[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 217 (Thursday, November 8, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 56428-56430]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-28068]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 01-092-1]


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 to 
include additional quarantined areas in Illinois and New York. 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 November 2, 2001. We invite you 
to comment on this docket. We will consider all comments we receive 
that are postmarked by January 7, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Please send your comment and three copies to: Docket No. 01-
092-1, 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. 01-092-1.
    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 dockets, are available on the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael B. Stefan, Emergency 
Programs Coordinator, Surveillance and Emergency Programs Planning and 
Coordination Staff, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 
20737-1231; (301) 734-7338.

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 attacks many healthy hardwood 
trees, including maple, horse chestnut, birch, poplar, willow, and elm. 
In addition, nursery stock, logs, green lumber, firewood, stumps, 
roots, branches, and wood 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 the tree. 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 three-eighths of an inch in 
diameter (about the size of a dime) that they bore through branches and 
trunks of trees. After

[[Page 56429]]

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, maple syrup, and forest product industries could experience 
severe economic losses. In addition, urban and forest ALB infestations 
will result in environmental damage, aesthetic deterioration, and a 
reduction in public enjoyment of recreational spaces.
    The Asian longhorned beetle regulation (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 the State of Illinois and portions of New York City and 
Nassau and Suffolk Counties in the State of New York are already 
designated as quarantined areas.
    Recent surveys conducted by inspectors of 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 Cook and DuPage Counties, IL, and in 
New York City, NY. Officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and 
officials of State, county, and city agencies in Illinois and New York 
are conducting an intensive survey and eradication program in the 
infested areas. Both Illinois and New York have quarantined the 
infested areas and are restricting the intrastate movement of regulated 
articles from the quarantined areas to prevent the spread of ALB within 
those States. However, Federal regulations are necessary to restrict 
the interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined 
areas to prevent the spread of ALB to other States and other countries.
    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, where ALB has been found by an inspector, where the 
Administrator has reason to believe that ALB is present, or where the 
Administrator considers regulation necessary because of its 
inseparability for quarantine enforcement purposes from localities 
where ALB has been found.
    Less than an entire State will be quarantined only if (1) the 
Administrator determines that the State has adopted and is enforcing 
restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles; and (2) 
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) to include additional 
quarantined areas in Cook and DuPage Counties, IL, and in New York 
City, NY. The additional quarantined areas are described in the rule 
portion of this document.

Emergency Action

    This rulemaking is necessary on an emergency basis to prevent the 
spread of ALB into noninfested areas of the United States. Under these 
circumstances, the Administrator has determined that prior notice and 
opportunity for public comment are contrary to the public interest and 
that there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553 for making this rule 
effective less than 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
    We will consider comments we receive that are postmarked 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. For this 
action, the Office of Management and Budget has waived its review 
process required under Executive Order 12866.
    This emergency situation makes timely compliance with section 604 
of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) impracticable. 
We are currently assessing the potential economic effects of this 
action on small entities. Based on that assessment, we will either 
certify that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities or publish a 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 ongoing program. The environmental 
assessment provides a basis for our conclusion that the 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 
were 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 1b), and (4) APHIS' NEPA 
Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372).
    Copies of 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 or by calling the Plant 
Protection and Quarantine fax service at (301) 734-3560 and requesting 
document number 0023. The documents may also be viewed on the Internet 
at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/es/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.

[[Page 56430]]

    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. 166, 7711, 7712, 7714, 7731, 7735, 7751, 
7752, 7753, and 7754; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.

    Section 301.75-15 also issued under Sec. 204, Title II, Pub. L. 
106-113, 113 Stat. 1501A-293; sections 301.75-15 and 301.75-16 also 
issued under Sec. 203, Title II, Pub. L. 106-224, 114 Stat. 400 (7 
U.S.C. 1421 note).


    2. In Sec. 301.51-3, paragraph (c) is amended as follows:
    a. Under the heading Illinois, by revising the first paragraph in 
the entry for Cook County and by adding, in alphabetical order, a new 
entry for Cook and DuPage Counties.
    b. Under the heading New York, by revising the entry for New York 
City.


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 on the shoreline of Lake 
Michigan at Howard Street; then west on Howard Street to Western 
Avenue; then south on Western Avenue to Bryn Mawr Avenue; then west on 
Bryn Mawr Avenue to Central Park Avenue; then south on Central Park 
Avenue to Diversey Avenue; then east on Diversey Avenue to the 
shoreline of Lake Michigan; then north along the shoreline of Lake 
Michigan to the point of beginning.
* * * * *
    Cook and DuPage Counties. That area in Cook and DuPage Counties 
that is bounded as follows: Beginning at the intersection of Supreme 
Drive and Thomas Drive in the Village of Bensenville; then south on 
Thomas Drive to its end; then on a line southwest from the end of 
Thomas Drive to Church Road; then south on Church Road to Jefferson 
Street; then east on Jefferson Street to the Redmond Recreational 
Complex property line; then south and east along the Redmond 
Recreational Complex property line to John Street; then north on John 
Street to Jefferson Street; then east on Jefferson Street to County 
Line Road; then continuing east on an imaginary line from the 
intersection of Jefferson Street and County Line Road through the 
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Yards to the 
intersection of Waveland Avenue and Centrella Street in the Village of 
Franklin Park; then east on Waveland Avenue to Mannheim Road (State 
Route 12); then north on Mannheim Road to Interstate 190; then west on 
Interstate 190 to Bessie Coleman Drive; then north on Bessie Coleman 
Drive to a point in line with Runway 27 Right on the grounds of O'Hare 
International Airport; then west along an imaginary line from Bessie 
Coleman Drive following the line of Runway 27 Right across the grounds 
of O'Hare International Airport to North York Road; then north on North 
York Road to Supreme Drive; then west on Supreme Drive to the point of 
beginning.
* * * * *

New York

    New York City. That area in the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, 
and Queens in the City of New York that is bounded by a line beginning 
at the point where the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel intersects the Manhattan 
shoreline of the East River; then west and north along the shoreline of 
the Hudson River to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard; then east on 
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and across the Triborough Bridge to 
its intersection with the west shoreline of Randall's and Ward's 
Island; then east and south along the shoreline of Randall's and Ward's 
Island to its intersection with the Triborough Bridge; then east along 
the Triborough Bridge to its intersection with the Queens shoreline; 
then north and east along the Queens shoreline to its intersection with 
the City of New York/Nassau County line; then southeast along the City 
of New York/Nassau County line to its intersection with Grand Central 
Parkway; then west on Grand Central Parkway to Jackie Robinson Parkway; 
then west on Jackie Robinson Parkway to Woodhaven Boulevard; then south 
on Woodhaven Boulevard to Atlantic Avenue; then west on Atlantic Avenue 
to the Eastern Parkway Extension; then south and west along the Eastern 
Parkway Extension and Eastern Parkway to Grand Army Plaza; then west 
along the south side of Grand Army Plaza to Union Street; then west on 
Union Street to Van Brunt Street; then south on Van Brunt Street to 
Hamilton Avenue and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel; then north on Hamilton 
Avenue and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the East River; then north 
along the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel across the East River to the point of 
beginning.
* * * * *

    Done in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of November 2001.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 01-28068 Filed 11-7-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-U