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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Page 6681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02406]

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Notices
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
appearing in this section.

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 25 / Friday, February 6, 2015 / 
Notices

[[Page 6681]]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2014-0100]

Notice of Availability of Proposed Changes to the National 
Poultry Improvement Plan Program Standards

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that proposed changes to the 
National Poultry Improvement Plan Program Standards are available for 
review and comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before March 
9, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-0100.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2014-0100, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, 
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
    The proposed standards and any comments we receive may be viewed at 
http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-0100 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: Dr. Denise Brinson, DVM, Director, 
National Poultry Improvement Plan, VS, APHIS, USDA, 1506 Klondike Road, 
Suite 101, Conyers, GA 30094-5104; (770) 922-3496.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP, 
also referred to below as ``the Plan'') is a cooperative Federal-State-
Industry mechanism for controlling certain poultry diseases. The Plan 
consists of a variety of programs intended to prevent and control 
poultry diseases. Participation in all Plan programs is voluntary, but 
breeding flocks, hatcheries, and dealers must first qualify as ``U.S. 
Pullorum-Typhoid Clean'' as a condition for participating in the other 
Plan programs.
    The Plan identifies States, flocks, hatcheries, dealers, and 
slaughter plants that meet certain disease control standards specified 
in the Plan's various programs. As a result, customers can buy poultry 
that has tested clean of certain diseases or that has been produced 
under disease-prevention conditions.
    The regulations in 9 CFR parts 145, 146, and 147 (referred to below 
as the regulations) contain the provisions of the Plan. The Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS, also referred to as ``the 
Service'') of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA, also referred 
to as ``the Department'') amends these provisions from time to time to 
incorporate new scientific information and technologies within the 
Plan.
    In the past, APHIS has updated the regulations once every 2 years, 
following the Biennial Plan Conference. However, with the continual 
changes in diagnostic science and testing technology and in best 
practices for maintaining sanitation, the biennial update schedule has 
occasionally resulted in the regulations becoming out of date between 
updates. In some instances, tests have also been difficult to render 
properly in the regulations due to the need to describe flow charts or 
diagrams in a narrative format.
    On July 9, 2014, we published in the Federal Register (79 FR 38752-
38768, Docket No. APHIS-2011-0101) a final rule \1\ that, among other 
things, amended the regulations by removing tests and detailed testing 
procedures, as well as sanitation procedures, from part 147, and making 
these available in an NPIP Program Standards document.\2\ The rule also 
amended the regulations to provide for the Program Standards document 
to be updated through the issuance of a notice in the Federal Register 
followed by a period of public comment. This action was intended to 
make the NPIP program more effective by streamlining the provisions of 
the Plan, keeping those provisions current with changes in the poultry 
industry, and providing for the use of new approved sampling and 
testing procedures without the need for rulemaking.
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    \1\ To view the final rule and related documents, go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0101.
    \2\ This document may be viewed on the NPIP Web site at http://www.poultryimprovement.org/documents/ProgramStandardsAugust2014.pdf, 
or by writing to the Service at National Poultry Improvement Plan, 
APHIS, USDA, 1506 Klondike Road, Suite 101, Conyers, GA 30094.
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    We are advising the public that we have prepared updates to the 
NPIP Program Standards document. The proposed updates include changes 
to blood testing procedures for mycoplasma, bacteriological examination 
procedure changes for Salmonella, and the addition of new approved 
diagnostic test kits. After reviewing any comments we receive on the 
proposed updates, we will publish a second notice in the Federal 
Register announcing our decision regarding the proposed changes.

    Authority:  7 U.S.C. 8301-8317; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of February 2015.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-02406 Filed 2-5-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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