[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 46 (Monday, March 10, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11311-11313]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-5594]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 2003 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 11311]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 02-129-3]


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 amending the Mexican fruit fly regulations by adding a 
portion of San Diego 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 March 4, 2003. We will consider 
all comments that we receive on or before May 9, 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. 02-129-3, 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. 02-129-3. 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. 
02-129-3'' 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 January 15, 2003, and published in 
the Federal Register on January 21, 2003 (68 FR 2679-2680, Docket No. 
02-129-1), we amended the regulations by adding a portion of San Diego 
County, CA, as a regulated area. In this interim rule, we are 
designating an additional portion of San Diego 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 San Diego 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 San Diego 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.
    As noted previously, the regulations in Sec.  301.64-3 refer to the 
listing of regulated areas within quarantined States. Quarantined 
States are listed in Sec.  301.64(a). When we published an interim rule 
quarantining a portion of Los Angeles County, CA, because of Mexican 
fruit fly (see 67 FR 78127-78128, Docket No. 02-021-1, published 
December 23, 2002), we should have amended Sec.  301.64(a) to designate 
California as a quarantined State, but did not. (Prior to that December 
2002 interim rule, the only areas regulated for the Mexican fruit fly 
were portions of Texas.) Therefore, in this rule we are amending Sec.  
301.64(a) to designate California as a quarantined State for Mexican 
fruit fly.

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

[[Page 11312]]

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 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 amends the Mexican fruit fly regulations by designating 
an additional portion of San Diego County, CA, as a 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.
    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 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).


Sec.  301.64  [Amended]

    2. In Sec.  301.64, paragraph (a) is amended by removing the words 
``State of'' and adding the words ``States of California and'' in their 
place.

    3. In Sec.  301.64-3, paragraph (c) , under the heading 
``California'', the entry for San Diego County is revised to read as 
follows:


Sec.  301.64-3  Regulated areas.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

California

* * * * *
    San Diego County: That portion of San Diego County in the Valley 
Center area bounded by a line as follows: Beginning at the intersection 
of State Highway 76 and Rice Canyon Road; then north on Rice Canyon 
Road to Huntley Road; then northeast on Huntley Road to Alex Road; then 
northeast on Alex Road to Rainbow Crest Road; then north, northwest, 
and north on Rainbow Crest Road to Rainbow Heights Road; then north on 
Rainbow Heights Road to Arouba Road; then southeast on Arouba Road to 
Aruba Road; then northeast on Aruba Road to Pala Temecula Road; then 
north on Pala Temecula Road to the San Diego County boundary line; then 
east along the San Diego County boundary line to the Cleveland National 
Forest boundary line; then south, east, south, east, south, east, 
south, northeast, and southeast along the Cleveland National Forest 
boundary line to Nate Harrison Grade Road; then southwest, northwest, 
southeast, west, southeast, and southwest on Nate Harrison Grade Road 
to Mesa Drive North; then southeast, northeast, southwest, northeast, 
and southwest on Mesa Drive North to State Highway 76; then east on 
State Highway 76 to Valley Center Road; then south and west on Valley 
Center Road to North Lake Wohlford Road; then south on North Lake 
Wohlford Road to Woods Valley Road; then west on Woods Valley Road to 
Valley Center Road; then north on Valley Center Road to Mirar De Valle 
Road; then west on Mirar De Valle Road to Alps Way; then west on Alps 
Way to Cougar Pass Road; then northwest on Cougar Pass Road to Meadow 
Glen Way East; then west, north, west, and southwest on Meadow Glen Way 
East to Mountain Meadow Road; then north on Mountain Meadow Road to 
Glenmeade Way; then west and southwest on Glenmeade Way to Sage Hill 
Way; then west on Sage Hill Way to Meadow Glen Way West; then north, 
west, and

[[Page 11313]]

northwest on Meadow Glen Way West to Welk Highland Drive; then 
northwest on Welk Highland Drive to Welk View Drive; then west, north, 
southwest, north, southwest, and west on Welk View Drive to Champagne 
Boulevard; then north on Champagne Boulevard to Old Highway 395; then 
north on Old Highway 395 to Dulin Road; then northeast on Dulin Road to 
Shearer Crossing; then north on Shearer Crossing to Pankey Road; then 
north on Pankey Road to State Highway 76; then northeast on State 
Highway 76 to the point of beginning.
* * * * *

    Done in Washington, DC, this 4th day of March 2003.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 03-5594 Filed 3-7-03; 8:45 am]
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