[Federal Register: March 12, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 47)]
[Notices]
[Page 10704-10705]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12mr09-19]
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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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[[Page 10704]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Correction
March 6, 2009.
The Department of Agriculture has submitted the following
information collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. Comments
regarding (a) whether the collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy
of the agency's estimate of burden including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology should be addressed to: Desk
Officer for Agriculture, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), OIRA_Submission@OMB.EOP.GOV or
fax (202) 395-5806 and to Departmental Clearance Office, USDA, OCIO,
Mail Stop 7602, Washington, DC 20250-7602. Comments regarding these
information collections are best assured of having their full effect if
received within 30 days of this notification. Copies of the
submission(s) may be obtained by calling (202) 720-8958.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information
unless the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB
control number and the agency informs potential persons who are to
respond to the collection of information that such persons are not
required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays
a currently valid OMB control number.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Title: Importation of Christmas Cactus and Easter Cactus in Growing
Media from the Netherlands and Denmark.
OMB Control Number: 0579-0266.
Summary of Collection: Under the Plant Protection Act (PPA) (7
U.S.C. 7701-7772), the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to
prohibit or restrict the importation, entry, or movement of plants and
plant pests to prevent the introduction of plant pests into the United
States or their dissemination within the United States. The regulations
contained in ``Subpart-Nursery Stock, Plants, Roots, Bulbs, Seeds, and
Other Plant Products,'' prohibit or restrict, among other things the
importation of living plants, plant parts, and seeds for propagation.
Christmas cactus and Easter cactus established in growing media are now
allowed to be imported into the United States from the Netherlands and
Denmark under certain conditions.
Need and Use of the Information: The Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) requires a phytosanitary certificate and a
declaration stating the plants were grown in accordance with specific
conditions, an agreement between APHIS and the plant protection
services of the country where the plants are grown, and an agreement
between the foreign plant protection service and the grower. The
information is used as a guide to the intensity of the inspection that
APHIS must conduct when the shipment arrives. Without this information,
all shipments would need to be inspected very thoroughly, thereby
requiring considerably more time.
Description of Respondents: Business or other for-profit; Federal
Government.
Number of Respondents: 20.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 120.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Title: Importation of Peppers from Certain Central American
Countries.
OMB Control Number: 0579-0274.
Summary of Collection: Under the Plant Protection Act (PPA) (7
U.S.C. 7701-7772), the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to carry
out operations or measures to detect, eradicate, suppress, control,
prevent, or retard the spread of plant pests new to the United States
or not known to be widely distributed throughout the United States.
Regulations authorized by the PPA concerning the importation of fruits
and vegetables into the United States from certain parts of the world
are contained in ``Subpart Fruits and Vegetables'' (7 CFR 319.56-1
through 319.56-47). The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) amended the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow certain
type of peppers grown in approved registered production sites in Costa
Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua to be imported,
under certain conditions, into the United States without treatment.
Need and Use of the Information: The regulations require the use of
information collection activities including inspections by Central
American national plant protection organization officials, fruit fly
trapping, monitoring, recordkeeping, box labeling, and phytosanitary
certificate. Failing to collect this information would cripple APHIS'
ability to ensure that peppers from Central America are not carrying
fruit flies.
Description of Respondents: Not-for-profit institutions.
Number of Respondents: 245.
Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping; Reporting: On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 2,999.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Title: Importation of Peppers from the Republic of Korea.
OMB Control Number: 0579-0282.
Summary of Collection: Under the Plant Protection Act (PPA) (7
U.S.C. 7701-7772), the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to carry
out operations or measures to detect, eradicate, suppress, control,
prevent, or retard the spread of plant pests new to the United States
or not known to be widely distributed throughout the United States.
Regulations authorized by the PPA concerning the importation of fruits
and vegetables into the United States from certain parts of the world
are contained in ``Subpart Fruits and Vegetables'' (7 CFR 319.56-1
through 319.56-47). The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) amended the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the
[[Page 10705]]
importation of peppers from the Republic of Korea under certain
conditions. As a condition of entry, the peppers would have to be grown
in approved insect-proof, pest-free greenhouses and packed in pest-
exclusionary packinghouses.
Need and Use of the Information: Each shipment of pepper from the
Republic of Korea must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate of
inspection with a declaration issued by the National Plant Quarantine
Service of Korea officials stating the peppers were grown in
greenhouses in accordance with the regulations in 7 CFR 319-56-42 and
found free of certain plant pests. Failing to collect this information
would cripple APHIS' ability to ensure that peppers from Korea are not
carrying plant pests and would cause millions of dollars in damage to
U.S. agriculture.
Description of Respondents: Not-for-profit institutions.
Number of Respondents: 2.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 308.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Title: Importation of Small Lots of Seeds Without Phytosanitary
Certificates.
OMB Control Number: 0579-0285.
Summary of Collection: Under the Plant Protection Act (PPA) (7
U.S.C. 7701-7772), the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to
prohibit or restrict the importation, entry, or movement of plants and
plant pests to prevent the introduction of plant pests into the United
States or their dissemination within the United States. The regulations
contained in ``Subpart--Nursery Stock, Plants, Roots, Bulbs, Seeds, and
Other Plant Products,'' prohibit or restrict, among other things the
importation of living plants, plant parts, and seeds for propagation.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) amended the
nursery stock regulations to allow the importation of small lots of
seed under an import permit with specific conditions, as an alternative
to the current phytosanitary certificate requirements. This change was
necessary because several entities that import small lots of seed had
difficulty obtaining the necessary certificates and have been adversely
affected by the phytosanitary certificate requirement.
Need and Use of the Information: APHIS' Plant Protection and
Quarantine program will issue a permit indicating the applicable
conditions for importation if, after reviewing the application, the
articles are deemed eligible to be imported into the United States
under the conditions specified in the permit. Permits would be issued
at the discretion of APHIS to any importer, whether an individual or an
organization, who would then send the permit to the overseas supplier.
A certificate of inspection in the form of a label is required to be
attached to each carton of the articles and to an airway bill of lading
or delivery tick accompanying the articles. Each seed packet must be
clearly labeled with the name of the collector/shipper, the country or
origin, and the scientific name at least to the genus level, and
preferably to the species level. Without the information APHIS could
not verify that imported nursery stock does not present significant
risk of introducing plant pests and plant disease into the United
States.
Description of Respondents: Individuals or households; business or
other for-profit.
Number of Respondents: 1,600.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 740.
Ruth Brown,
Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. E9-5301 Filed 3-11-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P