60542 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 196 / Tuesday, October 12, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

(d) Each applicant that submits an 

application for an RUS electric program 

loan or grant on or after January 12, 

2006 shall include with its application 

package a letter certification that such 

applicant has a written ERP. 

(e) The ERP shall include: 

(1) A list of key contact emergency 

telephone numbers (emergency 

agencies, borrower management and 

other key personnel, contractors and 

equipment suppliers, other utilities, and 

others that might need to be reached in 

an emergency); 

(2) A list of key utility management 

and other personnel and identification 

of a chain of command and delegation 

of authority and responsibility during 

an emergency; 

(3) Procedures for recovery from loss 

of power to the headquarters, key 

offices, and/or operation center 

facilities; 

(4) A Business Continuity Section 

describing a plan to maintain or reestablish business operations following 

an event which disrupts business 

systems (computer, financial, and other 

business systems); and 

(5) Other items, if any, identified by 

the borrower as essential for inclusion 

in the ERP. 

(f) The ERP must be approved and 

signed by the borrower’s Manager or 

Chief Executive Officer, and approved 

by the borrower’s Board of Directors. 

(g) Copies of the most recent approved 

ERP must be made readily available to 

key personnel at all times. 

(h) The ERP shall be Exercised at least 

annually to ensure operability and 

employee familiarity. Completion of the 

first exercise of the ERP must occur on 

or before January 12, 2007. 

(i) If modifications are made to an 

existing ERP: 

(1) The modified ERP must be 

prepared in compliance with the 

provisions of paragraphs (e), (f), and (g) 

of this section; and 

(2) Additional Exercises may be 

necessary to maintain employee 

operability and familiarity. 

(j) Each borrower shall maintain 

records of such Exercises.

§ 1730.29 Grants and Grantees. 

For the purposes of this part, the 

terms ‘‘borrower’’ shall include 

recipients of RUS electric program 

grants, and ‘‘applicant’’ shall include 

applicants for such grants. References to 

‘‘security documents’’ shall, with 

respect to recipients of RUS electric 

program grants, include grant 

agreements and other grant-related 

documents.

Dated: September 24, 2004. 

Hilda Gay Legg, 

Administrator, Rural Utilities Service.

[FR Doc. 04–22779 Filed 10–8–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

9 CFR Part 52 

[Docket No. 98–123–7] 

RIN 0579–AB10 

Pseudorabies in Swine; Payment of 

Indemnity

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Affirmation of interim rules as 

final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final 

rule, without change, two interim rules 

that amended the animal health 

regulations. The first interim rule 

established regulations to provide for 

the payment of indemnity for the 

voluntary depopulation of herds of 

swine known to be infected with 

pseudorabies, and the second interim 

rule amended the regulations to provide 

that the indemnity payment will be 

equal to the difference between the net 

salvage received and the fair market 

value of the swine destroyed. The 

second interim rule also provided for 

the payment of indemnity for breeding 

sows destroyed because of 

pseudorabies. The interim rules allowed 

for the payment of indemnity from 

accelerated pseudorabies eradication 

program funds for swine destroyed 

because of pseudorabies and were 

necessary to further pseudorabies 

eradication efforts and to protect swine 

not infected with pseudorabies from the 

disease.

DATES: The interim rules became 

effective January 12, 1999, and April 12, 

2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Adam Grow, Senior Staff Veterinarian, 

Swine Health and Disease Programs, 

Eradication and Surveillance Team, 

National Center for Animal Health 

Programs, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road 

Unit 43, Riverdale, MD 20737–1231; 

(301) 734–3752.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

In an interim rule effective January 

12, 1999, and published in the Federal 

Register on January 15, 1999 (64 FR 

2545–2550, Docket No. 98–123–2), we 

established regulations in 9 CFR part 52 

to provide for the payment of indemnity 

by the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) for the 

voluntary depopulation of herds of 

swine known to be infected with 

pseudorabies. That interim rule, which 

was intended to encourage the 

depopulation of infected herds, was 

necessary to accelerate pseudorabies 

eradication efforts and to protect swine 

not infected with pseudorabies from the 

disease. 

