[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 213 (Thursday, November 4, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60088-60092]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-28876]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 99-080-1]


Citrus Canker Regulations

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim rule and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are amending the citrus canker regulations to allow citrus 
fruit produced outside the quarantined areas to be moved into a 
quarantined area for packing and then moved from that quarantined area 
to any destination in the United States, including commercial citrus-
producing areas. The citrus fruit produced outside the quarantined 
areas would have to be moved and handled according to specific 
conditions designed to prevent the artificial spread of citrus canker, 
including conditions to prevent its commingling with, and possible 
contamination by, citrus fruit produced within a quarantined area. We 
are taking this action to relieve unnecessary restrictions on regulated 
fruit originating outside a quarantined area but packed within a 
quarantined area.

DATES: This interim rule was effective October 29, 1999. We invite you 
to comment on this docket. We will consider all comments that we 
receive by January 3, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Please send your comment and three copies to: Docket No. 99-
080-1, 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. 99-080-1.
    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: Mr. Stephen Poe, Operations Officer, 
Program Support Staff, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 134, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-8247.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Citrus canker is a plant disease that affects plants and plant 
parts, including fresh fruit, of citrus and citrus relatives (Family 
Rutaceae). Citrus canker can cause defoliation and other serious damage 
to the leaves and twigs of susceptible plants. It can also cause 
lesions on the fruit of infected plants, which renders the fruit 
unmarketable, and cause infected fruit to drop from the trees before 
reaching maturity. The aggressive A (Asiatic) strain of citrus canker 
can infect susceptible plants rapidly and lead to extensive economic 
losses in commercial citrus-producing areas.
    The regulations to prevent the interstate spread of citrus canker 
are contained in 7 CFR 301.75-1 through 301.75-14 (referred to below as 
the regulations). The regulations restrict the interstate movement of 
regulated articles from and through areas quarantined because of citrus 
canker and provide conditions under which regulated fruit may be moved 
into, through, and from quarantined areas for packing. The regulations 
currently list parts of Broward, Collier, Dade, and Manatee Counties, 
FL, as quarantined areas for citrus canker.
    Among the entities that are affected by the restrictions of the 
regulations are producers of regulated fruit and packing plants that 
handle regulated fruit. With regard to the packing and movement of 
regulated fruit, the regulations have provided for the three sets of 
circumstances that may face producers and packers when areas within a 
State are quarantined for citrus canker:
     The regulated fruit is both produced and packed in a 
quarantined area (Sec. 301.75-7(a));
     The regulated fruit is produced in a quarantined area and 
packed outside the quarantined areas (Sec. 301.75-4(d)(2)(ii)); and
     The regulated fruit is produced outside the quarantined 
areas and packed in a quarantined area (Sec. 301.75-7(b)).
    In each of these three situations, the regulations provide specific 
conditions that must be met in order for the fruit to qualify for 
interstate movement after packing, and in each case the regulated fruit 
may not be moved into commercial citrus-producing areas of the United 
States after packing.

[[Page 60089]]

