[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 7, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36608-36609]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-17155]


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 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. 64, No. 129 / Wednesday, July 7, 1999 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 36608]]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 319

[Docket No. 99-037-1]


Environmental Impact Statement for the Importation of 
Unmanufactured Solid Wood Packing Material

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Identification of regulatory alternatives and request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service intends to prepare an environmental impact statement 
in connection with regulations we are considering proposing regarding 
the importation of unmanufactured solid wood packing material. This 
notice identifies potential regulatory alternatives and issues that we 
plan to analyze in the environmental impact statement and requests 
public comment to further delineate the scope of the alternatives and 
issues.

DATES: We invite you to comment on this docket. We will consider all 
comments that we receive by September 7, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Please send your comment and three copies to: Docket No. 99-
037-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03, 
4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that 
your comment refers to Docket No. 99-037-1.
    You may read any comments that we receive on this docket in our 
reading room. The reading room is located in room 1141 of the USDA 
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, 
DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, 
please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.
    APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related 
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who 
have commented on APHIS rules, are available on the Internet at http://
www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Nancy Sweeney, Environmental 
Protection Officer, Environmental Analysis and Documentation, PPD, 
APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 149, Riverdale, MD 20737-1237; (301) 734-
7681; or e-mail: Nancy.E.S[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) is considering amending the regulations on the 
importation of logs, lumber, and other unmanufactured wood articles to 
decrease the risk of solid wood packing material (e.g., crates, 
dunnage, wooden spools, pallets, packing blocks) introducing exotic 
plant pests into the United States. Under the provisions of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4331, et 
seq.), we are required to consider the potential environmental effects 
from the regulations under consideration. The purpose of this notice is 
to inform the public of our intent to prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) and to solicit public comments on the scope of the 
environmental issues to be analyzed in the EIS.
    The regulations in 7 CFR 319.40-1 through 319.40-11 (referred to 
below as the regulations) are intended to mitigate the plant pest risk 
presented by the importation of logs, lumber, and other unmanufactured 
wood articles, including solid wood packing material (SWPM). 
Introductions into the United States of exotic plant pests such as the 
pine shoot beetle and the Asian longhorned beetle have been linked to 
the importation of SWPM. These and other plant pests that could be 
carried by imported SWPM pose a serious threat to U.S. agriculture and 
to natural, cultivated, and urban forests.
    On September 18, 1998, we published an interim rule in the Federal 
Register (63 FR 50100-50111, Docket No. 98-087-1) to require that SWPM 
from China be heat treated, fumigated, or treated with preservatives 
prior to arrival in the United States. We took this action because a 
number of recent incidents, including the introduction of the Asian 
longhorned beetle, demonstrate that China is the largest source of 
exotic plant pests in SWPM imported into the United States. The interim 
rule became effective on December 17, 1998. We amended the interim rule 
in a second interim rule effective and published in the Federal 
Register on December 17, 1998 (63 FR 69539-69543, Docket No. 98-087-4). 
The second interim rule made minor revisions regarding three documents 
in order to better coordinate the requirements of the rule with the 
United States Customs Service's electronic Automated Broker Interface 
system and entry operations procedures.
    On January 20, 1999, we published an advance notice of proposed 
rulemaking in the Federal Register (64 FR 3049-3052, Docket No. 98-057-
1) to seek information and develop regulatory options on the general 
problem of plant pests in SWPM imported from any country. In the 
notice, we requested public comment on what actions would be most 
effective and appropriate to further reduce the risk of SWPM 
introducing exotic plant pests into the United States. We received 102 
comments in response to the advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
    We are now considering proposing regulations to address the problem 
of SWPM introducing exotic plant pests into the United States. We 
intend to prepare an EIS to inform the public and APHIS decisionmakers 
of the potential environmental effects from various regulatory 
alternatives. We are requesting public comments to help us identify 
potential regulatory alternatives and significant environmental issues 
that should be analyzed in the EIS.
    We have identified five alternatives that we plan to consider in 
the EIS, as follows:
     Take no additional regulatory action (i.e., maintain the 
current requirements for importing SWPM, including finalizing the 
requirements established by the September 18 and December 17 interim 
rules concerning importing SWPM from China);
     Apply the same requirements concerning SWPM from China to 
SWPM from the rest of the world (i.e., require SWPM imported from any 
part of the world to be heat treated, fumigated, or treated with 
preservatives prior to arrival in the United States);

[[Page 36609]]

     Impose restrictions--either treatment or ban--on a 
country-by-country basis based on pest risk assessments;
     Prohibit the importation of SWPM in any form from any 
country;
     Prohibit the importation of SWPM except for types of SWPM 
that are intended for extended, multiple shipment use and are: 100 
percent free of bark, either kiln dried to an industrial standard or 
heat treated to a minimum of 71.1  deg.C for 75 minutes, and marked so 
as to be easily identifiable.
    We specifically requested comments on some of these alternatives in 
the advance notice of proposed rulemaking. All of the alternatives were 
addressed or identified in comments submitted in response to the 
advance notice of proposed rulemaking. We would like comments on these 
alternatives and on other alternatives that should be analyzed in the 
EIS.
    We will analyze the potential effects of each regulatory 
alternative on the human environment, including possible risks to human 
health, and the potential effects on forests, biodiversity, and 
nontarget species in the United States. We are also interested in 
comments that identify other issues that should be analyzed in the EIS. 
Potential issues include identification of treatment methods other than 
those currently approved in the regulations (currently approved 
treatments are heat treatment, heat treatment with moisture reduction, 
surface pesticide treatment, methyl bromide fumigation, and 
preservative treatment) and the ability to effectively monitor 
compliance with potential alternatives.
    Comments regarding the proposed scope of the EIS are welcome and 
will be fully considered. When the draft EIS is completed, a notice 
announcing its availability and an invitation to comment on it will be 
published in the Federal Register.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 30th day of June 1999.
Craig A. Reed,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 99-17155 Filed 7-6-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P