[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 196 (Tuesday, October 12, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60542-60543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-22789]


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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.

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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

[[Page 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

0
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]
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