[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 2, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 4865-4866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-2273]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 2, 2000 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 4865]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 00-004-1]


Asian Longhorned Beetle; Addition to Quarantined Areas

AGENCY:  Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION:  Interim rule and request for comments.

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SUMMARY:  We are amending the Asian longhorned beetle regulations by 
expanding the quarantined area in the city of Chicago, IL, and adding 
two new areas in Cook County, IL. As a result of this action, the 
interstate movement of regulated articles from those areas is 
restricted. This action is necessary on an emergency basis to prevent 
the artificial spread of the Asian longhorned beetle to noninfested 
areas of the United States.

DATES:  This interim rule was effective January 27, 2000. We invite you 
to comment of this docket. We will consider all comments that we 
receive by April 3, 2000.

ADDRESSES:  Please send your comment and three copies to: Docket No. 
00-004-1, 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. 00-004-1.
    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. Ron Milberg, Operations Officer, 
Program Support, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 
20737-1236; (301) 734-5255.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) (Anoplophora glabripennis), an 
insect native to China, Japan, Korea, and the Isle of Hainan, is a 
destructive pest of hardwood trees. It is known to attack healthy 
maple, horse chestnut, birch, Rose of Sharon, poplar, willow, elm, 
locust, mulberry, chinaberry, apple, cherry, pear, and citrus trees. It 
may also attack other species of hardwood trees. In addition, nursery 
stock, logs, green lumber, firewood, stumps, roots, branches, and 
debris of a half an inch or more in diameter are subject to 
infestation. The beetle bores into the heartwood of a host tree, 
eventually killing it. Immature beetles bore into tree trunks and 
branches, causing heavy sap flow from wounds and sawdust accumulation 
at tree bases. They feed on, and over-winter in, the interiors of 
trees. Adult beetles emerge in the spring and summer months from round 
holes approximately \3/8\-inch diameter (about the size of a dime) that 
they bore through the trunks of trees. After emerging, adult beetles 
feed for 2 to 3 days and then mate. Adult females then lay eggs in 
oviposition sites that they make on the branches of trees. A new 
generation of ALB is produced each year. If this pest moves into the 
hardwood forests of the United States, the nursery and forest products 
industries could experience severe economic losses.
    The Asian longhorned beetle regulations (7 CFR 301.51-1 through 
301.51-9, referred to below as the regulations) restrict the interstate 
movement of regulated articles from quarantined areas to prevent the 
artificial spread of ALB to noninfested areas of the United States. 
Portions of New York City and Nassau and Suffolk Counties in the State 
of New York and portions of the city of Chicago, DuPage County, and the 
Village of Summit in the State of Illinois are already designated as 
quarantined areas.
    Recent surveys conducted by inspectors of Illinois State, county, 
and city agencies and by inspectors of the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service (APHIS) have revealed that infestations of ALB have 
occurred outside the quarantined areas in the State of Illinois. 
Specifically, infestations of ALB have occurred outside the quarantined 
areas in the city of Chicago and in Park Ridge. Officials of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture and officials of State, county, and city 
agencies in Illinois are conducting an intensive survey and eradication 
program in the infested areas. The State of Illinois has quarantined 
the infested areas and is restricting the intrastate movement of 
regulated articles from the quarantined areas to prevent the artificial 
spread of ALB within the State. However, Federal regulations are 
necessary to restrict the interstate movement of regulated articles 
from the quarantined area to prevent the artificial spread of ALB to 
other States and Canada.
    The regulations in Sec. 301.51-3(a) provide that the Administrator 
of APHIS will list as a quarantined area each State, or each portion of 
a State, in which ALB has been found by an inspector, in which the 
Administrator has reason to believe that ALB is present, or that the 
Administrator considers necessary to regulate because of its 
inseparability for quarantine enforcement purposes from localities 
where ALB has been found.
    Less than an entire State will be designated as a quarantined area 
only if the Administrator determines that the State has adopted and is 
enforcing restrictions on the intrastate movement of regulated articles 
that are equivalent to those imposed by the regulations on the 
interstate movement of regulated articles and the designation of less 
than an entire State as a quarantined area will be adequate to prevent 
the artificial spread of ALB.
    In accordance with these criteria and the recent ALB findings 
described above, we are amending Sec. 301.51-3(c) by expanding the 
quarantined area in the city of Chicago and by quarantining two new 
portions of Cook County, IL. The expanded and new quarantined

[[Page 4866]]

areas are described in the rule portion of this document.

