[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 82 (Monday, April 28, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 22785-22786]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-9236]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 82 / Monday, April 28, 2008 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 22785]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 01-112-2]
RIN 0579-AB45


Karnal Bunt Compensation

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 to provide compensation 
for certain growers and handlers of grain and seed affected by Karnal 
bunt who had not been eligible for compensation, and for certain wheat 
grown outside the regulated area that had been commingled with wheat 
grown in regulated areas in Texas. The compensation provided by the 
interim rule was necessary to encourage the participation of, and 
obtain cooperation from, affected individuals in our efforts to contain 
and reduce the prevalence of Karnal bunt.

DATES: Effective on April 28, 2008, we are adopting as a final rule the 
interim rule published at 67 FR 21561-21566 on May 1, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Matthew Royer, Associate Director, 
Emergency and Domestic Programs, Plant Protection and Quarantine, 
APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 137, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (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 
fungus Tilletia indica (Mitra) Mundkur and is spread primarily through 
the planting of infected seed. In the absence of measures taken by the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to prevent its spread, the 
establishment of Karnal bunt in the United States could have 
significant consequences with regard to the export of wheat to 
international markets.
    The regulations regarding Karnal bunt are set forth in 7 CFR 
301.89-1 through 301.89-16 (referred to below as the regulations). 
Among other things, the regulations define areas regulated for Karnal 
bunt and restrict the movement of certain regulated articles, including 
wheat seed and grain, from the regulated areas. The regulations also 
provide for the payment of compensation for certain growers, handlers, 
seed companies, owners of grain storage facilities, flour millers, 
participants in the National Karnal Bunt Survey, and custom harvesters 
and owners or lessees of other equipment who incurred losses and 
expenses because of Karnal bunt during certain years. These provisions 
are in Sec.  301.89-15, ``Compensation for growers, handlers, and seed 
companies in the 1999-2000 and subsequent crop seasons,'' and Sec.  
301.89-16, ``Compensation for grain storage facilities, flour millers, 
National Survey participants, and certain custom harvesters and 
equipment owners or lessees for the 1999-2000 and subsequent crop 
seasons.''
    In an interim rule effective and published in the Federal Register 
on May 1, 2002 (67 FR 21561-21566, Docket No. 01-112-1), we amended the 
Karnal bunt regulations to provide compensation for certain growers and 
handlers of grain and seed affected by Karnal bunt who had not been 
eligible for compensation, and for certain wheat grown outside the 
regulated area that had been commingled with wheat grown in four 
counties in Texas that had been added to the list of regulated areas.
    In Archer, Baylor, Throckmorton, and Young Counties, certain wheat 
growers, handlers, and other parties covered by the compensation 
regulations had appeared to be ineligible to receive compensation for 
grain or seed affected by Karnal bunt due to restrictive language in 
the regulations that did not anticipate certain complications in the 
harvest and storage of grain that arose following the discovery of 
Karnal bunt in those counties. Due to the need to quickly declare these 
counties as regulated areas, we had been unable to modify the 
compensation regulations at that time to address certain relevant 
aspects of the way seed and grain were moved, stored, and used in the 
newly regulated areas.
    The May 2002 interim rule amended the compensation provisions of 
the regulations to allow persons affected by these complications in the 
harvest or storage of grain to apply for compensation. These cases 
represented unanticipated circumstances applicable only to the 2000-
2001 growing season, and we determined that the parties affected 
should, in fairness, be eligible for compensation. The situations 
addressed by the interim rule primarily affected growers and handlers 
in Texas, and certain handlers who moved grain from other States to 
Texas for storage.
    We solicited comments on the interim rule for 60 days ending on 
July 1, 2002. We received 86 comments by that date, from individual 
custom harvesters and wheat growers and from boards and associations of 
custom harvesters and wheat growers and marketers. None of these 
commenters objected to the provisions of the interim rule.
    Several commenters urged us to provide compensation to custom 
harvesters whose business was affected by the addition of the four 
counties as regulated areas. In response to these comments, in an 
interim rule that was effective and published in the Federal Register 
on May 5, 2004 (69 FR 24909-24016, Docket No. 03-052-1) and in a 
subsequent final rule that was effective and published in the Federal 
Register on May 9, 2005 (70 FR 24297-24302, Docket No. 03-052-3), we 
amended the regulations in Sec.  301.89-16 to provide for the payment 
of compensation to custom harvesters whose mechanized harvesting 
equipment was used to harvest Karnal bunt-infected host crops in 
Archer, Baylor, Throckmorton, and Young Counties, TX, during the 2000-
2001 crop season and was required to be cleaned and disinfected prior 
to movement from those counties. (A fuller discussion of the comments 
we received on this topic can be found in the May 2004 interim rule.) 
This compensation

