimha.c.samboju@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the
regulations in ‘‘Subpart H—Plants for
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:43 Jun 11, 2024
Jkt 262001
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. Quarantine pest is
defined in § 319.37–2 as a plant pest or
noxious weed that is of potential
economic importance to the United
States and not yet present in the United
States, or present but not widely
distributed and being officially
controlled. In accordance with § 319.37–
20, APHIS may impose quarantines and
other restrictions on the importation of
specific types of plants for planting.
These restrictions are listed in the
USDA Plants for Planting Manual.1
Under § 319.37–20, if APHIS determines
it is necessary to add, change, or remove
restrictions on the importation of a
specific type of plant for planting, we
will publish in the Federal Register a
notice that announces the proposed
change to the manual and invites public
comment.
On July 17, 2019, we published in the
Federal Register (84 FR 34116–34117,
Docket No. APHIS–2018–0074) a
notice 2 in which we proposed to update
the USDA Plants for Planting Manual by
recognizing 22 European Union (EU)
Member States 3 as being free from
citrus longhorned beetle (CLB) and
Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) and
removing them from the list of countries
where CLB and ALB are present. We
also proposed changing the entry
conditions in the manual for imports of
certain host plant taxa of CLB and ALB
from Belgium, Denmark, the
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom
because they have previously approved
genera exempted from the category of
plants Not Authorized Pending Pest
Risk Analysis.
1 https://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/
plants/manuals/ports/downloads/plants_for_
planting.pdf.
2 To view the notice, supporting documents, and
the comment we received, go to https://
www.regulations.gov and enter APHIS–2018–0074
in the Search field.
3 As the United Kingdom is no longer part of the
European Union, we changed the number to 21
Member States in this final notice to reflect this
change.
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
We solicited comments on the notice
for 60 days ending on September 16,
2019. We received one comment by that
date, from a foreign government.
The commenter noted that we
proposed to recognize ALB and CLB
freedom in certain EU countries but not
in pest-free areas within other EU
countries where ALB or CLB outbreaks
have occurred. The commenter asked
that we not only recognize pest freedom
in the countries identified in the notice
but also within the pest-free areas of EU
countries that have had outbreaks,
noting that the United States had been
provided with information showing that
ALB and CLB are being contained
successfully in pest-free areas of the EU
in accordance with international
standards.
In our notice, we acknowledged
receiving the supporting information
cited by the commenter and used it to
prepare a commodity import evaluation
document. However, for this request, we
only evaluated criteria for recognition of
ALB/CLB freedom by country and not
by pest-free area recognition. Before
APHIS can consider recognizing
freedom for pest-free areas, we will need
to engage in further evaluation and
consultation with the European
Commission.
Based on our current evaluation, we
are recognizing the United Kingdom and
21 EU Member States as being free from
ALB and CLB and removing them from
the lists of countries where those pests
are present. We are only recognizing EU
Member States that are free from both
pests or that eradicated an infestation at
least 3 years ago. The EU Member States
that continue to be listed as countries
where ALB and/or CLB are present are:
Austria, Croatia, Finland, France,
Germany, and Italy.
We are also changing the entry
conditions in the manual for imports of
certain host plant taxa of CLB and ALB
from Belgium, Denmark, the
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom
because they have previously approved
genera exempted from the category of
plants Not Authorized Pending Pest
Risk Analysis.
Congressional Review Act
Pursuant to the Congressional Review
Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs
designated this action as not a major
rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
E:\FR\FM\12JNN1.SGM
12JNN1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 114 / Wednesday, June 12, 2024 / Notices
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1633, 7701–7772,
and 7781–7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a;
7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, this 5th day of
June 2024.
Michael Watson,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2024–12830 Filed 6–11–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–34–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
[Docket No. APHIS–2023–0028]
Swine Vesicular Disease Status of the
Regions of Tuscany and Umbria, Italy
Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
We are advising the public
that we are recognizing the regions of
Tuscany and Umbria, Italy as being free
of swine vesicular disease. This
recognition is based on a risk evaluation
we prepared in connection with this
action and made available to the public
for review and comment through a
previous notice. As a result of this
action, live swine, pork, and pork
products may safely be imported into
the United States from the regions of
Tuscany and Umbria, Italy subject to
conditions in the regulations. This
notice also announces the availability of
our final environmental assessment and
finding of no significant impact.
