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

30365

Vol. 65, No. 92

Thursday, May 11, 2000

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

7 CFR Part 319

[Docket No. 00–003–1]

Mexican Hass Avocado Import

Program

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Request for comments.

SUMMARY: The Government of Mexico

has requested that the Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service consider

amending its regulations regarding the

importation of Hass avocado fruit from

Mexico to expand the number of States

in which the fruit may be distributed

and to increase the length of the

shipping season during which Hass

avocados may be imported into the

United States. In this notice, we are

asking the public for its comments and

recommendations regarding the scope of

our review and are soliciting any

additional data or information that may

have a bearing on our review of the

Mexican Government’s request. We will

use any information gathered through

this notice as we consider the Mexican

Government’s request that we expand

the length of the shipping season during

which, and the number of approved

States into which, Mexican Hass

avocados may be imported into the

United States.

DATES: We invite you to comment on

this docket. We will consider all

comments that we receive by August 9,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Please send your comment

and three copies to:

Docket No. 00–003–1, Regulatory

Analysis and Development, PPD,

APHIS, Suite 3C03, 4700 River Road

Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–1238.

Please state that your comment refers

to Docket No. 00–003–1.

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.

APHIS documents published in the

Federal Register, and related

information, including the names of

organizations and individuals who have

commented on APHIS dockets, are

available on the Internet at http://

www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/

webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Wayne D. Burnett, Senior Import

Specialist, Phytosanitary Issues

Management Team, PPQ, APHIS, 4700

River Road Unit 140, Riverdale, MD

20737–1236; (301) 734–6799.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The regulations in ‘‘Subpart Fruits

and Vegetables’’ (7 CFR 319.56 through

319.56–8) prohibit or restrict the

importation of fruits and vegetables into

the United States from certain parts of

the world to prevent the introduction

and dissemination of plant pests,

including fruit flies, that are new to or

not widely distributed within the

United States.

Under the regulations in 7 CFR

319.56–2ff, fresh Hass avocado fruit

grown in approved orchards in

approved municipalities in Michoacan,

Mexico, may be imported into specified

areas of the United States, subject to

certain conditions. Currently, those

regulations allow Mexican Hass

avocados to be imported into the United

States only during the months of

November, December, January, and

February. Further, the fruit may only be

distributed in the following

northeastern States: Connecticut,

Delaware, the District of Columbia,

Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine,

Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,

New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,

Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,

Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and

Wisconsin.

The Government of Mexico has

requested that the Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

amend the regulations regarding the

importation of Mexican Hass avocados

to (1) increase the number of States into

which the avocados may be imported

and (2) to allow the shipping season to

begin 1 month earlier (October rather

than November) and end 1 month later

(March rather than February).

With regard to increasing the number

of approved States, Mexico has asked

that we consider allowing Hass

avocados to be imported into additional

northern-tier States that, like the

currently approved northeastern States,

do not contain host material for any of

the avocado-specific pests of concern

identified in the regulations and that

have climatic conditions that do not

support the establishment of fruit flies.

The Mexican Government has not yet

identified the specific States that it

believes might meet those criteria, and

we anticipate that Mexico would seek

additional information from APHIS

before making such a specific request.

Studies conducted by the U.S.

Department of Agriculture’s

Agricultural Research Service have

shown that the Mexican fruit fly is less

active and oviposits less at temperatures

below 70 °F. Median temperatures in

the Michoacan production areas during

the current shipping season of

November through February are

consistently below 70 °F, thus the

climate is not favorable to fruit fly

activity during those months. In

establishing the current November

through February shipping season, we

considered the unfavorable climate in

the Michoacan production areas along

with the Hass avocado’s non-preferred

host status and concluded that the

infestation threat posed to the avocados

by Anastrepha spp. fruit flies would be

insignificant. In requesting the

lengthened shipping season, the

Mexican Government has stated that the

median temperatures in the Michoacan

production areas during October and

March are consistently below 70 °F, just

as is the case during the current

November through February shipping

season. Preliminary temperature data

provided by Mexico covering the years

1990 through 1999 indicate that only

once during that period did the median

temperature rise above 70 °F during

October or March (72.3 °F, recorded at

the Comision Nacional del Agua climate

monitoring station in the municipality

of Periban, Michoacan, in March 1992).

