Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are proposing to amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation into the continental United States of peppers from the Republic of Korea under certain conditions. As a condition of entry, the peppers would have to be grown in approved insect-proof, pest-free greenhouses and packed in pest-exclusionary packinghouses. In addition, the peppers would have to be safeguarded against pest infestation during their movement from the production site to the packinghouse and from the packinghouse to the continental United States. This action would allow for the importation of peppers from the Republic of Korea into the continental United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests.

We propose to amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to list a number of fruits and vegetables from certain parts of the world as eligible, under specified conditions, for importation into the United States. Some of the fruits and vegetables are already eligible for importation under permit, but are not specifically listed in the regulations. All of the fruits and vegetables, as a condition of entry, would be inspected and subject to treatment at the port of first arrival as may be required by an inspector. In addition, some of the fruits and vegetables would be required to meet other special conditions. In one case, we propose to add a systems approach that would provide an alternative to methyl bromide fumigation. These actions would provide the United States with additional types and sources of fruits and vegetables while continuing to protect against the introduction of quarantine pests through imported fruits and vegetables.

We are amending the regulations governing the importation of meat and other edible animal products by allowing, under certain conditions, the importation of whole cuts of boneless beef from Japan. We are taking this action in response to a request from the Government of Japan and after conducting a risk analysis and considering public comments. This action will allow the importation of beef from Japan while continuing to protect against the introduction of bovine spongiform encephalopathy into the United States.

We are advising the public that we have prepared a supplemental environmental assessment (EA) and proposed decision/ finding of no significant impact (FONSI) relative to oral rabies vaccination programs on National Forest System lands in several States. Since the publication of our original EA and decision/FONSI (2001), a subsequent supplemental decision/FONSI (2002), a supplemental EA and decision/FONSI (2003), and a second supplemental EA and decision/FONSI (2004), we determined the need to further expand the oral rabies vaccination program to include National Forest System lands, excluding Wilderness Areas, to effectively stop the westward and northward spread of the rabies virus across the United States and into Canada. Thus, an EA and decision/FONSI was prepared in 2004 to facilitate planning, interagency coordination, and program management and to provide the public with our analysis of potential individual and cumulative impacts of an expanded oral rabies vaccine program. The supplemental EA and proposed decision/FONSI (2005) made available by this notice serves to update program needs and evaluate current data.

We are correcting an error in the amendatory instructions in our final rule that amended the provisions of a certification program for articles of Pelargonium spp. and Solanum spp. imported from countries where the bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 is known to occur. The final rule was effective and published in the Federal Register on October 24, 2005 (70 FR 61351-61362, Docket No. 03- 019-3).

We are amending the regulations regarding the importation of wheat and related articles by removing the prohibitions related to flag smut. Based on a number of considerations, we have concluded that U.S. wheat will not be at risk if those prohibitions are removed. We will, however, continue to prohibit the importation of wheat and related articles from flag smut-affected countries until a risk evaluation can be completed to ensure that those articles do not introduce other plant pests. This action removes flag smut-related prohibitions that no longer appear to be necessary while continuing to provide protection against other potential pests or diseases of wheat.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment concerning authorization to ship for the purpose of field testing, and then to field test, an unlicensed Canine Melanoma Vaccine, DNA, for use in dogs. The environmental assessment, which is based on a risk analysis prepared to assess the risks associated with the field testing of this vaccine, examines the potential effects that field testing this veterinary vaccine could have on the quality of the human environment. Based on the risk analysis, we have reached a preliminary determination that field testing this veterinary vaccine will not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment, and that an environmental impact statement need not be prepared. We intend to authorize shipment of this vaccine for field testing following the close of the comment period for this notice unless new substantial issues bearing on the effects of this action are brought to our attention. We also intend to issue a U.S. Veterinary Biological Product license for this vaccine, provided the field test data support the conclusions of the environmental assessment and the issuance of a finding of no significant impact and the product meets all other requirements for licensing.

We are proposing to amend the regulations regarding the importation of cattle from Mexico by adding San Luis, AZ, as a port through which cattle that have been infested with fever ticks or exposed to fever ticks or tick-borne diseases may be imported into the United States. A new facility for the handling of animals is to be constructed on the Mexican side of the border at the port of San Luis, AZ, that will be equipped with facilities necessary for the proper chute inspection, dipping, and testing that are required for such cattle under the regulations. We would also amend the regulations to remove provisions that limit the admission of cattle that have been infested with fever ticks or exposed to fever ticks or tick-borne diseases to the State of Texas and that prohibit the movement of such cattle into areas of Texas quarantined because of fever ticks. The statutory requirement that limited the admission of those cattle to the State of Texas has been repealed, and we believe that the current provisions of our domestic fever tick quarantine regulations will effectively address any risk of the spread of tick-borne diseases associated with the subsequent movement of imported cattle from the quarantined area of Texas. These proposed changes would make an additional port of entry available and relieve restrictions on the movement of imported Mexican cattle within the United States.

We are amending the emerald ash borer regulations by adding areas in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio to the list of areas quarantined because of emerald ash borer. As a result of this action, the interstate movement of regulated articles from those areas is restricted. This action is necessary to prevent the artificial spread of the emerald ash borer from infested areas in the States of Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio into noninfested areas of the United States.

We are proposing to amend the animal and animal product import regulations by adding provisions for the importation of cured or cooked shelf-stable meat derived from ruminants or swine that originate in a region where rinderpest or foot-and-mouth disease exists if the meat is cured or cooked in another region. This action would provide for the importation of these commodities while continuing to protect the U.S. ruminant and swine populations against incursions of rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease.