    When the most recent additions were made to the quarantined areas 
in an interim rule effective January 26, 1999, and published in the 
Federal Register on February 1, 1999 (64 FR 4777-4780, Docket No. 95-
086-2), approximately 13 citrus fruit packing plants fell within the 
quarantined areas. It has come to our attention that at least one of 
the packing plants located in the quarantined areas could expect to 
encounter significant financial hardship as a result of that quarantine 
action due to the fact that a large portion of the packer's business 
involves shipping gift fruit to areas of Florida located outside the 
quarantined areas. As noted in the previous paragraph, regulated fruit 
packed in a quarantined area may not be moved into commercial citrus-
producing areas, so the operator of this packing plant could expect to 
see his business drastically curtailed as a direct result of the 
inclusion of his plant in a quarantined area.
    In an effort to minimize the expected significant economic effects 
on this, and potentially other, fruit packing operations, we reexamined 
our citrus canker regulations with an eye toward identifying potential 
alternatives to the prohibition on the movement of regulated fruit that 
has been packed within a quarantined area. After consulting with our 
Citrus Canker Eradication Program staff, various citrus packer groups, 
and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, we 
concluded that a regulatory approach that incorporated the segregation 
of fruit within the packing plant--i.e., keeping regulated fruit 
produced outside the quarantined areas physically separated from 
regulated fruit produced within a quarantined area--and other 
safeguards would allow packing plants located within a quarantined area 
to move regulated fruit from outside a citrus canker quarantined area 
into a quarantined area for packing under certain conditions and then 
ship it to any area of the United States, including commercial citrus-
producing areas. This approach is consistent with Sec. 301.75-
4(d)(2)(ii) of the regulations, which provides conditions, including 
fruit segregation, that allow regulated fruit produced both within and 
outside the quarantined areas to be packed in plants located outside 
the quarantined areas without affecting the ability of those plants to 
move regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined areas to any 
destination, including commercial citrus-producing areas. Similarly, 
Florida's State-run Caribbean fruit fly (Carib fly) program has for 
several years successfully provided for fruit produced both within and 
outside the areas regulated for Carib fly to be packed in plants 
located within regulated areas under conditions that include fruit 
segregation.
    Based on these considerations, we have amended the citrus canker 
regulations to provide conditions under which regulated fruit produced 
outside the quarantined areas may be packed within a quarantined area 
and subsequently moved into any area of the United States, including 
commercial citrus-producing areas. These conditions, which incorporate 
features drawn from elsewhere in our citrus canker regulations and 
include specific documentation, cleaning, disinfection, and handling 
requirements in addition to fruit segregation, are explained in detail 
below.
    We believe that most producers and packers of regulated fruit will 
be willing to observe the conditions set forth in this interim rule in 
order to qualify regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined areas 
but packed within a quarantined area for movement to all areas of the 
United States, including commercial citrus-producing areas. However, we 
acknowledge that there may be some producers or packers who wish to 
continue to use the current provisions in Sec. 301.75-7(b) for the 
packing of fruit within a quarantined area, which is not then eligible 
to be shipped to commercial citrus-producing areas. These provisions 
may be preferred by packers who do not wish to take the extra step of 
keeping regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined areas 
segregated from fruit produced within a quarantined area. Therefore, we 
are retaining the original provisions of Sec. 301.75-7(b) in this 
interim rule; those provisions will now be found in Sec. 301.75-
7(b)(1).
    New Sec. 301.75-7(b)(2) contains conditions under which regulated 
fruit produced outside the quarantined areas but packed within a 
quarantined area may be moved interstate to any area of the United 
States, including commercial citrus-producing areas. We have revised 
the introductory text of Sec. 301.75-7(b) to indicate that there are 
now two options available to qualify regulated fruit produced outside 
the quarantined areas for subsequent movement when that fruit is packed 
in a plant located within a quarantined area.
    Under the provisions of new paragraph Sec. 301.75-7(b)(2), 
regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined areas but packed in a 
plant located within a quarantined area will be eligible for movement 
into any area of the United States, including commercial citrus-
producing areas, under the following conditions:
    Documentation. The regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined 
areas must be accompanied to the packing plant by a document that 
states the location of the grove where the fruit was produced, the 
variety and quantity of fruit, the address to which the fruit will be 
delivered for packing, and the date the movement of the fruit began. 
This documentation serves to establish that the regulated fruit was 
produced in an area outside the quarantined areas and, by providing a 
record of the amount and type of fruit in the shipment, helps ensure 
that regulated fruit from other sources is not added to the shipment 
during movement.
    Unloading and loading. The regulated fruit produced outside the 
quarantined areas must be moved through the quarantined area without 
being unloaded, and no regulated article may be added to the shipment 
in the quarantined area. Keeping the regulated fruit produced outside 
the quarantined areas separated from fruit produced within a 
quarantined area is one of the primary safeguards of these new 
provisions, so this requirement is necessary to ensure that the 
integrity of the shipment is maintained from the time the fruit is 
loaded in the nonquarantined production area to the time it is unloaded 
at the packing plant. Producers or packers who wish to pick up 
additional regulated fruit produced within the quarantined area while 
en route to the packing plant may still do so under the provisions of 
Sec. 301.75-7(b)(1), but, as noted above, fruit from that packing plant 
will be ineligible for movement into commercial citrus-producing areas.
    Protecting the shipment. The regulated fruit produced outside the 
quarantined areas must be completely covered, or enclosed in containers 
or in a compartment of a vehicle, both during its movement to a packing 
plant in a quarantined area and during its movement from a packing 
plant in a quarantined area to destinations outside that quarantined 
area. This requirement is necessary to protect the regulated fruit 
produced outside the quarantined areas from the possibility of 
contamination during its movement through the quarantined area.
    Segregation and treatment. At the packing plant, the regulated 
fruit produced outside the quarantined areas must be stored separately 
from, and have no contact with, regulated fruit produced in a 
quarantined area. Any equipment at the packing plant that comes in 
contact with regulated fruit produced in a quarantined area must be