DATES: This change in the SVD status of
the regions of Tuscany and Umbria,
Italy will be recognized on July 12,
2024.
SUMMARY:
You may read the
documents referenced in this notice and
the comments we received by going to
www.regulations.gov, or in our reading
room, which is located in Room 1620 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.
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
ADDRESSES:
Dr.
Chip Wells, Senior Veterinary Medical
Officer, Regionalization Evaluation
Services (RES), Strategy & Policy,
Veterinary Services (VS), APHIS, 4700
River Road, Unit 38, Riverdale, MD
20737–1231; (301) 851–3317; email:
AskRegionalization@usda.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:43 Jun 11, 2024
Jkt 262001
The
regulations in 9 CFR part 94 (referred to
below as the regulations) govern the
importation of certain animals and
animal products into the United States
in order to prevent the introduction of
various animal diseases, including
swine vesicular disease (SVD). This is a
dangerous and communicable disease of
swine.
Within part 94, § 94.12 contains
requirements governing the importation
of pork or pork products from regions
where SVD exists. Section 94.14
prohibits the importation of domestic
swine which are moved from or transit
any region in which SVD is known to
exist.
In accordance with § 94.12(a)(1), the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) maintains a web-based
list of regions which the Agency
considers free of SVD. Paragraph (a)(2)
of this section states that APHIS will
add a region to this list after it conducts
an evaluation of the region and finds
that SVD is not present.
The regulations in § 92.2 contain
requirements for requesting the
recognition of the animal health status
of a region (as well as for the approval
of the export of a particular type of
animal or animal product to the United
States from a foreign region). If, after
review and evaluation of the
information submitted in support of the
request, APHIS believes the request can
be safely granted, APHIS will make its
evaluation available for public comment
through a document published in the
Federal Register. Following the close of
the comment period, APHIS will review
all comments received and will make a
final determination regarding the
request that will be detailed in another
document published in the Federal
Register.
In accordance with that process, the
Government of Italy requested that
APHIS evaluate the SVD disease status
of the regions of Tuscany and Umbria.
Based on our evaluation, we determined
that the regions of Tuscany and Umbria,
Italy are free of SVD and that the
surveillance, prevention, and control
measures implemented by Italy are
sufficient to minimize the likelihood of
introducing SVD into the United States
via imports of species or products
susceptible to this disease.
On August 23, 2023, we published in
the Federal Register (88 FR 57407–
57408, Docket No. APHIS–2023–0028) a
notice 1 in which we announced the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1 To view the notice, supporting documents, and
comments we received, go to https://
www.regulations.gov/document/APHIS-2023-00280001.
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
49825
availability for review and comment of
our evaluation of the SVD status of the
regions of Tuscany and Umbria, Italy, as
well as an environmental assessment
(EA). We solicited comments on the
notice for 60 days ending on October 23,
2023. We received five comments, all of
which supported our proposed
recognition of the regions of Tuscany
and Umbria, Italy as free of SVD.
Therefore, based on the findings of
our evaluation, we are announcing our
determination to add the regions of
Tuscany and Umbria, Italy to the list of
regions declared free of SVD. This list
is available on the APHIS website at
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/
ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-andanimal-product-import-information/
animal-health-status-of-regions.
National Environmental Policy Act
After reviewing and evaluating the
comments received during the comment
period, APHIS has prepared a final EA,
which provides the public with
documentation of APHIS’ review and
analysis of any potential environmental
impacts associated with the recognition
of the regions of Tuscany and Umbria,
Italy as free of SVD. The final EA was
prepared in accordance with: (1) The
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.), (2) regulations of the Council on
Environmental Quality for
implementing the procedural provisions
of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500–1508), (3)
USDA regulations implementing NEPA
(7 CFR part 1b), and (4) APHIS’ NEPA
Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part
372). Based on our EA, the response to
public comment, and other pertinent
information, APHIS has reached a
finding of no significant impact with
regard to the recognition of the regions
of Tuscany and Umbria, Italy as free of
SVD.
Congressional Review Act
Pursuant to the Congressional Review
Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs
designated this action as not a major
rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1633, 7701–7772,
7781–7786, and 8301–8317; 21 U.S.C.
136 and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR
2.22, 2.80, and 371.4.
Done in Washington, DC, this 7th day of
June 2024.
