[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 190 (Wednesday, October 1, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 56529-56530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-24874]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 02-037-2]


Karnal Bunt; Regulated Areas

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Affirmation of interim rule as final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim 
rule that amended the Karnal bunt regulations by adding certain areas 
in Arizona and Texas to the list of regulated areas either because they 
were found during detection and delineating surveys to contain a bunted 
wheat kernel, or because they fell within the 3-mile-wide buffer zone 
around fields or areas affected with Karnal bunt. The interim rule also 
removed certain individual fields and other areas in Arizona, New 
Mexico, and Texas from the list of regulated areas, either because 
detection and delineating surveys showed them to be free of Karnal 
bunt, or because they had not been used to produce Karnal bunt host 
crops within the last 5 years, or because they had been used to produce 
Karnal bunt host crops in 1 or more years following initial regulation 
and the crops have been tested and found free of Karnal bunt. The 
interim rule was necessary to help prevent the spread of Karnal bunt 
into noninfected areas of the United States and to relieve restrictions 
that are no longer warranted.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The interim rule became effective on October 3, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert G. Spaide, Senior Program 
Manager, Surveillance and Emergency Programs Planning and Coordination, 
PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 
734-7819.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Karnal bunt is a fungal disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum), durum 
wheat (Triticum durum), and triticale (Triticum aestivum X Secale 
cereale), a hybrid of wheat and rye. Karnal bunt is caused by the smut 
fungus Tilletia indica (Mitra) Mundkur and is spread primarily through 
the movement of infected seed. Some countries in the international 
wheat market regulate Karnal bunt as a fungal disease requiring 
quarantine; therefore, without measures taken by the Animal and Plant 
Health Inspection Service (APHIS), United States Department of 
Agriculture, to prevent its spread, the presence of Karnal bunt in the 
United States could have significant consequences with regard to the 
export of wheat to international markets.
    Upon detection of Karnal bunt in Arizona in March of 1996, Federal 
quarantine and emergency actions were imposed to prevent the interstate 
spread of the disease to other wheat producing areas in the United 
States. The quarantine continues in effect, although it has since been 
modified, both in terms of its physical boundaries and in terms of its 
restrictions on the production and movement of regulated articles from 
regulated areas. The regulations regarding Karnal bunt are set forth in 
7 CFR 301.89-1 through 301.89-16 (referred to below as the 
regulations).
    In an interim rule effective and published in the Federal Register 
on October 3, 2002 (67 FR 61975-61980, Docket No. 02-037-1), we amended 
the regulations by adding certain areas in

[[Page 56530]]

Arizona and Texas to the list of regulated areas in Sec.  301.89-3(f), 
either because they were found during detection and delineating surveys 
to contain a bunted wheat kernel, or because they fell within the 3-
mile-wide buffer zone around fields or areas affected with Karnal bunt. 
We also removed certain individual fields and other areas in Arizona, 
New Mexico, and Texas from the list of regulated areas in Sec.  301.89-
3(f), either because recently completed detection and delineating 
surveys showed them to be free of Karnal bunt, or because they had not 
been used to produce Karnal bunt host crops within the last 5 years, or 
because they had been used to produce Karnal bunt host crops in 1 or 
more years following initial regulation and the crops have been tested 
and found free of Karnal bunt. The interim rule was necessary to help 
prevent the spread of Karnal bunt into noninfected areas of the United 
States and to relieve restrictions that are no longer warranted.
    Comments on the interim rule were required to be received on or 
before December 2, 2002. We received two comments by that date. The 
comments were from State departments of agriculture. Both commenters 
supported the interim rule. However, one commenter stated that it was 
important for APHIS to communicate the deregulation of the areas as 
described in the interim rule through immediate updates to all Karnal 
bunt fact sheets, maps, manuals, Web sites, and other resources for 
information.
    Currently, APHIS has procedures in place for ensuring that this 
type of information is updated promptly. APHIS uses its Internet site, 
on which we make available materials such as press releases, maps, and 
fact sheets, to communicate the type of information noted by the 
commenter, and such updates are routinely communicated to APHIS 
personnel involved in regulatory programs. While it is perhaps most 
important that the deregulated areas be removed from the list of 
regulated areas in Sec.  301.89-3(f), we do make every effort to ensure 
that related materials such as fact sheets, etc., are updated promptly.
    Therefore, for the reasons given in the interim rule and in this 
document, we are adopting the interim rule as a final rule without 
change.
    This action also affirms the information contained in the interim 
rule concerning Executive Order 12866 and the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act, Executive Orders 12372 and 12988, and the Paperwork Reduction Act.
    Further, for this action, the Office of Management and Budget has 
waived its review under Executive Order 12866.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 301

    Agricultural commodities, Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.

PART 301--DOMESTIC QUARANTINE NOTICES

    Accordingly, we are adopting as a final rule, without change, the 
interim rule that amended 7 CFR part 301 and that was published at 67 
FR 61975-61980 on October 3, 2002.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772; 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).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 25th day of September, 2003.
Peter Fernandez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 03-24874 Filed 9-30-03; 8:45 am]
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