[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 160 (Friday, August 19, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-20407]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 19, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 24

RIN 1018-AC36

 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designated Ports 
for Listed Plants

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) hereby amends the 
regulations that establish designated ports for the importation, 
exportation, and reexportation of plants by adding the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture (USDA) ports at Gulfport, MS, Portland, OR, and 
Vancouver, WA, as designated ports for the importation of logs and 
lumber from trees that are listed as endangered or threatened under the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), or listed under the 
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna 
and Flora (CITES). The USDA has adequate facilities and personnel at 
these ports to qualify the ports as designated ports for the 
importation, exportation, and reexportation of plants under the terms 
of the Act and CITES. The addition of these ports to the list of 
designated ports will facilitate trade and the enforcement of the Act 
and CITES.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 19, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marshall P. Jones, Chief, Office of 
Management Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1849 C Street 
NW., (MS 420 C ARLSQ), Washington, DC 20240, telephone (703) 358-2093.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), requires, 
among other things, that plants be imported, exported, or reexported 
only at designated ports or, under certain limited circumstances, at 
nondesignated ports. Section 9(f) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1538[f]) 
provides for the designation of ports. Under section 9(f)(1), the 
Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) has the authority to establish 
designated ports based on a finding that such an action would 
facilitate enforcement of the Act and reduce the costs of that 
enforcement. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the 
Secretary are responsible for enforcing provisions of the Act and the 
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna 
and Flora (CITES) relating to the importation, exportation, and 
reexportation of plants listed as endangered or threatened under the 
Act or listed under CITES.
    The regulations in 50 CFR part 24, ``Importation and Exportation of 
Plants,'' are for the purpose of establishing ports for the 
importation, exportation, and reexportation of plants. Plants that are 
listed as endangered or threatened in 50 CFR 17.12 or in the appendices 
to CITES in 50 CFR 23.23 are required to be accompanied by 
documentation and may be imported, exported, or reexported only at one 
of the USDA ports listed in section 24.12(a) of the regulations. 
Certain other USDA ports are designated for the importation, 
exportation, or reexportation of specific listed plants. Section 
24.12(e) of the regulations contains a list of USDA ports that are, for 
the purposes of the Act and CITES, designated ports for the 
importation, exportation, and reexportation of plants that are not 
listed as endangered or threatened. (The USDA regulations in 7 CFR 
319.37 contain additional prohibitions and restrictions governing the 
importation of plants through those ports.)
    In a March 24, 1994, Federal Register notice (59 FR 13921), the 
Service proposed that the USDA ports at Gulfport, MS, Portland, OR, and 
Vancouver, WA, be listed as designated ports for the importation of 
logs and lumber from trees that are listed as endangered or threatened 
under the Act or listed under CITES.

Comments Submitted

    The Service's March 24, 1994, notice invited the submission of 
written comments regarding the proposal for a 60-day comment period 
ending on May 23, 1994. One comment was received by that date, from a 
lumber company. The commenter fully supported the proposed rule.

Requests for Public Hearing

    Section 9(f)(1) of the Act provides that any person may request an 
opportunity to comment at a public hearing before the Secretary of the 
Interior confers designated port status on any port. Accordingly, the 
Service's March 24, 1994, notice invited public hearing requests, which 
were required to be received by the Service on or before May 9, 1994. 
No such requests were received.

Treasury Department Approval To Designate Proposed Ports

    Section 9(f)(1) of the Act also provides, in part, that:
    ``For the purpose of facilitating enforcement of this chapter and 
reducing costs thereof, the Secretary of the Interior, with approval of 
the Secretary of the Treasury and after notice and opportunity for 
public hearing, may, by regulation, designate ports and change such 
designations.''
    Approval from the Secretary of the Treasury was obtained in 
accordance with these provisions.
    Therefore, based on the rationale set forth in the proposed rule, 
the Service is adopting the provisions of the proposal as a final rule.

Effective Date

    The effect of this rule is to grant an exemption from 16 U.S.C. 
1538(f), which generally prohibits importation of wildlife and plants 
except at such ports as may be designated. Accordingly, it may be given 
immediate effect under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1), which permits a rule that 
``grants or recognizes an exemption or relieves a restriction'' to be 
given immediate effect.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This rule was not subject to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    The Service believes that establishing the USDA ports at Gulfport, 
MS, Portland, OR, and Vancouver, WA, as designated ports for the 
importation of logs and lumber from trees listed as endangered or 
threatened under the Act or listed under CITES will have a positive 
economic impact. These ports are major ports of entry for logs and 
lumber, but they had not been designated as ports for the importation 
of logs and lumber from listed trees (prior to the effective date of 
this rule). Presently, importers wishing to import logs and lumber from 
listed trees into a U.S. port on the Gulf of Mexico can use only 
Mobile, AL, New Orleans, LA, and Houston and Brownsville, TX. Importers 
wishing to import logs and lumber from listed trees into a port in the 
northwestern United States have only the port of Seattle, WA. Adding 
Gulfport, MS, Portland, OR, and Vancouver, WA, to the list of 
designated ports for the importation of logs and lumber from trees 
listed as endangered or threatened under the Act or listed under CITES 
will result in a savings in time and transportation costs for importers 
of logs and lumber.
    Under these circumstances, the Service has determined that this 
action will not have a significant economic effect on a substantial 
number of small entities, as described in the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (5 U.S.C. 601).

National Environmental Policy Act

    The Service has determined that this final rule adding designated 
ports under authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 for the 
importation of plants is not a major Federal action which will 
significantly affect the quality of the human environment within the 
meaning of section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This final rule contains no information collection or recordkeeping 
requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 24

    Endangered and threatened species, exports, harbors, imports and 
plants.

    Accordingly, we are amending 50 CFR part 24 as follows:

PART 24--IMPORTATION AND EXPORTATION OF PLANTS

    1. The authority citation for part 24 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Secs. 9(f)(1), 11(f), Pub. L. 93-205, 87 Stat. 893, 
897 (16 U.S.C. 1538(f)(1), 1540(f)).


Sec. 24.12  [Amended]

    2. In Sec. 24.12, paragraph (e) is amended by adding the words 
``Gulfport, Mississippi;'' after ``Baltimore, Maryland;'', by adding 
the words ``Portland, Oregon;'' after ``Wilmington and Morehead City, 
North Carolina;'', and by removing the words ``and Norfolk, Virginia,'' 
and adding the words ``Norfolk, Virginia; and Vancouver, Washington,'' 
in their place.

    Dated: July 18, 1994.
George T. Frampton,
Assistant Secretary, Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 94-20407 Filed 8-18-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P