[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 13, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 20569-20570]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-8773]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
9 CFR Part 11
[Docket No. APHIS-2011-0006]
Horse Protection Act; Petition for Amendments to Regulations
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: We are notifying the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service has received a petition requesting changes to our
horse protection regulations and our current enforcement practices and
related policies regarding those regulations. We are making this
petition available to the public for review and comment. We are noting,
however, that certain requests in the petition lack authority in the
Horse Protection Act to implement.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before June
13, 2011.
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-2011-0006 to submit or view comments and
to view supporting and related materials available electronically.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send one copy of
your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2011-0006, 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-2011-0006.
Reading Room: You may read any comments that we receive on the
petition 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: Dr. Rachel Cezar, Horse Protection
Program National Coordinator, Animal Care, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit
84, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238; (301) 734-5784.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Horse Protection Act (HPA, 15 U.S.C. 1821-1831) authorizes the
Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate regulations prohibiting the
showing, exhibition, transport, or sale of horses subjected to soring,
a practice of accentuating a horses' gait through the infliction of
pain. The Secretary of Agriculture has delegated the responsibility for
enforcing the HPA to the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS). Exercising its rulemaking authority under
the Act, APHIS enforces regulations that are contained in 9 CFR part
11, referred to below as the regulations, that prohibit, among other
things, devices and methods that might sore horses.
In a petition sent on August 4, 2010, The Humane Society of the
United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, the American Horse Protection Association, Inc., Friends of
Sound Horses, Inc., and former Senator Joseph D. Tydings (referred to
below as the petitioners) requested that APHIS change its regulations
and policies regarding the protection of horses from the practice of
soring. The petitioners' requests included permanently disqualifying
horses that have been scarred from soring from competitions,
permanently disqualifying repeat violators of the HPA, requiring horse
industry
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organizations to impose minimum penalties for violations, and
decertifying noncompliant horse industry organizations.
The HPA does not provide APHIS with the authority to implement
certain requests in the petition. Specifically, APHIS does not have the
authority under the HPA to permanently disqualify horses that have been
scarred from soring from competitions, nor does APHIS have the
authority to permanently disqualify repeat violators of the HPA. The
disqualification provisions and penalty provisions are clearly
enumerated in the HPA.
You may review the petition and submit comments through the
Regulations.gov Web site (see ADDRESSES above for instructions for
accessing Regulations.gov). We welcome all comments on the issues
outlined in the petition. We are particularly interested in receiving
comments regarding those areas where APHIS has existing authority under
the HPA. We encourage the submission of scientific data, studies, or
research to support your comments and position, including scientific
data or research that supports any industry or professional standards
that pertain to horse care. We also invite data on the costs and
benefits associated with any recommendations. We will consider all
comments and recommendations we receive.
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1823-1825 and 1828; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and
371.7.
Done in Washington, DC, this 7th day of April 2011.
Gregory L. Parham,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-8773 Filed 4-12-11; 8:45 am]
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