[Federal Register: October 12, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 196)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 60542-60543]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12oc04-3]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
9 CFR Part 52
[Docket No. 98-123-7]
RIN 0579-AB10
Pseudorabies in Swine; Payment of Indemnity
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Affirmation of interim rules as final rule.
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SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final rule, without change, two interim
rules that amended the animal health regulations. The first interim
rule established regulations to provide for the payment of indemnity
for the voluntary depopulation of herds of swine known to be infected
with pseudorabies, and the second interim rule amended the regulations
to provide that the indemnity payment will be equal to the difference
between the net salvage received and the fair market value of the swine
destroyed. The second interim rule also provided for the payment of
indemnity for breeding sows destroyed because of pseudorabies. The
interim rules allowed for the payment of indemnity from accelerated
pseudorabies eradication program funds for swine destroyed because of
pseudorabies and were necessary to further pseudorabies eradication
efforts and to protect swine not infected with pseudorabies from the
disease.
DATES: The interim rules became effective January 12, 1999, and April
12, 2000.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Adam Grow, Senior Staff
Veterinarian, Swine Health and Disease Programs, Eradication and
Surveillance Team, National Center for Animal Health Programs, VS,
APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 43, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-
3752.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In an interim rule effective January 12, 1999, and published in the
Federal Register on January 15, 1999 (64 FR 2545-2550, Docket No. 98-
123-2), we established regulations in 9 CFR part 52 to provide for the
payment of indemnity by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) for the voluntary depopulation of herds of swine known to be
infected with pseudorabies. That interim rule, which was intended to
encourage the depopulation of infected herds, was necessary to
accelerate pseudorabies eradication efforts and to protect swine not
infected with pseudorabies from the disease.
We solicited comments concerning the interim rule for 60 days
ending March 16, 1999. In a technical amendment published on March 17,
1999 (64 FR 13064-13065, Docket No. 98-123-3), we extended that comment
period by an additional 30 days. We received two comments by the April
16, 1999, close of the extended comment period. They were from a trade
organization and a U.S. veterinary medical association. The comments
are discussed below.
One commenter requested that APHIS consider amending the
regulations to require that premises depopulated of swine because of
pseudorabies not be restocked for at least 30 days following cleaning
and disinfecting, or until an appropriate length of time has passed as
determined by a pseudorabies epidemiologist.
In response to that comment, we published the March 17, 1999,
technical amendment mentioned above to clarify the provisions contained
in the interim rule regarding the waiting period that must be observed
before restocking premises depopulated because of pseudorabies. In that
technical amendment, we amended the regulations in part 52 to provide
that premises that have been depopulated because of pseudorabies may be
restocked with swine 30 days following an approved cleaning and
disinfection, unless an official pseudorabies epidemiologist determines
that a shorter or longer period of time is adequate or necessary to
protect new animals against infection. Because the March 1999 technical
amendment addressed the commenter's concern, no further response to
that comment is necessary in this document.
Both commenters raised concerns that fell outside of the scope of
the January 1999 interim rule. One commenter recommended that APHIS
increase surveillance to ensure detection of infected animals and
requested that APHIS make available Federal funding for vaccines when
State funding proves inadequate. The second commenter urged APHIS to
increase the speed at
[[Page 60543]]
which herds will be depopulated by developing staging areas at
slaughter facilities that operate overnight and suggested that APHIS
develop a weekly reporting system for herds that have been depopulated
so that the disease status of depopulated premises is made available to
producers and veterinarians. This commenter further recommended that
APHIS develop a final pseudorabies eradication program and encouraged
APHIS to establish and fund a pseudorabies acute outbreak team that
would be responsible for containing an outbreak and developing a clean-
up program.
The January 1999 interim rule established regulations to provide
for the payment of indemnity by APHIS for the voluntary depopulation of
herds of swine known to be infected with pseudorabies. Issues related
to disease surveillance, vaccine program funding, slaughterhouse
operations, reporting systems for herd depopulation, and future and
final stage pseudorabies eradication efforts fall outside the scope of
that rulemaking. Therefore, we are not making any changes to the rule
based on these comments.
Finally, one commenter expressed support for APHIS' payment of
indemnity to producers for the voluntary depopulation of herds infected
with pseudorabies and requested the continued availability of Federal
funding for the pseudorabies indemnity program beyond the 6-month
timeframe announced in the interim rule.
In a notice published in the Federal Register on November 17, 1999
(64 FR 62569-62570, Docket No. 98-123-5), we announced that additional
funds had been allocated for the indemnity program and that the program
would continue until funds are depleted or until further notice. In
that notice, we acknowledged that some States were still conducting
their eradication programs and that we considered it important to the
pseudorabies eradication effort in the United States to continue the
accelerated eradication program beyond the 6-month timeframe stated in
the January 1999 interim rule.
In a subsequent interim rule published on April 18, 2000 (65 FR
20706-20712, Docket No. 98-123-6), we revised the method by which
owners of swine will receive fair market value for their animals under
the accelerated pseudorabies eradication program in order to extend the
funds available to APHIS for the program before these funds are
exhausted. That April 2000 interim rule amended the regulations in part
52 to provide that APHIS will pay owners either the fair market value
of herds of swine depopulated, or the difference between the net
salvage value received for herds of swine disposed of through slaughter
and the fair market value of those animals. The April 2000 interim rule
also allowed owners of breeding sows identified as being infected with
pseudorabies to receive indemnity if those sows are sent directly to
slaughter, even if the remainder of the herd the sow is part of is not
depopulated. These amendments were intended to allow for the payment of
indemnity from accelerated pseudorabies eradication program funds for a
greater number of swine disposed of because they are infected with
pseudorabies.
We solicited comments concerning the April 2000 interim rule for 60
days ending June 19, 2000. We did not receive any comments on that
interim rule.
Therefore, for the reasons given in the interim rules and in this
document, we are adopting the interim rules as a final rule without
change.
This action also affirms the information contained in the interim
rules concerning Executive Order 12866 and the Regulatory Flexibility
Act, and Executive Order 12988.
Further, this action has been determined to be not significant for
the purposes of Executive Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been
reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.
Executive Order 12372
This program/activity is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance under No. 10.025 and is subject to Executive Order 12372,
which requires intergovernmental consultation with State and local
officials. (See 7 CFR part 3015, subpart V.)
Paperwork Reduction Act
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, (44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.), the information collection and recordkeeping
requirements in the interim rules have been approved by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). The assigned OMB control number is 0579-
0137.
List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 52
Animal diseases, Indemnity Payments, Pseudorabies, Swine,
Transportation.
PART 52--SWINE DESTROYED BECAUSE OF PSEUDORABIES
0
Accordingly, we are adopting as a final rule, without change, the
interim rule establishing 9 CFR part 52 that was published at 64 FR
2545-2550 on January 15, 1999, as amended by the technical amendment
published at 64 FR 13064-13065 on March 17, 1999, and by the interim
rule published at 65 FR 20706-20712 on April 18, 2000.
Done in Washington, DC, this 5th day of October 2004 .
Elizabeth E. Gaston,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-22789 Filed 10-8-04; 8:45 am]
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