Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service August 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are reopening the comment period for our proposed rule that would amend disease regulations to provide a National List of Reportable Animal Diseases (NLRAD). Our proposed rule would have required animal health professionals suspecting or diagnosing incidences of animal diseases or disease agents classified as ``notifiable'' in the NLRAD to immediately report to both State and Federal officials. During the comment period for the proposed rule, however, several commenters raised concerns regarding the confidentiality of information reported under NLRAD, and that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service does not have the ability to provide Federal assurances of such confidentiality for information reported to States. In light of the validity of this concern, we are proposing a possible modification to our proposed rule to no longer require reporting to State officials; other existing Federal, State, and local disease reporting requirements would be unaffected, however. We are reopening the comment period for our proposed rule to provide interested persons with an opportunity to prepare and submit comments regarding this possible modification to the proposed rule.

We are advising the public that we added the Republic of Ecuador and the Republic of Peru to the list of regions that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service considers to be affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). These actions follow our imposition of HPAI-related restrictions on avian commodities originating from or transiting the Republic of Ecuador and the Republic of Peru, as a result of the confirmation of HPAI in these countries.

We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk analysis that evaluates the risks associated with importation of fresh table beet root (Beta vulgaris L.) for consumption from the United Kingdom into the continental United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Based on the analysis, we have determined that the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of fresh table beet root from the United Kingdom. We are making the pest risk analysis available to the public for review and comment.

We are proposing to update and amend the user fee regulations associated with the agricultural quarantine and inspection (AQI) program. Specifically, we propose to adjust the fees for certain AQI services that are provided in connection with certain commercial vessels, commercial trucks, commercial railroad cars, commercial aircraft, and international passengers arriving at ports in the customs territory of the United States; adjust the caps on prepaid fees associated with commercial trucks and commercial railroad cars; remove certain fee exemptions that are no longer justifiable based upon pathway analyses of risk; and restructure the treatment monitoring fee. We would also revise requirements pertaining to remittances and statements. Specifically, we would require monthly rather than quarterly remittances for the commercial aircraft fee, international air passenger fee, and international cruise passenger fee to make our revenue stream more stable, clarify our requirements, and provide for electronic payments and statements. We would also include in the regulations information on agents responsible for ensuring compliance with paying the user fees and the requirement for entities to notify APHIS in the event they have a change in personnel responsible for fee payments. These proposed changes are necessary to recover the costs of the current level of AQI activity, to account for actual and projected increases in the cost of doing business, to increase fee payer accountability, and to more accurately align fees with the costs associated with each fee service.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request a revision to and extension of approval of an information collection associated with the export of animals and animal products from the United States.

We are revising the regulations concerning user fees that we charge for veterinary diagnostic services and for certain import- related and export-related services for live animals, animal products and byproducts, birds, germplasm, organisms, and vectors. We are removing the tables providing the individual fees from the regulations and posting them on an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service website. The regulations instead specify the methodology (formula) used to calculate the fees (including imputed costs), and the fees will be updated using a notice-based process. Replacing the current user fee listings with a standardized methodology will increase transparency in the process of setting fee rates, align the regulations with other Agency practices, and allow us to streamline processes and reduce the number of rules needed and thus the time necessary in order to update the fees.