[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 13, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41990-41991]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-20675]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
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 

  Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 157 / Tuesday, August 13, 1996 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 41990]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket 96-016-12]


Karnal Bunt; Public Forum

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public forum.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service is hosting an additional public forum on the 
Agency's program to control and eradicate Karnal bunt. Four other 
forums have been held or announced. The fifth forum will provide an 
additional opportunity for the public to comment on the regulations 
established and amended by a series of interim rules published in the 
Federal Register since March, 1996, and to comment on proposed changes 
to the regulations contained in a proposed rule published in the 
Federal Register on August 2, 1996. The regulations quarantine portions 
of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas because of infestations 
of Karnal bunt, restrict the movement of regulated articles from the 
quarantined areas, and provide compensation for certain individuals in 
order to mitigate losses and expenses incurred because of Karnal bunt. 
Comments will also be accepted addressing any aspect of the Karnal bunt 
program not included in the regulations, including control and survey 
activities conducted in the quarantined areas, the national Karnal bunt 
survey program, and the certification of wheat for export. Information 
gathered at the public forum will be considered by the Department in 
developing guidelines and procedures for conducting the Karnal bunt 
program for the 1996-97 wheat growing season.

DATES: The public forum will be held in Las Cruces, NM, on Tuesday, 
August 20, 1996, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public forum will be held at the Best Western-Mesilla 
Valley Inn, Aspen West Room, 901 Avenida de Mesilla, Las Cruces, New 
Mexico, (505) 524-8603.
    Any persons who are unable to attend the forum, but who wish to 
comment on any aspect of the Karnal bunt program, may send written 
comments. Please send an original and three copies of written comments 
to Docket No. 96-016-12, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, 
APHIS, Suite 3C03, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. 
Please state that your comments refer to Docket No. 96-016-12. Comments 
received, including transcripts from the public forum, may be inspected 
at USDA, room 1141, South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue 
SW., Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except holidays. Persons wishing to inspect comments are 
requested to call ahead on (202) 690-2817 to facilitate entry into the 
comment reading room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Stephen Poe, Operations Officer, 
Domestic and Emergency Operations, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 
134, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236, (301) 734-8247.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The public forum is being held concerning 
the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS) program to 
control and eradicate Karnal bunt. Comments will be accepted on the 
regulations established and amended by a series of interim rules 
published by APHIS in the Federal Register since March, 1996, and on a 
proposed rule published in the Federal Register on August 2, 1996 (61 
FR 40354-40361, Docket No. 96-016-10).
    The interim rules were published on March 28, 1996 (61 FR 13649-
13655, Docket No. 96-016-3), April 25, 1996 (61 FR 18233-18235, Docket 
No. 96-016-5), and July 5, 1996 (61 FR 35107-35109, Docket No. 96-016-6 
and 61 FR 35102-35107, Docket No. 96-016-7). A public forum was held in 
Washington, DC, on July 17, 1996, and a notice of public forums 
scheduled for Kansas City, MO, Phoenix, AZ, and Imperial, CA, was 
published in the Federal Register on August 2, 1996 (61 FR 40361-40362, 
Docket No. 96-016-11). Written comments on the interim rules and the 
proposed rule are required to be received by September 3, 1996.
    A representative of the United States Department of Agriculture 
(USDA) will preside at the public forum. Any interested person may 
appear and be heard in person, or through an attorney or other 
representative. Persons who wish to speak at the public forum will be 
asked to provide their names and affiliations. Parties wishing to make 
oral presentations may register in advance by calling the Legislative 
and Public Affairs staff of APHIS, USDA, at (202) 720-2511 before 5 
p.m. e.d.s.t. on August 16, 1996. Registration will also be held at the 
forum site from 8 a.m. until 8:45 a.m. on the day of the forum. 
Speakers will be scheduled in the order their registration is received.
    The public forum will begin at 9 a.m. and is scheduled to end at 5 
p.m. local time. However, the forum may be terminated at any time after 
it begins if all persons desiring to speak have been heard. The 
presiding officer may limit the time for each presentation so that all 
interested persons have an opportunity to participate. Attendees who 
wish to speak but who did not register will be provided time to speak 
only after all registered speakers have been heard.
    The purpose of the forum is to give interested persons an 
opportunity for oral presentation of data, views, and information to 
the Department concerning APHIS' program to control and eradicate 
Karnal bunt. Questions about the content of the interim rules and the 
proposed rule concerning Karnal bunt may be part of the commenters' 
oral presentations. However, neither the presiding officer nor any 
other representative of the Department will respond to the comments on 
the interim rules or proposed rule at the forum, except to clarify or 
explain provisions of the interim rules and the proposed rule.
    We ask that anyone who reads a statement provide two copies to the 
presiding officer at the forum. A transcript will be made of the public 
forum and the transcript will be placed in the rulemaking record and 
will be available for public inspection.


[[Page 41991]]


    Done in Washington, DC, this 8th day of August 1966.
Terry L. Medley,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 96-20675 Filed 8-9-96; 9:21 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P