[Federal Register: January 13, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 8)]
[Notices]
[Page 1589-1590]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13ja03-37]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 02-122-1]
Notice of Request for Extension of Approval of an Information
Collection
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Extension of approval of an information collection; comment
request.
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SUMMARY: 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 in support of the National Poultry Improvement Plan.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before March
14, 2003.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by postal mail/commercial delivery
or by e-mail. If you use postal mail/commercial delivery, please send
four copies of your comment (an original and three copies) to: Docket
No. 02-122-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station
3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state
that your comment refers to Docket No. 02-122-1. If you use e-mail,
address your comment to regulations@aphis.usda.gov. Your comment must
be contained in the body of your message; do not send attached files.
Please include your name and address in your message and ``Docket No.
02-122-1'' on the subject line.
You may read any comments that we receive on this docket in our
reading room. The reading room is located in room 1141 of the USDA
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue, SW., Washington,
DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you,
please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.
APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information regarding the National
Poultry Improvement Plan, contact Mr. Andrew Rhorer, Senior
Coordinator, National Poultry Improvement Plan, VS, APHIS, 1498
Klondike Road, Suite 200, Conyers, GA 30094-5104; (770) 922-3496. For
copies of more detailed information on the information collection,
contact Mrs. Celeste Sickles, APHIS' Information Collection
Coordinator, at (301) 734-7477.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: National Poultry Improvement Plan.
OMB Number: 0579-0007.
Type of Request: Extension of approval of an information
collection.
Abstract: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of
the U.S. Department of Agriculture is responsible for, among other
things, administering the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP), the
primary purpose of which is to protect the health of the U.S. poultry
population. NPIP is a voluntary Federal-State cooperative program for
the improvement of poultry breeding flocks and products through disease
control techniques.
Administering the NPIP requires us to engage in a number of
information collection activities, which are described below. We are
asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the
continued use of these information collection activities, which are
critical to our ability to prevent the spread of contagious poultry
diseases within the United States.
Flock Selecting and Testing Report (VS Form 9-2)
This form is used by authorized agents and State inspectors when
breeding flocks are selected and tested. The form provides space for
the number of birds tested and the results of the test. This form also
identifies a given flock as to owner, hatchery affiliation, stock,
type, purpose, classification, and most importantly, flock location.
Since most of the flocks are supply flocks for the same hatchery, it is
extremely important to know the location of the flock. The information
on this form is of critical importance when an investigation must be
conducted to determine the source of a hatchery-disseminated or egg-
transmitted disease.
Report of Sales of Hatching Eggs, Chicks, and Poults (VS Form 9-3)
NPIP participants use this form to record any interstate sales of
their hatching eggs, chicks, and poults. This document is used by both
APHIS and the receiving State to monitor the movements of these items.
This form also serves as a vital investigative aid when APHIS is
attempting to track down the source of a poultry disease. These records
must be maintained by producers for 3 years.
Summary of Breeding Flock Participation (VS Form 9-4)
This report form, which is completed by State animal health
authorities, contains a summary of blood testing work and of flock
participation by classes and breeding status. It is distributed to
Official State Agencies from our offices at the end of the testing year
in June and must be returned to us in July. With this information, we
can publish our Tables on Hatchery and Flock Participation, which serve
as an important tool in monitoring the health status of participating
flocks.
Report of NPIP Hatchery Participation or Change (VS Form 9-5)
This form is completed by the Official State Agency to record an
NPIP participant's decision to withdraw from the program, or to record
a producer's decision to join the program. This document is also used
to record a change in disease program classification. This form allows
us to effectively monitor participation in the NPIP, and to maintain an
up-to-date list of program participants, their addresses, and other
important information concerning their poultry operations.
Investigation of Salmonella and Arizona Isolations (VS Form 9-7)
If a multi-State disease outbreak occurs, the NPIP will conduct an
investigation and share the resulting information with all the States
involved. VS form 9-7 is one of the tools used to
[[Page 1590]]
complete this investigation; it provides the investigating State agency
with a uniform method of compiling and analyzing information that can
subsequently be used to study trends, economic importance, and other
matters. This form is arranged in sections so that the disease
investigations can be completed in stages by different inspectors,
depending upon the location of the flock, hatchery, and breeding flock.
The inspector obtains some of the needed information by interviewing
the appropriate poultry producers. When several States are involved in
a pullorum-typhoid infection, the completed form will be sent to each
of the States involved so that all of them will be aware of the
investigation's outcome.
Sentinel Birds Banded for Identification Prior to Flock Vaccination
When a Federally licensed Salmonella enteritidis bacterin is used
to vaccinate a flock, 350 birds must remain unvaccinated so that they
can be used to conduct the necessary serological tests for Salmonella
pullorum and Salmonella gallinarum. These test birds must be banded so
that they can be recognized as sentinel birds. A report is submitted
annually to APHIS, from the various States, with information from their
participants and data required by the various disease control programs
of the NPIP.
Request for Salmonella Serotyping (VS Form 10-3)
This is a National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) form that
must be completed by State or APHIS personnel who are submitting
samples for salmonella serotyping. If samples were sent to NVSL without
this form, lab personnel would have no way of identifying any given
sample as to the flock from which it came, or even the disease for
which the sample is to be tested.
Printing and Mailing Computerized Printouts
These printouts are constructed by hatchery operators who ship
large numbers of small chick orders all across the United States. These
computerized lists contain all the information found on a VS form 9-3,
but reduce the paperwork load substantially because they are computer
generated. These printouts are sent every month to those States that
request them. The States use these printouts to monitor the number of
small chicks they are receiving.
The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments from the public
(as well as affected agencies) concerning our information collection.
We need this outside input to help us:
(1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
(2) Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, through use, as appropriate, of automated,
electronic, mechanical, and other collection technologies, e.g.,
permitting electronic submission of responses.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting burden for this collection of
information is estimated to average 0.4742 hours per response.
Respondents: Flock owners, breeders, hatchery operators, and State
veterinary medical officers.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 9,000.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 8.8562.
Estimated Annual Number of Responses: 79,706.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 37,797 hours. (Due to
averaging, the total annual burden hours may not equal the product of
the annual number of responses multiplied by the reporting burden per
response.)
All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the
request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of
public record.
Done in Washington, DC, this 7th day of January, 2003.
Peter Fernandez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 03-574 Filed 1-10-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P