[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 134 (Friday, July 14, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32528-32529]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-14812]
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Notices
Federal Register
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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. 82, No. 134 / Friday, July 14, 2017 /
Notices
[[Page 32528]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2017-0034]
Notice of Request for Approval of an Information Collection;
Changes to the National Poultry Improvement Plan Program Standards
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: New information collection; comment request.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's
intention to request approval of a new information collection
associated with changes we are making to the National Poultry
Improvement Plan Program Standards pertaining to the
compartmentalization of primary poultry breeding establishments and
approval of compartment components such as farms, feedmills,
hatcheries, and egg depots.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
September 12, 2017.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2017-0034.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2017-0034, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2017-
0034 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: For information on the National
Poultry Improvement Plan Program Standards, contact Dr. Denise Brinson,
DVM, Senior Coordinator, National Poultry Improvement Plan, VS, APHIS,
USDA, 1506 Klondike Road, Suite 101, Conyers, GA 30094-5104; (770) 922-
3496. For copies of more detailed information on the information
collection, contact Ms. Kimberly Hardy, APHIS' Information Collection
Coordinator, at (301) 851-2483.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Changes to the National Poultry Improvement Plan Program
Standards.
OMB Control Number: 0579-XXXX.
Type of Request: Approval of a new information collection.
Abstract: The National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) is a
voluntary Federal-State-industry mechanism for controlling certain
poultry diseases and for improving poultry breeding flocks and products
through disease control techniques.
The cooperative work is carried out through Memoranda of
Understanding with the participating States. Specific NPIP provisions
are contained at parts 56, 145, 146, and 147 of Title 9, Code of
Federal Regulations. Veterinary Services (VS) within the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) administers these regulations.
The NPIP has an existing information collection under Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approval number 0579-0007. This
supplemental information collection, which will be merged into 0579-
0007 at its next renewal, covers activities added by amending the NPIP
Program Standards.
On July 12, 2016, we published a notice \1\ in the Federal Register
(81 FR 45121-45122, Docket No. APHIS-2016-0013) advising the public
that we had prepared updates to the NPIP Program Standards.
Specifically, we proposed to add provisions for compartmentalization of
primary poultry breeding establishments and approval of compartment
components, such as farms, feedmills, hatcheries, and egg depots. These
proposed provisions included requirements for applying for
compartmentalization of facilities and for facility design and
management, as well as an outline of the auditing system APHIS proposed
to use to evaluate compartments and their component operations.
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\1\ To view the notice and comments we received, go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2016-0013.
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Compartmentalization is a procedure a country may implement to
define and manage animal subpopulations of distinct health status and a
common biosecurity program within its territory, in accordance with the
guidelines in the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)
Terrestrial Animal Health Code for the purpose of disease control and
international trade. Compartmentalization may also enable continued
interstate movement of breeding stock to domestic customers and
operations if future low pathogenic avian influenza and/or highly
pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks occur.
Under the amended NPIP Standards proposed in the July 2016 notice,
APHIS would recognize companies and associated entities as compartments
on its receipt and review of application forms. These forms would be
reviewed and signed by the Official State Agency administering the NPIP
on APHIS' behalf at the State level and approved by the NPIP national
office. Once the application was approved, an auditor would be assigned
to assess and inspect all components of the compartment. If all
components passed inspection, NPIP would notify the company of its
compartment certification and the list of certified components within
the compartment. Recertification of components would take place every
year.
Prospective auditors would have to meet defined criteria and apply
to the NPIP for acceptance as certified auditors to conduct assessments
of prospective compartments.
In the July 2016 notice we indicated that in accordance with
section 3507(d) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.), we had determined that there were reporting and recordkeeping
burdens associated with the proposed compartmentalization requirements.
We also stated that we would publish a
[[Page 32529]]
separate document in the Federal Register announcing our determination
of burden and soliciting comments on it.
APHIS is asking OMB to approve, for 3 years, its use of these
information collection activities in connection with APHIS' efforts to
continually improve the health of the U.S. poultry population and the
quality of U.S. poultry products.
The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments from the public
(as well as affected agencies) concerning our information collection.
These comments will help us:
(1) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including
whether the information will have practical utility;
(2) Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the burden of the
collection of information, including the validity of the methodology
and assumptions used;
(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, through use, as appropriate, of automated,
electronic, mechanical, and other collection technologies; e.g.,
permitting electronic submission of responses.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting burden for this collection of
information is estimated to average 2.22 hours per response.
Respondents: Official State Agencies, prospective auditors,
certified auditors, and breeding-hatchery companies and associated
entities.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 25.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 26.
Estimated Annual Number of Responses: 660.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 1,463 hours.
(Due to rounding, the total annual burden hours may not equal the
product of the annual number of responses multiplied by the average
reporting burden per response).
All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the
request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of
public record.
Done in Washington, DC, on July 10, 2017.
Michael C. Gregoire,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-14812 Filed 7-13-17; 8:45 am]
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