This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

75157 

Vol. 75, No. 231 

Thursday, December 2, 2010 

1The general permit excludes articles from 

certain subfamilies of the family Rutaceae, 

regulated articles of pine that are not completely 

free of bark from Provinces in Canada that are 

considered to be infested or partially infested with 

pine shoot beetle, and regulated articles of ash 

(Fraxinus spp.). 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Part 319 

[Docket No. APHIS–2010–0019] 

RIN 0579–AD28 

Importation of Wood Packaging 

Material From Canada 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend 

the regulations for the importation of 

unmanufactured wood articles to 

remove the exemption that allows wood 

packaging material from Canada to enter 

the United States without first meeting 

the treatment and marking requirements 

of the regulations that apply to wood 

packaging material from all other 

countries. This action is necessary in 

order to prevent the dissemination and 

spread of pests via wood packaging 

material from Canada. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before January 31, 

2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/

component/

main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS2010-0019 to submit or view comments 

and to view supporting and related 

materials available electronically. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Please send one copy of your comment 

to Docket No. APHIS–2010–0019, 

Regulatory Analysis and Development, 

PPD, APHIS, Station 3A–03.8, 4700 

River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1238. Please state that your 

comment refers to Docket No. APHIS– 

2010–0019. 

Reading Room: You may read any 

comments that we receive on this 

docket in our reading room. The reading 

room 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. 

Other Information: Additional 

information about APHIS and its 

programs is available on the Internet at 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

John Tyrone Jones, II, Trade Director, 

Forestry Products, Phytosanitary Issues 

Management, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road Unit 140, Riverdale, MD 20737– 

1231; (301) 734–8860. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The regulations in Subpart—Logs, 

Lumber, and Other Unmanufactured 

Wood Articles (7 CFR 319.40–1 through 

319.40–11, referred to below as the 

regulations) restrict the importation of 

many types of wood articles, including 

items such as pallets, crates, boxes, and 

pieces of wood used to support and 

brace cargo. These types of articles are 

known as wood packaging materials 

(WPM). Introductions into the United 

States of exotic plant pests such as the 

pine shoot beetle (Tomicus piniperda 

(Scolytidae)) and the Asian longhorned 

beetle (Anaplophora glabripennis 

(Cerambycidae)) among others have 

been linked to the importation of WPM. 

These and other plant pests that are 

carried by some imported WPM pose a 

serious threat to U.S. agriculture and to 

natural, cultivated, and urban forests. 

The variety of woods and lumber 

qualities used in the construction of 

WPM make it susceptible to infestation 

by a wide range of wood pests and 

diseases. WPM is frequently constructed 

from lower grade lumber derived from 

an assortment of woods. Additionally, 

lumber used in WPM construction may 

be fresh cut and may not have 

undergone sufficient processing or 

treatment to kill pests. Furthermore, 

WPM is very often reused, recycled, or 

remanufactured, and the true origin of 

any specific piece of WPM is difficult to 

determine, which means that its 

phytosanitary status cannot be fully 

ascertained. 

Currently, § 319.40–3(a) provides a 

general permit that authorizes the 

importation of certain unmanufactured 

wood articles, including WPM, into the 

United States from Canada.1 A general 

permit means the written authorization 

provided in § 319.40–3; no separate, 

specific permit is required. Under a 

general permit, unmanufactured wood 

articles from Canada may be imported 

into the United States provided they are 

accompanied by an importer document 

stating that the articles are derived from 

trees harvested in, and have never been 

moved outside of, Canada, and subject 

to the inspection and other 

requirements in § 319.40–9. 

In contrast, WPM that is not from 

Canada is subject to the more rigorous 

requirements of the regulations for 

importing wood articles from all other 

countries except Canada. In a final rule 

published in the Federal Register on 

September 16, 2004 (69 FR 55719– 

55733; Docket No. 02–032–3), we 

amended those regulations in order to 

update the requirements for importation 

of WPM to correspond with standards 

established by the International Plant 

Protection Convention (IPPC) in 

International Standards for 

Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) 15, 

‘‘Guidelines for Regulating Wood 

Packaging Material in International 

Trade.’’ Currently, paragraph (b) of 

§ 319.40–3 of the regulations lists the 

IPPC requirements, which include 

either heat treatment or fumigation with 

methyl bromide and the proper marking 

of all treated materials with the 

approved IPPC symbol and specific 

control numbers. 

The less restrictive importation 

requirements for WPM imported into 

the United States from Canada are based 

on the premise that the forests in the 

United States share a common forested 

boundary with Canada and, therefore, 

share, to a reasonable degree, the same 

forest pests. However, in a pest risk 

analysis (PRA) entitled ‘‘Risk analysis 

for the movement of wood packaging 

material (WPM) from Canada into the 

United States,’’ we examined the pest 

risks associated with the movement of 

WPM into the United States from 

Canada. We determined that many 

North American forest pests, both 

indigenous and nonindigenous, occur in 

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75158 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 231 / Thursday, December 2, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

both Canada and the United States. 