Michael Watson,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2024–12829 Filed 6–11–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–34–P
E:\FR\FM\12JNN1.SGM
12JNN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 114 (Wednesday, June 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49824-49825]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12830]
========================================================================
Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 114 / Wednesday, June 12, 2024 /
Notices
[[Page 49824]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2018-0074]
Decision To Recognize Freedom From Citrus Longhorned Beetle and
Asian Longhorned Beetle in Certain Countries
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We are notifying the public that we are updating the U.S.
Department of Agriculture Plants for Planting Manual by recognizing the
United Kingdom and 21 European Union Member States as being free from
citrus longhorned beetle (CLB) and Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) and
removing them from the list of countries where CLB and ALB are present.
We are also changing the entry conditions in the manual for imports of
certain host plant taxa of CLB and ALB from Belgium, Denmark, the
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom because they have previously
approved genera exempted from the category of plants Not Authorized
Pending Pest Risk Analysis. These changes will relieve certain
restrictions on imports of host plants of CLB and ALB into the United
States from Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom
while continuing to mitigate the risk of introducing quarantine pests
into the United States.
DATES: The changes to the entry conditions are effective June 12, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Narasimha C. Samboju, Senior
Regulatory Policy Specialist, PHP, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit
137, Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 851-2038; [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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. Quarantine
pest is defined in Sec. 319.37-2 as a plant pest or noxious weed that
is of potential economic importance to the United States and not yet
present in the United States, or present but not widely distributed and
being officially controlled. In accordance with Sec. 319.37-20, APHIS
may impose quarantines and other restrictions on the importation of
specific types of plants for planting. These restrictions are listed in
the USDA Plants for Planting Manual.\1\ Under Sec. 319.37-20, if APHIS
determines it is necessary to add, change, or remove restrictions on
the importation of a specific type of plant for planting, we will
publish in the Federal Register a notice that announces the proposed
change to the manual and invites public comment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/manuals/ports/downloads/plants_for_planting.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On July 17, 2019, we published in the Federal Register (84 FR
34116-34117, Docket No. APHIS-2018-0074) a notice \2\ in which we
proposed to update the USDA Plants for Planting Manual by recognizing
22 European Union (EU) Member States \3\ as being free from citrus
longhorned beetle (CLB) and Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) and removing
them from the list of countries where CLB and ALB are present. We also
proposed changing the entry conditions in the manual for imports of
certain host plant taxa of CLB and ALB from Belgium, Denmark, the
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom because they have previously
approved genera exempted from the category of plants Not Authorized
Pending Pest Risk Analysis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ To view the notice, supporting documents, and the comment we
received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter APHIS-2018-0074
in the Search field.
\3\ As the United Kingdom is no longer part of the European
Union, we changed the number to 21 Member States in this final
notice to reflect this change.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
We solicited comments on the notice for 60 days ending on September
16, 2019. We received one comment by that date, from a foreign
government.
The commenter noted that we proposed to recognize ALB and CLB
freedom in certain EU countries but not in pest-free areas within other
EU countries where ALB or CLB outbreaks have occurred. The commenter
asked that we not only recognize pest freedom in the countries
identified in the notice but also within the pest-free areas of EU
countries that have had outbreaks, noting that the United States had
been provided with information showing that ALB and CLB are being
contained successfully in pest-free areas of the EU in accordance with
international standards.
In our notice, we acknowledged receiving the supporting information
cited by the commenter and used it to prepare a commodity import
evaluation document. However, for this request, we only evaluated
criteria for recognition of ALB/CLB freedom by country and not by pest-
free area recognition. Before APHIS can consider recognizing freedom
for pest-free areas, we will need to engage in further evaluation and
consultation with the European Commission.
Based on our current evaluation, we are recognizing the United
Kingdom and 21 EU Member States as being free from ALB and CLB and
removing them from the lists of countries where those pests are
present. We are only recognizing EU Member States that are free from
both pests or that eradicated an infestation at least 3 years ago. The
EU Member States that continue to be listed as countries where ALB and/
or CLB are present are: Austria, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, and
Italy.
We are also changing the entry conditions in the manual for imports
of certain host plant taxa of CLB and ALB from Belgium, Denmark, the
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom because they have previously
approved genera exempted from the category of plants Not Authorized
Pending Pest Risk Analysis.
Congressional Review Act
Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.),
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs designated this action
as not a major rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
[[Page 49825]]
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1633, 7701-7772, and 7781-7786; 21 U.S.C. 136
and 136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, this 5th day of June 2024.
Michael Watson,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-12830 Filed 6-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