In our review of the Mexican

Government’s request, we anticipate

30366 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 92 / Thursday, May 11, 2000 / Proposed Rules

that we will consider information such

as the pest risk assessment and risk

management analysis prepared for the

rulemaking that established the current

program; fruit fly trapping data and pest

survey data from the growing area; fruit

cutting data from both the

packinghouses in Mexico and the U.S.

port-of-entry inspections; temperature

data for the production areas in Mexico,

the currently approved States, and any

States that might be added; and the

results of APHIS’ most recent

comprehensive review of the Mexican

Hass avocado program. Copies of this

information may be obtained by calling

or writing to the person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

We are asking the public for its

comments and recommendations

regarding the scope of our review and

are soliciting any additional data or

information that may have a bearing on

our review of the Mexican

Government’s request. We wish to

emphasize the preliminary nature of our

review; we are not, at this time,

proposing to make any changes to the

provisions of the current Mexican

avocado import program found in

§ 319.56–2ff. We would, therefore, ask

that any comments focus on the

scientific, technical, or other issues that

commenters believe should be

considered during our review of the

Mexican Government’s request.

If, after completing our review of the

available data and any pertinent

information submitted by the public, we

conclude that there are sufficient data

available to support Mexico’s request,

APHIS will prepare a proposed rule for

public comment before making any final

decision to approve additional States to

receive Mexican Hass avocados or to

expand the shipping season to include

the months of October and March.

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 150dd, 150ee, 150ff,

151–167, 450, 2803, and 2809; 21 U.S.C. 136

and 136a.

Done in Washington, DC, this 8th day of

May 2000.

Bobby R. Acord,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 00–11835 Filed 5–10–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

20 CFR Part 217

RIN 3220–AB45

Application for Annuity or Lump Sum

AGENCY: Railroad Retirement Board.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Railroad Retirement

Board hereby proposes to amend its

regulations to enable a divorced spouse

who remarries the employee within six

months of the divorce to use the spouse

application to qualify for a divorced

spouse annuity for the period prior to

the remarriage. This amendment will

eliminate the necessity for the spouse to

file a separate application for a short

period of benefits.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before July 10, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be

addressed to the Secretary to the Board,

Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North

Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael C. Litt, General Attorney,

Railroad Retirement Board, telephone

(312) 751–4929, TTD (312) 751–4701.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

217.8 of the Board’s regulations

describes situations where the Board

will accept an application filed for one

type of annuity as an application for

another type of annuity. An application

may be effective for the period six

months prior to the date of filing. This

amendment will add a provision to

enable a divorced spouse who remarries

the employee within six months of the

divorce to use the spouse application to

qualify for a divorced spouse annuity

for the period after the divorce and prior

to the remarriage. In such cases the

requirement that a claimant be married

to the employee for a period of one year

prior to application for a spouse

annuity, as required by § 216.54 of this

part, is waived.

The Board, with the concurrence of

the Office of Management and Budget,

has determined that this is not a

significant regulatory action under

Executive Order 12866; therefore, no

regulatory impact analysis is required.

There are no information collections

associated with this rule.

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 217

Railroad employees, Railroad

retirement.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, the Railroad Retirement

Board proposes to amend chapter II of

title 20 of the Code of Federal

Regulations as follows:

PART 217—APPLICATION FOR

ANNUITY OR LUMP SUM

1. The authority citation for part 217

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 45 U.S.C. 231d and 45 U.S.C.

231f.

2. In subpart B, § 217.8, redesignate

paragraphs (m) through (u) as (n)

through (v), and add a new paragraph

(m) to read as follows:

§ 217.8 When one application satisfies the

filing requirement for other benefits.

* * * * *

(m) A divorced spouse annuity if the

spouse claimant has remarried the

employee during the six-month

retroactive period of the spouse annuity

application.

* * * * *

Dated: May 4, 2000.

By authority of the Board.

Beatrice Ezerski,

Secretary to the Board.

[FR Doc. 00–11855 Filed 5–10–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7905–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

21 CFR Part 25

[Docket No. 00N–0085]

National Environmental Policy Act;

Food Contact Substance Notification

System; Companion to Direct Final

Rule

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration,

HHS.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) is proposing to

amend its regulations on environmental

impact considerations as part of the

agency’s implementation of the FDA

Modernization Act (FDAMA) of 1997.

FDAMA amended the Federal Food,

Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the act) to

establish a notification process for food

contact substances (FCS); this process

will be the primary method for

authorizing new uses of food additives

that are FCS, and it will largely replace

the existing food additive petition

process for such substances. The

regulations will expand the existing

categorical exclusions to include

allowing a notification submitted under

the act to become effective and will

amend the list of those actions that

require an environmental assessment

(EA) to add allowing a notification

under the act to become effective in

cases where a categorical exclusion

doesn’t apply. This will allow notifiers

of FCS to claim the categorical

exclusions now available to sponsors of

other requests for authorization of FCS.

This proposed rule is a companion

document to the direct final rule