[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 21 (Wednesday, January 31, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 3176-3177]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-1855]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 92-139-9]


Pine Shoot Beetle

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Affirmation of interim rules as final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are affirming, without change, the pine shoot beetle 
regulations, as established and amended by a series of interim rules 
published in the Federal Register between November 1992 and January 
1995. The regulations quarantine portions of several States and 
restrict the interstate movement of regulated articles from those areas 
to prevent the artificial spread of the pine shoot beetle into 
noninfested areas of the United States. The pine shoot beetle is a 
highly destructive pest of pine trees.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 1, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Steve Knight, Senior Operations 
Officer, Domestic and Emergency Operations, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road 
Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236, (301) 734-7935.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The pine shoot beetle is a highly destructive pest of pine trees. 
The pine shoot beetle can cause damage in weak and dying trees, where 
reproduction and immature stages of pine shoot beetle occur, and in the 
new growth of healthy trees. During ``maturation feeding,'' young 
beetles bore up the center of pine shoots (usually of the current 
year's growth), causing stunted and distorted growth in the host trees. 
The pine shoot beetle is also a vector of several diseases of pine 
trees. Adults can fly at least 1 kilometer, and infested trees and pine 
products are often transported long distances. This pest damages urban 
trees and can cause economic losses to the timber, Christmas tree, and 
nursery industries.
    Pine shoot beetle hosts include all pine species. The beetle has 
been found in a variety of pine species (Pinus spp.) in the United 
States. Scotch pine (P. sylvestris) is the preferred host of the pine 
shoot beetle.
    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) established 
regulations at 7 CFR 301.50 through 301.50-10 (referred to below as the 
regulations) to prevent the artificial spread of the pine shoot beetle 
into noninfested areas of the United States.
    The regulations were established and refined by a series of interim 
rules, beginning with Docket 92-139-1, which was effective on November 
13, 1992, and published in the Federal Register on November 19, 1992 
(57 FR 54492-54499). Docket 92-139-1 quarantined 42 counties in 
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and 
established restrictions on the interstate movement of various 
articles, including pine trees, from the quarantined areas. We 
solicited comments on the interim rule for 60 days ending January 19, 
1993. We received 96 comments by that date from nurseries, Christmas 
tree producers, State governments, and others. Nearly all asked us to 
ease restrictions by establishing a mechanism for allowing all pine 
nursery stock to be certified for interstate movement by visual 
inspection.
    Docket 92-139-2, effective January 19, 1993, and published in the 
Federal Register on January 28, 1993 (58 FR 6346-6348), established the 
requested visual inspection protocol for pine nursery stock and 
provided an alternative treatment for pine Christmas trees. It also 
quarantined one additional county in Illinois. We solicited comments on 
the interim rule for 60 days ending March 29, 1993. We received six 
comments by that date from a nursery association, State governments, 
and others. One simply expressed support; the others encouraged APHIS 
to continue to examine treatment and inspection processes.
    In response to these comments APHIS continued to examine its 
treatment and inspection processes. As a result, Dockets 92-139-3 
through 92-139-8 further amended the regulations by removing fir, 
larch, and spruce from the list of regulated articles, relieving 
certain restrictions on logs and lumber of pine, allowing visual 
certification of certain pine transplants, providing a new and less 
harsh methyl bromide treatment schedule for cut pine Christmas trees, 
and adding pine stumps and pine bark nuggets (including bark chips) to 
the list of regulated articles. In addition, these dockets added 8 
counties in Illinois, 13 counties in Indiana, 33 counties in Michigan, 
10 counties in New York, 4 counties in Ohio, and 7 counties in 
Pennsylvania to the list of quarantined areas.
    These interim rules were effective and published as follows: Docket 
92-139-3, effective May 13, 1993, and published May 13, 1993 (58 FR 
28333-28335); Docket 92-139-4, effective June 23, 1993, and published 
June 29, 1993 (58 FR 34681-34683); Docket 92-139-5, effective November 
23, 1993, and published November 30, 1993 (58 FR 63024-63027); Docket 
92-139-6, effective August 1, 1994, and published August 5, 1994 (59 FR 
39937-39941); Docket 92-139-7, effective October 14, 1994, and 
published October 20, 1994 (59 FR 52891-52894); and Docket 92-139-8, 
effective December 29, 1994, and published January 9, 1995 (60 FR 2321-
2323). We solicited comments on each interim rule for 60 days, and 
received a total of four comments, three in support and one expressing 
concern about enforcement of the regulations. The enforcement concerns 
involve the availability of money and persons to enforce the 
regulations, and not the need for changes in the regulations.
    This document affirms, without change, the pine shoot beetle 
regulations, as established and amended by the interim rules listed 
above.
    This action also affirms the information contained in the interim 
rules concerning Executive Orders 12291 and 12866 and the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act, Executive Orders 12372 and 12778, and the Paperwork 
Reduction Act.
    For this action, the Office of Management and Budget has waived the 
review process required by Executive Order 12866.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 301

    Agricultural commodities, Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine, 

[[Page 3177]]
    Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.

    Accordingly, we are adopting as a final rule, without change, the 
regulations at 7 CFR 301.50 through 301.50-10, as established and 
amended by interim rules published at: 57 FR 54492-54499 on November 
19, 1992; at 58 FR 6346-6348 on January 28, 1993; at 58 FR 28333-28335 
on May 13, 1993; at 58 FR 34681-34683 on June 29, 1993; at 58 FR 63024-
63027 on November 30, 1993; at 59 FR 39937-39941 on August 5, 1994; at 
59 FR 52891-52894 on October 20, 1994; and at 60 FR 2321-2323 on 
January 9, 1995.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 150bb, 150dd, 150ee, 150ff, 161, 162, and 
164-167; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.2(c).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 25th day of January 1996.
Lonnie J. King,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 96-1855 Filed 1-30-96; 8:45 am]
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