[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 77 (Friday, April 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 20231]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-9789]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 97-093-7]


Scrapie Eradication Uniform Methods and Rules

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are giving notice that the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service is seeking public comments on the draft Scrapie 
Eradication Uniform Methods and Rules. This document contains draft 
cooperative procedures and standards to be used by the Agency, States, 
and the sheep and goat industries to contribute to the control and 
eradication of scrapie, a serious disease of sheep and goats.

DATES: We invite you to comment on the draft Scrapie Eradication 
Uniform Methods and Rules. We will consider all comments that we 
receive by June 19, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Please send four copies of your comment (an original and 
three copies) to: Docket No. 97-093-7, 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. 97-093-7.
    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 dockets, are available on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
    You may request a copy of the draft Scrapie Eradication Uniform 
Methods and Rules by writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT. The document is also available on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/scrapie, and we may post revised versions 
to this website for additional comment in the future.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Diane Sutton, National Scrapie 
Program Coordinator, National Animal Health Programs Staff, VS, APHIS, 
4700 River Road Unit 43, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-6954.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Scrapie is a degenerative and eventually 
fatal disease affecting the central nervous systems of sheep and goats. 
To control the spread of scrapie within the United States, the Animal 
and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA), administers regulations at 9 CFR part 79, which 
restrict the interstate movement of certain sheep and goats. APHIS also 
has regulations at 9 CFR part 54 that describe a voluntary scrapie 
control program.
    The draft Scrapie Eradication Uniform Methods and Rules (UM&R) is a 
set of proposed cooperative procedures and standards to aid the control 
and eradication of scrapie. The legal requirements for interstate 
movement of sheep and goats due to scrapie are contained in Title 9 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations. The Scrapie Eradication UM&R provides 
guidance to the States regarding the minimum standards necessary for a 
State to participate in the national eradication program. The UM&R will 
be revised and published as necessary by APHIS, with input from 
involved State and Federal agencies, representatives of the livestock 
industry, and the public. The current draft of the UM&R was written 
after substantial consultation with State animal health agencies, the 
American Sheep Industry Association, and the United States Animal 
Health Association.
    We are soliciting comments on the draft UM&R from any interested 
parties. To obtain a copy of the UM&R, or to submit comments on it, 
please see the instructions given under ADDRESSES above. Any comments 
received will be considered during the process of revising this version 
of the UM&R for final publication.

    Authority: 21 U.S.C. 111-113, 114, 114a, 115, 117, 120, 121, 
123-126, and 134a-134h; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 16th day of April 2001.
Bobby R. Acord,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 01-9789 Filed 4-19-01; 8:45 am]
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