This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

26316 

Vol. 78, No. 87 

Monday, May 6, 2013 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2012–0076] 

Plants for Planting Whose Importation 

is Not Authorized Pending Pest Risk 

Analysis; Notice of Availability of Data 

Sheets for Taxa of Plants for Planting 

That Are Quarantine Pests or Hosts of 

Quarantine Pests 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that we have determined that 22 taxa of 

plants for planting are quarantine pests 

and 37 taxa of plants for planting are 

hosts of 9 quarantine pests and therefore 

should be added to our lists of taxa of 

plants for planting whose importation is 

not authorized pending pest risk 

analysis. We have prepared data sheets 

that detail the scientific evidence we 

evaluated in making the determination 

that the taxa are quarantine pests or 

hosts of quarantine pests. We are 

making these data sheets available to the 

public for review and comment. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before July 5, 

2013. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/#!document

Detail;D=APHIS-2012-0076-0001. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2012–0076, Regulatory Analysis 

and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 

3A–03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

The data sheets and any comments we 

receive may be viewed at http://www.

regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=

APHIS-2012-0076 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) 799–7039 before 

coming. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Arnold Tschanz, Senior Regulatory 

Policy Specialist, Plants for Planting 

Policy, RPM, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737– 

1236; (301) 851–2179. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under the regulations in ‘‘Subpart— 

Plants for Planting’’ (7 CFR 319.37 

through 319.37–14, 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 importation of 

plants for planting (including living 

plants, plant parts, seeds, and plant 

cuttings) to prevent the introduction of 

quarantine pests into the United States. 

Quarantine pest is defined in § 319.37– 

1 as a plant pest or noxious weed that 

is of potential economic importance to 

the United States and not yet present in 

the United States, or present but not 

widely distributed and being officially 

controlled. 

In a final rule published in the 

Federal Register on May 27, 2011 (76 

FR 31172–31210, Docket No. APHIS– 

2006–0011), and effective on June 27, 

2011, we established in § 319.37–2a a 

new category of plants for planting 

whose importation is not authorized 

pending pest risk analysis (NAPPRA) in 

order to prevent the introduction of 

quarantine pests into the United States. 

The final rule established two lists of 

taxa whose importation is NAPPRA: A 

list of taxa of plants for planting that are 

quarantine pests, and a list of taxa of 

plants for planting that are hosts of 

quarantine pests. For taxa of plants for 

planting that have been determined to 

be quarantine pests, the list will include 

the names of the taxa. For taxa of plants 

for planting that are hosts of quarantine 

pests, the list will include the names of 

the taxa, the foreign places from which 

the taxa’s importation is not authorized, 

and the quarantine pests of concern. 

The final rule did not add any taxa to 

the NAPPRA lists. 

Paragraph (b) of § 319.37–2a describes 

the process for adding taxa to the 

NAPPRA lists. In accordance with that 

process, this notice announces our 

determination that 22 taxa of plants for 

planting are quarantine pests and 37 

taxa of plants for planting are hosts of 

9 quarantine pests. 

This notice also makes available data 

sheets that detail the scientific evidence 

we evaluated in making the 

determination that the taxa are 

quarantine pests or hosts of a quarantine 

pest. The data sheets include references 

to the scientific evidence we used in 

making these determinations. 

A complete list of the taxa of plants 

for planting that we have determined to 

be quarantine pests or hosts of 

quarantine pests, along with the data 

sheets supporting those determinations, 

may be 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). 

You may request paper copies of the list 

and data sheets by calling or writing to 

the person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

For taxa of plants for planting that are 

hosts of quarantine pests, the data 

sheets specify the countries from which 

the taxa’s importation would not be 

authorized pending pest risk analysis. In 

many cases, the importation of the taxa 

would not be allowed from any country. 

In some cases, the taxa would be 

allowed to be imported from Canada. 

We would allow such importation when 

Canada is free of the quarantine pest for 

which the taxa are hosts and when 

Canada’s import regulations and our 

restrictions specific to Canada ensure 

that the pest would not be introduced 

into the United States through the 

importation of the taxa from Canada. 

In a few cases, the taxa would be 

allowed to be imported from countries 

that are currently exporting the taxa to 

the United States, subject to restrictions 

in a Federal Order. We would like to 

clarify in this notice that we would 

exempt imports of taxa of plants for 

planting that are hosts of quarantine 

pests from the NAPPRA requirements 

when there is significant trade between 

the exporting country and the United 

States. We would continue to allow 

such importation based on our 

experience with importing those taxa of 

plants for planting and our findings, 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 87 / Monday, May 6, 2013 / Notices 26317 

through inspection, that they are 

generally pest free, and based on our 

determination that the restrictions in the 

Federal Order are sufficient to mitigate 

the risk associated with the quarantine 

pest in question. Generally, we would 

consider the importation from a country 

of 10 or more plants in each of the last 

3 fiscal years to constitute significant 

trade in that taxon. However, we will 

also consider other data showing that 

there is significant trade in a taxon, even 

if it does not meet this standard. 

