[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 189 (Thursday, September 29, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60359-60361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-25097]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Part 305
[Docket No. APHIS-2008-0022]
RIN 0579-AC94
Phytosanitary Treatments; Location of and Process for Updating
Treatment Schedules; Technical Amendment
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.
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SUMMARY: In a final rule that was published in the Federal Register on
January 26, 2010, and effective on February 25, 2010, we amended the
phytosanitary treatment regulations by removing the lists of approved
treatments and treatment schedules from the regulations, while
retaining the general requirements for performing treatments and
certifying or approving treatment facilities. The final rule also
removed treatment schedules from other places where they had been found
in APHIS regulations and provided that approved treatment schedules
will instead be found in the Plant Protection and Quarantine Treatment
Manual, which is available on the Internet. In the final rule, we
neglected to provide for the Administrator of the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service to approve treatments that are not found in
the Treatment Manual, and we did not retain text explaining that
irradiation can be used as a substitute for other treatments. In this
amendment, we are amending the regulation to provide for such approval
of treatments and to restore the text we removed.
DATES: Effective Date: September 29, 2011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Inder P. S. Gadh, Senior Risk
Manager--Treatments, Regulations, Permits, and Manuals, PPQ, APHIS,
4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-0627.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In a final rule that was published in the Federal Register on
January 26, 2010 (75 FR 4228-4253, Docket No. APHIS-2008-0022), and
effective on February 25, 2010, we amended the phytosanitary treatment
regulations in 7 CFR part 305 by removing the lists of approved
treatments and treatment schedules from the regulations, while
retaining the general requirements for performing treatments and
certifying or approving treatment facilities. The final rule also
removed treatment schedules from other places where they had been found
in 7 CFR chapter III.
We replaced the lists of approved treatments that had been in Sec.
305.2 with a general statement in paragraph (b) of that section that
approved treatment schedules are set out in the Plant Protection and
Quarantine (PPQ) Treatment Manual. Paragraph (b) went on to state that
treatments may only be administered in accordance with the treatment
requirements of part 305 and in accordance with treatment schedules
found in the PPQ Treatment Manual. We also amended the general
requirements for performing treatments and certifying or approving
treatment facilities to indicate that such facilities need to be able
to conduct the treatments in the PPQ Treatment Manual.
However, while the PPQ Treatment Manual contains only approved
treatment schedules, it is inappropriate to refer to the PPQ Treatment
Manual as the sole place where approved treatment schedules may be
found and to set requirements for treatment facilities based only on
the treatments in the PPQ Treatment Manual. A treatment schedule is
ultimately approved for use not by dint of its inclusion in the PPQ
Treatment Manual but because the Administrator of the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service has decided that the treatment schedule is
effective at neutralizing the targeted plant pest. Ultimately, the
regulations should refer to approval by the Administrator as the
standard for use of a treatment schedule.
Therefore, we are amending paragraph (b) of Sec. 305.2 to indicate
that treatments may only be administered in accordance with the
requirements of part 305 and in accordance with treatment schedules
approved by the Administrator as effective at neutralizing quarantine
pests. We are also amending paragraph (b) to explicitly indicate that
the treatment schedules found in the PPQ Treatment Manual have been
approved by the Administrator.
[[Page 60360]]
As the regulations in part 305 now indicate that treatment must be
administered in accordance with treatment schedules approved by the
Administrator, it is appropriate to provide a means by which persons
can request that the Administrator approve other treatment schedules.
Therefore, we are adding a new paragraph (c) to Sec. 305.2. This
paragraph indicates that persons who wish to have a treatment schedule
approved by the Administrator as effective at neutralizing a quarantine
pest or pests may apply for approval by submitting the treatment
schedule, along with any supporting information and data, to the Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine,
Center for Plant Health Science and Technology, 1730 Varsity Drive,
Suite 400, Raleigh, NC 27606-5202. Upon receipt of such an application,
the Administrator will review the schedule and the supporting
information and data and respond with approval or denial of the
treatment schedule. If the Administrator determines the treatment
schedule to be of potential general use, the Administrator may add the
new treatment schedule to the PPQ Treatment Manual or revise an
existing schedule, as appropriate, in accordance with the process
described in Sec. 305.3.
