[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 132 (Monday, July 12, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41781-41782]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-15702]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 132 / Monday, July 12, 2004 / 
Notices  

[[Page 41781]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 04-061-1]


Notice of Request for Extension of Approval of an Information 
Collection

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Extension of approval of an 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 request an extension of approval of an information 
collection in support of regulations allowing the importation of wheat 
seed, straw, and other products from the Mexicali Valley of Mexico into 
the United States.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
September 10, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send four copies 
of your comment (an original and three copies) to Docket No. 04-061-1, 
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. 04-061-1.
     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. 04-061-1'' on the subject 
line.
     Agency Web site: Go to http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/cominst.html for a form you can use to submit an e-mail comment through 
the APHIS Web site.
    Reading Room. 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.
    Other Information: You may view APHIS documents published in the 
Federal Register and related information, including the names of groups 
and individuals who have commented on APHIS dockets, on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the regulations 
allowing the importation of wheat seed, straw, and other products from 
the Mexicali Valley of Mexico into the United States, contact Mr. 
Robert Spaide, Senior Program Advisor, Pest Detection and Management 
Programs, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 20737; 
(301) 734-3769. 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: Mexicali Valley, Karnal Bunt.
    OMB Number: 0579-0132.
    Type of Request: Extension of approval of an information 
collection.
    Abstract: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is 
responsible for preventing plant pests from entering the United States 
and controlling and eradicating plant pests in the United States. The 
Plant Protection Act authorizes the Department to carry out this 
mission. The Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) program of USDA's 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is responsible for 
implementing the regulations that carry out the intent of this Act.
    To prevent the introduction and spread of various wheat diseases, 
including Karnal bunt, a fungal disease, the regulations in ``Subpart-
Wheat Diseases'' (7 CFR 319.59 through 319.59-2) prohibit the 
importation of wheat seed, straw, and other products into the United 
States from certain parts of the world. Section 319.59-2(b)(3) 
recognizes a wheat-growing area within the Mexicali Valley of Mexico as 
being free from Karnal bunt and allows wheat seed, straw, and other 
products from the Mexicali Valley to be imported into the United States 
under specified conditions.
    Because the remainder of Mexico is not designated as free of Karnal 
bunt, we require that a phytosanitary certificate accompany wheat seed, 
straw, and other products imported from the Karnal bunt free area of 
the Mexicali Valley. The certificate is issued by the Mexican national 
plant protection organization and states that the wheat or wheat-
related articles were grown in the designated Karnal bunt free area of 
the Mexicali Valley and remained in the Mexicali Valley prior to and 
during their movement to the United States.
    We are asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve 
our use of this information collection activity for an additional 3 
years.
    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 1.2 hours per response.
    Respondents: Mexican plant health authorities and growers and 
exporters of wheat products in the Mexicali Valley, Mexico.
    Estimated annual number of respondents: 20.

[[Page 41782]]

    Estimated annual number of responses per respondent: 5.
    Estimated annual number of responses: 100.
    Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 120 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 6th day of July 2004.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-15702 Filed 7-9-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P