We solicited comments concerning 

the interim rule for 60 days ending 

March 16, 1999. In a technical 

amendment published on March 17, 

1999 (64 FR 13064–13065, Docket No. 

98–123–3), we extended that comment 

period by an additional 30 days. We 

received two comments by the April 16, 

1999, close of the extended comment 

period. They were from a trade 

organization and a U.S. veterinary 

medical association. The comments are 

discussed below. 

One commenter requested that APHIS 

consider amending the regulations to 

require that premises depopulated of 

swine because of pseudorabies not be 

restocked for at least 30 days following 

cleaning and disinfecting, or until an 

appropriate length of time has passed as 

determined by a pseudorabies 

epidemiologist. 

In response to that comment, we 

published the March 17, 1999, technical 

amendment mentioned above to clarify 

the provisions contained in the interim 

rule regarding the waiting period that 

must be observed before restocking 

premises depopulated because of 

pseudorabies. In that technical 

amendment, we amended the 

regulations in part 52 to provide that 

premises that have been depopulated 

because of pseudorabies may be 

restocked with swine 30 days following 

an approved cleaning and disinfection, 

unless an official pseudorabies 

epidemiologist determines that a shorter 

or longer period of time is adequate or 

necessary to protect new animals 

against infection. Because the March 

1999 technical amendment addressed 

the commenter’s concern, no further 

response to that comment is necessary 

in this document. 

Both commenters raised concerns that 

fell outside of the scope of the January 

1999 interim rule. One commenter 

recommended that APHIS increase 

surveillance to ensure detection of 

infected animals and requested that 

APHIS make available Federal funding 

for vaccines when State funding proves 

inadequate. The second commenter 

urged APHIS to increase the speed at

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 196 / Tuesday, October 12, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 60543

which herds will be depopulated by 

developing staging areas at slaughter 

facilities that operate overnight and 

suggested that APHIS develop a weekly 

reporting system for herds that have 

been depopulated so that the disease 

status of depopulated premises is made 

available to producers and 

veterinarians. This commenter further 

recommended that APHIS develop a 

final pseudorabies eradication program 

and encouraged APHIS to establish and 

fund a pseudorabies acute outbreak 

team that would be responsible for 

containing an outbreak and developing 

a clean-up program. 

The January 1999 interim rule 

established regulations to provide for 

the payment of indemnity by APHIS for 

the voluntary depopulation of herds of 

swine known to be infected with 

pseudorabies. Issues related to disease 

surveillance, vaccine program funding, 

slaughterhouse operations, reporting 

systems for herd depopulation, and 

future and final stage pseudorabies 

eradication efforts fall outside the scope 

of that rulemaking. Therefore, we are 

not making any changes to the rule 

based on these comments.

Finally, one commenter expressed 

support for APHIS’ payment of 

indemnity to producers for the 

voluntary depopulation of herds 

infected with pseudorabies and 

requested the continued availability of 

Federal funding for the pseudorabies 

indemnity program beyond the 6-month 

timeframe announced in the interim 

rule. 

In a notice published in the Federal 

Register on November 17, 1999 (64 FR 

62569–62570, Docket No. 98–123–5), we 

announced that additional funds had 

been allocated for the indemnity 

program and that the program would 

continue until funds are depleted or 

until further notice. In that notice, we 

acknowledged that some States were 

still conducting their eradication 

programs and that we considered it 

important to the pseudorabies 

eradication effort in the United States to 

continue the accelerated eradication 

program beyond the 6-month timeframe 

stated in the January 1999 interim rule. 

