i

United States 

Department of 

Agriculture

Animal and 

Plant Health 

Inspection 

Service

June 2012

Regulatory Impact Analysis and Analysis in 

Support of Certification that the Rule will not 

have a Significant Economic Impact on a 

Substantial Number of Small Entities

Final Rule

APHIS-2006-0023

RIN 0579-AD03

Submission of Itineraries

Policy & Program Development

Policy Analysis & Development
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Summary

APHIS is amending the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulations to require a person who 

intends to exhibit regulated animals at any location other than the person’s approved site to

submit an itinerary at least two days in advance when travel extends overnight. In those 

instances when exhibitors are offered engagements with less than two days’ notice, APHIS will 

accept itineraries less than 48 hours in advance of travel.

The rule will facilitate enforcement of the AWA regulations for traveling exhibitors, and 

thereby help to ensure the humane handling, housing, treatment, and transportation of the 

animals in their care. 

Costs of the rule for exhibitors are expected to be small. The Animal Care program has 

estimated that preparation and submission of an itinerary takes about 15 minutes. Many

traveling animal exhibitors are already submitting itineraries in a timely manner in accordance 

with existing Agency policy when a regulated animal is exhibited away from its approved site 

for four days or more. 

The time required to prepare and submit the estimated 4,100 itineraries that will be 

required because of this rule is expected to cost the approximately 425 affected exhibitors a total 

of $15,375 per year.

Most of the traveling exhibitors affected by the rule are small entities. Regardless of size,

we do not expect the exhibitors to be significantly affected. The APHIS Administrator has 

determined that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number 

of small entities.

The rule is expected eliminate costs APHIS incurs in attempting to inspect animals that 

are not at locations where APHIS expected them to be, and to reduce some costs associated with 
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responding to inquiries and complaints about traveling exhibitors alleged to have violated 

Animal Welfare regulations and standards. Money saved on these activities can be put toward 

inspections and other activities that will benefit animal welfare.

Table of Contents

Summary.............................................................................................................................. i

Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1

Benefits and Costs............................................................................................................... 2

Public Sector Cost Savings................................................................................................. 3

Potential Impact on Small Entities...................................................................................... 4
1

Introduction

APHIS is amending the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulations by adding certain 

itinerary submission requirements for exhibitors. By policy, the Agency already requires a 

licensee or registrant who intends to exhibit a regulated animal away from its approved site for 

four or more days to submit an itinerary. This rule will require that an itinerary be submitted at 

least two days in advance whenever travel extends overnight. APHIS will accept itineraries less 

than 48 hours in advance of travel in instances where exhibitors accept an engagement for which 

travel will begin within 48 hours. APHIS must be notified of changes to the itinerary. 

Itineraries and notices of changes may be submitted by overnight mail, facsimile, regular mail, email, or other method.

The rule will ensure that Animal Care inspectors have advance notice of the locations 

where animals will be exhibited so that they can make unannounced inspections for compliance 

with the regulations and standards for animal welfare. Additionally, the rule will help Animal 

Care follow up on complaints that APHIS receives about alleged violations of the regulations 

and standards by traveling exhibitors. Such complaints are often received after an exhibitor has 

left a location, and the person submitting the complaint often does not know the name of the 

exhibitor. Having a record of the itineraries will enable Animal Care to determine which 

exhibitor and which animals were at a particular location on a particular date. Traveling animal 

exhibitions may be leased or under contract to other entities such as circuses, further 

complicating investigations if APHIS has not received an itinerary from the responsible 

exhibitor. These circumstances underscore the benefit of having itineraries from all exhibitors 

intending overnight travel. 
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Itinerary information will be accessible by the public under the Freedom of Information 

Act only after travel has taken place.

Benefits and costs of the rule are examined in accordance with Executive Order 12866, 

and the benefits are expected to exceed the costs overall. Possible impacts for small entities are 

considered in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act. 