[[Page 60090]]

treated in accordance with Sec. 310.75-11(d) of this subpart before 
being used to handle any regulated fruit not produced in a quarantined 
area. Requiring the regulated fruit produced outside a quarantined area 
to be segregated from other fruit within the packing plant will prevent 
the commingling of the two types of fruit, thus preventing the 
contamination that could occur as a result of that commingling, and 
will ensure that only fruit produced outside the quarantined areas is 
moved interstate to commercial citrus-producing areas. Similarly, the 
application of the cleaning and disinfection measures of Sec. 301.75-
11(d) to the handling equipment in the plant will prevent regulated 
fruit produced outside a quarantined area from becoming contaminated by 
equipment that has been used to handle fruit produced within a 
quarantined area.
    Fruit treatment. The regulated fruit produced outside the 
quarantined areas must be treated at the packing plant in accordance 
with Sec. 301.75-11(a) of the regulations. While regulated fruit 
produced outside a quarantined area does not present the same citrus 
canker risks as fruit produced within a regulated area, we are 
nonetheless requiring it to be treated with sodium hypochlorite or 
sodium o-phenyl phenate (SOPP) in accordance with Sec. 301.75-11(a) as 
a redundant safeguarding measure, given that the fruit is being packed 
within a quarantined area and will be eligible for movement into 
commercial citrus-producing areas. Beyond the role of those treatments 
in mitigating the risks posed by citrus canker, we understand that 
sodium hypochlorite and SOPP treatments, as well as additional measures 
such as fruit waxing, are standard packing industry practices even 
outside the quarantined areas because such measures help prevent fruit 
spoilage. That consideration, plus the fact that packing plants within 
the quarantined areas are already equipped to apply the required 
treatments, lead us to believe that this requirement will not impose 
any additional burdens on the operators of packing plants.
    Handling of culls and debris. Due to the likelihood that they will 
be commingled with similar regulated articles collected from regulated 
fruit produced in a quarantined area, all leaves, litter, and culls 
collected at the packing plant from the shipment of regulated fruit 
produced outside the quarantined areas must be handled as prescribed in 
Sec. 301.75-4(d)(2)(ii)(E) of the regulations. Paragraph (d) of 
Sec. 301.75-4 contains the conditions that must be met in order for 
less than an entire State to be designated as a quarantined area; those 
conditions include the specific provisions for the intrastate movement 
and handling of leaves, litter, and culls cited above as appearing in 
Sec. 301.75-4(d)(2)(i)(E). Those requirements, which include the 
incineration or burying in a fenced public landfill of such articles 
and the option of processing culls into a product other than fresh 
fruit (e.g., juice or juice concentrate), are intended to prevent the 
artificial spread of citrus canker that could occur through the 
movement of leaves, litter, and culls. Given that it usually takes some 
time before a sufficiently large load of, for example, leaves and 
litter to be collected to warrant a trip to the landfill, we believe 
that it is likely that packing plant operators will store the leaves, 
litter, and culls collected from the shipment of regulated fruit 
produced outside the quarantined areas with similar articles collected 
from shipments of regulated fruit produced within the quarantined area. 
Therefore, we believe that it is necessary to require that all those 
regulated articles, regardless of their origin, be handled in the same 
manner as the regulated articles presenting the highest risk.
    Certificate. The regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined 
areas maybe moved interstate from the packing plant to any destination 
if it is accompanied by a certificate issued in accordance with 
Sec. 301.75-12 of the regulations. The certificate will provide 
documentation that the requirements of this interim rule have been met. 
Under the regulations, a certificate is used to authorize the 
interstate movement of a regulated article from a quarantined area into 
any area of the United States, and a limited permit is used to 
authorize the movement of regulated articles from the quarantined 
areas, but with restrictions on the areas of the United States into 
which the articles may be moved. Because regulated fruit produced 
outside the quarantined areas and handled in accordance with the new 
provisions of this interim rule will be eligible for movement to any 
area of the United States, including commercial citrus-producing areas, 
a certificate, and not a limited permit, will be required.
    Regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined areas can be 
packed within a quarantined area and moved into any area of the United 
States, including commercial citrus-producing areas, under the 
conditions set forth in this interim rule without contributing to the 
artificial spread of citrus canker. Although our pest data sheet for 
citrus canker \1\ indicates that the causal pathogen could potentially 
move long distances on diseased fruit, that data sheet also states that 
there is no authenticated example of a citrus canker outbreak that was 
initiated by diseased fruit. If diseased fruit is an unlikely pathway 
for the spread of citrus canker, then it is reasonable to expect that 
fruit produced outside the quarantined areas, which is the only fruit 
affected by this rule, will present an even lower risk, even if it is 
packed within a quarantined area. Given the preponderance of evidence 
and expert opinion that the long-distance spread of citrus canker 
occurs primarily through the movement of infected planting and 
propagative materials, and given the absence of documented cases of 
citrus canker outbreaks attributable to the movement of infected fruit, 
we have concluded that regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined 
areas and handled, treated, and packed under the conditions of this 
rule will present a negligible disease risk.
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    \1\ This pest data sheet may be obtained from the person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
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Immediate Action

