[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 143 (Tuesday, July 26, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 44454-44455]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-18844]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. APHIS-2009-0079]


Karnal Bunt; Regulated Areas in Arizona, California, and Texas

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final rule, with one change, an interim 
rule that amended the Karnal bunt regulations to make changes to the 
list of areas or fields regulated because of Karnal bunt, a fungal 
disease of wheat. Specifically, the interim rule added portions of the 
Buckeye/Pretoria area of Maricopa County, AZ, to the list of regulated 
areas and removed Throckmorton and Young Counties, TX, portions of 
Riverside County, CA, and certain areas in La Paz, Maricopa, and Pinal 
Counties, AZ, from the list of regulated areas based on our 
determination that those fields or areas meet our criteria for release 
from regulation. The interim rule was necessary to prevent the spread 
of Karnal bunt to noninfected areas of the United States and to relieve 
restrictions on certain areas that are no longer necessary. In the 
interim rule, we inadvertently removed two areas in Maricopa County, 
AZ, from the list of regulated areas. We are returning those areas to 
the list in this final rule.

DATES: Effective Date: July 26, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lynn Evans-Goldner, Karnal Bunt 
Program Manager, Plant Pathogen and Weed Programs, EDP, PPQ, APHIS, 
4700 River Road, Unit 26, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-7228.

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 followed by very specific environmental 
conditions matched during specific stages of wheat growth. The U.S. 
Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
regulates the movement of articles in the United States that could 
spread Karnal bunt and works toward eventual eradication of Karnal bunt 
through biosanitary measures.
    In an interim rule \1\ effective and published in the Federal 
Register on November 10, 2010 (75 FR 68942-68945, Docket No. APHIS-
2009-0079), we amended the Karnal bunt regulations in 7 CFR 301.89-1 
through 301.89-16 by adding the Buckeye/Pretoria area of Maricopa 
County, AZ, to the list of regulated areas. The interim rule also 
removed Throckmorton and Young Counties, TX, portions of Riverside 
County, CA, and certain areas in La Paz, Maricopa, and Pinal Counties, 
AZ, from the list of regulated areas in Sec.  301.89-3 based on our 
determination that those fields or areas meet our criteria for release 
from regulation.
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    \1\ To view the interim rule and a correction that restored 
several missing hyphens in the rule text, go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2009-0079.
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    We solicited comments concerning the interim rule for 60 days 
ending January 10, 2011. We did not receive any comments. However, 
after the publication of the interim rule, we noted that in amending 
the entry for Maricopa County, AZ, in Sec.  301.89-3, we inadvertently 
removed paragraphs (3) and (4) in the description of the quarantined 
areas in that county. We are reinstating those paragraphs in this final 
rule.
    Therefore, for the reasons given in the interim rule, we are 
adopting the interim rule as a final rule with change discussed in this 
document.
    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, for this action, the Office of Management and Budget has 
waived its review under Executive Order 12866.

Effective Date

    Pursuant to the administrative procedure provisions in 5 U.S.C. 
553, we find good cause for making this rule effective less than 30 
days after publication in the Federal Register. The interim rule 
adopted as final by this rule became effective on November 10, 2010. 
This rule reinstates two paragraphs of the description of the regulated 
area in Maricopa County, AZ. Immediate action

[[Page 44455]]

is necessary to ensure that the description of the regulated areas is 
accurate. Therefore, the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service has determined that this rule should be effective 
upon publication in the Federal Register.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 301

    Agricultural commodities, Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.

    Accordingly, the interim rule published at 75 FR 68942-68945 on 
November 10, 2010, as corrected by a document published at 75 FR 70811 
on November 19, 2010, is adopted as a final rule with the following 
changes:

PART 301--DOMESTIC QUARANTINE NOTICES

0
1. The authority citation for part 301 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772 and 7781-7786; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, 
and 371.3.
    Section 301.75-15 issued under Sec. 204, Title II, Public Law 
106-113, 113 Stat. 1501A-293; sections 301.75-15 and 301.75-16 
issued under Sec. 203, Title II, Public Law 106-224, 114 Stat. 400 
(7 U.S.C. 1421 note).


0
2. In Sec.  301.89-3, paragraph (g), under the heading ``Arizona'', the 
entry for Maricopa County is amended by adding paragraphs (3) and (4) 
to read as follows:


Sec.  301.89-3  Regulated areas.

* * * * *
    (g) * * *

Arizona

* * * * *
    Maricopa County. * * *
    (3) Beginning at the southeast corner of sec. 30, T. 6 S., R. 5 W.; 
the west to the northeast corner of sec. 33, T. 6 S., R. 6 W.; then 
south to the southeast corner of sec. 33, T. 6 S., R. 6 W.; then west 
to the southwest corner of sec. 36, T. 6 S., R. 7 W.; then north to the 
northwest corner of sec. 36, T. 6 S., R. 7 W.; then west to the 
southwest corner of sec. 26, T. 6 S., R. 7 W.; then north to the 
northwest corner of sec. 23, T. 6 S., R. 7 W.; then west to the 
southeast corner of sec. 18, T. 6 S., R. 7 W.; then north to the 
northeast corner of sec. 6, T. 6 S., R. 7 W.; then west to the 
southeast corner of sec. 31, T. 5 S., R. 7 W.; then north to the 
northwest corner of sec. 29, T. 5 S., R. 7 W.; then east to the 
northeast corner of sec. 29, T. 5 S., R.7 W.; then east to the 
southwest corner of sec. 22, T. 5 S., R. 7 W.; then north to northwest 
corner of sec. 22, T. 5 S., R. 7 W.; then to the southwest corner of 
sec. 14, T. 5 S., R. 7 W.; then north to the northwest corner of sec. 
14, T. 5 S., R. 7 W.; then east to the northeast corner of sec. 13, T. 
5 S., R. 6 W.; then south to the southeast corner of sec. 24, T. 5 S., 
R. 6 W.; then east to the northeast corner of sec. 30, T. 5 S., R. 5 
W.; then south to the southeast corner of sec. 30, T. 5 S., R. 5 W.; 
then east to the northeast corner of sec. 32, T. 5 S., R. 5 W.; then 
south to the southeast corner of sec. 32, T. 5 S., R. 5 W.; then east 
to the northeast corner of sec. 5, T. 6 S., R. 5 W.; then south to the 
southeast corner of sec. 20, T. 6 S., R. 5 W.; then west to the 
northeast corner of sec. 30, T. 6 S., R. 5 W.; then south to the point 
of beginning.
    (4) Beginning at the southeast corner of sec. 36, T. 2 N., R. 5 E.; 
then west to the northeast corner of sec. 4, T. 1 N., R. 5 E.; then 
south to the southeast corner of sec. 4, T. 1 N., R. 5 E.; then west to 
the southwest corner of sec. 4, T. 1 N., R. 5 E.; then south to the 
southeast corner of sec. 17, T. 1 N., R. 5 E.; then west to the south 
west corner of sec. 17, T. 1 N., R. 5 E.; then north to the northwest 
corner of sec. 27, T. 1 N., R. 5 E.; then west to the southwest corner 
of sec. 12, T. 1 N., R. 4 E.; then north to the northwest corner of 
sec. 12, T. 1 N., R. 4 E.; then east to northeast corner of sec. 12, T. 
1 N., R. 4 E.; then north to the northwest corner of sec. 7, T. 2 N., 
R. 5 E.; then east to the northeast corner of sec. 12, T. 2 N., R. 5 
E.; then south to the point of beginning.
* * * * *

    Done in Washington, DC, this 20th day of July 2011.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-18844 Filed 7-25-11; 8:45 am]
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