After reviewing any comments we 

receive, we will announce our decision 

regarding the addition of the taxa 

described in the data sheets to the 

NAPPRA lists in a subsequent notice. If 

the Administrator’s determination that 

the taxa are quarantine pests or hosts of 

quarantine pests remains unchanged 

following our consideration of the 

comments, then we will add the taxa 

described in the data sheets to the 

appropriate NAPPRA list. 

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

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

CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 30th day of 

April 2013. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–10656 Filed 5–3–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Klamath National Forest, California, 

Jess Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Klamath National Forest 

will prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) to document and 

publicly disclose the environmental 

effects of fuels treatments on ridge tops 

and along roadways, thinning in natural 

stands and plantations, and meadow 

treatments to improve ecosystem 

function and resiliency while 

contributing to rural economic health. 

The project area is south of Sawyers Bar, 

California. Treatments are proposed on 

approximately 1,950 acres. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by June 

20, 2013. The draft environmental 

impact statement is expected November 

2013 and the final environmental 

impact statement is expected January 

2014. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Klamath National Forest Headquarters, 

ATTN: Angie Bell, Project Leader, 1711 

S. Main Street, Yreka, CA 96097. 

Electronic comments can be made at the 

project’s Web page: http://www.fs.fed.

us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=

38943, or via facsimile to (530) 841– 

4571. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Angie Bell, 530–842–6131, or Patty 

Grantham, Forest Supervisor, 530–842– 

6131. 

Individuals who use 

telecommunication devices for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern 

Time, Monday through Friday. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The Jess project was developed to 

improve ecosystem function and 

resiliency while contributing to rural 

economic health. A Forest Service 

interdisciplinary team (IDT), composed 

of specialists from a wide array of 

disciplines in collaboration with 

interested parties, developed a purpose 

and need. The collaboration efforts 

included several public meetings and a 

field trip to discuss the need for change 

and potential actions in the project area. 

The IDT identified the following 

purpose and need for this project by 

comparing the existing conditions in the 

project area with the desired conditions 

described in the Forest Plan, LateSuccessional Reserve Assessments, the 

North Fork Salmon Watershed 

Assessment and the Sawyers Bar 

Wildfire Community Protection Plan: 

• Manage fuel loadings to reduce the 

risk of wildfires affecting nearby 

communities. 

• Improve compositional, structural, 

and functional attributes of biologically 

diverse forest ecosystems by restoring 

ecological processes that build 

resiliency to high-intensity wildfire and 

insect and disease. 

• Provide a broad range of ecosystem 

services, including wood products, rural 

economic health, biodiversity, and the 

beneficial uses of water. 

Proposed Action 

The IDT, in conjunction with the 

informal collaborative group composed 

of local, interested parties, inventoried 

the project area to identify resource 

concerns and develop management 

activities (proposed actions) to achieve 

the purpose and need for the Jess 

Project. The following proposed actions 

have been identified to move the project 

area from the existing condition to the 

desired condition. Project design 

features (PDFs) and best management 

practices (BMPs) are incorporated into 

this proposed action. The Forest Service 

proposes the following treatments on 

about 1,950 acres within the 8,735 acre 

project boundary: 

• Commercially harvest about 810 

acres, including natural stands and 

plantations, with about 120 acres 

proposed for skyline and 690 acres of 

ground-based yarding; 

• Treating fuels on strategic ridge 

tops on about 165 acres, including 95 

acres of thinning, handpiling, and 

burning and 70 acres of mastication; 

• Reducing roadside fuels on about 

615 acres over 15 miles of National 

Forest Transportation System (NFTS) 

roads; 

• Prescribed underburning about 250 

acres; 

• Planting rust-resistant sugar pine on 

scattered acres throughout the project 

area; 

• Enhancing meadows around Mud 

Lake and other locations in the project 

area; and 

• Masticating and handpiling/burning 

brush on about 150 acres for stand 

health and big game habitat 

enhancement. 

Acres by treatment type do not 

account for the overlap in treatment 

types. Thinning treatments are likely to 

take place over the first five years after 

decision, followed by prescribed 

burning and pile burning in subsequent 

years. A more detailed description of 

this proposal, including access, is 

below. 

Commercial harvest of trees larger 

than 9 inches dbh will occur on over 

800 acres. Commercial treatments will 

vary with species preference and would 

be driven by topographic location, 

amount of disease present, and desired 

regeneration species. Trees with greater 

than 20–50% of their crown infected 

with mistletoe, depending on unit, will 

be candidates for removal. Dominant 

and co-dominant trees with full crowns, 

despite mistletoe infection will be 

maintained in treatment units. Several 

units have groups of older trees that will 

be retained as islands to provide spatial 

variation. Some small openings will be 

increased to resemble more historic gap 

sizes of 1–21⁄2 acres. Hardwoods will be 

favored and will be thinned around in 

areas. Enhancement of hardwoods and 

reduction of conifer competition is 

prescribed in several units. Patches of 

saplings and pole size trees will be 

avoided during treatment. Overall, the 

best crowns will be maintained with 

crown spacing varying from five to 

twenty feet wide. Sugar pines proven to 

be rust-resistant from a local seed zone 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES