[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 111 (Wednesday, June 10, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35175-35176]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-11562]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2026-0760]
Notice of Request for Revision to and Extension of Approval of an
Information Collection; Foreign Quarantine Notices
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Agriculture (USDA).
ACTION: Revision to and extension of approval of an information
collection; comment request.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's
intention to
[[Page 35176]]
request a revision to and extension of approval of an information
collection associated with the regulations to prevent the introduction
or spread of foreign plant pests and diseases into or within the United
States.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
August 10, 2026.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov.
Enter APHIS-2026-0760 in the Search field. Select the Documents tab,
then select the Comment button in the list of documents.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send one copy of
your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2026-0760, Regulatory Analysis and
Development, PPD, APHIS, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., #AP760, Beltsville, MD
20705.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may
be viewed at www.regulations.gov or in our reading room, which is 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 foreign quarantine
notices, contact Ms. Lydia Col[oacute]n, Agriculturist, Senior
Regulatory Policy Specialist, PPQ, APHIS, 5601 Sunnyside Ave.,
Beltsville, MD; (301) 851-2302; [email protected]. For more
detailed information on the information collection process, contact Ms.
Sheniqua Harris, APHIS' Paperwork Reduction Act Coordinator, at (301)
851-2528 or email [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Foreign Quarantine Notices.
OMB Control Number: 0579-0049.
Type of Request: Revision to and extension of approval of an
information collection.
Abstract: The Plant Protection Act (PPA, 7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.)
authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to restrict the importation,
entry, or interstate movement of plants, plant products, and other
articles to prevent the introduction of plant pests and diseases into
the United States or their dissemination within the United States. This
authority has been delegated to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS), which administers regulations to implement the PPA.
Regulations governing the importation of plants, fruits, vegetables,
roots, bulbs, seeds, unmanufactured wood articles, and other plant
products are contained in 7 CFR part 319, ``Foreign Quarantine
Notices.'' Regulations governing the transit of certain products or
articles that are classified as prohibited or restricted products or
articles are contained in 7 CFR part 352, ``Plant Quarantine Safeguard
Regulations.''
The movement of plants and plant products requires various
information collection activities, including operational workplans;
audits; pest risk assessments; cooperative service agreements; and
trust funds. Additional information collection activities include
production or processing site/facility registrations; foreign site
certification of inspection and/or treatment; applications for permits;
appeals of denial or revocation of permits; requests for additional
mailing labels; compliance agreements; phytosanitary certificates;
labeling; importer documents; agreements for post entry quarantine
State screening notices; 30-day article notifications; requests for
emergency transshipment or division; notices of arrival; emergency
action notifications; and monitoring/recordkeeping from entities
responsible for growing, packing, handling, transporting, and importing
foreign plant parts (roots, bulbs, seeds, fruit, leaves, etc.), plant
products, timber, and timber products. In addition, APHIS collects
required information from national plant protection organizations
(NPPOs) as part of the commodity import approval process.
The information collected is vital to helping APHIS ensure that
plants and plant products do not harbor plant pests or diseases that,
if introduced into the United States, could cause extensive economic
damage to U.S. agriculture.
We are asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve
our use of these information collection activities, as described, for
an additional 3 years. APHIS has amended this information collection by
reducing the number of business Respondents, which decreased Annual
Responses and Total Burden Hours. In addition, APHIS has amended this
information collection by removing PPQ Form 368, PPQ Form 519, PPQ Form
523 and PPQ Form 586 and moving these information collection activities
to the new Common Form Information Collection.
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 0.530 hours per response.
Respondents: Facilities; growers; producers; production,
processing, and packing sites; importers; individuals; businesses;
brokers; shippers; NPPOs; and foreign plant protection authorities.
Estimated annual number of respondents: 1,315.
Estimated annual number of responses per respondent: 205.
Estimated annual number of responses: 269,602.
Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 142,788 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 1st day of June 2026.
Kelly Moore,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-11562 Filed 6-9-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P