    The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
has determined that there is good cause for publishing this interim 
rule without prior opportunity for public comment. Immediate action is 
necessary to provide, prior to the start of the winter shipping season, 
conditions under which regulated fruit produced outside the quarantined 
areas but packed within a quarantined area may be moved into any area 
of the United States, including commercial citrus-producing areas.
    Because prior notice and other public procedures with respect to 
this action are impracticable and contrary to the public interest under 
these conditions, we find good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553 to make this 
action effective upon signature. We will consider comments that are 
received within 60 days of publication of this rule in the Federal 
Register. After the comment period closes, we will publish another 
document in the Federal Register. The document will include a 
discussion of any comments we receive and any amendments we are making 
to the rule as a result of the comments.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. The rule 
has been determined to be not significant for the purposes of Executive 
Order 12866

[[Page 60091]]

and, therefore, has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and 
Budget.
    This rule amends the citrus canker regulations to allow citrus 
fruit produced outside the quarantined areas to be moved into a 
quarantined area for packing and then moved from that quarantined area 
to any destination in the United States, including commercial citrus-
producing areas. The citrus fruit produced outside the quarantined 
areas would have to be moved and handled according to specific 
conditions designed to prevent the artificial spread of citrus canker, 
including conditions to prevent its commingling with, and possible 
contamination by, citrus fruit produced within a quarantined area. We 
are taking this action to relieve restrictions that are no longer 
warranted due to our development of alternatives to address the disease 
risks presented by regulated fruit packed within a quarantined area.
    The overall economic effect of this interim rule is expected to be 
small. Prior to this interim rule, the regulations already provided for 
fruit produced within a quarantined area to be packed in plants located 
outside the quarantined areas and vice versa, and the experience of the 
cooperative Citrus Canker Eradication Program administered by APHIS and 
the State of Florida has shown that packing fresh fruit from 
quarantined and nonquarantined areas in the same facility can be safely 
conducted. Whereas the regulations had previously prohibited regulated 
fruit packed within a quarantined area from being moved into commercial 
citrus-producing areas of the United States, regardless of where the 
fruit was produced, this interim rule provides conditions under which 
packing plants located within a quarantined area may ship regulated 
fruit produced outside the quarantined areas to all areas of the United 
States, including commercial citrus-producing areas. In so doing, this 
interim rule makes it possible for packing plants to move regulated 
fruit into markets that had been denied to them from the time the 
plants were included in a quarantined area.

