[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 63 (Friday, April 2, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15916-15918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-8154]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 98-113-2]


Pine Shoot Beetle; Addition to Quarantined Areas

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Affirmation of interim rule as final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim 
rule that amended the pine shoot beetle regulations to add 19 counties 
in Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia 
to the list of quarantined areas. This action was necessary to prevent 
the spread of

[[Page 15917]]

the pine shoot beetle, a pest of pine products, into noninfested areas 
of the United States.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The interim rule became effective on December 29, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Christine K. Markham, Regional 
Program Manager, PPQ, APHIS, 505 South Lenola Road, Suite 201, 
Moorestown, NJ, 08057-1549; (609) 757-5073; e-mail: 
Christine.M[email protected]; or Ms. Coanne O'Hern, Operations Officer, 
Domestic and Emergency Programs, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 134, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-8247; e-mail: 
Coanne.E.O'H[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In an interim rule effective December 29, 1998, and published in 
the Federal Register on January 5, 1999 (64 FR 385-387, Docket No. 98-
113-1), we amended the pine shoot beetle regulations in 7 CFR 301.50 by 
designating Hancock, Howard, and Tipton Counties, IN; Chippewa, Delta, 
Leelanau, Marquette, and Schoolcraft Counties, MI; Cortland, Chemung, 
and Onondaga Counties, NY; Belmont, Coshocton, Morgan, Noble, and 
Paulding Counties, OH; Blair and Greene Counties, PA; and Tyler County, 
WV, as quarantined areas, and adding them to the list of quarantined 
areas provided in Sec. 301.50-3(c). In addition, we removed paragraph 
(d) of Sec. 301.50-3 from the regulations. Paragraph (d) contained a 
map that showed the quarantined counties listed in Sec. 301.50-3(c).
    Comments on the interim rule were required to be received on or 
before March 8, 1999. We did not receive any comments. Therefore, for 
the reasons given in the interim rule, we are adopting the interim rule 
as a final rule.
    This action also affirms the information contained in the interim 
rule concerning Executive Orders 12372 and 12988, and the Paperwork 
Reduction Act.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. For this 
action, the Office of Management and Budget has waived its review 
process required by Executive Order 12866.
    This document makes final an interim rule effective December 29, 
1998, and published in the Federal Register on January 5, 1999 (64 FR 
385-387, Docket No. 98-113-1). As part of the interim rule, we 
performed an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, in which we 
invited comments about the interim rule as it related to small 
entities. In particular, we asked for information on the benefits or 
costs that small entities may incur from the implementation of this 
interim rule and the economic impact of those benefits or costs. We did 
not receive any comments on the interim rule, and therefore, received 
no information of the type we requested. We have therefore based this 
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis on the data available to us. 
Based on the information we have, there is no basis to conclude that 
this rule will result in any significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.
    Under the Plant Quarantine Act and the Federal Plant Pest Act (7 
U.S.C. 150bb, 150dd, 150ee, 150ff, 161, 162, and 164-167), the 
Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to regulate the interstate 
movement of articles to prevent the spread of injurious plant pests in 
the United States.
    The PSB regulations impose restrictions on the interstate movement 
of certain regulated articles from quarantined areas in order to 
prevent the spread of PSB into noninfested areas of the United States. 
The interim rule amended these regulations by adding 19 counties in IN, 
MI, NY, OH, PA, and WV to the list of quarantined areas. This action 
was necessary to prevent the spread of PSB, a pest of pine products, 
into noninfested areas of the United States.
    Currently, there are approximately 223 entities in the 19 newly 
regulated counties that may be affected by the quarantine. Of those, 82 
are Christmas tree growers, 85 are tree nurseries, and 28 are 
commercial timber companies or commercial sawmills. Approximately 212 
of the 223 entities are considered small. The following table shows 
these entities by type and state.

                     Distribution of affected entities in 19 counties that were added to the quarantined area for pine shoot beetle
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                                                                                                State
                         Entities                          ------------------------------------------------------------------------------      Total
                                                                 NY           PA           IN           MI           OH           WV
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Christmas tree farms......................................           14            3            3           46           16            0              82
Tree nurseries............................................           15            2            1           45           22            0              85
Commercial timber companies or commercial sawmills........           12            5            0            7            4            0              28
Other types...............................................            0           23            2            0            0            3              28
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    Total entities........................................           41           33            6           98           42            3             223
Small entities............................................           41           25            6           95           42            3             212
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    The Small Business Administration (SBA) defines tree nurseries with 
annual sales of less than $150,000 as small entities. Most tree 
nurseries specialize in production of deciduous landscape products, but 
some also produce pine nursery stock and some produce rooted pine 
Christmas trees. For most of the tree nurseries that produce pine 
nursery stock and rooted pine Christmas trees, these commodities 
comprise a minor share of their products or they service largely local 
populations within the quarantined area. Therefore, we do not expect 
that they will be notably affected by this rule.
    The SBA defines Christmas tree farms with annual sales of less than 
$500,000 as small entities. Most of the Christmas tree farms in the 
newly regulated counties are small entities. Of the 82 Christmas tree 
farms that are in the newly regulated counties, most sell locally to 
choose-and-cut markets. Therefore, they would not be affected by this 
rule. Those Christmas tree farms that ship their Christmas trees and 
tree products outside of the quarantined area would be most affected by 
the quarantine. In some newly quarantined areas, up to 5 percent of the 
Christmas trees are sold through the wholesale market. Christmas tree 
farms in the newly quarantined areas in Michigan, New York, and Ohio 
shipped 6 percent, 12 percent, and 10 percent, respectively,

[[Page 15918]]

of their Christmas trees and tree products to markets outside the 
quarantined areas in 1997. In Pennsylvania, Christmas tree farms in the 
newly quarantined counties shipped all of their Christmas trees and 
tree products outside the quarantined area in 1997. Therefore, the 
Christmas tree farms in the newly quarantined counties in Pennsylvania 
will be most affected by the quarantine.
    Affected businesses can maintain markets outside the regulated 
areas by arranging for inspections and the issuance of certificates or 
limited permits or by fumigating or cold treating the regulated 
articles. Inspection is provided at no cost during normal business 
hours. However, there may be imputed costs to the businesses in 
preparing for the inspections and possible marketing delays. Such costs 
and inconveniences may be more likely for producers of live pine 
nursery stock, since inspection is required of each live plant before 
it may be moved to a nonregulated area. For producers in these counties 
who already have their trees inspected for other pests, another 
inspection may be a relatively small burden, especially when compared 
to the societal benefits of minimizing the human-assisted movement of 
PSB.
    The alternative to the interim rule was to make no changes in the 
regulations. After consideration, we rejected this alternative because 
the quarantine of the 19 counties listed in this document is necessary 
to prevent the artificial spread of PSB.
    This rule contains no reporting or recordkeeping requirements.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 301

    Agricultural commodities, Incorporation by reference, Plant 
diseases and pests, Quarantine, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Transportation.
    Accordingly, we are adopting as a final rule, without change, the 
interim rule that amended 7 CFR 301 and that was published at 64 FR 
385-387 on January 5, 1999.

    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 29th day of March 1999.
Craig A. Reed,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 99-8154 Filed 4-1-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P