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

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 regulations for permanent, privately owned horse quarantine facilities.

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 regulations for the importation of mangoes from India into the continental United States.

We are reopening the comment period for our advance notice of proposed rulemaking that solicits public comment on whether and how we should amend our process for responding to domestic chrysanthemum white rust (CWR) outbreaks and the importation of plant material that is a host of CWR. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

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 regulations for the use of irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment of imported fruits and vegetables.

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 regulations for the importation of Unshu oranges from the Republic of Korea into the continental United States.

We are adopting as a final rule, with several changes, an interim rule that quarantined the States of Florida and Georgia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, two parishes in Louisiana, and two counties in South Carolina due to the presence of citrus greening and quarantined Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, three counties in South Carolina, portions of one county in Arizona, and all of three and portions of an additional three counties in California due to the presence of Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), a vector of the bacterial pathogen that causes citrus greening. The rule also established restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined areas. In this final rule, we are making several nonsubstantive editorial amendments to the interim rule to improve its clarity and facilitate regulatory compliance. This final rule also provides notice that we have quarantined American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands for ACP, have extended the boundaries of the quarantined area for ACP in California to incorporate all of one and portions of another additional county, and have quarantined portions of one county in Texas and an area comprising portions of two counties in California for citrus greening.

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 National Animal Health Reporting System.

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the Asian longhorned beetle regulations by adding portions of Worcester County, MA, and Clermont County, OH, to the list of quarantined areas and by removing a portion of Suffolk County, NY, from the list of quarantined areas. The interim rule was necessary to prevent the artificial spread of Asian longhorned beetle to noninfested areas of the United States and to relieve restrictions on certain areas that were no longer necessary.

We are reopening the comment period for our proposed rule that clarified our interpretation of the veterinary practitioner exemption provided by the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act. This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

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 regulations to prevent the introduction or spread of foreign plant pests into or within the United States.

We are giving notice that the Secretary of Agriculture intends to renew the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Animal Health (Committee). The Secretary has determined that the Committee is necessary and in the public interest. We are also giving notice that the Secretary is soliciting nominations for membership for this Committee.

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 an extension of approval of an information collection associated with qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback on service delivery by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

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 advising the public that a draft environmental assessment has been prepared by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service relative to the proposed release of Aphelinus glycinis for the biological control of the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines, in the continental United States. We are making this environmental assessment available to the public for review and comment.

We are soliciting public comment on whether and how we should amend our process for responding to domestic chrysanthemum white rust (CWR) outbreaks and the importation of plant material that is a host of CWR. Domestically, CWR host plants must be surveyed and, if found to be infected with CWR, must undergo quarantine, destruction, treatment, or other sanitation measures called for in our National Management Plan. The importation of CWR host plants for planting from a number of countries and localities is currently prohibited to prevent the introduction of CWR into the United States. In addition, importation of cut flowers of CWR host plants from countries where CWR is known to occur is currently restricted. We are reevaluating our current regulatory strategy in order to improve the effectiveness and economic efficiency of our programs. After evaluating public comment on the issues presented in this document, we will determine whether to propose changes to our existing regulations.

We are amending the regulations that govern the importation of animals and animal products by consolidating the list of factors APHIS considers when evaluating the animal health status of a foreign region and by setting out new factors APHIS will consider when evaluating a region as historically free of a specific disease. These changes will make clearer the types of information APHIS needs from a requesting region in order to conduct an evaluation.

We are advising the public of our determination that sugar beet genetically engineered for tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate, designated as H7-1, is no longer considered a regulated article under our regulations governing the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms. Our determination is based on our evaluation of data submitted by the Monsanto Company and KWS SAAT AG in its petition for a determination of nonregulated status, our analysis of publically available scientific data, and comments received from the public on the petition for nonregulated status and its associated environmental impact statement and plant pest risk assessment. This notice also announces the availability of our written determination and record of decision.

We are amending the phytosanitary treatment regulations to provide generic criteria for new irradiation treatment facilities in the Southern States of the United States. This action will allow irradiation facilities to be located anywhere in these States, subject to approval, rather than only in the currently approved locations. We are also amending the regulations to allow for the irradiation treatment of certain imported fruit from India and Thailand upon arrival in the United States. This action will facilitate the importation of fruit requiring irradiation treatment while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of pests of concern into 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 a revision to and an extension of approval of an information collection associated with livestock disease surveillance programs.

We are giving notice that the Secretary of Agriculture is soliciting nominations for the election of regional membership for the General Conference Committee of the National Poultry Improvement Plan.

We are extending the comment period for our proposed rule that would revise the definition of retail pet store and related regulations to bring more pet animals sold at retail under the protection of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). We are also announcing the availability of a revised factsheet regarding our proposal. These actions will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received a petition from Dow AgroSciences LLC seeking a determination of nonregulated status of soybean designated as DAS-68416-4, which has been genetically engineered for tolerance to broadleaf herbicides in the phenoxy auxin group (such as the herbicide 2,4-D) and the herbicide glufosinate. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are soliciting comments on whether this genetically engineered soybean is likely to pose a plant pest risk. We are making available for public comment the Dow AgroSciences LLC petition, our plant pest risk assessment, and our draft environmental assessment for the proposed determination of nonregulated status.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received a petition from Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc., seeking a determination of nonregulated status of corn designated as SYN-05307-1, which has been genetically engineered for resistance to corn rootworm, an insect pest of corn. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are soliciting comments on whether this genetically engineered corn is likely to pose a plant pest risk. We are making available for public comment the Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc., petition, our plant pest risk assessment, and our draft environmental assessment for the proposed determination of nonregulated status.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has received a petition from the Monsanto Company seeking a determination of nonregulated status of maize designated as MON 87427, which has been genetically engineered with tissue-selective tolerance to glyphosate in order to facilitate the production of hybrid maize seed. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are making the Monsanto petition available for review and comment to help us identify potential environmental and interrelated economic issues and impacts that APHIS may determine should be considered in our evaluation of the petition.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received a petition from Bayer CropScience LP seeking a determination of nonregulated status of soybean designated as event FG72, which has been genetically engineered for resistance to the herbicides glyphosate and isoxaflutole. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are soliciting comments on whether this genetically engineered soybean is likely to pose a plant pest risk. We are making available for public comment the Bayer petition, our plant pest risk assessment, and our draft environmental assessment for the proposed determination of nonregulated status.