In a subsequent interim rule 

published on April 18, 2000 (65 FR 

20706–20712, Docket No. 98–123–6), we 

revised the method by which owners of 

swine will receive fair market value for 

their animals under the accelerated 

pseudorabies eradication program in 

order to extend the funds available to 

APHIS for the program before these 

funds are exhausted. That April 2000 

interim rule amended the regulations in 

part 52 to provide that APHIS will pay 

owners either the fair market value of 

herds of swine depopulated, or the 

difference between the net salvage value 

received for herds of swine disposed of 

through slaughter and the fair market 

value of those animals. The April 2000 

interim rule also allowed owners of 

breeding sows identified as being 

infected with pseudorabies to receive 

indemnity if those sows are sent directly 

to slaughter, even if the remainder of the 

herd the sow is part of is not 

depopulated. These amendments were 

intended to allow for the payment of 

indemnity from accelerated 

pseudorabies eradication program funds 

for a greater number of swine disposed 

of because they are infected with 

pseudorabies. 

We solicited comments concerning 

the April 2000 interim rule for 60 days 

ending June 19, 2000. We did not 

receive any comments on that interim 

rule. 

Therefore, for the reasons given in the 

interim rules and in this document, we 

are adopting the interim rules as a final 

rule without change. 

This action also affirms the 

information contained in the interim 

rules concerning Executive Order 12866 

and the Regulatory Flexibility Act, and 

Executive Order 12988. 

Further, this action has been 

determined to be not significant for the 

purposes of Executive Order 12866 and, 

therefore, has not been reviewed by the 

Office of Management and Budget. 

Executive Order 12372 

This program/activity is listed in the 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

under No. 10.025 and is subject to 

Executive Order 12372, which requires 

intergovernmental consultation with 

State and local officials. (See 7 CFR part 

3015, subpart V.) 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, (44 U.S.C. 3501 

et seq.), the information collection and 

recordkeeping requirements in the 

interim rules have been approved by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). The assigned OMB control 

number is 0579–0137.

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 52 

Animal diseases, Indemnity 

Payments, Pseudorabies, Swine, 

Transportation.

PART 52—SWINE DESTROYED 

BECAUSE OF PSEUDORABIES

■ Accordingly, we are adopting as a final 

rule, without change, the interim rule 

establishing 9 CFR part 52 that was 

published at 64 FR 2545–2550 on 

January 15, 1999, as amended by the 

technical amendment published at 64 FR 

13064–13065 on March 17, 1999, and by 

the interim rule published at 65 FR 

20706–20712 on April 18, 2000.

Done in Washington, DC, this 5th day of 

October 2004 . 

Elizabeth E. Gaston, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 04–22789 Filed 10–8–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–U

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

12 CFR Part 204 

[Regulation D; Docket No. R–1213] 

Reserve Requirements of Depository 

Institutions

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Board is amending 

Regulation D, Reserve Requirements of 

Depository Institutions, to reflect the 

annual indexing of the low reserve 

tranche and of the reserve requirement 

exemption amount for 2005. The Board 

is also announcing the annual indexing 

of the nonexempt deposit cutoff level 

and the reduced reporting limit that will 

be effective beginning in September 

2005. The Regulation D amendments 

increase the amount of net transaction 

accounts at each depository institution 

that is subject to a three percent reserve 

requirement in 2005 from $45.4 million 

to $47.6 million. This amount is known 

as the low reserve tranche. The 

Regulation D amendments also increase 

the amount of total reservable liabilities 

of each depository institution that is 

subject to a zero percent reserve 

requirement in 2005 from $6.6 million 

to $7.0 million. This amount is known 

as the reserve requirement exemption 

amount. The adjustments to both of 

these amounts are derived using 

statutory formulas specified in the 

Federal Reserve Act. 

The Board is also announcing 

increases in two other amounts, the 

nonexempt deposit cutoff level and the 

reduced reporting limit, that are used to 

determine the frequency with which 

depository institutions must submit 

deposit reports. The nonexempt deposit 

cutoff level is being increased from 

$161.2 million in 2004 to $169.8 million 

in 2005, and the reduced reporting limit 

is being increased from $1.074 billion in 

2004 to $1.131 billion in 2005. These 

amounts are indexed annually in order 

to reduce reporting burden for smaller