[Federal Register: January 29, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 19)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 5085]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29ja08-1]
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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 5085]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Part 301
[Docket No. APHIS-2007-0032]
RIN 0579-AC38
Citrus Canker; Interstate Movement of Regulated Nursery Stock
From Quarantined Areas
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Interim rule; reopening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: We are reopening the comment period for our interim rule that
amended the citrus canker quarantine regulations to explicitly
prohibit, with limited exceptions, the interstate movement of regulated
nursery stock from a quarantined area. One of those exceptions was a
provision that allows calamondin and kumquat plants, two types of
citrus plants that have been considered to be highly resistant to
citrus canker, to be moved interstate from a quarantined area under a
protocol designed to ensure that they are free of citrus canker prior
to movement. However, following publication of the interim rule,
several samples from calamondin plants growing in a quarantined area
were found to be infected with citrus canker. Based on that finding, it
appears that it will be necessary to remove calamondin plants from the
protocol when we publish an upcoming rule that will finalize the
interim rule. Before we publish that final rule, however, we are
reopening the comment period for the interim rule to provide interested
persons with an opportunity to prepare and submit comments regarding
calamondin plants and the interstate movement protocol.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
February 28, 2008.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2007-0032
to submit or view comments and
to view supporting and related materials available electronically.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send two copies of
your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2007-0032, 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-2007-0032.
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Stephen Poe, Senior Operations
Officer, Emergency and Domestic Programs, Plant Protection and
Quarantine, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 137, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231;
(301) 734-4387.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On March 22, 2007, we published in the Federal Register (72 FR
13423-13428; Docket No. APHIS-2007-0032) an interim rule \1\ that
amended the citrus canker quarantine regulations to explicitly
prohibit, with certain limited exceptions, the interstate movement of
regulated nursery stock from a quarantined area. The interim rule was
effective on March 16, 2007. We took that action because the interstate
movement of regulated nursery stock from an area quarantined for citrus
canker poses a high risk of spreading citrus canker outside the
quarantined area. The interim rule included two exceptions to the
prohibition. We continued to allow the interstate movement of regulated
nursery stock for immediate export, under certain conditions. We also
allowed calamondin and kumquat plants, two types of citrus plants that
were considered to have a high degree of biological resistance to
citrus canker, to be moved interstate from a quarantined area under a
protocol designed to ensure that they are free of citrus canker prior
to movement.
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\1\ To view the interim rule, comments we received, and all
related documents, go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2007-0032
.
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In July 2007, officials from our Center for Plant Health Science
and Technology (CPHST) confirmed that samples obtained from 15
calamondin plants growing in an area quarantined for citrus canker were
infected with the disease. Based on those findings, we now consider it
probable that the interstate movement of calamondin plants from a
quarantined area, even under the conditions of the protocol, presents a
disease risk pathway for the spread of citrus canker. Therefore, we
consider it prudent to amend the regulations to remove calamondin
plants from the protocol.
We would make that amendment in an upcoming rule that will finalize
our March 2007 interim rule. Accordingly, we are reopening the comment
period for the interim rule for an additional 30 days. This action will
allow interested persons an opportunity to prepare and submit comments
regarding calamondin plants and the interstate movement protocol.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772 and 7781-7786; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80,
371.3.
Section 301.75-15 is 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).
Done in Washington, DC, this 23rd day of January 2008.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E8-1534 Filed 1-28-08; 8:45 am]
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