[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 24, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11219-11220]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03771]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2020-0070]
Classify the State of Sonora, Mexico, as Level I for Brucellosis
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we are proposing to classify
the State of Sonora, Mexico as Level 1 for brucellosis. This proposed
recognition is based on an evaluation we have prepared in connection
with this action, which we are making available for review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before April
26, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov.
Enter APHIS-2020-0070 in the Search field. Select the Documents tab,
then select the Comment button in the list of documents.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2020-0070, 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 regulations.gov or in our reading room, which is located
in Room 1620 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: Dr. Kelly Rhodes, Senior Staff
Veterinarian, Regionalization Evaluation Services, Strategy and Policy,
VS, APHIS, USDA, 4700 River Road, Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231;
[email protected]; (301) 851-3315.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The regulations in 9 CFR part 93, subpart D
(Sec. Sec. 93.400 through 93.442, referred to below as part 93 or the
subpart), contain requirements for the importation of ruminants into
the United States to address the risk of introducing or disseminating
diseases of livestock within the United States. Part 93 currently
contains provisions that address the risk that imported bovines (cattle
or bison) may introduce or disseminate brucellosis within the United
States. Within part 93, Sec. 93.440 contains the requirements for
classification of foreign regions for brucellosis and Sec. 93.441
contains the process for requesting regional classification for
brucellosis.
In accordance with Sec. 93.440(d), the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) maintains lists of all Level I, Level II,
and Level III regions for brucellosis and adds foreign regions
classified in accordance with Sec. 93.441 to these lists.
Section 93.441(b) states that if, after reviewing and evaluating
the request for classification, APHIS believes the request can be
safely granted, APHIS will publish a notice in the Federal Register
indicating the proposed classification and make its evaluation
available for public comment. Following the close of the comment
period, APHIS will review all comments received and will make a final
determination regarding the request that will be detailed in another
document published in the Federal Register.
The Government of Mexico has requested that APHIS evaluate and
classify the State of Sonora for brucellosis. In response to Mexico's
request, we have prepared an evaluation, titled ``APHIS Evaluation of
the State of Sonora, Mexico for Bovine Brucellosis Classification''
(September 2017). The evaluation concludes that the State of Sonora
meets the conditions to be classified as Level I for brucellosis, which
supports adding the State of Sonora to the web-based list of Level I
regions for brucellosis.
Therefore, in accordance with Sec. 93.441(b), we are announcing
the availability of our evaluation of Sonora, Mexico for brucellosis,
for public review and comment. We are also announcing the availability
of an environmental assessment (EA) which has been prepared in
accordance with: (1) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), (2) regulations of the
Council on Environmental Quality for implementing the procedural
provision of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), (3) USDA regulations
implementing NEPA (7 CFR part 1b), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing
Procedures (7 CFR part 372).
The evaluation and EA may be viewed on the Regulations.gov website
or in our reading room. (Instructions for accessing Regulations.gov and
information on the location and hours of the reading room are provided
under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this notice.) The
documents are also available by contacting the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Information submitted in support of Mexico's request is available
by contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
After reviewing any comments we receive, we will announce our final
determination regarding classification of the State of Sonora, Mexico
with respect to brucellosis in a subsequent notice.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1622 and 8301-8317; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a;
31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4.
[[Page 11220]]
Done in Washington, DC, this 18th day of February 2021.
Michael Watson,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-03771 Filed 2-23-21; 8:45 am]
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