We are amending the Asian longhorned beetle regulations by adding a portion of Middlesex and Union Counties, NJ, to the list of quarantined areas and restricting the interstate movement of regulated articles from those areas. This action is necessary to prevent the artificial spread of the Asian longhorned beetle to noninfested areas of the United States. We are also removing the areas within Hudson County, NJ, from the list of quarantined areas and removing restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles from those areas. We have determined that the Asian longhorned beetle no longer presents a risk of spread from those areas and that the quarantine and restrictions are no longer necessary.

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the bovine tuberculosis regulations regarding State and zone classifications by removing New Mexico from the list of modified accredited advanced States, adding portions of two counties in New Mexico to the list of modified accredited advanced zones, and adding the remainder of the State to the list of accredited-free zones. We took this action based on our determination that New Mexico met the requirements of the regulations for zone recognition and that one of the zones met the criteria for designation as accredited-free.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA, is changing the colors of its employees' basic uniform to ensure our inspectors are easy to distinguish from personnel of other Federal agencies who are stationed at ports of entry. To offset the one-time cost to uniformed employees who must replace their existing uniforms, we are increasing, for one year only, our maximum uniform allowance rate for fiscal year 2006. We are publishing this notice in accordance with the civil service regulations regarding uniform allowances, which provide, among other things, that annual uniform allowances greater than $400 require public notice and comment.

We are proposing to amend the regulations governing the importation of fruits and vegetables in order to allow certain types of peppers grown in approved registered production sites in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua to be imported into the United States without treatment. The conditions to which the proposed importation of peppers would be subject, including trapping, pre- harvest inspection, and shipping procedures, are designed to prevent the introduction of quarantine pests into the United States. This action would allow for the importation of peppers from those countries in Central America while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests into the United States.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment for a field trial of genetically engineered strains of an endophytic fungus of perennial ryegrass, Neotyphodium sp. isolate Lp1. The fungi have been genetically engineered to disrupt the ergovaline synthesis pathway. The environmental assessment provides a basis for our conclusion that these field tests will not present a risk of introducing or disseminating a plant pest and will not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment. Based on its finding of no significant impact, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that an environmental impact statement need not be prepared for these field tests.

We are amending the bovine tuberculosis regulations to designate the Upper Peninsula of the State of Michigan as an accredited-free zone. We have determined that Michigan meets the requirements for zone recognition and that the Upper Peninsula meets the criteria for designation as an accredited-free zone. This action relieves restrictions on the interstate movement of cattle and bison from the Upper Peninsula.

We are amending the endangered species regulations concerning terrestrial plants by replacing all references to ``general permits'' with references to ``protected plant permits.'' This final rule is necessary for the regulations to reflect the change in the name of the permit. We are also updating a mailing address in the regulations and making other nonsubstantive editorial changes.

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the regulations regarding the importation of horses into the United States by requiring persons who cancel reservations for stall space at import quarantine facilities to notify us earlier and by increasing the fee for canceling reservations.

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the Mexican fruit fly regulations to provide for the use of irradiation as a treatment for fruits listed as regulated articles. We are also adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended those regulations by removing a portion of San Diego County, CA, from the list of quarantined areas. Those interim rules were necessary to provide an additional option for qualifying regulated articles for movement from quarantined areas and to relieve restrictions that were no longer needed to prevent the spread of Mexican fruit fly to noninfested areas of the United States.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request approval of a new information collection activity associated with a voluntary ``do not sell'' list of invasive plant species for Florida nurseries.

This document delegates the authority given to the Secretary of Agriculture under the Noxious Weed Control and Eradication Act of 2004 to establish a program to provide financial and technical assistance to control or eradicate noxious weeds. Authority is delegated from the Secretary of Agriculture to the Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs; from that official to the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; and from the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to the Deputy Administrator for Plant Protection and Quarantine. In addition, this document also removes references to statutes that were repealed upon enactment of the Plant Protection Act and statutes that were repealed upon enactment of the Animal Health Protection Act.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will hold a public meeting concerning the animal movement tracking database component for the National Animal Identification System. The purpose of the meeting is to initiate dialogue about this initiative with industry stakeholders, including representatives of national organizations that represent livestock and poultry production sectors, livestock producers, and other interested individuals. This notice provides information on the discussion topics as well as the date, time, and place of the meeting.

In a proposed rule published in the Federal Register on August 23, 2005 (Docket No. 04-083-1), we proposed to amend the regulations by adding Argentina to the list of regions considered free of exotic Newcastle disease (END) and announced the availability of a qualitative evaluation regarding the END status of Argentina. The proposed rule contained an incorrect Internet address and incomplete instructions on how to access the qualitative evaluation. This document corrects those errors.

This notice pertains to reimbursable overtime charged for Sunday, holiday, or other overtime work performed in connection with the inspection, laboratory testing, certification, or quarantine of certain articles, to user fees for certain veterinary diagnostic services, and to fees charged for agricultural quarantine and inspection services that are provided in connection with certain commercial vessels, commercial trucks, commercial railroad cars, commercial aircraft, and international airline passengers arriving at ports in the customs territory of the United States. The purpose of this notice is to remind the public of the reimbursable overtime charges and user fees for fiscal year 2006 (October 1, 2005, through September 30, 2006).

We are proposing to amend the regulations governing the importation of meat and other edible animal products by allowing, under certain conditions, the importation of whole cuts of boneless beef from Japan. We are proposing this action in response to a request from the Government of Japan and after conducting an analysis of the risk that indicates that such beef can be safely imported from Japan under the conditions described in this proposal.