[Federal Register: August 20, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 160)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 46373-46375]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20au07-1]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents
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[[Page 46373]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Part 301
[Docket No. APHIS-2007-0104]
Asian Longhorned Beetle; Additions to Quarantined Areas in New
York
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Interim rule and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We are amending the Asian longhorned beetle regulations by
expanding the boundaries of the quarantined areas in New York and
restricting the interstate movement of regulated articles from these
areas. This action is necessary to prevent the artificial spread of the
Asian longhorned beetle to noninfested areas of the United States.
DATES: This interim rule is effective August 20, 2007. We will consider
all comments that we receive on or before October 19, 2007.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov
, select ``Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service'' from the agency drop-down menu, then click ``Submit.'' In the
Docket ID column, select APHIS-2007-0104 to submit or view public
comments and to view supporting and related materials available
electronically. Information on using Regulations.gov, including
instructions for accessing documents, submitting comments, and viewing
the docket after the close of the comment period, is available through
the site's ``User Tips'' link.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send four copies
of your comment (an original and three copies) to Docket No. APHIS-
2007-0104, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-
03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state
that your comment refers to Docket No. APHIS-2007-0104.
Reading Room: 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.
Other Information: Additional information about APHIS and its
programs is available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael B. Stefan, ALB National
Coordinator, Emergency and Domestic Programs, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River
Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-4387.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB, Anoplophora glabripennis), an
insect native to China, Japan, Korea, and the Isle of Hainan, is a
destructive pest of hardwood trees. It attacks many healthy hardwood
trees, including maple, horse chestnut, birch, poplar, willow, and elm.
In addition, nursery stock, logs, green lumber, firewood, stumps,
roots, branches, and wood debris of half an inch or more in diameter
are subject to infestation. The beetle bores into the heartwood of a
host tree, eventually killing the tree. Immature beetles bore into tree
trunks and branches, causing heavy sap flow from wounds and sawdust
accumulation at tree bases. They feed on, and over-winter in, the
interiors of trees. Adult beetles emerge in the spring and summer
months from round holes approximately three-eighths of an inch in
diameter (about the size of a dime) that they bore through branches and
trunks of trees. After emerging, adult beetles feed for 2 to 3 days and
then mate. Adult females then lay eggs in oviposition sites that they
make on the branches of trees. A new generation of ALB is produced each
year. If this pest moves into the hardwood forests of the United
States, the nursery, maple syrup, and forest product industries could
experience severe economic losses. In addition, urban and forest ALB
infestations will result in environmental damage, aesthetic
deterioration, and a reduction in public enjoyment of recreational
spaces.
The regulations in 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. Recent surveys conducted in New York by inspectors of the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have revealed that
infestations of ALB have occurred on Prall's Island and in an area of
Staten Island in Richmond County. These areas are outside the existing
quarantined areas, and are in close proximity to the Middlesex/Union
County quarantined area in New Jersey and could potentially reinfest
that area. Officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and
officials of State, county, and city agencies in New York are
conducting intensive survey and eradication programs in the infested
area, and the State of New York has quarantined the infested area and
is restricting the intrastate movement of regulated articles from the
quarantined area to prevent the further spread of ALB within that
State. However, Federal regulations are necessary to restrict the
interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined area to
prevent the spread of ALB to other States and other countries.
The regulations in Sec. 301.51-3(a) provide that the Administrator
of APHIS will list as a quarantined area each State, or each portion of
a State, in which ALB has been found by an inspector, where the
Administrator has reason to believe that ALB is present, or where the
Administrator considers regulation necessary because of its
inseparability for quarantine enforcement purposes from localities
where ALB has been found. Less than an entire State will be quarantined
only if (1) the Administrator determines that the State has adopted and
is enforcing restrictions on the intrastate movement of regulated
articles that are equivalent to those imposed by the regulations on the
interstate movement of regulated articles and (2) the designation of
less
[[Page 46374]]
than an entire State as a quarantined area will be adequate to prevent
the artificial spread of ALB. In accordance with these criteria and the
recent ALB findings described above, we are amending the list of
quarantined areas in Sec. 301.51-3(c) to include an additional area in
Richmond County, NY. The expanded quarantined area is described in the
regulatory text at the end of this document.
