[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 251 (Tuesday, December 31, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 79836-79837]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-33001]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

9 CFR Part 77

[Docket No. 02-021-3]


Tuberculosis in Cattle and Bison; State and Zone Designations; 
Texas: Delay of Compliance Date

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim Rule; delay of compliance date.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In an interim rule amending the bovine tuberculosis 
regulations to classify the State of Texas as modified accredited 
advanced, we delayed the date for compliance with certain 
identification and certification requirements in those regulations 
until January 1, 2003. In this action, we are further delaying the date 
for compliance until September 30, 2003. This action will allow 
affected parties additional time to make necessary preparations to 
comply with certain requirements.

DATES: The date for complying with certain requirements of 9 CFR 77.10 
for sexually intact heifers, steers, and spayed heifers moving 
interstate from the State of Texas (see ``Tuberculosis in Cattle and 
Bison; State and Zone Designations; Texas,'' published in the Federal 
Register on June 6, 2002 [67 FR 38841-38844, Docket No. 02-021-1]) is 
September 30, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Joseph Van Tiem, Senior Staff 
Veterinarian, National Animal Health Programs, VS, APHIS, 4700 River 
Road Unit 43, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-7716.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On June 6, 2002, we published an interim rule in the Federal 
Register (67 FR 38841-38844, Docket No. 02-021-1) amending the bovine 
tuberculosis regulations in 9 CFR part 77 regarding State and zone 
classifications by removing the split-State status of Texas and 
classifying the entire State as modified accredited advanced. Under

[[Page 79837]]

the regulations in Sec.  77.10 for certain cattle or bison originating 
in a modified accredited advanced State or zone, cattle or bison that 
are not known to be infected with or exposed to tuberculosis must meet 
certain identification, certification, and testing requirements prior 
to being moved interstate.
    In the interim rule, we delayed, until January 1, 2003, the date 
for compliance with the following interstate movement requirements for 
the State of Texas, except for the former modified accredited advanced 
zone in El Paso and Hudspeth Counties, TX:
    [sbull] The identification of sexually intact heifers moving to 
approved feedlots and steers and spayed heifers (Sec.  77.10(b));
    [sbull] The identification requirements for sexually intact heifers 
moving to feedlots that are not approved feedlots (Sec.  77.10(d)); and
    [sbull] Because identification is required for certification, the 
certification requirements for sexually intact heifers moving to 
unapproved feedlots (Sec.  77.10(d)).
    We delayed compliance of these requirements for two reasons. First, 
the size of the cattle industry in Texas necessitated additional time 
to implement the identification requirements of the regulations. These 
additional identification requirements would require obtaining 
identification devices, developing procedures and processes for 
numbering the identification devices, and possibly developing a new 
State-Federal system to record the identification, if the existing 
State-Federal system is not adequate. Second, some cattle that had 
begun moving through channels prior to the change in Texas' 
tuberculosis status would not have been identified at their premises of 
origin. We agreed with the State of Texas to allow those cattle to 
complete their movement through normal industry channels. We would then 
begin enforcing certain provisions of the regulations on cattle that 
would be identified at their premises of origin.
    The State of Texas has requested that we extend the compliance date 
to allow State animal health officials and other affected parties 
additional time to make preparations for complying with the 
identification and certification requirements outlined above. As noted 
in the interim rule, the two affected herds were depopulated, and a 
complete epidemiological investigation into the potential sources of 
the disease was conducted. We heightened our surveillance activities at 
slaughtering plants in Texas and in surrounding States. Also, since the 
fall of 2001, no affected herds have been detected in the State of 
Texas. Based on comments that we received on the interim rule, it 
appears that the tuberculosis risk associated with the movement of 
nonbreeding cattle through channels to slaughter is low and that 
identification requirements for certain cattle destined for slaughter 
may be unnecessary. We are currently considering proposing changes to 
the regulations as a result of those comments. Therefore, we are 
further delaying the date for compliance with the identification and 
certification requirements of Sec.  77.10(b) and (d) until September 
30, 2003. As stated in the interim rule, this delay in compliance does 
not apply to the movement of cattle from the former modified accredited 
advanced zone in El Paso and Hudspeth Counties, TX.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 8301-8317; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 20th day of December 2002.
Peter Fernandez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 02-33001 Filed 12-30-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P