[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 233 (Thursday, December 4, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 64133-64134]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-31755]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 233 / Thursday, December 4, 1997 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 64133]]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 97-038-3]


Gypsy Moth Generally Infested Areas

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Affirmation of interim rules as final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final rule, without change, two interim 
rules that amended the gypsy moth quarantine and regulations by adding 
Wisconsin to the list of States quarantined because of gypsy moth and 
by adding areas in Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin to the 
list of generally infested areas. These changes affect eight areas in 
Ohio, eight areas in Virginia, six areas in West Virginia, and four 
areas in Wisconsin. The interim rules were necessary in order to impose 
certain restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles 
to prevent the artificial spread of gypsy moth.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Affirmation effective December 4, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Coanne E. O'Hern, Operations Officer, 
Domestic and Emergency Programs, PPQ, APHIS, suite 4C10, 4700 River 
Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236, (301) 734-8247, or e-mail 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    We recently published two interim rules amending the gypsy moth 
quarantine and regulations. In the first interim rule, effective and 
published in the Federal Register on May 30, 1997 (62 FR 29286-29287, 
Docket No. 97-038-1), we amended Sec. 301.45(a) of the regulations by 
adding Wisconsin to the list of States quarantined because of gypsy 
moth. We also amended Sec. 301.45-3(a) of the regulations, which lists 
generally infested areas, by adding Guernsey and Ottawa Counties in 
Ohio; Appomattox, Brunswick, Campbell, Charlotte, Halifax, Lunenburg, 
Mecklenburg, and Pittsylvania Counties in Virginia; Webster County in 
West Virginia; and Brown, Door, Kewaunee, and Manitowoc Counties in 
Wisconsin to the list of generally infested areas.
    In the second interim rule, effective and published in the Federal 
Register on July 9, 1997 (62 FR 36645-36646, Docket No. 97-038-2), we 
amended Sec. 301.45-3(a) of the regulations by adding Belmont, 
Coshocton, Harrison, Holmes, Monroe, and Tuscarawas Counties in Ohio; 
and Doddridge, Harrison, Lewis, Tyler, and Upshur Counties in West 
Virginia to the list of generally infested areas.
    These actions were necessary in order to impose certain 
restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles to 
prevent the artificial spread of gypsy moth.
    Comments on the first interim rule (Docket No. 97-038-1) were 
required to be received on or before July 29, 1997. Comments on the 
second interim rule (Docket No. 97-038-2) were required to be received 
on or before September 8, 1997. We did not receive any comments on 
either interim rule. The facts presented in the interim rules still 
provide a basis for the rules.
    This action also affirms the information contained in the interim 
rules concerning Executive Orders 12866, 12372, and 12988, and the 
Paperwork Reduction Act.
    Further, for this action, the Office of Management and Budget has 
waived the review process required by Executive Order 12866.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This action affects the interstate movement of regulated articles 
and outdoor household articles from and through gypsy moth regulated 
areas in Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. There are 
several types of restrictions that apply to these newly quarantined 
areas in these States. These restrictions will have their primary 
impact on persons moving outdoor household articles, nursery stock, 
logs and wood chips, and mobile homes interstate from a generally 
infested area to any area that is not generally infested.
    Under the regulations, outdoor household articles (OHA) may not be 
moved interstate from a generally infested area unless they are 
accompanied by either a certificate issued by an inspector or an OHA 
document issued by the owner of the articles, attesting to the absence 
of any life stage of the gypsy moth. Most individual homeowners moving 
their own articles who comply with the regulations choose to self-
inspect and issue an OHA document. This takes a few minutes and 
involves no monetary cost. Individuals may also have State certified 
pesticide applicators, trained by the State or U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA), inspect and issue certificates.
    With two exceptions, regulated articles (for example, logs, 
pulpwood, and wood chips; mobile homes; and nursery stock) may not be 
moved interstate from a generally infested area to any area that is not 
generally infested unless they are accompanied by a certificate or 
limited permit issued by an inspector. The first exception is that a 
regulated article may be moved from a generally infested area without a 
certificate if it is moved by the USDA for experimental or scientific 
purposes and is accompanied by a permit issued by the Administrator of 
the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The second exception is 
that logs, pulpwood, and wood chips may be moved without a certificate 
or limited permit if the person moving the articles attaches a 
statement to the waybill stating that he or she has inspected the 
articles and has found them free of any lifestage of the gypsy moth. 
This exception minimizes costs with regard to logs, pulpwood, and wood 
chips.
    Persons moving mobile homes and nursery stock interstate from a 
generally infested area to any area that is not generally infested may 
obtain a certificate or limited permit from an inspector or a qualified 
certified applicator. Inspectors will issue these documents at no 
charge, but costs may result from delaying the movement of commercial 
articles while waiting for the inspection. Documents self-issued under 
a compliance agreement avoid these delay costs but result in costs 
associated with salary and recordkeeping for the self-inspections.

