[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 16 (Friday, January 24, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 3373-3374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-1609]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 16 / Friday, January 24, 2003 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 3373]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 02-121-2]


Mexican Fruit Fly; Addition of Regulated Area

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim rule and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are revising the Mexican fruit fly regulations by adding a 
portion of Los Angeles County, CA, to the existing regulated area and 
restricting the interstate movement of regulated articles from that 
area. This action is necessary to prevent the spread of the Mexican 
fruit fly into noninfested areas of the United States.

DATES: This interim rule was effective January 17, 2003. We will 
consider all comments that we receive on or before March 25, 2003.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by postal mail/commercial delivery 
or by e-mail. If you use postal mail/commercial delivery, please send 
four copies of your comment (an original and three copies) to: Docket 
No. 02-121-2, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 
3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state 
that your comment refers to Docket No. 02-121-2. If you use e-mail, 
address your comment to [email protected]. Your comment must 
be contained in the body of your message; do not send attached files. 
Please include your name and address in your message and ``Docket No. 
02-121-2'' on the subject line.
    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 A. Knight, Senior Staff 
Officer, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1236; (301) 734-8247.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens) is a destructive pest of 
citrus and many other types of fruit. The short life cycle of the 
Mexican fruit fly allows rapid development of serious outbreaks that 
can cause severe economic losses in commercial citrus-producing areas.
    The Mexican fruit fly regulations, contained in 7 CFR 301.64 
through 301.64-10 (referred to below as the regulations), were 
established to prevent the spread of the Mexican fruit fly to 
noninfested areas of the United States. The regulations impose 
restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles from the 
regulated areas.
    In an interim rule effective on December 13, 2002, and published in 
the Federal Register on December 23, 2002 (67 FR 78127-78128, Docket 
No. 02-121-1), we amended the regulations by adding a portion of Los 
Angeles County, CA, as a regulated area. Prior to the effective date of 
that rule, the only areas regulated for the Mexican fruit fly were 
portions of Texas. In this interim rule, we are designating an 
additional portion of Los Angeles County, CA, as a regulated area.
    Section 301.64-3 provides that the Deputy Administrator for Plant 
Protection and Quarantine, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS), shall list as a regulated area each quarantined State, or each 
portion of a quarantined State, in which the Mexican fruit fly has been 
found by an inspector, in which the Deputy Administrator has reason to 
believe the Mexican fruit fly is present, or that the Deputy 
Administrator considers necessary to regulate because of its proximity 
to the Mexican fruit fly or its inseparability for quarantine 
enforcement purposes from localities in which the Mexican fruit fly 
occurs.
    Less than an entire quarantined State is designated as a regulated 
area only if the Deputy Administrator determines that the State has 
adopted and is enforcing a quarantine or regulation that imposes 
restrictions on the intrastate movement of the regulated articles that 
are substantially the same as those that are imposed with respect to 
the interstate movement of the articles and the designation of less 
than the entire State as a regulated area will otherwise be adequate to 
prevent the artificial interstate spread of the Mexican fruit fly.
    Recent trapping surveys by inspectors of California State and 
county agencies and by APHIS inspectors reveal that an additional 
portion of Los Angeles County, CA, is infested with the Mexican fruit 
fly.
    Accordingly, to prevent the spread of the Mexican fruit fly to 
noninfested areas of the United States, we are amending the regulations 
in Sec.  301.64-3 by adding that portion of Los Angeles County, CA, to 
the existing regulated area for the Mexican fruit fly. The addition is 
described in detail in the rule portion of this document. The Deputy 
Administrator has determined that it is not necessary to designate the 
entire State of California as a regulated area.

Emergency Action

    This rulemaking is necessary on an emergency basis to prevent the 
Mexican fruit fly from spreading to 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 during the comment period for 
this interim rule (see DATES above). After the comment period closes, 
we will publish another document in the Federal Register. The document 
will include a discussion of any comments

[[Page 3374]]

we receive and any amendments we are making to the rule.

