[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 137 (Monday, July 19, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 42849-42850]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-16280]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 137 / Monday, July 19, 2004 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 42849]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 04-002-2]


Asian Longhorned Beetle; Quarantined 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 Asian longhorned beetle regulations by adding a 
portion of Cook County, IL, to the list of quarantined areas and 
restricting the interstate movement of regulated articles from those 
areas. The interim rule also removed other portions of Cook County, IL, 
and portions of DuPage County, IL, from the list of quarantined areas 
and removed restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated 
articles from these areas. These actions were necessary to prevent the 
spread of the Asian longhorned beetle to noninfested areas of the 
United States and to relieve restrictions on certain areas that are no 
longer necessary.

DATES: Effective Date: The interim rule became effective on March 3, 
2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael B. Stefan, Director of 
Emergency Programs, Pest Detection and Management Programs, PPQ, APHIS, 
4700 River Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-4387.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) is an insect native to China, 
Japan, Korea, and the Isle of Hainan. It is a destructive pest of 
hardwood trees. In addition, nursery stock, logs, green lumber, 
firewood, stumps, roots, branches and debris of half an inch or more in 
diameter are also subject to infestation. The ALB regulations (7 CFR 
301.51-1 through 301.51-9) restrict the interstate movement of 
regulated articles from quarantined areas to prevent the artificial 
spread of ALB to noninfested areas of the United States.
    The regulations in Sec.  301.51-3(a) provide that the Administrator 
of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will list as 
a quarantined area each State, or each portion of a state, in which ALB 
has been found by an inspector, in which there is reason to believe ALB 
is present, or because of the area's inseparability for quarantine 
enforcement purposes from localities where ALB has been found.
    In an interim rule effective March 3, 2004, and published in the 
Federal Register on March 8, 2004 (69 FR 10599-10601, Docket No. 04-
002-1), we amended the ALB regulations by adding a portion of Cook 
County, IL, to the list of quarantined areas in Sec.  301.51-3(c) and 
restricting the interstate movement of regulated articles from the 
quarantined area. We also removed other portions of Cook County, IL, 
and portions of DuPage County, IL, from the list of quarantined areas.
    We solicited comments concerning the interim rule for 60 days 
ending May 7, 2004. We received one comment by that date, from a 
private citizen.
    The commenter was in favor of the interim rule's additon of the 
portion of Cook County, IL, to the list of quarantined areas. However, 
the commenter requested that we reconsider our decision to remove parts 
of Cook and DuPage Counties, IL, from the list of quarantined areas in 
order to decrease the likelihood of future ALB infestation in those 
areas.
    While we realize that there is always the possibility of ALB 
reinfestation, APHIS does not believe a continuation of the quarantine 
in the areas removed by the interim rule is necessary or warranted. As 
stated in Sec.  301.51-3(a) of the regulations, an area may be listed 
as a quarantined area if ALB have been found by an inspector, if there 
is reason to believe ALB are present, or if the area is inseparable 
from other quarantined areas for purposes of enforcement. The last 
evidence of ALB found in these areas was on December 2, 2000, near 
Addison in DuPage County, IL, and on August 18, 1999, in that portion 
of the Village of Summit, IL. Those areas have also been determined to 
be sufficiently far from other quarantined areas for the removal of the 
quarantine to be considered safe. Though we do not believe further 
regulation of these areas is necessary, we will continue to survey them 
to ensure that ALB does not reappear.
    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 Orders 12866, 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.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This rule affirms an interim rule that amended the ALB regulations 
by adding a portion of Cook County, IL, to the list of quarantined 
areas and by removing other portions of Cook County, IL, and DuPage 
County, IL, from the list of quarantined areas. In the interim rule, we 
stated that we were taking those actions on an immediate basis to 
prevent the spread of ALB to noninfested areas of the United States and 
to remove restrictions on areas in which the ALB is no longer present.
    The following analysis addresses the economic effects of the 
interim rule on small entities, as required by the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act. The small businesses potentially affected by the 
interim rule are nurseries, arborists, tree removal services, and 
firewood dealers located within the areas added to and removed from the 
list of quarantined areas.
    Within the quarantined area added by the interim rule there is only 
one business potentially affected, a firewood dealer. This business 
could be affected by the regulations in two ways. First, if the 
business wishes to move regulated articles interstate from a 
quarantined area, that business must either: (1) Enter into a 
compliance agreement with APHIS for the inspection and certification of 
regulated articles to be moved interstate from the quarantined

[[Page 42850]]

area; or (2) present its regulated articles for inspection by an 
inspector and obtain a certificate or a limited permit, issued by the 
inspector, for the interstate movement of regulated articles. The 
inspections may be inconvenient, but not costly; businesses operating 
under a compliance agreement would perform the inspections themselves 
and for those businesses that elect not to enter into a compliance 
agreement, APHIS would provide the services of an inspector without 
cost. There is also no cost for the compliance agreement, certificate, 
or limited permit for the interstate movement of regulated articles.
    Second, there is a possibility that, upon inspection, a regulated 
article could be determined by the inspector to be potentially infested 
with the ALB and, as a result, the inspector would not issue a 
certificate. In this case, the entity's ability to move regulated 
articles interstate would be restricted. However, the affected entity 
could conceivably obtain a limited permit under the conditions of Sec.  
301.51-5(b). Whether or not the affected entity would be denied 
certificates as a result of inspections of regulated articles is 
unknown. However, because it is located in a densely populated urban 
area, the firewood dealer is more likely to be receiving regulated 
articles from outside the quarantined area than it is to be shipping 
regulated articles interstate to nonquarantined areas. It is unlikely, 
therefore, that the firewood dealer would be moving regulated articles 
that would require inspection in the first place.
    The interim rule removed two areas from the list of quarantined 
areas. One area, the Village of Summit in Cook County, IL, encompasses 
0.92 square mile. Within that area, there are no known potentially 
affected business entities. The other area removed, Addison in DuPage 
County, IL, encompasses 0.81 square mile. Within that 0.81 square mile 
area, there are six potentially affected business entities, four tree 
companies and two landscape companies. These six entities stand to 
benefit from the interim rule, since they are no longer subject to the 
restrictions in the regulations. However, any benefit for these six 
entities is likely to be minimal. While the size of the six entities is 
unknown, it is reasonable to assume that they would be classified as 
small entities, based on the U.S. Small Business Administration's size 
standards.
    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.

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

0
Accordingly, we are adopting as a final rule, without change, the 
interim rule that amended 7 CFR part 301 and that was published at 69 
FR 10599-10601 on March 8, 2004.

    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 13th day of July, 2004.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-16280 Filed 7-16-04; 8:45 am]
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