[[Page 64134]]

    When inspection of regulated articles or outdoor household articles 
reveals gypsy moth, treatment is often necessary. Treatment is done by 
qualified certified applicators, which are private businesses that 
charge, on the average, $50 to $100 to treat a shipment of articles. 
Most qualified certified applicators are small businesses. By declaring 
an area as a generally infested area, the regulations may increase 
business for qualified certified applicators located in generally 
infested areas. It is estimated that these businesses will average $50 
to $150 per month in additional income per business. A few of the newly 
quarantined counties contain large urban areas that may have several 
hundred shipments annually containing outdoor household articles that 
will require inspection to move interstate from the generally infested 
area. Thus, there will likely be a need to train additional qualified 
certified applicators in those areas.
    Entities in the newly quarantined areas that will incur the most 
costs from the interim rules will be establishments moving trees or 
shrubs with roots, such as nurseries. We estimate that approximately 60 
such establishments move approximately 165 shipments of trees and 
shrubs each year from the newly quarantined areas. All of these 
establishments are believed to be small entities. These establishments 
will need to be inspected, either by an inspector or through self-
inspection under a compliance agreement. If the inspection reveals 
signs of gypsy moth, the establishment will have to be treated in order 
to ship regulated articles outside the generally infested area. We 
estimate that annually, approximately 5 of these establishments will 
require treatment, and that the average area to be treated will be 20 
acres. At an average treatment cost of $10 to $20 per acre, the average 
total annual cost to each establishment would be $200 to $400.
    The Christmas tree industry and establishments that sell other 
forest products and that move their products interstate will also bear 
direct costs from the interim rules. There are approximately 689 farms 
that sell forest products and Christmas trees in the newly quarantined 
areas. These account for 9.4 percent of the total number of such farms 
in Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. All of these 
establishments are believed to be small entities. Services of an 
inspector will be available without charge to inspect these farms and 
issue certificates and permits. We estimate that less than four percent 
of all these farms will be found to contain gypsy moth and, therefore, 
require treatment in order to ship trees. It is expected that, in most 
cases, Christmas tree farms will be free of gypsy moth and Christmas 
tree growers will meet the requirements for certification by having 
inspectors certify that the tree farms are free from gypsy moth. This 
alternative is less costly than inspecting or treating each individual 
shipment of trees and will thus minimize the economic impact of the 
change to the regulations for the newly quarantined areas.
    Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action will 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 301

    Agricultural commodities, Incorporation by reference, Plant 
diseases and pests, Quarantine, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Transportation.

PART 301--DOMESTIC QUARANTINE NOTICES

    Accordingly, we are adopting as a final rule, without change, two 
interim rules that amended 7 CFR part 301 and that were published at 62 
FR 29286-29287 on May 30, 1997, and 62 FR 36645-36646 on July 9, 1997.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 147a, 150bb, 150dd, 150ee, 150ff, 161, 162, 
and 164-167; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.2(c).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 26th day of November 1997.
Craig A. Reed,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 97-31755 Filed 12-3-97; 8:45 am]
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