[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 137 (Monday, July 19, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 42849-42850]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-16280]
========================================================================
Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published
under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
Prices of new books are listed in the first FEDERAL REGISTER issue of each
week.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 137 / Monday, July 19, 2004 / Rules
and Regulations
[[Page 42849]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Part 301
[Docket No. 04-002-2]
Asian Longhorned Beetle; Quarantined Areas
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Affirmation of interim rule as final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim
rule that amended the Asian longhorned beetle regulations by adding a
portion of Cook County, IL, to the list of quarantined areas and
restricting the interstate movement of regulated articles from those
areas. The interim rule also removed other portions of Cook County, IL,
and portions of DuPage County, IL, from the list of quarantined areas
and removed restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated
articles from these areas. These actions were necessary to prevent the
spread of the Asian longhorned beetle to noninfested areas of the
United States and to relieve restrictions on certain areas that are no
longer necessary.
DATES: Effective Date: The interim rule became effective on March 3,
2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael B. Stefan, Director of
Emergency Programs, Pest Detection and Management Programs, PPQ, APHIS,
4700 River Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-4387.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) is an insect native to China,
Japan, Korea, and the Isle of Hainan. It is a destructive pest of
hardwood trees. In addition, nursery stock, logs, green lumber,
firewood, stumps, roots, branches and debris of half an inch or more in
diameter are also subject to infestation. The ALB regulations (7 CFR
301.51-1 through 301.51-9) restrict the interstate movement of
regulated articles from quarantined areas to prevent the artificial
spread of ALB to noninfested areas of the United States.
The regulations in Sec. 301.51-3(a) provide that the Administrator
of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will list as
a quarantined area each State, or each portion of a state, in which ALB
has been found by an inspector, in which there is reason to believe ALB
is present, or because of the area's inseparability for quarantine
enforcement purposes from localities where ALB has been found.
In an interim rule effective March 3, 2004, and published in the
Federal Register on March 8, 2004 (69 FR 10599-10601, Docket No. 04-
002-1), we amended the ALB regulations by adding a portion of Cook
County, IL, to the list of quarantined areas in Sec. 301.51-3(c) and
restricting the interstate movement of regulated articles from the
quarantined area. We also removed other portions of Cook County, IL,
and portions of DuPage County, IL, from the list of quarantined areas.
We solicited comments concerning the interim rule for 60 days
ending May 7, 2004. We received one comment by that date, from a
private citizen.
The commenter was in favor of the interim rule's additon of the
portion of Cook County, IL, to the list of quarantined areas. However,
the commenter requested that we reconsider our decision to remove parts
of Cook and DuPage Counties, IL, from the list of quarantined areas in
order to decrease the likelihood of future ALB infestation in those
areas.
While we realize that there is always the possibility of ALB
reinfestation, APHIS does not believe a continuation of the quarantine
in the areas removed by the interim rule is necessary or warranted. As
stated in Sec. 301.51-3(a) of the regulations, an area may be listed
as a quarantined area if ALB have been found by an inspector, if there
is reason to believe ALB are present, or if the area is inseparable
from other quarantined areas for purposes of enforcement. The last
evidence of ALB found in these areas was on December 2, 2000, near
Addison in DuPage County, IL, and on August 18, 1999, in that portion
of the Village of Summit, IL. Those areas have also been determined to
be sufficiently far from other quarantined areas for the removal of the
quarantine to be considered safe. Though we do not believe further
regulation of these areas is necessary, we will continue to survey them
to ensure that ALB does not reappear.
Therefore, for the reasons given in the interim rule and in this
document, we are adopting the interim rule as a final rule without
change.
This action also affirms the information contained in the interim
rule concerning Executive Orders 12866, 12372, and 12988, and the
Paperwork Reduction Act.
Further, for this action, the Office of Management and Budget has
waived its review under Executive Order 12866.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
This rule affirms an interim rule that amended the ALB regulations
by adding a portion of Cook County, IL, to the list of quarantined
areas and by removing other portions of Cook County, IL, and DuPage
County, IL, from the list of quarantined areas. In the interim rule, we
stated that we were taking those actions on an immediate basis to
prevent the spread of ALB to noninfested areas of the United States and
to remove restrictions on areas in which the ALB is no longer present.
The following analysis addresses the economic effects of the
interim rule on small entities, as required by the Regulatory
Flexibility Act. The small businesses potentially affected by the
interim rule are nurseries, arborists, tree removal services, and
firewood dealers located within the areas added to and removed from the
list of quarantined areas.
Within the quarantined area added by the interim rule there is only
one business potentially affected, a firewood dealer. This business
could be affected by the regulations in two ways. First, if the
business wishes to move regulated articles interstate from a
quarantined area, that business must either: (1) Enter into a
compliance agreement with APHIS for the inspection and certification of
regulated articles to be moved interstate from the quarantined
[[Page 42850]]
area; or (2) present its regulated articles for inspection by an
inspector and obtain a certificate or a limited permit, issued by the
inspector, for the interstate movement of regulated articles. The
inspections may be inconvenient, but not costly; businesses operating
under a compliance agreement would perform the inspections themselves
and for those businesses that elect not to enter into a compliance
agreement, APHIS would provide the services of an inspector without
cost. There is also no cost for the compliance agreement, certificate,
or limited permit for the interstate movement of regulated articles.
Second, there is a possibility that, upon inspection, a regulated
article could be determined by the inspector to be potentially infested
with the ALB and, as a result, the inspector would not issue a
certificate. In this case, the entity's ability to move regulated
articles interstate would be restricted. However, the affected entity
could conceivably obtain a limited permit under the conditions of Sec.
301.51-5(b). Whether or not the affected entity would be denied
certificates as a result of inspections of regulated articles is
unknown. However, because it is located in a densely populated urban
area, the firewood dealer is more likely to be receiving regulated
articles from outside the quarantined area than it is to be shipping
regulated articles interstate to nonquarantined areas. It is unlikely,
therefore, that the firewood dealer would be moving regulated articles
that would require inspection in the first place.
The interim rule removed two areas from the list of quarantined
areas. One area, the Village of Summit in Cook County, IL, encompasses
0.92 square mile. Within that area, there are no known potentially
affected business entities. The other area removed, Addison in DuPage
County, IL, encompasses 0.81 square mile. Within that 0.81 square mile
area, there are six potentially affected business entities, four tree
companies and two landscape companies. These six entities stand to
benefit from the interim rule, since they are no longer subject to the
restrictions in the regulations. However, any benefit for these six
entities is likely to be minimal. While the size of the six entities is
unknown, it is reasonable to assume that they would be classified as
small entities, based on the U.S. Small Business Administration's size
standards.
Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action will
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 301
Agricultural commodities, Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.
PART 301--DOMESTIC QUARANTINE NOTICES
0
Accordingly, we are adopting as a final rule, without change, the
interim rule that amended 7 CFR part 301 and that was published at 69
FR 10599-10601 on March 8, 2004.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
Section 301.75-15 also issued under Sec. 204, Title II, Pub. L.
106-113, 113 Stat. 1501A-293; sections 301.75-15 and 301.75-16 also
issued under Sec. 203, Title II, Pub. L. 106-224, 114 Stat. 400 (7
U.S.C. 1421 note).
Done in Washington, DC, this 13th day of July, 2004.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-16280 Filed 7-16-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P