Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service April 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are adopting as a final rule, with two changes, an interim rule that amended the regulations by quarantining parts of Bingham and Bonneville Counties, ID, due to the discovery of the potato cyst nematode there and establishing restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined area. As amended by this document, the rule refers to the nematode of concern, Globodera pallida, by the common name ``pale cyst nematode'' rather than by the name ``potato cyst nematode;'' allows the movement of Phaseolus spp. (beans) and Pisum spp. (peas) under the same conditions that apply to the movement of other crops to which soil is often attached; and requires that a protocol approved by the Administrator as sufficient to support removal of infested fields from quarantine, rather than a 3- year biosurvey protocol, be completed in order to remove an infested field from quarantine. We are also making minor, nonsubstantive changes. These actions will prevent the spread of the pale cyst nematode via potatoes, soil, and other host material to noninfested areas of the United States.

We are correcting an error in the rule portion of a final rule that amended the regulations concerning user fees for import- and export-related services that we provide for animals, animal products, birds, germ plasm, organisms, and vectors. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on March 30, 2009, and is effective on April 29, 2009.

In a final rule that was published in the Federal Register on April 1, 2009 (74 FR 14710-14719, Docket No. APHIS-2007-0042), and effective on May 1, 2009, we amended the National Poultry Improvement Plan (the Plan) and its auxiliary provisions by providing new or modified sampling and testing procedures for Plan participants and participating flocks. In that final rule, we amended a section in the Plan to include additional tests for avian influenza, but we neglected to amend the heading of that section to indicate that it now contains some tests that are not blood tests. This document corrects that error.

We are advising the public that an environmental assessment has been prepared by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service relative to a proposed rule that would add the Republic of Korea to the list of regions considered free of rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease. The environmental assessment documents our review and analysis of environmental impacts associated with adding the Republic of Korea to the list of regions considered free of rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease. We are making this environmental assessment available to the public for review and comment.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is holding an issue-focused public meeting on April 29 and 30, 2009, on its proposed rule, ``Importation, Interstate Movement, and Release Into the Environment of Certain Genetically Engineered Organisms.'' The April 2009 issue meeting will provide an opportunity for interested persons to discuss in a collaborative forum the key concerns that were raised during the comment period on the proposed rule with U.S. Department of Agriculture officials and with one another.

We are adopting as a final rule, with one change, an interim rule that amended the citrus canker regulations to explicitly prohibit, with limited exceptions, the interstate movement of regulated nursery stock from a quarantined area. The interim rule provided two exceptions to this prohibition, one that allowed nursery stock to be moved interstate for immediate export under certain conditions and another that allowed calamondin and kumquat plants to be moved interstate in accordance with a protocol designed to ensure their freedom from citrus canker. Our decision to provide for the interstate movement of calamondin and kumquat plants was based on their apparent resistance to citrus canker infection. However, since the publication of the interim rule, we have confirmed that 47 calamondin plants growing in an area quarantined for citrus canker were infected with the disease. Therefore, this final rule amends the protocol to exclude calamondin plants. The interim rule was necessary to clarify our regulations and

In a final rule that was published in the Federal Register on January 16, 2009 (74 FR 2770-2786, Docket No. APHIS-2007-0052), and effective on February 17, 2009, we revised the regulations governing the interstate movement of fruits and vegetables from Hawaii and the territories. Those regulations do not apply to articles whose interstate movement is regulated under the subpart governing the interstate movement of soil, sand, earth, and plants in growing media from Hawaii and the territories; we neglected to indicate that in the final rule. In this amendment, we are amending the regulations to clearly indicate that the interstate movement of soil, sand, earth, and plants in growing media is governed by the regulations specific to those articles.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with livestock disease surveillance programs.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with the Horse Protection Program.

We are amending the swine health protection regulations to clarify the applicability of the regulations regarding the treatment of garbage that consists of industrially processed materials. This interim rule makes clear that such materials are subject to the same treatment requirements as other regulated garbage, except for materials that meet the definition of processed product that we are adding to the regulations. This action is necessary to ensure that garbage fed to swine has been treated to inactivate disease organisms that pose a risk to the U.S. swine industry.

We are amending the regulations regarding the interstate movement of animals to add sheep and goats to the approved livestock facility agreement. Livestock facilities that handle sheep and goats in interstate commerce must meet the requirements for approval including complying with this agreement to utilize certain provisions in our scrapie regulations that reduce the movement requirements for sheep and goats moving to or from these establishments. Such facilities may include stockyards, livestock markets, buying stations, concentration points, or any other premises where sheep and goats in interstate commerce are assembled. Our approval will be contingent on the facility operator meeting certain minimum standards and other conditions related to the receipt, handling, and release of sheep and goats at the facility, as well as complying with certain animal identification and recordkeeping requirements. These standards and other conditions will serve, in part, to support our regulations relating to the interstate movement of sheep and goats in order to control the spread of scrapie, a serious disease of sheep and goats.