[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 122 (Wednesday, June 25, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37793-37794]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-16040]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 03-055-1]


Notice of Request for Approval of an Information Collection

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: New information collection; comment request.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's 
intention to initiate a new information collection for ongoing 
monitoring activities: (1) The National Animal Heath Reporting System; 
(2) the Sentinel Feedlot Monitoring Program; and (3) the Collaboration 
on Animal Health and Food Safety Epidemiology's Antimicrobial 
Resistance Monitoring Program.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
August 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. 03-055-1, 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. 03-055-1. 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. 
03-055-1'' 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

[[Page 37794]]

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: For information on the National Animal 
Health Ongoing Monitoring System, contact Mr. Chris Quatrano, 
Management Analyst, Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, VS, 
APHIS, 2150 Centre Avenue, Building B, Fort Collins, CO 80526-8117; 
(970) 494-7207. For copies of more detailed information on the 
information collection, contact Mrs. Celeste Sickles, APHIS' 
Information Collection Coordinator, at (301) 734-7477.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: National Animal Health Ongoing Monitoring System.
    OMB Number: 0579-XXXX.
    Type of Request: Approval of a new information collection.
    Abstract: The United States Department of Agriculture is 
responsible for protecting the health of our Nation's livestock and 
poultry populations by preventing the introduction and interstate 
spread of contagious, infectious, or communicable diseases of livestock 
and poultry and for eradicating such diseases from the United States 
when feasible. In connection with this mission, the Centers for 
Epidemiology and Animal Health (CEAH), Veterinary Services, Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), plans to initiate as part of 
the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) an information 
collection to gather data for the following ongoing monitoring systems. 
Participation in any NAHMS study is voluntary, and all information is 
confidential.

National Animal Health Reporting System (NAHRS)

    CEAH will collect data monthly from State veterinarians on the 
presence and absence of specific diseases. As a member country of the 
Office International des Epizooties (OIE), the United States must 
submit an annual report on the status of List A and B diseases \1\ 
within the United States, and immediately report on any List A disease. 
The potential benefits to trade include accurate reporting on the 
health status of the U.S. livestock industry, expansion of livestock 
industries into new export markets, and preservation of existing 
markets through increased confidence in quality and disease freedom of 
U.S. livestock. This data collection is unique in terms of the type, 
quantity, and frequency; no other entity is collecting and reporting 
data on the health status of U.S. livestock to OIE.
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    \1\ List A diseases: Transmissible diseases that have the 
potential for very serious and rapid spread, irrespective of 
national borders, that are of serious socio-economic or public 
health consequence and that are of major importance in the 
international trade of animals and animal products.
    List B diseases: Transmissible diseases that are considered to 
be of socio-economic and/or public health importance within 
countries and that are significant in the international trade of 
animals and animal products.
    Source: OIE, Paris, France.
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Sentinel Feedlot Monitoring Program

    CEAH will collect data from up to 10 private veterinary 
practitioners who oversee the health of approximately 20 percent of the 
cattle-on-feed in the United States. Data are analyzed for health and 
disease trends, reported monthly to the participants, and summarized 
periodically for Government reports and publications. This data 
collection is unique in terms of the type, frequency, and data 
collected and could become invaluable in the event of an emergency 
animal disease outbreak, or if an emerging or changing disease 
condition is detected. The information collected from feedlots will be 
used by researchers to identify problems and improve upon animal health 
guidelines, by feedlots to highlight areas for improvement, by 
consulting veterinarians to modify health programs in feedlots, and by 
pharmaceutical companies to research and create new products to 
minimize losses and maintain healthier cattle.

Collaboration on Animal Health and Food Safety Epidemiology (CAHFSE) 
Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring Program

    This program will monitor antimicrobial resistance among 
salmonella, enterococcus, campylobacter, and nonpathogenic indicator 
bacteria, such as non-type species E. coli. Both biological samples and 
operations management data will be collected quarterly from 25 
operations (swine, dairy cattle, feedlot cattle, or poultry) nationwide 
and analyzed to track changes in resistance patterns and to better 
understand the ecology of antimicrobial resistance. A questionnaire 
will be used to measure general operations management, herd/flock 
demographics, and other relevant information that may be related to the 
ecology of antimicrobial resistance. Biological samples will be 
analyzed to measure the presence and prevalence of microbials. 
Information from CAHFSE studies will be disseminated to veterinary 
consultants/practitioners, industry and producer groups, and academia 
to monitor antimicrobial resistance and to identify problem areas in 
health management and feeding practices which contribute to disease 
transmission.
    We are asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve 
these information collection activities for the National Animal Health 
Ongoing Monitoring System.
    The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments from the public 
(as well as affected agencies) concerning our information collection. 
These comments will help us:
    (1) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the burden of the 
information collection, including the validity of the methodology and 
assumptions used;
    (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    (4) Minimize the burden of the information collection on those who 
are to respond, through use, as appropriate, of automated, electronic, 
mechanical, and other collection technologies, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    Estimate of burden: The public reporting burden for this collection 
of information is estimated to average 1.252469 hours per response.
    Respondents: State public health officials, private laboratories, 
private veterinarians, and producers.
    Estimated annual number of respondents: 160.
    Estimated annual number of responses per respondent: 10.125.
    Estimated annual number of responses: 1,620.
    Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 2,029 hours. (Due to 
averaging, the total annual burden hours may not equal the product of 
the annual number of responses multiplied by the reporting burden per 
response.)
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of 
public record.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 19th day of June 2003.
Bobby R. Acord,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 03-16040 Filed 6-24-03; 8:45 am]
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