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[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 116 (Thursday, June 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35186-35187]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-14992]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2011-0037]

Notice of Availability of a Pest Risk Analysis for Interstate 
Movement of Rambutan From Puerto Rico Into the Continental United 
States

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk 
analysis that evaluates the risks associated with the interstate 
movement into the continental United States of fresh rambutan fruit 
from Puerto Rico. Based on that analysis, we believe that the 
application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be 
sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant 
pests or noxious weeds via the interstate movement of rambutan from 
Puerto Rico. We are making the pest risk analysis available to the 
public for review and comment.

[[Page 35187]]

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
August 15, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0037-0001.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2011-0037, 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 http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2011-
0037 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) 690-2817 before coming.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Philip Grove, Regulatory 
Coordinator, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 156, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1231; (301) 734-6280.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Under the regulations in ``Subpart--Regulated Articles From Hawaii 
and the Territories'' (7 CFR 318.13-1 through 318.13-26, referred to 
below as the regulations), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture prohibits or 
restricts the interstate movement of fruits and vegetables into the 
continental United States from Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin 
Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to 
prevent plant pests and noxious weeds from being introduced into and 
spread within the continental United States. (The continental United 
States is defined in Sec.  318.13-2 of the regulations as the 48 
contiguous States, Alaska, and the District of Columbia.)
    Section 318.13-4 contains a performance-based process for approving 
the interstate movement of commodities that, based on the findings of a 
pest risk analysis, can be safely moved subject to one or more of the 
designated phytosanitary measures listed in paragraph (b) of that 
section.
    APHIS received a request from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to 
allow the interstate movement of fresh rambutan fruit (Nephelium 
lappaceum L.) from Puerto Rico to the continental United States. We 
have completed a pest list to identify pests of quarantine significance 
that could follow the pathway of interstate movement into the 
continental United States and, based on that pest list, have prepared a 
risk management analysis to identify phytosanitary measures that could 
be applied to the commodity to mitigate the pest risk. We have 
concluded that rambutan can be safely moved from Puerto Rico to the 
continental United States using one or more of the six designated 
phytosanitary measures listed in Sec.  318.13-4(b). These measures are:
     Inspection and certification by an inspector in Puerto 
Rico that the rambutan are free of all quarantine pests likely to 
follow the pathway of interstate movement of the rambutan;
     Movement of the rambutan as commercial consignments only; 
and
     Distribution of the rambutan only within a defined area (a 
prohibition on movement to Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, or Guam) and 
marking of the boxes or containers in which the rambutan is distributed 
to indicate those distribution restrictions.
    Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  318.13-4(c), we are announcing 
the availability of our pest risk analysis for public review and 
comment. The pest risk analysis may be viewed on the Regulations.gov 
Web site or in our reading room (see ADDRESSES above for instructions 
for accessing Regulations.gov and information on the location and hours 
of the reading room). You may request paper copies of the pest risk 
analysis by calling or writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the subject of the pest risk 
analysis when requesting copies.
    After reviewing the comments we receive, we will announce our 
decision regarding the interstate movement of rambutan from Puerto Rico 
to the continental United States in a subsequent notice. If the overall 
conclusions of the analysis and the Administrator's determination of 
risk remain unchanged following our consideration of the comments, then 
we will begin allowing the interstate movement of rambutan from Puerto 
Rico to the continental United States subject to the requirements 
specified in the risk management document.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772, and 7781-7786; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, 
and 371.3.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 10th day of June 2011.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-14992 Filed 6-15-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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