Effect on Small Entities

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires that agencies specifically 
consider the economic effects of their rules on small entities. The 
Small Business Administration's (SBA) definition of a ``small entity'' 
packaging fresh or farm-dried fruits and vegetables is one whose total 
sales are less than $5 million annually. In 1997, there were 850 firms 
in Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 0723, Crop Preparation 
Services for Market in the United States, which includes fresh citrus 
packers. Under SBA guidelines, 634 of these 850 firms (74 percent) 
would be considered small entities.
    Within the quarantined areas, there are approximately 13 citrus 
fruit packers and 13 gift fruit shippers that could be affected by this 
rule. We do not currently have the data necessary to determine the 
percentage of these businesses that would be considered small entities 
under the SBA's criteria. However, while we expect that this rule will 
allow some of those packing plants to maintain their established 
business patterns and others to reestablish business relationships that 
were disrupted by the packing plants' inclusion in the areas 
quarantined for citrus canker, the overall economic effect of this rule 
is expected to be small.
    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.

Executive Order 12372

    This program/activity is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance under No. 10.025 and is subject to Executive Order 12372, 
which requires intergovernmental consultation with State and local 
officials. (See 7 CFR part 3015, subpart V.)

Executive Order 12988

    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil 
Justice Reform. This rule: (1) Preempts all State and local laws and 
regulations that are inconsistent with this rule; (2) has no 
retroactive effect; and (3) does not require administrative proceedings 
before parties may file suit in court challenging this rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This rule contains no new information collection or recordkeeping 
requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.).

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 301

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

    Accordingly, 7 CFR part 301 is amended as follows:

PART 301--DOMESTIC QUARANTINE NOTICES

    1. The authority citation for part 301 continues to read as 
follows:

    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).

    2. In Sec. 301.75-7, paragraph (b) is revised to read as follows:

Sec. 301.75-7  Interstate movement of regulated fruit from a 
quarantined area.

* * * * *
    (b) Regulated fruit not produced in a quarantined area. Regulated 
fruit not produced in a quarantined area but moved into a quarantined 
area for packing may be subsequently moved out of the quarantined area 
only if all the conditions of either paragraph (b)(1) or (b)(2) of this 
section are met.
    (1) Conditions for subsequent movement into any area of the United 
States except commercial citrus-producing areas. (i) The regulated 
fruit was accompanied to the packing plant by a bill of lading stating 
the location of the grove in which the regulated fruit was produced.
    (ii) The regulated fruit was treated in accordance with 
Sec. 301.75-11(a) of this subpart.
    (iii) The regulated fruit is free of leaves, twigs, and other plant 
parts, except for stems that are less than one inch long and attached 
to the regulated fruit.
    (iv) The regulated fruit is accompanied by a limited permit issued 
in accordance with Sec. 301.75-12 of this subpart.
    (2) Conditions for subsequent movement into any area of the United 
States including commercial citrus-producing areas. (i) The regulated 
fruit is accompanied by a bill of lading that states the location of 
the grove where the fruit was produced, the variety and quantity of 
fruit, the address to which the fruit will be delivered for packing, 
and the date the movement of the fruit began.
    (ii) The regulated fruit is moved through the quarantined area 
without being unloaded and no regulated article is added to the 
shipment in the quarantined area.
    (iii) The regulated fruit is completely covered, or enclosed in 
containers or in a compartment of a vehicle, both during its movement 
to a packing plant in a quarantined area and during its movement from a 
packing plant in a quarantined area to destinations outside that 
quarantined area.
    (iv) At the packing plant, regulated fruit produced outside the 
quarantined areas is stored separately from and has had no contact with 
regulated fruit produced in a quarantined area. Any equipment at the 
packing plant that comes in contact with regulated fruit

[[Page 60092]]

produced in a quarantined area is treated in accordance with 
Sec. 310.75-11(d) of this subpart before being used to handle any 
regulated fruit not produced in a quarantined area.
    (v) The regulated fruit is treated at the packing plant in 
accordance with Sec. 301.75-11(a) of this subpart.
    (vi) Due to the likelihood that they will be commingled with 
similar regulated articles collected from regulated fruit produced in a 
quarantined area, all leaves, litter, and culls collected from the 
shipment of regulated fruit at the packing plant are handled as 
prescribed in Sec. 301.75-4(d)(2)(ii)(E) of this subpart.
    (vii) The regulated fruit is accompanied by a certificate issued in 
accordance with Sec. 301.75-12 of this subpart.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 29th day of October 1999.
Craig A. Reed,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 99-28876 Filed 11-3-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P