[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 158 (Tuesday, August 17, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 50995-50996]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-18785]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 158 / Tuesday, August 17, 2004 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 50995]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 03-047-2]


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 to the list of regulated areas either because they were 
found during surveys to contain a bunted wheat kernel, or because they 
are within the 3-mile-wide buffer zone around fields or areas affected 
with Karnal bunt. We also removed certain areas from the list of 
regulated areas in Riverside County, CA, because detection and 
delineating surveys showed them to be free of Karnal bunt. These 
actions were necessary to prevent the spread of Karnal bunt into 
noninfected areas of the United States and to relieve restrictions that 
were no longer warranted.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The interim rule became effective on January 5, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert Spaide, Senior Program 
Advisor, Pest Detection and Management Programs, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 
Road Unit 137, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-4387.

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 January 5, 2004 (69 FR 245-247, Docket No. 03-047-1), we amended the 
regulations by adding certain areas in Arizona to the list of regulated 
areas either because they were found during surveys to contain a bunted 
wheat kernel, or because they are within the 3-mile-wide buffer zone 
around fields or areas affected with Karnal bunt. We also removed 
certain areas from the list of regulated areas in Riverside County, CA, 
because detection and delineating surveys show them to be free of 
Karnal bunt. These actions were necessary to 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 March 5, 2004. We received one comment by that date. The comment 
was from a State wheat commission and supported the interim rule. 
Therefore, for the reasons given in the interim rule, we are adopting 
the interim rule as a final rule.
    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 Karnal bunt 
regulations by adding certain areas in Arizona to the list of regulated 
areas and by removing certain areas in California from the list of 
regulated areas. These actions were necessary to prevent the spread of 
Karnal bunt into noninfected areas of the United States and to relieve 
restrictions that were no longer warranted.
    The following analysis addresses the economic effect of the interim 
rule on small entities, as required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
    The entities most likely to be affected by the interim rule are 
wheat producers whose fields were added to or removed from the list of 
regulated areas and who plan to grow wheat in the future. The exact 
number of such producers is unknown, but no more than about 35 
producers are likely to have been affected by the interim rule.
    Producers affected by the interim rule are likely to be small in 
size based on U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) standards for 
wheat farmers, as well as data from the 1997 Census of Agriculture 
(1997 Census), which is the most recent census available. SBA 
classifies wheat producers with total annual sales of less than 
$750,000 as small entities. According to 1997 Census data, there were 
6,135 farms in Arizona in 1997. (This total includes, but is not 
limited to, wheat farms.) Of the total number of farms in Arizona, 89 
percent had annual sales that year of less than $500,000, well below 
SBA's small entity threshold of $750,000 for wheat farms. The 
percentage of farms with annual sales of less than $500,000 in 
California (74,126 total farms) was also 89 percent in 1997.
    Producers whose fields are deregulated will benefit because they 
will be able to move wheat or other Karnal bunt host crops without 
restriction. Prior to this rule, any wheat, durum wheat, or triticale 
grown in those fields could be moved into or through a non-regulated 
area without restriction

[[Page 50996]]

only if it first tested negative for bunted kernels. In addition, any 
wheat, durum wheat, or triticale grown in those fields could not be 
used as seed within or outside a regulated area unless it was tested 
and found free of bunted kernels and spores. Conversely, producers 
whose fields were regulated became subject to those movement 
restrictions.
    However, the interim rule's impact on individual producers is not 
likely to be significant, for several reasons. First, the testing of 
grain for Karnal bunt is performed free of charge for producers in all 
regulated areas. Producers in the newly regulated areas will not face 
an additional financial burden because of this requirement. Second, 
little or no commercial wheat seed is, or is expected to be, grown in 
the affected fields. Because of that, the elimination or imposition of 
restrictions on moving seed is expected to have only a minimal impact 
on producers.
    The elimination or imposition of restrictions will increase or 
restrict marketing opportunities for producers, with impacts on prices 
received by individual producers. Those producers in California whose 
fields were deregulated may enjoy increased market opportunities for 
any wheat they grow in the future (e.g., the availability of export 
markets) and receive a higher commodity price. Alternatively, those 
producers in Arizona whose fields were added to the regulated area may 
see the market for their wheat become more limited and receive a lower 
price. For producers in their first regulated crop season, any negative 
price-received effects will be mitigated by compensation for losses. 
Therefore, the net effect on producer revenues in the newly regulated 
areas is not expected to be significant. In subsequent regulated crop 
seasons, producers will incorporate the risk of Karnal bunt infestation 
into their planting decisions.
    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 245-247 on January 5, 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 11th day of August 2004.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-18785 Filed 8-16-04; 8:45 am]
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