Benefits and Costs

The principal benefit of the rule will be improved enforcement of the AWA regulations 

for traveling licensed exhibitors, helping to ensure the humane handling, housing, treatment, and 

transportation of the animals in their care. The rule will ensure that Animal Care inspectors have 

advance notice of the locations where animals will be exhibited so that they can make 

unannounced inspections for compliance with the regulations and standards for animal welfare. 

We expect that the rule will also make it easier for APHIS to identify the specific animals and 

exhibitors that are linked to complaints from the public, which will enable us to better respond to 

potential violations of the AWA. Benefits of improved enforcement of the regulations are not 

readily monetized. 

Costs of the rule for exhibitors are expected to be small. APHIS estimates that

preparation and submission of an itinerary takes about 15 minutes and that approximately 425

exhibitors will be subject to the requirement to submit itineraries because of travel lasting more

than a day to exhibit animals. We continue to estimate that most of these exhibitors (i., 325) will 

submit itineraries monthly (i.e., routinely), and some (i.e., 100) two times a year

(i.e.,occasionally), for an estimated annual total of 4,100 responses from these exhibitors. 

The time required to create and submit the itinerary document is estimated to be 0.25 

hours. The total cost to the affected exhibitors for submissions of itineraries will be about 
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$15,375 (i.e., at an average hourly wage of $15 for those individuals submitting the itineraries

for 1,025 hours).

Many traveling animal exhibitors are already submitting itineraries in a timely manner in 

accordance with existing Agency policy when a regulated animal is exhibited away from its 

approved site for four days or more. This rule will require submission of itineraries when 

animals are exhibited away from the exhibitor’s approved location for more than a day. 

Itineraries must be submitted at least two days in advance of travel, except when exhibitors 

accept an engagement with less than two days’ notice. In such circumstances, APHIS will 

accept an itinerary less than 48 hours before travel begins. 

Public Sector Cost Savings

With the rule, cost savings for APHIS are expected to be realized in terms of more 

efficient enforcement activities. APHIS incurs costs when exhibitor inspections are attempted 

but do not take place because the Agency either does not know the animals’ location while on 

travel or is aware that the exhibitor’s animals are away from their home site. Each of these types 

of incidents occurred about 10 times during 2009, and their cost to the Agency is estimated to 

have totaled nearly $10,400 for the year. Submission of itineraries should eliminate these costs.

When APHIS is unable to inspect traveling exhibits because itineraries are not known, 

there is increased probability that members of the public may request action by the Agency

because of regulatory infractions. In some instances, such concerns prompt groups concerned 

about animal welfare to initiate write-in campaigns. (The public has access to all APHIS 

inspection reports through the Agency’s website). 

APHIS incurs costs investigating and responding to these requests for action. In 2009, 

APHIS spent an estimated $54,400 responding to inquiries and write-in campaigns. If such 
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requests for action decrease as a result of Animal Care having better access to traveling 

exhibitors under this rule, this money could be used for inspections and other agency activities. 

Potential Impact on Small Entities

Traveling licensed exhibitors include owners of such entities as carnivals, circuses, 

animal acts, traveling educational exhibits, and mobile petting zoos. These businesses are 

classified under Zoos and Botanical Gardens in the North American Industry Classification 

System (NAICS 712130). The Small Business Administration’s small-entity standard for this 

industry is annual receipts of not more than $7.0 million. In 2007, average annual receipts for 

this industry were about $5.5 million, indicating that a majority of the businesses that comprise

this industry are small entities.

1

 Most exhibitors affected by this rule are also likely to be small.

Regardless of size, we do not expect these exhibitors to be significantly affected by this 

rule. As described, the annual cost of itinerary submissions for overnight travel is expected to be

less than $75 per affected entity. Based on this information, the APHIS Administrator has 

determined that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number 

of small entities.

 

1 2007 Economic Census. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IBQTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=&-

fds_name=EC0700A1&-_skip=600&-ds_name=EC0771SSSZ1&-_lang=en