To accommodate this change, we are redesignating current paragraph
(c) of Sec. 305.2 as paragraph (d). We are also amending the
definition of PPQ Treatment Manual in Sec. 305.1 to make it clear that
all treatment schedules in the manual are approved by the
Administrator, and we are amending the heading of Sec. 305.3, which
describes the process for adding, revising, or removing treatment
schedules, to indicate that it specifically applies to the PPQ
Treatment Manual.
These changes also necessitate changes in Sec. Sec. 305.5 through
305.9, which set out the requirements for administering chemical
treatment, cold treatment, quick freeze treatment, heat treatment, and
irradiation treatment, respectively. Where these sections have referred
to facilities capable of performing treatments in accordance with
treatment schedules in the PPQ Treatment Manual, they now also refer to
performing treatments in accordance with treatment schedules approved
in accordance with Sec. 305.2. For other references to the PPQ
Treatment Manual in those sections, we have added references to
treatment schedules approved in accordance with Sec. 305.2 as well. A
complete list of these changes can be found in the regulatory text at
the end of this document.
As noted earlier, before the publication of the January 2010 final
rule, Sec. 305.2 listed approved treatments for various articles.
Paragraph (h) of Sec. 305.2 listed approved treatments for fruits and
vegetables. At the beginning of the list, paragraph (h)(1) stated that
irradiation treatment in accordance with part 305 could be substituted
for other approved treatments for any pests for which irradiation was
an approved treatment. For example, several fruits and vegetables may
be treated with cold treatment to neutralize certain fruit flies; as
irradiation is an approved treatment for fruit flies, irradiation for
fruit flies in accordance with part 305 may be substituted for cold
treatment for those fruits and vegetables.
We did not include this text in the revised part 305; it is
contained in the PPQ Treatment Manual, thus confirming that
substitution of irradiation for other approved treatments has been
approved by the Administrator. However, since the publication of the
January 2010 final rule, there has been some confusion among the
regulated community regarding our policy on substituting irradiation
for other approved treatments.
To address this confusion, we are adding a new paragraph (o) to
Sec. 305.9, which contains requirements for performing irradiation
treatment, that describes our policy on substituting irradiation for
other approved treatments. The new paragraph reads: ``Treatment of
fruits and vegetables that are from foreign localities, from Hawaii,
Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or from domestic areas under
quarantine with irradiation in accordance with this section may be
substituted for other approved treatments if the target pests of the
other approved treatments are approved for treatment with irradiation
in the PPQ Treatment Manual or approved for treatment with irradiation
in accordance with Sec. 305.2.''
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 305
Agricultural commodities, Chemical treatment, Cold treatment, Heat
treatment, Imports, Irradiation, Phytosanitary treatment, Plant
diseases and pests, Quarantine, Quick freeze, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.
Accordingly, we are amending 7 CFR part 305 as follows:
PART 305--PHYTOSANITARY TREATMENTS
0
1. The authority citation for part 305 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772 and 7781-7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and
136a; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
0
2. In Sec. 305.1, in the definition of PPQ Treatment Manual, the first
sentence is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 305.1 Definitions.
* * * * *
PPQ Treatment Manual. A document that contains treatment schedules
that are approved by the Administrator for use under this part. * * *
* * * * *
0
3. Section 305.2 is amended as follows:
0
a. By revising paragraph (b) to read as set forth below.
0
b. By redesignating paragraph (c) as paragraph (d).
0
c. By adding a new paragraph (c) to read as set forth below.
Sec. 305.2 Approved treatments.
* * * * *
(b) Treatments may only be administered in accordance with the
requirements of this part and in accordance with treatment schedules
approved by the Administrator as effective at neutralizing quarantine
pests. The treatment schedules found in the PPQ Treatment Manual have
been approved by the Administrator. Treatment schedules may be added to
the PPQ Treatment Manual in accordance with Sec. 305.3. Treatment
schedules may also be approved by the Administrator in accordance with
paragraph (c) of this section.
