[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 24, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3434-3435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-1310]



[[Page 3434]]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2011-0032]
RIN 0579-AB35


Notice of Request for Reinstatement of an Information Collection; 
Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Reinstatement of an information collection; comment request.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's 
intention to request a reinstatement of an information collection to 
help eliminate chronic wasting disease from farmed or captive cervid 
herds in the United States.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before March 
26, 2012.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0032-0001.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2011-0032, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, 
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
    Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may 
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2011-
0032 or in our reading room, which is located in room 1141 of the USDA 
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, 
DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, 
please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on chronic wasting 
disease in the United States, contact Dr. Patrice N. Klein, Senior 
Staff Veterinarian, Ruminant Health Programs, NCAHP, VS, APHIS, 4700 
Road Unit 43, Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 734-0738. For copies of more 
detailed information on the information collection, contact Mrs. 
Celeste Sickles, APHIS' Information Collection Coordinator, at (301) 
851-2908.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program.
    OMB Number: 0579-0237.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement of an information collection.
    Abstract: Under the Animal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et 
seq.), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the 
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is authorized, among 
other things, to protect the health of our Nation's livestock and 
poultry populations by preventing the introduction and interstate 
spread of serious diseases and pests of livestock and for eradicating 
such diseases from the United States when feasible.
    Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform 
encephalopathy of cervids, which include elk, deer, and moose, typified 
by chronic weight loss leading to death. The presence of CWD in cervids 
causes significant economic and market losses to U.S. producers. In an 
effort to accelerate the control and limit the spread of this disease, 
APHIS initiated rulemaking to create a cooperative, voluntary Federal-
State-private sector CWD Herd Certification Program designed to 
actively identify farmed or captive herds infected with CWD and provide 
for the management of these herds to prevent further disease spread.
    On July 21, 2006, APHIS published a final rule in the Federal 
Register (71 FR 41682-41707, Docket No. 00-108-1-3) establishing 
regulations in 9 CFR part 55 for a Chronic Wasting Disease Herd 
Certification Program to help eliminate CWD from farmed or captive 
cervid herds in the United States and in 9 CFR part 81 for interstate 
movement requirements to prevent CWD spread.
    After publication of the CWD 2006 final rule, and before its 
effective date of October 19, 2006, APHIS received three petitions 
requesting consideration of several requirements of the rule. On 
September 8, 2006, we published a document in the Federal Register (71 
FR 52983, Docket No. 00-108-4) that delayed the effective date of the 
final rule while APHIS considered those petitions. On November 3, 2006, 
we published another document in the Federal Register (71 FR 64650-
64651, Docket No. 00-108-5) that described the nature of the petitions 
and made the petitions available for public review and comment, with a 
comment period closing on December 4, 2006. We subsequently extended 
that comment period until January 3, 2007, in a Federal Register 
document published on November 21, 2006 (71 FR 67313, Docket No. 
001086).
    As part of the 2006 final rule, the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) approved information collection activities associated with the 
voluntary CWD program requirements (OMB number 0579-0237). Because the 
final rule never went into effect, APHIS did not collect information 
related to the voluntary CWD program, and OMB's approval of the 
information collection was discontinued in April 2009.
    After reviewing the merits of the petitions and public comments 
received in response to them, APHIS proposed changes to the 2006 final 
rule on March 31, 2009 (74 FR 14495-14506, Docket No. 00-108-7), with a 
comment period closing June 1, 2009. APHIS is in the process of 
developing rulemaking that would, if adopted, implement a voluntary CWD 
herd certification program and any approved information collection 
activities for the program.
    Further, reinstatement of the information collection for a CWD 
program would involve a memorandum of understanding between APHIS and 
participating States; requests by businesses (VS forms 11-1/11-1A) and 
States to participate in the program; wild cervid identification for 
interstate movement; farmed cervid identification; reporting of cervid 
escapes, disappearances, and deaths; recordkeeping (herd records); 
certificates and/or animal identification documents to move cervids 
interstate; a letter to appeal suspension; a herd plan; and a 
laboratory submission form.
    We are requesting OMB to approve for 3 years the reinstatement of 
information collection activities for the voluntary CWD program, if 
implemented, to help eliminate CWD from farmed or captive cervid herds 
in the United States.
    The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments from the public 
(as well as agencies) concerning our information collection. These 
comments will help us:
    (1) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the burden of the 
information collection, including the validity of the methodology and 
assumptions used;
    (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    (4) Minimize the burden of the information collection on those who 
are to respond, through use, as appropriate, of automated, electronic, 
mechanical, and other collection technologies, e.g.,

[[Page 3435]]

permitting electronic submission of responses.
    Estimate of burden: The public reporting burden for this collection 
of information is estimated to average 3.4897877 hours per response.
    Respondents: State animal health officials; attending 
veterinarians; and owners/producers of elk, deer, and moose herds.
    Estimated annual number of respondents: 2,390.
    Estimated annual number of responses per respondent: 18.887866.
    Estimated annual number of response hours: 45,142.
    Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 157,536 hours. (Due 
to averaging, the total annual burden hours may not equal the product 
of the annual number of responses multiplied by the reporting burden 
per response.)
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of 
public record.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 18th day of January 2012.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-1310 Filed 1-23-12; 8:45 am]
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