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### United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service June 201 2 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

- 00 23 RIN 0579

- AD03
Submission of Itineraries

Policy & Program Development Policy Analysis & Developmenti 

### Summary
APHIS is amending the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulations to require a person who intend s to exhibit regulated animal s at any location other than the person’s approved site to submit an itinerar y 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 itinera ries less than 48 hours in advance of travel

. T he 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.
Cost s of the rule for exhibitors are expected to be small

. The Animal Care p rogram has estimated that preparation and submission of an itinerary takes about 15 minutes. M any 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 i tinerar ies 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 ,

w e do not expect the exhibitors to be significantly affecte d

. T he 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 withii 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
Po tential Impact on Small Entities

................................ ................................ ...................... 41 

### Introduction
APHIS is amending the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulations by adding certain itinerary submission requirements for exhibitors. By policy, t he Agency already requires a licensee or registrant who intend s to exhibit a regulated animal away from its approved site for four or more days to submit an itinerar y . This rule will require that an itinerar y be submitted at least two days in advance when ever 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, e

mail, or other method

. Th e 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
Ca re 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. T raveling animal exhibitions may be leased or under contrac t 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 trave l.2 I tinerary information will be accessible by the public under the Freedom of Information
Act o nly after travel has taken place

. B enefits and costs of the rule are examined in accordance with Executive Order 12866 , and the benefits are expected to excee d 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, help ing 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, wh ich will enable us to better respond to potential violations of the AWA. B enefit s of improved enforcement of the regulations are not readily monetized

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

. AP HIS estimates that preparation and submission of an itinerary takes about 15 minutes and that approximately 425

e xhibitors 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 mos t of these exhibitors (i., 325) will submit itineraries monthly (i.e., routinely) , and some (i.e., 100) two times a year (i.e., o ccasionally) , for an estimated annual total of 4,100 responses from these exhibitors. The time required to create and submit t he itinerary document is estimated to be 0.25 hours

. The total cost to the affected exhibitors for submissions of itineraries will be about3 $15,375 (i.e., at an average hourly wage of $15 for those individuals submitting the itineraries for 1,025 hours ).
M any 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 i tineraries 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 s uch circumstances, APHIS will accept an itinerary less than 48 hou rs before travel begins. 

### Public Sector Cost Savings
With the rule, c ost savings for APHIS are expected to be realized in terms of more efficient enforcement activities. APHIS incurs costs when exhibitor inspections a re attempted but d o not take place because the Agency either d oes 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 cos t to the Agency is estimated to have total ed nearly $1 0,400 for the year

. Submission of itineraries should eliminate these costs. When APHIS is unable to inspect traveling exhibits because itineraries are not know n , 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 g roups 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 such4 reque sts 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 l icensed exhibitors includ e 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 7121 30). 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 th at comprise this industry are small entities

. 1 M ost 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, t he APHIS Administrator has determined that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

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