[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 110 (Friday, June 6, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32284-32285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-12625]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2008-0014]


Potato Cyst Nematode; Update of Quarantined Areas

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of changes to quarantined area.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have made changes to the 
area in the State of Idaho that is quarantined to prevent the spread of 
potato cyst nematode. The description of the quarantined area was 
updated on November 1, 2007, when the potato cyst nematode regulations 
became effective; on November 28, 2007, when one additional field was 
found to be infested; on January 9, 2008, when some fields that had 
been quarantined were found not to have an association with an infested 
field; and on March 21, 2008, when 24 associated fields were removed 
from the quarantined area after having been surveyed and found to be 
free of potato cyst nematode.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Osama El-Lissy, Director, Invasive 
Species and Pest Management, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 134, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-8676.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The potato cyst nematode (PCN) (Globodera pallida) is a major pest 
of potato crops in cool-temperature areas. Other solanaceous hosts 
include tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, tomatillos, and some weeds. The 
PCN is thought to have originated in Peru and is now widely distributed 
in many potato-growing regions of the world. PCN infestations may be 
expressed as patches of poor growth. Affected potato plants may exhibit 
yellowing, wilting, or death of foliage. Even with only minor symptoms 
on the foliage, potato tuber size can be affected. Unmanaged 
infestations can cause potato yield loss ranging from 20 to 70 percent. 
The spread of this pest in the United States could result in a loss of 
domestic or foreign markets for U.S. potatoes and other commodities.
    In an interim rule published in the Federal Register on September 
12, 2007, and effective on November 1, 2007 (72 FR 51975-51988, Docket 
No. APHIS-2006-0143), we established the PCN quarantine regulations 
(Sec. Sec.  301.86 through 301.86-9, referred to below as the 
regulations). These regulations set out procedures for determining the 
areas quarantined for PCN and impose restrictions on the interstate 
movement of regulated articles from quarantined areas.
    Section 301.86-3 of the regulations sets out the procedures for 
determining the areas quarantined for PCN. Paragraph (a) of Sec.  
301.86-3 states that, in accordance with the criteria listed in Sec.  
301.86-3(c), the Administrator will designate as a quarantined area 
each field that has been found to be infested with PCN, each field that 
has been found to be associated with an infested field, and any area 
that the Administrator considers necessary to quarantine because of its 
inseparability for quarantine enforcement purposes from infested or 
associated fields.
    Paragraph (c) provides that the Administrator will designate a 
field as an infested field when PCN is found in the field. Paragraph 
(c) also provides that the Administrator will designate a field as an 
associated field when PCN host crops, as listed in Sec.  301.86-2(b), 
have been grown in the field in the last 10 years and the field shares 
a border with an infested field; the field came into contact with a 
regulated article listed in Sec.  301.86-2 from an infested field 
within the last 10 years; or, within the last 10 years, the field 
shared ownership, tenancy, seed, drainage or runoff, farm machinery, or 
other elements of shared cultural practices with an infested field that 
could allow spread of the PCN, as determined by the Administrator.
    Paragraph (b) describes the conditions for the designation of an 
area less than an entire State as a quarantined area. Less than an 
entire State will be designated as a quarantined area only if the 
Administrator determines that:
     The State has adopted and is enforcing restrictions on the 
intrastate movement of the regulated articles that are equivalent to 
those imposed by the regulations on the interstate movement of 
regulated articles; and
     The designation of less than the entire State as a 
quarantined area will prevent the interstate spread of PCN.
    We have determined that it is not necessary to designate the entire 
State of Idaho as a quarantined area. Idaho has adopted and is 
enforcing restrictions on the intrastate movement of regulated articles 
from that area that are equivalent to those we are imposing on the 
interstate movement of regulated articles.
    Paragraph (a) of Sec.  301.86-3 further provides that the 
Administrator will publish the description of the quarantined area on 
the Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Web site, http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/potato/pcn.shtml. 
The description of the quarantined area will include the date the 
description was last updated and a description of the changes that have 
been made to the quarantined area. The description of the quarantined 
area may also be obtained by request from any local office of PPQ; 
local offices are listed in telephone directories. Finally, paragraph 
(a) establishes that, after a change is made to the quarantined area, 
we will publish a notice in the Federal Register informing the public 
that the change has occurred and describing the change to the 
quarantined area.
    We are publishing this notice to inform the public of changes to 
the PCN quarantined area in accordance with Sec.  301.86-3(a).
    The PCN quarantined area was first updated when the regulations 
became effective on November 1, 2007. That update to the quarantined 
area expanded the list of associated fields based on new information 
regarding

[[Page 32285]]

shared cultural practices. This added associated fields in Jefferson 
County, ID, as well as fields in Bonneville and Bingham Counties, ID.
    On November 28, 2007, surveys confirmed the detection of PCN in one 
new field. It was not necessary to add that field to the quarantined 
area, as it had already been listed as an associated field. However, 
the finding of an infestation in that field led to new fields being 
designated as associated fields. These fields were in Bonneville and 
Bingham Counties.
    On January 9, 2008, the quarantined area was further updated to 
remove four fields from the quarantined area. Although these fields had 
appeared to be associated fields, further investigation demonstrated 
that these fields were not associated with an infested field. The 
fields removed from quarantine were in Bonneville County.
    On March 21, 2008, the quarantined area was updated to remove 24 
fields from the quarantined area. These fields had been associated 
fields, and were found to be free of PCN according to a survey protocol 
approved by the Administrator as sufficient to support removal from 
quarantine, under paragraph (d)(2) of Sec.  301.86-3. The fields 
removed from quarantine were in Bonneville and Bingham Counties.
    The current map of the quarantined area can be viewed on the PPQ 
Web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/potato/pcn.shtml.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772 and 7781-7786; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, 
and 371.3.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 29th day of May 2008.
Cindy Smith,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E8-12625 Filed 6-5-08; 8:45 am]
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