[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 27, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59175-59176]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-29473]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 228 / Tuesday, November 27, 2001 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 59175]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 01-079-1]


Citrus Canker; Quarantined Areas

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend the citrus canker regulations by 
removing a portion of the quarantined area in Manatee County, FL, from 
the list of quarantined areas. The regulations require that an area be 
free from citrus canker for a period of at least 2 years before it may 
be removed from the list of quarantined areas. Surveys have shown that 
a portion of the quarantined area in Manatee County, FL, has been free 
of citrus canker since February 1999. This proposed action would remove 
restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles from that 
portion of Manatee County, FL.

DATES: We invite you to comment on this docket. We will consider all 
comments that we receive by December 27, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Please send four copies of your comment (an original and 
three copies) to: Docket No. 01-079-1, 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. 01-079-1.
    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. Stephen Poe, Operations Officer, 
PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 734-
8899.

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 render 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 301.75-16 (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 for the designation of survey areas around 
quarantined areas. Survey areas undergo close monitoring by Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and State inspectors for citrus 
canker and serve as buffer zones against the disease.
    Under Sec. 301.75-4(c) of the regulations, any State or portion of 
a State where an infestation is detected will be designated as a 
quarantined area and will retain that designation until the area has 
been free from citrus canker for 2 years.
    A 15-square-mile area in the northern part of the quarantined area 
in Manatee County, FL, has been free of citrus canker since February 
1999, and has thus met the requirement for declaration of eradication--
that an area be free from citrus canker for a period of at least 2 
years. In this case, regular and complete surveys have been conducted 
on an approximately monthly basis since the infestation was first 
detected, including surveys of all citrus trees located in both 
commercial groves and at residential properties. In addition, any wild 
citrus present in the area has also been surveyed.
    Although not required as a condition of declaring eradication in an 
area, in this case all abandoned citrus orchards in the area, estimated 
at over 1,000 acres, have also been removed. Abandoned citrus groves 
present a challenge in conducting surveys, and thus the removal of 
these groves increases our confidence that citrus canker is no longer 
present in this area. APHIS and the State of Florida will continue to 
survey all commercial and private citrus groves on a regular basis at 
least until citrus canker is fully eradicated statewide.
    Therefore, we are proposing to amend the citrus canker regulations 
by removing a portion of the quarantined area in Manatee County, FL, 
from the list of quarantined areas. The portion of Manatee County we 
are proposing to remove from the list of quarantined areas covers 
approximately 15 square miles in the northern portion of the current 
quarantined area in Manatee County. The portion of the current 
quarantined area that would remain on the list of quarantined areas is 
described in the rule portion of this document. This proposed action 
would remove restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated 
articles from the portion of Manatee County, FL, that would be removed 
from the list of quarantined areas.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. 
For this action, the Office of Management and Budget has waived its 
review process required by Executive Order 12866.
    We are proposing to amend the citrus canker regulations by removing 
a portion of the quarantined area in Manatee County, FL, from the list 
of quarantined areas. The regulations require that an area be free from 
citrus canker for a period of at least 2 years before it is removed 
from the list of quarantined areas. Surveys have shown that a portion 
of the quarantined area in Manatee County, FL, has been free of citrus 
canker since February 1999. This proposed action would remove

[[Page 59176]]

restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles from that 
portion of Manatee County, FL.
    The area we are proposing to remove from quarantine represents only 
a small portion of the total production in Manatee County. The table 
below shows statistics for Manatee County after trees were removed to 
limit the spread of citrus canker.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Boxes of citrus                       Total number of
                                                         produced in 1999-     Total acres       trees January
                                                            2000 season        January 2000           2000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All Round Oranges......................................          8,365,000             21,236          2,631,200
All Grapefruit.........................................            422,000              1,197            111,900
Speciality Fruit.......................................            279,000                821             98,300
All Citrus.............................................          9,066,000             23,254          2,841,400
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While producers in the area that would be removed from the list of 
quarantined areas would benefit from removal of movement restrictions, 
it is unlikely that the benefit would be big enough to measure 
statistically. This proposed action would not impose any costs on 
producers or on government entities.
    Most of the citrus producers in and around the quarantined area in 
Manatee County, FL, would qualify as small entities under Small 
Business Administration (SBA) guidelines. The Regulatory Flexibility 
Act requires that the Agency specifically consider the economic impact 
associated with rule changes on small entities. The SBA defines a firm 
engaged in agriculture as ``small'' if it has less than $750,000 in 
annual receipts.
    Citrus producers in the area that would be removed from the list of 
quarantined areas would have greater choice of where to market their 
fruit. This would benefit producers by providing them with more 
alternatives. It is unlikely, however, that producer income or expenses 
would be affected in a measurable way.
    It is difficult to quantify the benefits of removing an area from 
quarantine. While producers would have greater choice of where to 
market their citrus crops, most of the trees in the quarantined area 
have been destroyed. It is unlikely that a reduction in the quarantined 
area would have any measurable effect on producers or consumers.
    Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action would 
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 proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, 
Civil Justice Reform. If this proposed rule is adopted: (1) State and 
local laws and regulations will not be preempted; (2) no retroactive 
effect will be given to this rule; and (3) administrative proceedings 
will not be required before parties may file suit in court challenging 
this rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This proposed 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, we are proposing to amend 7 CFR part 301 as follows:

PART 301--DOMESTIC QUARANTINE NOTICES

    1. The authority citation for part 301 would continue 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. 301.75-4, paragraph (a), in the entry for Manatee 
County, the second paragraph would be revised to read as follows:


Sec. 301.75-4  Quarantined areas.

    (a) * * *
    Florida
* * * * *
    Manatee County. * * *
    That portion of the county bounded by a line drawn as follows: 
Beginning at the northwest corner of sec. 24, T. 33 S., R. 17 E.; then 
east along the northern boundary of sec. 24, T. 33. S., R. 17 E. 
(Bishop Harbor Road) until it becomes SR 683 (Moccasin Wallow Road); 
then east on SR 683 to the northeast boundary of sec. 22, T. 33 S., R. 
18 E., then south along the eastern boundary of sec. 22, T. 33 S., R. 
18 E. to 69th Street East; then east on 69th Street East to Erie Road; 
then south on Erie Road to U.S. Highway 301; then south on U.S. Highway 
301 to Interstate 75; then south on Interstate 75 to the southern 
boundary of sec. 24, T. 35 S., R. 18 E.; then west along the southern 
boundaries of secs. 24, 23, and 22 to where the southern boundary of 
sec. 22 meets Whitfield Avenue; then west on Whitfield Avenue to U.S. 
Highway 301; then north on U.S. Highway 301 to SR 70; then west on SR 
70 to U.S. Highway 41; then north on U.S. Highway 41 to where it 
becomes 14th Street West; then north on 14th Street West to 1st Avenue 
West; then east on 1st Avenue West to 9th Street West; then north on 
9th Street West to the north bank of the Manatee River; then west along 
the north bank of the Manatee River to Terra Ceia Bay; then north along 
the western boundaries of secs. 25 and 24 to the point of the 
beginning.
* * * * *

    Done in Washington, DC, this 15th day of November 2001.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 01-29473 Filed 11-26-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P