[[Page 22786]]

was intended to reimburse custom harvesters for the cost of that 
cleaning and disinfection.
    The May 2004 interim rule also provided for the payment of 
compensation equivalent to the value of one contract that an eligible 
custom harvester lost due to the downtime necessitated by cleaning and 
disinfection. If an eligible custom harvester did not lose a contract 
due to this downtime, the interim rule provided for the payment of 
compensation for the fixed costs he or she incurred during the time the 
machine was being cleaned and disinfected. The May 2004 interim rule 
also provided for the payment of compensation for the expenses 
associated with the cleaning and disinfection of other types of 
equipment used in the four affected counties.
    The other comments we received did not address the situations 
addressed by the interim rule. Instead, they addressed the regulations 
in place before the publication of the interim rule, requesting that 
APHIS provide additional compensation to parties affected by the Karnal 
bunt quarantine regulations. Specifically, commenters stated that:
     APHIS should pay compensation for wheat grown in 
quarantined areas;
     Compensation for wheat should be based on the market in 
which the wheat farmer being compensated is accustomed to selling 
wheat;
     Compensation should be provided for acreage within the 
quarantined areas that would normally be planted with wheat but is left 
fallow;
     APHIS should provide compensation for more than 50 percent 
of the cost of decontaminating grain storage facilities and raise the 
$20,000 overall limit on such compensation; and
     APHIS should provide greater compensation for seed, since 
seed prices are 2 to 4 times higher than local grain prices.
    These comments are outside the scope of the interim rule. The 
provisions of the regulations addressed by these commenters were added 
to the regulations in a final rule published in the Federal Register on 
August 6, 2001 (66 FR 40839-40843, Docket No. 96-016-37) that 
established the compensation levels for the 1999-2000 crop season and 
subsequent years and made several other changes to the compensation 
regulations. For the reasons discussed in that final rule, we have 
determined that the present compensation provisions are appropriate.
    One commenter stated that APHIS should provide compensation to seed 
companies and handlers that store uncertified wheat seed that tests 
spore-positive for Karnal bunt.
    The regulations in Sec.  301.89-15 provide for compensation for 
handlers and seed companies who sell wheat grown in an area under the 
first regulated crop season only if the wheat was not tested by APHIS 
prior to purchase by the handler or seed company and found positive for 
Karnal bunt after purchase by the handler or seed company, as long as 
the price to be paid is not contingent on the test results. 
Compensation for such wheat will equal the estimated market price for 
the relevant class of wheat (meaning the type of wheat, such as durum 
or hard red winter), minus the actual price received by the handler or 
seed company. Further details are specified in paragraph (a)(2) of 
Sec.  301.89-15. These provisions were in place during the 2000-2001 
crop season, and thus it was not necessary to amend the regulations in 
the interim rule to accommodate this situation.
    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, this action has been determined to be not significant for 
the purposes of Executive Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been 
reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.

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 67 
FR 21561-21566 on May 1, 2002.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of April 2008.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
 [FR Doc. E8-9236 Filed 4-25-08; 8:45 am]
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