Emergency Action

    The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
has determined that an emergency exists that warrants publication of 
this interim rule without prior opportunity for public comment. 
Immediate action is necessary to prevent the ALB from spreading to 
noninfested areas of the United States.
    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 less than 30 days after publication. 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 emergency situation makes compliance with section 603 and 
timely compliance with section 604 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 
U.S.C. 601 et seq.) impracticable. If we determine that this rule would 
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities, then we will discuss the issues raised by section 604 of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act in our final regulatory flexibility 
analysis.

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.

National Environmental Policy Act

    An environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact 
have been prepared for this program. The assessment provides a basis 
for the conclusion that a Federal quarantine for ALB will not have a 
significant impact on the quality of the human environment. Based on 
the finding of no significant impact, the Administrator of the Animal 
and Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that an 
environmental impact statement need not be prepared.
    The environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact 
are available for public inspection 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 copies are requested to call ahead on (202) 690-2817 
to facilitate entry into the reading room. In addition, copies may be 
obtained by writing to the individual listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT, by calling the Plant Protection and Quarantine fax 
service at (301) 734-3560 and requesting document number 0023, or by 
visiting the following Internet site: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/ead/ppqdocs.html.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This interim rule contains no 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, we are amending 7 CFR part 301 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. 301.51-3, paragraph (c), the entry for the State of 
Illinois is amended as follows:
    a. The entry for the City of Chicago is removed.

    b. An entry for Cook County is added, in alphabetical order, to 
read as follows.


Sec. 301.51-3  Quarantined areas.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
Illinois
    Cook County. That area in the Ravenswood community in the city of 
Chicago that is bounded as follows: Beginning at the intersection of 
North Central Avenue and West Bryn Mawr Avenue; then east along West 
Bryn Mawr Avenue to North Western Avenue; then east along an imaginary 
line through Rosehill Cemetery to the continuation of West Bryn Mawr 
Avenue; then east along West Bryn Mawr Avenue to Lakeshore Drive; then 
east along an imaginary line to the shoreline of Lake Michigan; then 
south along the shoreline of Lake Michigan to West Diversey Parkway; 
then west along West Diversey Parkway to West Diversey Avenue; then 
west along West Diversey Avenue to North Central Avenue; then north 
along North Central Avenue, along the east edge of the Bohemian 
National Cemetery and across Northeast Illinois University campus, to 
the point of beginning.
    That area in the Kilbourn Park community in the city of Chicago 
that is bounded as follows: Beginning at the intersection of West 
Roscoe Street and North Knox Avenue; then north along North Knox Avenue 
to West Addison Street; then north along an imaginary line to West 
Patterson Avenue; then west along West Patterson Avenue to North Lamon 
Avenue; then south along North Lamon Avenue to West Addison Street; 
then south along an imaginary line to West Roscoe Street; then east 
along West Roscoe Street to the point of beginning.
    That area in the city of Park Ridge that is bounded as follows: 
Beginning at the intersection of Devon Avenue and South Dee Road; then 
south along South Dee Road until it turns into North East River Road; 
then south along North East River Road to the Kennedy Expressway; then 
west along the Kennedy Expressway to the shoreline of the Des Plaines 
River; then north along the shoreline of the Des Plaines River to Devon 
Avenue; then east along Devon Avenue to the point of beginning.
* * * * *

    Done in Washington, DC, this 27th day of January 2000.
Bobby R. Acord,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 00-2273 Filed 2-1-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-U