Department of Agriculture June 26, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Rural Housing Service's (RHS) intent to reinstate a previously approved information collection in support of the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program.

We are announcing the creation of a new Plant Protection and Quarantine Web site that will provide stakeholders with information about the commodity import approval process for plants and plant products and give them the opportunity to consult with us on risk assessments as they are being drafted. We are doing this in response to stakeholder requests for more information about the commodity import approval process and the opportunity to comment on draft risk assessments. This Web site will make the commodity import approval process more visible to stakeholders and allow them to comment on draft risk assessments.

We are amending the plants for planting regulations to provide conditions for the importation into the continental United States of Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica. These conditions will apply to plants less than 460 mm in length, which are currently allowed to be imported, and will also allow for the importation of plants over 460 mm and up to 1,371.6 mm in length, which are currently prohibited. As a condition of entry, Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica will have to be produced in accordance with integrated pest risk management measures that will include requirements for registration of place of production and packinghouses, a pest management plan, inspection for quarantine pests, sanitation, and traceability from place of production through the packing and export facility and to the port of entry into the United States. All Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica will also be required to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that all conditions for the importation of the plants have been met and that the consignment of plants has been inspected and found free of quarantine pests. This action will allow for the importation of oversized Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica into the United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests.