[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 3, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12441-12442]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04282]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 42 / Tuesday, March 3, 2020 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 12441]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 319

[Docket No. APHIS-2019-0015]


Importation of Phalaenopsis Spp. Orchid Plants for Planting in 
Approved Growing Media From the Republic of Costa Rica Into the United 
States

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are proposing to authorize the importation of Phalaenopsis 
spp. orchid plants from the Republic of Costa Rica in approved growing 
media into the United States, including territories. As a condition of 
entry, Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in approved growing media from 
the Republic of Costa Rica would have to meet all relevant requirements 
included in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plants for Planting 
Manual and detailed in a bilateral workplan. This proposed action would 
allow for the importation of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants for 
planting from the Republic of Costa Rica in approved growing media 
while providing protection against the introduction of plant pests.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before May 
4, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2019-0015.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2019-0015, 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-2019-
0015 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) 799-7039 before coming.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lydia E. Col[oacute]n, Senior 
Regulatory Specialist, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, 
MD 20737-1236; (301) 851-2302; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Under the regulations in ``Subpart H--Plants for Planting'' (7 CFR 
319.37-1 through 319.37-23, referred to below as the regulations), the 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits or restricts the importation 
of plants for planting (including living plants, plant parts, seeds, 
and plant cuttings) to prevent the introduction of quarantine pests 
into the United States.
    Section 319.37-10 restricts the importation of plants for planting 
in approved growing media, with exceptions. Paragraph (d) of Sec.  
319.37-10 states that certain types of plants for planting, as listed 
in the USDA Plants for Planting Manual, may be imported when they are 
established in a growing medium approved by the Administrator and 
produced in accordance with additional requirements specified in the 
manual.
    Section 319.37-20 contains provisions for making changes to the 
list of plants for planting that may be imported in approved growing 
media, as well as restrictions for the importation of those types of 
plants for planting beyond the general restrictions in Sec. Sec.  
319.37-5 through 319.37-11. To initiate a change to the list, APHIS 
will publish in the Federal Register a notice for public comment 
announcing our proposal to add, change, or remove restrictions on the 
importation of a specific type of plants for planting. After close of 
the comment period, we will review comments and issue a second notice 
announcing the specific restrictions, if any, that APHIS has determined 
to be necessary to mitigate pest risk. Any changes to the list of types 
of plants for planting whose importation is subject to additional 
restrictions, and the specific restrictions applicable to them, will be 
made to the USDA Plants for Planting Manual.
    Currently, the entry of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in approved 
growing media from the Republic of Costa Rica into the United States is 
not authorized. The Republic of Costa Rica has requested that 
importation into the United States of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants 
in approved growing media be allowed pursuant to Sec.  319.37-10(d).
    To be eligible for importation, plants for planting in approved 
growing media must be of approved plant taxa and come from a facility 
that is part of an approved growing media program approved by APHIS. 
Basic requirements \1\ applicable to all plant taxa in approved growing 
media are listed in Chapter 7 of the USDA Plants for Planting Manual. 
Among these basic requirements, taxa imported in approved growing media 
from approved facilities must:
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    \1\ The basic requirements are listed in full under ``Plants in 
Growing Media Program'' in Chapter 7 of the Plants for Planting 
Manual: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/manuals/ports/downloads/plants_for_planting.pdf.
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     Be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by 
the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of the country in 
which the plants were grown;
     Be only in approved growing media;
     Be grown in compliance with a written agreement (bilateral 
work plan);
     Be developed from mother stock that was inspected and 
found free from evidence of quarantine pests;
     Be grown solely in a greenhouse in which sanitary 
procedures adequate to exclude quarantine pests are always employed;
     Be rooted and grown in an active state of foliar growth 
for at least four consecutive months immediately prior to importation 
into the United States;
     Be grown from seeds germinated in the greenhouse unit; or 
descended from a mother plant that was grown for at least 9 months in 
the exporting country prior to importation into the United States of 
the descendant plants;
     Be watered only with rainwater that has been boiled or 
pasteurized, with clean well water, or with potable water;

[[Page 12442]]

     Be rooted and grown in approved growing media;
     Be stored and packaged only in areas free of sand, soil, 
earth, and quarantine pests; and
     Be inspected in the greenhouse and found free from 
evidence of quarantine pests by an APHIS inspector or an inspector of 
the NPPO of the exporting country.

In addition, the grower is required to comply with the provisions of 
the program and to allow inspectors, and representatives of the NPPO of 
the exporting country, access to where the plants are grown. These 
requirements have been used successfully to mitigate the risk of pest 
introduction associated with the importation into the United States of 
approved plants established in approved growing media.
    Beyond the basic requirements for import eligibility applicable to 
all taxa in approved growing media, the Plants for Planting Manual 
contains approved growing media program requirements specific to plant 
taxa and the country in which they are grown. Programs for importation 
of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in approved growing media from 
approved facilities have been established for three countries: China, 
South Korea, and Taiwan.
    In response to the request by the Republic of Costa Rica, we 
conducted a pest risk assessment to evaluate the risk to the United 
States, including territories, of importation of Phalaenopsis spp. 
orchid plants in approved growing media from the Republic of Costa 
Rica. After a review of the scientific literature, port-of-entry pest 
interception data, and information from the NPPO of the Republic of 
Costa Rica, we conducted a pest risk assessment listing all potential 
pests with actionable regulatory status for the United States and its 
territories that occur in the Republic of Costa Rica and are associated 
with Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants anywhere in the world. We analyzed 
the pest risk potential of these organisms and determined that only 
one, Pseudococcus cryptus Hempel, a mealybug, is a candidate for risk 
management measures because it meets the threshold to likely cause 
unacceptable consequences if introduced into the United States.
    Based on the findings in the pest risk assessment, we prepared a 
risk management document (RMD) \2\ to determine mitigations that will 
adequately prevent the introduction of Pseudococcus cryptus Hempel into 
the United States via Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants in approved 
growing media from Republic of Costa Rica. In order for Phalaenopsis 
spp. orchid plants to be safely imported into the United States from 
the Republic of Costa Rica, the RMD specifies that the plants must be 
grown in approved growing media and meet the requirements outlined in 
the USDA Plants for Planting Manual. These requirements are detailed in 
a written agreement between APHIS and the Republic of Costa Rica 
regarding risk management measures to prevent the entry of quarantine 
plant pests.
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    \2\ The RMD can be viewed on the Regulations.gov website (see 
the link under ADDRESSES) or by contacting the person listed under 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
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    We have determined that these requirements will be sufficient to 
prevent the introduction of quarantine pests into the United States, 
including territories, via importation of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid 
plants in approved growing media from the Republic of Costa Rica. 
Therefore, we propose to amend the import requirements in the USDA 
Plants for Planting Manual by adding Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants 
from the Republic of Costa Rica to the approved list of plant taxa 
established in approved growing media.
    Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs designated this rule 
as not a major rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 25th day of February 2020.
 Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-04282 Filed 3-2-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-34-P