Some of these are unique forest pests 

and pathogens that are established in 

Canada and have the potential to be 

introduced or reintroduced into the 

United States via the movement of 

WPM, while others are pests that also 

occur in the United States but are 

subject to official control in order to 

prevent their further spread. Among the 

pests of concern are brown spruce 

longhorned beetle (Tetropium fuscum), 

European oak borer (Agrilus sulcicollis), 

emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), 

Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora 

glabripennis), European woodwasp 

(Sirex noctilio), the fungus Ophiostoma 

tetropii, and vascular wilt 

(Leptographium truncatum). Copies of 

the PRA may be obtained from the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT or viewed on the 

Regulations.gov Web site or in our 

reading room (see ADDRESSES above for 

a link to Regulations.gov and 

information on the location and hours of 

the reading room). 

Since the implementation of ISPM 15, 

the USDA and the Canadian Food 

Inspection Agency (CFIA) officials have 

participated jointly in the North 

American Perimeter Approach Wood 

and Wood Products Steering Committee 

to develop a harmonization plan that 

would entail both countries removing 

the exemption that allows wood 

packaging material to move from 

Canada into the United States and from 

the United States into Canada under 

general permit and not ISPM 15 

guidelines. Coordination of this plan 

will take place though USDA and 

CFIA’s participation in the North 

American Plant Protection 

Organization’s Forestry Panel. 

Based on the information contained in 

the PRA, and in keeping with our 

harmonization efforts with Canada 

relative to the regulation of WPM, we 

are proposing to amend the regulations 

in order to require that WPM from 

Canada meet the same conditions for 

importation as WPM from all other 

countries. This action is necessary in 

order to provide more consistent 

regulation of WPM from Canada as well 

as to reduce the risk of the introduction 

of dangerous plant pests on WPM 

moving from Canada into the United 

States. 

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

This proposed rule 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. 

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 603, we 

have performed an initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis, which is 

summarized below, regarding the 

economic effects of this proposed rule 

on small entities. Copies of the full 

analysis are available from the person 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT or on the Regulations.gov Web 

site (see ADDRESSES above for 

instructions for accessing 

Regulations.gov). 

The analysis concludes that the 

proposed removal of the treatment and 

marking exemption would have a direct 

effect on Canadian manufacturers of 

pallets, which may affect importers and 

final consumers of goods transported on 

pallets imported from Canada. Because 

the cost of a pallet is a very small share 

of the bundle of goods transported on 

pallets, cost increases due to the 

treatment requirements are not expected 

to significantly affect domestic 

consumers and thus would not have a 

measurable impact on the flow of trade. 

The proposed changes are not expected 

to reduce the amount of goods shipped 

from Canada, as is evident from 

observing trends in imports from all 

other origins since implementation of 

the treatment standards in 2005. 

The vast majority of potentially 

affected entities would be considered 

small. However, because the cost of a 

pallet is a very small share of the bundle 

of goods transported on pallets, cost 

increases due to treatment requirements 

for Canadian producers are not expected 

to significantly affect domestic 

consumers. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. If this proposed rule is 

adopted: (1) All State and local laws and 

regulations that are inconsistent with 

this rule will be preempted; (2) no 

retroactive effect will be given to this 

rule; and (3) administrative proceedings 

will not be required before parties may 

file suit in court challenging this rule. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

To provide the public with 

documentation of APHIS’ review and 

analysis of any potential environmental 

impacts associated with the importation 

of wood packaging material from 

Canada, we have prepared an 

environmental assessment. The 

environmental assessment was prepared 

in accordance with: (1) The National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 

et seq.), (2) regulations of the Council on 

Environmental Quality for 

implementing the procedural provisions 

of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500–1508), (3) 

USDA regulations implementing NEPA 

(7 CFR part 1b), and (4) APHIS’ NEPA 

Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 

372). 

The environmental assessment may 

be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web 

site or in our reading room. (A link to 

Regulations.gov and information on the 

location and hours of the reading room 

are provided under the heading 

ADDRESSES at the beginning of this 

proposed rule.) In addition, copies may 

be obtained by calling or writing to the 

individual listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. Comments on the 

environmental assessment may also be 

submitted using those methods listed 

under the heading ADDRESSES at the 

beginning of this proposed rule. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This proposed rule contains no new 

information collection or recordkeeping 

requirements under the Paperwork 

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

et seq.). 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 319 

Coffee, Cotton, Fruits, Imports, Logs, 

Nursery stock, Plant diseases and pests, 

Quarantine, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Rice, 

Vegetables. 

Accordingly, we propose to amend 7 

CFR part 319 as follows: 

PART 319—FOREIGN QUARANTINE 

NOTICES 

1. The authority citation for part 319 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701–7772, and 

7781–7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 

2.22, 2.80, and 371.3. 

2. In § 319.40–3, paragraph (a) is 

amended by adding a new paragraph 

(a)(1)(i)(D) to read as follows: 

§ 319.40–3 General permits; articles that 

may be imported without a specific permit; 

articles that may be imported without either 

a specific permit or an importer document. 

(a) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(i) * * * 

(D) Regulated wood packaging 

material, whether in actual use as 

packing for regulated or nonregulated 

articles or imported as cargo. 

* * * * * 

Done in Washington, DC, this 16th day of 

November 2010. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–30206 Filed 12–1–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

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