[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 6, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13484-13485]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5422]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 6, 2001 / 
Notices  

[[Page 13484]]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 00-073-1]


Pine Shoot Beetle Host Material From Canada; Availability of a 
Draft Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service has prepared a draft environmental assessment 
concerning various alternative actions for addressing the spread of the 
pine shoot beetle into noninfested areas of the United States due to 
the importation of pine shoot beetle host material from Canada. The 
draft environmental assessment documents our review and analysis of the 
environmental impacts associated with the alternative actions under 
consideration. Among the alternative actions considered in the 
assessment is the imposition of specific regulatory requirements 
covering the importation of pine shoot beetle host material into the 
United States from Canada. We are making this draft environmental 
assessment available to the public for review and comment.

DATES: We invite you to comment on the draft environmental assessment. 
We will consider all comments that we receive by April 5, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Please send four copies of your comment (an original and 
three copies) to: Docket No. 00-073-1, 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. 00-073-1.
    A copy of the draft environmental assessment and any comments that 
we receive on this docket will be available for public inspection 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 dockets, are available on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jonathan Jones, Operations 
Officer, Program Support, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 134, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-8247.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Pine shoot beetle, Tomicus piniperda (Linnaeus) is a pest of pine 
trees. Pine shoot beetle (PSB) can cause damage in weak and dying 
trees, where reproduction and immature stages of PSB occur, and in the 
new growth of healthy trees. During ``maturation feeding,'' young 
beetles tunnel into the center of pine shoots (usually of the current 
year's growth), causing stunted and distorted growth in host trees. PSB 
is also a vector of several diseases of pine trees. Adults can fly at 
least 1 kilometer, and infested trees and pine products are often 
transported long distances. These factors can result in the 
establishment of PSB populations far from the location of the original 
host tree. This plant pest damages urban ornamental trees and can cause 
economic losses to the timber, Christmas tree, and nursery industries.
    PSB hosts include all pine species. The beetle has been found in a 
variety of pine species (Pinus spp.) in the United States. Scotch pine 
(P. sylvestris) is the preferred host of PSB. The Animal and Plant 
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has determined, based on scientific 
data from European countries, that fir (Abies spp.), spruce (Larix 
spp.), and larch (Picea spp.) are not hosts of PSB.
    PSB first established itself in Canada approximately 8 years ago. 
Areas of infestation are currently located in the Provinces of Ontario 
and Quebec, and are contiguous, for the most part, with PSB infested 
areas located in the northeastern United States. PSB populations have 
spread in both Ontario and Quebec in recent years despite the efforts 
of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to implement regulatory 
compliance practices to control the spread of this plant pest.
    Under the Plant Protection Act (Title IV, Pub. L. 106-224, 114 
Stat. 438, 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772), the Secretary of Agriculture is 
authorized to prohibit or restrict the importation and entry into the 
United States of any plants and plant products, including pine forest 
materials and products, to prevent the introduction of plant pests or 
noxious weeds into the United States.
    APHIS has regulated the interstate movement of PSB host material 
from areas of the United States that are generally infested with PSB 
through its domestic quarantine notices (see 7 CFR 301.50 through 
301.50-10), but has not established specific regulations in its foreign 
quarantine notices prohibiting or restricting the importation of PSB 
host material into the United States from foreign countries. Rather, we 
have used our authority under the emergency provisions of the Federal 
Plant Pest Act (repealed in 2000, formerly at 7 U.S.C. 150dd), and more 
recently, the Plant Protection Act, as the basis for any actions we 
have taken on a case-by-case basis to regulate the movement of certain 
PSB host material from Canada in order to prevent the introduction of 
PSB into noninfested areas of the United States.
    APHIS is investigating the possibility of implementing regulations 
that would impose specific requirements on the importation of PSB host 
material into the United States from Canada in order to prevent the 
spread of the PSB into noninfested areas of the United States. These 
new regulations, if implemented, would parallel requirements recently 
implemented by Canada with respect to the export of PSB host material 
from the United States to Canada. The reciprocal regulation of imported 
PSB host material by Canada and the United States would be consistent 
with North American Plant Protection Organization standards of 
preventing the introduction and spread of quarantine plant pests and 
fostering the preservation of plant

[[Page 13485]]

resources in North America by coordinating joint programs of mutual 
interest.
    To assist us in our decisionmaking, APHIS has prepared a draft 
environmental assessment (EA), entitled ``Pine Shoot Beetle Host 
Material from Canada'' (December 2000), that considers alternative 
actions and the associated environmental impacts for addressing the 
spread of PSB into noninfested areas of the United States. The 
alternative actions reviewed and analyzed include implementing 
reciprocal regulations on imported PSB host material from Canada, 
taking no action (i.e., retaining the current domestic quarantine 
program only), or rescinding the domestic quarantine program and not 
implementing reciprocal regulations on imported PSB host material from 
Canada.
    We are making this draft EA available to the public for review and 
comment. We will consider all comments that we receive by the date 
listed under the heading DATES at the beginning of this notice.
    The draft EA may be viewed on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/es/ppq/psbcan.pdf. You may also request paper 
copies of the draft EA by calling or writing to the person listed under 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the title of the draft 
EA when requesting copies. The draft EA is also available for review in 
our reading room (information on the location and hours of the reading 
room is listed under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this 
notice).
    The draft EA has been prepared in accordance with: (1) The National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.), (2) regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality for 
implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-
1508), (3) USDA regulations implementing NEPA (7 CFR part 1), and (4) 
APHIS' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 28th day of February 2001.
Bobby R. Acord,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 01-5422 Filed 3-5-01; 8:45 am]
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