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 under 
Executive Order 12866.
    This rule restricts the interstate movement of regulated articles 
from an area in Los Angeles County, CA. Within the regulated area there 
are approximately 389 small entities that may be affected by this rule. 
These include 351 fruit sellers, 3 growers, 33 nurseries, 1 certified 
farmers' market, and 1 swapmeet. These 389 entities comprise less than 
1 percent of the total number of similar entities operating in the 
State of California. Additionally, these small entities sell regulated 
articles primarily for local intrastate, not interstate, movement, so 
the effect, if any, of this rule on these entities appears to be 
minimal.
    The effect on those few entities that do move regulated articles 
interstate will be minimized by the availability of various treatments 
that, in most cases, will allow these small entities to move regulated 
articles interstate with very little additional cost.
    Under these circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action will 
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 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 interim rule. The site-specific 
environmental assessment provides a basis for the conclusion that the 
implementation of integrated pest management to eradicate the Mexican 
fruit fly will not have a significant impact on human health and the 
natural 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 in our reading 
room (information on the location and hours of the reading room is 
provided under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this 
document). In addition, copies may be obtained from the individual 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

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. 7711, 7712, 7714, 7731, 7735, 7751, 7752, 
7753, 7754, and 7760; 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.  301.64-3, paragraph (c) , under the heading 
``California'', the entry for Los Angeles County is revised to read as 
follows:


Sec.  301.64-3  Regulated areas.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

California

    Los Angeles County. That portion of the county in the South 
Pasadena and Monterey Park areas bounded by a line as follows: 
Beginning at the intersection of Valley Boulevard and Peck Road; 
then south on Peck Road to Workman Mill Road; then southwest on 
Workman Mill Road to Norwalk Boulevard; then southwest on Norwalk 
Boulevard to Whittier Boulevard; then northwest on Whittier 
Boulevard to Passons Boulevard; then southwest on Passons Boulevard 
to Washington Boulevard; then northwest on Washington Boulevard to 
Paramount Boulevard; then southwest on Paramount Boulevard to East 
Slauson Avenue; then west on East Slauson Avenue to U.S. Interstate 
710; then northwest on U.S. Interstate 710 to U.S. Interstate 5; 
then northwest on U.S. Interstate 5 to South Indiana Street; then 
north on South Indiana Street to North Indiana Street; then north on 
North Indiana Street to Cesar Chavez Avenue; then northwest on Cesar 
Chavez Avenue to North Soto Street; then north on North Soto Street 
to Valley Boulevard; then west on Valley Boulevard to North Main 
Street; then west on North Main Street to Daly Street; then north on 
Daly Street to Pasadena Avenue; then north on Pasadena Avenue to 
North Figueroa Street; then southwest on North Figueroa Street to 
Cypress Avenue; then northwest on Cypress Avenue to Eagle Rock 
Boulevard; then northeast on Eagle Rock Boulevard to Colorado 
Boulevard; then east on Colorado Boulevard to West Colorado 
Boulevard; then northeast on West Colorado Boulevard to State 
Highway 710; then north on State Highway 710 to U.S. Interstate 210; 
then north on U.S. Interstate 210 to West Washington Boulevard; then 
east on West Washington Boulevard to East Washington Boulevard; then 
southeast on East Washington Boulevard to East Sierra Madre 
Boulevard; then east on East Sierra Madre Boulevard to Sierra Madre 
Villa Avenue; then south on Sierra Madre Villa Avenue to North 
Rosemead Boulevard; then southeast on North Rosemead Boulevard to 
Rosemead Boulevard; then south on Rosemead Boulevard to Longden 
Avenue; then east on Longden Avenue to Encinita Avenue; then south 
on Encinita Avenue to Las Tunas Drive; then east on Las Tunas Drive 
to Temple City Boulevard; then south on Temple City Boulevard to 
Olive Street; then east on Olive Street to Baldwin Avenue; then 
south on Baldwin Avenue to Lower Azusa Road; then east on Lower 
Azusa Road to Arden Drive; then south on Arden Drive to Valley 
Boulevard; then southeast on Valley Boulevard to the point of 
beginning.

* * * * *

    Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of January 2003.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 03-1609 Filed 1-23-03; 8:45 am]
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