[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 245 (Monday, December 27, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73239-73241]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-28018]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2021-0073]


Notice of Request for Revision to and Extension of Approval of an 
Information Collection; Cooperative State-Federal Brucellosis 
Eradication Program

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Revision to and extension of approval 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 revision to and extension of approval of an 
information collection

[[Page 73240]]

associated with the Cooperative State-Federal Brucellosis Eradication 
Program.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
February 25, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov. 
Enter APHIS-2021-0073 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-2021-0073, 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: For information on the Cooperative 
State-Federal Brucellosis Eradication Program, contact Dr. P. Ryan 
Clarke, Senior Staff Veterinarian, Ruminant Health Center, Strategy and 
Policy, Veterinary Services, APHIS, Bozeman, MT; (406) 539-6899; 
[email protected]. For more information on the information 
collection reporting process, contact Mr. Joseph Moxey, APHIS' 
Paperwork Reduction Act Coordinator, at (301) 851-2483; 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Cooperative State-Federal Brucellosis Eradication Program.
    OMB Control Number: 0579-0047.
    Type of Request: Revision to and extension of approval of an 
information collection.
    Abstract: The Animal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.) 
of 2002 is the primary Federal law governing the protection of animal 
health. The law gives the Secretary of Agriculture broad authority to 
detect, control, or eradicate pests or diseases of livestock or 
poultry. The Secretary may also prohibit or restrict import or export 
of any animal or related material if necessary, to prevent the spread 
of any livestock or poultry pest or disease.
    Disease prevention and disease surveillance are the most effective 
methods for maintaining a healthy animal population and for enhancing 
the United States' ability to compete in the world market of animal and 
animal product trade. Veterinary Services (VS) within the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) is responsible for administering regulations intended 
to protect the health of the U.S. livestock population.
    Brucellosis is an infectious disease of animals and humans caused 
by bacteria of the genus Brucella. The disease is characterized by 
abortions and impaired fertility in its principal animal hosts. The 
disease infects humans through contact with infected animals or with 
certain body fluids of infected animals. Usually Brucella abortus is 
associated with the disease in cattle or bison, Brucella suis with the 
disease in swine, and Brucella melitensis with the disease in sheep and 
goats. The continued presence of brucellosis in a herd seriously 
threatens the health, welfare, and economic viability of the livestock 
industry. There is no economically feasible treatment for brucellosis 
in livestock.
    The Cooperative State-Federal Brucellosis Eradication Program is a 
national program to eliminate this serious disease of livestock. The 
program is conducted under the authority of the various States and 
supplemented by Federal authorities regulating interstate movement of 
infected animals. Regulations in 9 CFR part 78 outline the Cooperative 
State-Federal Brucellosis Eradication Program. The regulations include 
required surveillance, epidemiological investigation, annual reporting, 
and interstate movement activities that must be documented.
    Minimum program standards known as the Brucellosis Eradication 
Uniform Methods and Rules (UM&R) have been developed cooperatively by 
organizations representing the livestock industry, State animal health 
agencies, and the USDA. State and Federal officials in charge of 
program activities in each State are responsible for continuously 
evaluating the efficiency of local procedures in locating and 
eliminating infected livestock. The minimum standards in the UM&R must 
be met or exceeded throughout the certification period to maintain 
continuous status. Meeting these standards requires information 
collection.
    Information is generally collected by State and Federal animal 
health officials through interviews or reviewing records. In addition, 
the information on some documents may be collected by private 
veterinary practitioners (i.e., test charts, vaccination records, and 
official Certificates of Veterinary Inspection) or blood collection 
personnel on contract (i.e., market cattle slaughter surveillance blood 
collection forms and brucellosis ring testing milk sample collection 
forms). The information is collected at the time each appropriate event 
occurs. In most instances, information is collected when testing or 
vaccinating individual animals or herds, applying official 
identification to animals, or conducting surveillance or 
epidemiological investigation activities. Some events, such as market 
cattle slaughter surveillance, occur daily. Other events, such as on-
farm blood testing and vaccination, occur as part of routine animal 
health management. A few events, such as infected-herd investigations, 
occur only a few times a year.
    In addition, the bovine brucellosis program regulations in part 78 
provide a system for classifying States or portions of States according 
to the rate of B. abortus infection present and the general 
effectiveness of a brucellosis control and eradication program. The 
program also provides for the creation of brucellosis management areas 
within a State and for testing and movement mitigation activities 
before regulated animals are permitted to move interstate. This system 
enhances the ability of States to move healthy, brucellosis-free cattle 
and bison interstate and internationally. This management area and 
testing system also enhances the effectiveness of the Brucellosis 
Eradication Program by decreasing the likelihood that infected animals 
will be moved interstate or internationally.
    The creation of brucellosis management areas allows States that 
have found B. abortus in wildlife (which are nonregulated animals) to 
mitigate the risk of transmission and spread of disease while 
maintaining the State's disease-free status in regulated domestic 
livestock. The State must sign a memorandum of understanding with the 
APHIS Administrator that describes its brucellosis management plan. The 
brucellosis management plan developed by the State must define the 
geographic brucellosis management area and describe the surveillance 
and mitigation activities that the State will conduct to identify 
occurrence of B. abortus in domestic livestock and wildlife and 
potential risks for spread of the disease.
    We are asking Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve our 
use of these information collection activities, as described, for an 
additional 3 years.

[[Page 73241]]

    The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments from the public 
(as well as affected 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 
collection of information, 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 collection of information on those 
who are to respond, through use, as appropriate, of automated, 
electronic, mechanical, and other collection technologies; e.g., 
permitting electronic submission of responses.
    Estimate of burden: The public burden for this collection of 
information is estimated to average 0.26 hours per response.
    Respondents: Commercial livestock farm owners and managers; animal 
agriculture-related business owners and managers; private 
veterinarians; animal agriculture-related agencies and organizations; 
breed registry agencies; agriculture extension agents; fair and 
exhibition officials; owners, operators, and managers of livestock 
markets; owners, operators, and managers of slaughter establishments 
and dairy plants; and State animal health officials and laboratory 
personnel (including wildlife biologists).
    Estimated annual number of respondents: 21,568.
    Estimated annual number of responses per respondent: 44.
    Estimated annual number of responses: 957,102.
    Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 247,325 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 21st day of December 2021.
Mark Davidson,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-28018 Filed 12-23-21; 8:45 am]
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