(c) Persons who wish to have a treatment schedule approved by the
Administrator as effective at neutralizing a quarantine pest or pests
may apply for approval by submitting the treatment schedule, along with
any supporting information and data, to the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Center for Plant
Health Science and Technology, 1730 Varsity Drive, Suite 400, Raleigh,
NC 27606-5202. Upon receipt of such an application, the Administrator
will review the schedule and the supporting information and data and
respond with approval or denial of the treatment schedule. If the
Administrator determines the treatment schedule to be of potential
general use, the Administrator may add the new treatment schedule to
the PPQ Treatment Manual or revise an existing schedule, as
appropriate, in accordance with Sec. 305.3.
* * * * *
0
4. In Sec. 305.3, the section heading is revised to read as follows:
[[Page 60361]]
Sec. 305.3 Processes for adding, revising, or removing treatment
schedules in the PPQ Treatment Manual.
* * * * *
Sec. 305.5 [Amended]
0
5. Section 305.5 is amended as follows:
0
a. In paragraph (a)(1), by adding the words ``or in another treatment
schedule approved in accordance with Sec. 305.2'' after the word
``Manual''.
0
b. In paragraph (c)(1), in the first sentence, by adding the words ``or
in another treatment schedule approved in accordance with Sec. 305.2''
after the word ``Manual''; and, in the second sentence, by adding the
words ``or approved in accordance with Sec. 305.2'' after the word
``Manual''.
0
c. In paragraph (c)(3), in the first sentence, by adding the words ``or
in another approved treatment schedule'' after the word ``Manual''.
Sec. 305.6 [Amended]
0
6. Section 305.6 is amended as follows:
0
a. In paragraph (a) introductory text, by adding the words ``or in
another treatment schedule approved in accordance with Sec. 305.2''
after the word ``Manual''.
0
b. In paragraph (c)(1), by adding the words ``or in another approved
treatment schedule'' after the word ``Manual''.
0
c. In paragraph (d)(14), by adding the words ``or in accordance with
another approved treatment schedule'' after the word ``Manual''.
0
7. Section 305.7 is amended as follows:
0
a. In the second sentence, by removing the word ``the'' before the word
``fruits''.
0
b. By adding a new sentence at the end of the section to read as set
forth below.
Sec. 305.7 Quick freeze treatment requirements.
* * * Requests to authorize quick freeze as a treatment for other
fruits and vegetables may be made in accordance with Sec. 305.2(c).
Sec. 305.8 [Amended]
0
8. In Sec. 305.8, paragraph (a)(1) is amended by adding the words ``or
in another treatment schedule approved in accordance with Sec. 305.2''
after the word ``Manual''.
0
9. Section 305.9 is amended as follows:
0
a. In paragraph (d)(1), by adding the words ``or in another treatment
schedule approved in accordance with Sec. 305.2'' after the word
``Manual''.
0
b. In paragraph (i), by adding the words ``or in another approved
treatment schedule'' after the word ``Manual''.
0
c. In paragraph (j)(2), by adding the words ``or by another approved
treatment schedule'' after the word ``Manual''.
0
d. In paragraph (n), by adding the words ``or the plant pests for which
another treatment schedule is approved in accordance with Sec. 305.2''
after the word ``Manual''.
0
e. By adding a new paragraph (o) to read as set forth below.
Sec. 305.9 Irradiation treatment requirements.
* * * * *
(o) Substitution of irradiation for other treatments. Treatment of
fruits and vegetables that are from foreign localities, from Hawaii,
Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or from domestic areas under
quarantine with irradiation in accordance with this section may be
substituted for other approved treatments if the target pests of the
other approved treatments are approved for treatment with irradiation
in the PPQ Treatment Manual or approved for treatment with irradiation
in accordance with Sec. 305.2.
* * * * *
Done in Washington, DC, this 23rd day of September 2011.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-25097 Filed 9-28-11; 8:45 am]
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