Emergency Action
This rulemaking is necessary on an emergency basis to prevent the
artificial spread of ALB to noninfested areas of the United States.
Under these circumstances, the Administrator has determined that prior
notice and opportunity for public comment are contrary to the public
interest and that there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553 for making
this rule effective less than 30 days after publication in the Federal
Register.
We will consider comments we receive during the comment period for
this interim rule (see DATES above). After the comment period closes,
we will publish another document in the Federal Register. The document
will include a discussion of any comments we receive and any amendments
we are making to the rule.
Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act
This interim rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866.
For this action, the Office of Management and Budget has waived its
review under Executive Order 12866.
This interim rule amends the ALB regulations by expanding the
boundaries of the quarantined areas in New York and restricting the
interstate movement of regulated articles from these areas. This action
is necessary to prevent the artificial spread of the ALB to noninfested
areas of the United States.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires that agencies
consider the economic impact of their rules on small entities, such as
small businesses, organizations, and governmental jurisdictions. The
businesses potentially affected by this rule are nurseries, tree care
services, firewood retailers, lawn maintenance and landscaping
companies, general contractors, garden centers, recyclers of waste
material, and lumber and building material outlets. These businesses
could be affected by the regulations in two ways. First, if a 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 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).
Additionally, entities may incur additional costs in disposing of
regulated articles such as wood debris from tree pruning and removal.
Within the quarantined area added by this interim rule, there are
approximately 15 entities potentially affected, including 2 nursery
dealers, 1 nursery grower, 6 landscaping companies, 3 general
contractors, 2 transfer stations, and a compost facility. While the
size of these entities is unknown, it is reasonable to assume that most
would be classified as small entities, based on the U.S. Small Business
Administration's size standards.
Because the newly regulated area is primarily urban, the entities
located in that area are more likely to be receiving regulated articles
from outside the quarantined area than they are to be shipping
regulated articles interstate to nonquarantined areas. It is unlikely,
therefore, that most entities located in the newly regulated area would
be moving regulated articles that would require inspection in the first
place.
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.
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.)
Executive Order 12988
This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil
Justice Reform. This rule: (1) Preempts all State and local laws and
regulations that are inconsistent with this rule; (2) has no
retroactive effect; and (3) does not require administrative proceedings
before parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This interim rule contains no information collection or
recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 301
Agricultural commodities, Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.
0
Accordingly, we are amending 7 CFR part 301 as follows:
PART 301--DOMESTIC QUARANTINE NOTICES
0
1. The authority citation for part 301 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772 and 7781-7786; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80,
and 371.3.
Section 301.75-15 issued under Sec. 204, Title II, Public Law
106-113, 113 Stat. 1501A-293; sections 301.75-15 and 301.75-16
issued under Sec. 203, Title II, Public Law 106-224, 114 Stat. 400
(7 U.S.C. 1421 note).
0
2. In Sec. 301.51-3, paragraph (c), under the entry for New York, the
entry for New York City is amended by designating the text as paragraph
(1) and adding a new paragraph (2) to read as follows:
Sec. 301.51-3 Quarantined areas.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
New York
New York City. * * *
(2) That area in the Borough of Richmond in the City of New York
bounded by a line drawn as follows: Beginning at a point on the New
York/New Jersey State line due north of the intersection of Richmond
Terrace and South Avenue; then south from that point to the
intersection of South Avenue and Richmond Terrace; then south on South
Avenue to Fahy Avenue; then east on Fahy Avenue to Arlene Street; then
south on Arlene Street until
[[Page 46375]]
it becomes Park Drive North; then south on Park Drive North to
Rivington Avenue; then east on Rivington Avenue to Mulberry Avenue;
then south on Mulberry Avenue to Travis Avenue; then northwest on
Travis Avenue to the point where it crosses Main Creek; then south
along the west shoreline of Main Creek to Fresh Kills Creek; then west
along the north shoreline of Fresh Kills Creek to Little Fresh Kills
Creek; then west along the north shoreline of Little Fresh Kills Creek
to the Arthur Kill; then west to the New York/New Jersey State line in
the Arthur Kill; then north along the New York/New Jersey State line to
the point of beginning.
* * * * *
Done in Washington, DC, this 14th day of August 2007.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E7-16297 Filed 8-17-07; 8:45 am]
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