[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Page 6681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02406]
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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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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 25 / Friday, February 6, 2015 /
Notices
[[Page 6681]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2014-0100]
Notice of Availability of Proposed Changes to the National
Poultry Improvement Plan Program Standards
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that proposed changes to the
National Poultry Improvement Plan Program Standards are available for
review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before March
9, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-0100.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2014-0100, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
The proposed standards and any comments we receive may be viewed at
http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-0100 or in our
reading room, which 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)
799-7039 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Denise Brinson, DVM, Director,
National Poultry Improvement Plan, VS, APHIS, USDA, 1506 Klondike Road,
Suite 101, Conyers, GA 30094-5104; (770) 922-3496.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP,
also referred to below as ``the Plan'') is a cooperative Federal-State-
Industry mechanism for controlling certain poultry diseases. The Plan
consists of a variety of programs intended to prevent and control
poultry diseases. Participation in all Plan programs is voluntary, but
breeding flocks, hatcheries, and dealers must first qualify as ``U.S.
Pullorum-Typhoid Clean'' as a condition for participating in the other
Plan programs.
The Plan identifies States, flocks, hatcheries, dealers, and
slaughter plants that meet certain disease control standards specified
in the Plan's various programs. As a result, customers can buy poultry
that has tested clean of certain diseases or that has been produced
under disease-prevention conditions.
The regulations in 9 CFR parts 145, 146, and 147 (referred to below
as the regulations) contain the provisions of the Plan. The Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS, also referred to as ``the
Service'') of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA, also referred
to as ``the Department'') amends these provisions from time to time to
incorporate new scientific information and technologies within the
Plan.
In the past, APHIS has updated the regulations once every 2 years,
following the Biennial Plan Conference. However, with the continual
changes in diagnostic science and testing technology and in best
practices for maintaining sanitation, the biennial update schedule has
occasionally resulted in the regulations becoming out of date between
updates. In some instances, tests have also been difficult to render
properly in the regulations due to the need to describe flow charts or
diagrams in a narrative format.
On July 9, 2014, we published in the Federal Register (79 FR 38752-
38768, Docket No. APHIS-2011-0101) a final rule \1\ that, among other
things, amended the regulations by removing tests and detailed testing
procedures, as well as sanitation procedures, from part 147, and making
these available in an NPIP Program Standards document.\2\ The rule also
amended the regulations to provide for the Program Standards document
to be updated through the issuance of a notice in the Federal Register
followed by a period of public comment. This action was intended to
make the NPIP program more effective by streamlining the provisions of
the Plan, keeping those provisions current with changes in the poultry
industry, and providing for the use of new approved sampling and
testing procedures without the need for rulemaking.
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\1\ To view the final rule and related documents, go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0101.
\2\ This document may be viewed on the NPIP Web site at http://www.poultryimprovement.org/documents/ProgramStandardsAugust2014.pdf,
or by writing to the Service at National Poultry Improvement Plan,
APHIS, USDA, 1506 Klondike Road, Suite 101, Conyers, GA 30094.
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We are advising the public that we have prepared updates to the
NPIP Program Standards document. The proposed updates include changes
to blood testing procedures for mycoplasma, bacteriological examination
procedure changes for Salmonella, and the addition of new approved
diagnostic test kits. After reviewing any comments we receive on the
proposed updates, we will publish a second notice in the Federal
Register announcing our decision regarding the proposed changes.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 8301-8317; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4.
Done in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of February 2015.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-02406 Filed 2-5-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P