[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 83 (Monday, May 2, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 22612-22613]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-8661]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 83 / Monday, May 2, 2005 / Proposed
Rules
[[Page 22612]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Part 319
[Docket No. 03-069-3]
RIN 0579-AB85
Public Meeting; Criteria for New Category of Imported Nursery
Stock
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of meeting and reopening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service will hold a meeting concerning the possibility of
establishing a category of plant taxa excluded pending pest risk
analysis with respect to the importation of plants for planting. In
order to allow interested persons who cannot attend the meeting an
opportunity to prepare and submit comments, we are also reopening the
comment period for our December 2004 advance notice of proposed
rulemaking regarding whether and how we should amend the regulations
concerning the importation of nursery stock.
DATES: The public meeting will be held on May 25, 2005, from 8:30 a.m.
to 5 p.m. We will also consider written comments that we receive on or
before June 3, 2005.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the USDA Center at
Riverside, 4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD. You may submit written
comments by either of the following methods:
EDOCKET: Go to http://www.epa.gov/feddocket to submit or
view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the
official public docket, and to access those documents in the public
docket that are available electronically. Once you have entered
EDOCKET, click on the ``View Open APHIS Dockets'' link to locate Docket
03-069-1.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send four copies
of your comment (an original and three copies) to Docket No. 03-069-1,
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700
River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your
comment refers to Docket No. 03-069-1.
Reading Room: You may read any comments that we receive on Docket
No. 03-069-1 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: You may view APHIS documents published in the
Federal Register and related information on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Arnold T. Tschanz, Senior Staff
Officer, Permits, Registrations and Imports, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River
Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-5306.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 9, 2004, the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published in the Federal Register an
advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) and request for comments
(69 FR 71736-71744, Docket No. 03-069-1) concerning whether and how we
should amend the regulations that govern the importation of nursery
stock. We solicited comments concerning our notice for 90 days, ending
March 10, 2005.
In a notice published in the Federal Register on March 10, 2005 (70
FR 11886, Docket No. 03-069-2), we extended the comment period for
Docket No. 03-069-1 for an additional 30 days ending April 11, 2005, to
allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit
comments.
As described in the December 2004 ANPR, our regulations in
``Subpart--Nursery Stock, Plants, Roots, Bulbs, Seeds, and Other Plant
Products'' (7 CFR 319.37 through 319.37-14) currently either (1)
prohibit the importation of plants for planting, (2) allow the
importation of plants for planting subject to specific restrictions
such as additional declarations on phytosanitary certificates or
postentry quarantine, or (3) allow the importation of plants for
planting subject to general restrictions such as phytosanitary
certificates and inspection at a Federal plant inspection station or
port of entry.
In the ANPR, we solicited comments on the idea of establishing a
new category for certain taxa of plants for planting that would be
excluded from importation pending risk evaluation and approval. As
described in the ANPR, a taxon in this new category would, with certain
exceptions for plants produced under clean stock or best management
practices programs, be excluded from importation until APHIS has
completed a pest risk assessment (PRA) and the PRA indicated that the
taxon could be imported safely. The PRA would provide us an opportunity
to identify any phytosanitary mitigation measures that might be
necessary to safely import plants for planting of that taxon; those
mitigation measures could then be added to the regulations and the
taxon removed from the list of taxa excluded from importation pending
risk evaluation and approval.
We have recently completed a set of draft criteria that could be
used in the decisionmaking process for determining which taxa might be
included in the ``excluded pending'' category, should such a category
be established. The draft criteria may be viewed on the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/Q37/workshop/ or may be obtained from the
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. The draft criteria
are also available in our reading room (information on the location and
hours of the reading room is provided under the heading ADDRESSES at
the beginning of this document).
In order to provide a forum for discussing those draft criteria and
associated issues, such as how any such category might be implemented
were it to be adopted, we will be holding a public meeting on May 25,
2005, in Riverdale, MD. The meeting will use a workshop format to allow
for more effective information exchange between APHIS personnel and
those interested persons who attend the meeting. So that individuals
who are unable to attend the meeting have an opportunity to provide
comments on the draft criteria and the subject of establishing a new
category
[[Page 22613]]
for taxa excluded from importation pending risk evaluation and
approval, we are also reopening the comment period for our December
2004 ANPR until June 3, 2005.
Registration
Due to space considerations, attendance at the public meeting will
be limited. We encourage preregistration. You may register by visiting
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/q37/workshop or by contacting Ms. Linda
Toran by May 20, 2005, at (301) 734-5307 or by e-mail at
[email protected]. Check-in on the day of the meeting will
begin at 7:30 a.m.
Parking and Security Procedures
Please note that a fee of $2.25 is required to enter the parking
lot at the USDA Center at Riverside. The machine accepts $1 bills or
quarters.
Picture identification is required to be admitted into the
building. Upon entering the building, visitors should inform security
personnel that they are attending the Nursery Stock meeting.
Done in Washington, DC, this 26th day of April 2005.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 05-8661 Filed 4-29-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P