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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6681-6683]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02403]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2008-0119]

Implementation of Revised Lacey Act Provisions

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 amended the 
Lacey Act to provide, among other things, that importers submit a 
declaration at the

[[Page 6682]]

time of importation for certain plants and plant products. Enforcement 
of the declaration requirement began on April 1, 2009, and products 
requiring a declaration are being phased-in. The purpose of this notice 
is to inform the public of another phase of the Federal Government's 
enforcement schedule.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before April 
7, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2008-0119.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2008-0119, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, 
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
    Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may 
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2008-
0119 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: Ms. Parul Patel, Senior 
Agriculturalist, Regulations, Permits, and Manuals, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 
River Road, Unit 60, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 851-2351.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq.), first enacted in 1900 and 
significantly amended in 1981, is the United States' oldest wildlife 
protection statute. The Act combats trafficking in illegally taken 
wildlife, fish, and plants. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 
2008 amended the Lacey Act by expanding its protection to a broader 
range of plants and plant products (Section 8204, Prevention of Illegal 
Logging Practices). As amended, the Lacey Act makes it unlawful to 
import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in 
interstate or foreign commerce any plant, with some limited exceptions, 
taken in violation of the laws of a U.S. State or any foreign law that 
protects plants. The Lacey Act also makes it unlawful to make or submit 
any false record, account, or label for, or any false identification 
of, any plant.
    In addition, Section 3 of the Lacey Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 
3372), makes it unlawful to import certain plants and plant products 
without an import declaration. The declaration must contain, among 
other things, the scientific name of the plant, value of the 
importation, quantity of the plant, and name of the country from where 
the plant was harvested. For paper and paperboard products containing 
recycled content, the declaration also must include the average percent 
of recycled content without regard for species or country of harvest. 
Currently, enforcement of the declaration requirement is being phased 
in, as described in two notices we published in the Federal 
Register,\1\ the first on February 3, 2009 (74 FR 5911-5913, Docket No. 
APHIS-2008-0119) and the second on September 2, 2009 (74 FR 45415-
45418, Docket No. APHIS-2008-0119).
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    \1\ To view these notices and the comments we received, go to 
http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2008-0119.
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    In our February 2009 notice, we committed to providing affected 
individuals and industry with at least 6 months' notice for any 
products that would be added to the phase-in schedule. The phased-in 
enforcement schedule began April 1, 2009. The most recent phase (IV) 
began on April 1, 2010. The enforcement schedule is available on the 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/lacey_act/. We continue to consider the 
applicability of the declaration requirement to products not included 
in the current phase-in schedule and we invite public comment on how 
the declaration requirement should be enforced as to these products.
    Phase V of the enforcement schedule, which would begin on August 6, 
2015, is described below. We invite public comment on the products 
covered under this phase of the plan, as well as on whether any 
additional Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) chapters should be included 
in the current phase-in schedule. Should there be additions to phase V, 
we intend to provide at least 6 months' notice to persons and 
industries affected by those changes to facilitate compliance with the 
new requirements. Changes will be announced in the Federal Register.

Ch. 44 Headings (Wood & Articles of Wood)

 4416003010--new casks, barrels, and parts of wood
 4416003020--used assembled casks of wood
 4416003030--used unassembled casks of wood
 4416006010--new barrel staves of wood
 4416006020--new barrel hoops of softwood
 4416006030--new tight barrelheads of wood
 4416006040--used barrels staves of softwood
 4416006050--used hoops, tight barrelheads of softwood
 4416009020--new other casks, barrels, wood
 4416009040--used other cooper goods, wood

Ch. 82 Headings (Tools, Implements, Cutlery, Spoons and Forks, of Base 
Metal; Parts Thereof of Base Metal)

 8211926000--hunting knives with wood handles
 8215992400--table barbeque forks with wood handles

Ch. 94 Headings (Furniture, etc.)

 9401612010--upholstered teak chair, household
 9401612030--upholstered teak chairs, other
 9401901500--parts of bent-wood seats
 9403304000--bent-wood office furniture
 9403404000--bent-wood kitchen furniture
 9403504000--bent-wood bedroom furniture
 9403604000--other bent-wood furniture

Ch. 96 Headings (Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles)

 9614002100--rough wood blocks for smoking pipe manufacture

Additional Information

    Several commenters on our earlier notices contended that 
identifying composite and recycled or reused materials (e.g., medium 
density fiberboard, particleboard, and scrap wood) to the genus and/or 
species level would be difficult and in some cases impossible. These 
commenters asked that we consider describing a level at which the 
declaration requirement does not apply for minimal amounts of 
unidentifiable plant materials in such products. The commenters also 
asked that we describe a level at which the declaration requirement 
does not apply for minimal amounts of non-listed (i.e., not of 
conservation concern) plant materials contained in an otherwise non-
plant product, such as wooden buttons on a shirt. Some commenters 
referred to this as a de minimis exception from the declaration 
requirement. We are in the process of

[[Page 6683]]

developing a proposal to establish exceptions from the declaration 
requirement for composite materials and products that contain a minimal 
amount of plant material. Upon completion of the proposal, we will 
publish it in the Federal Register for public comment.
    APHIS will continue to provide the latest information regarding the 
Lacey Act on our Web site, http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/lacey_act/. The Web site currently contains the Lacey Act, as amended; 
a slideshow covering background and context, requirements, commodities 
and products covered, information on prohibitions, and the current 
status of implementation of the declaration requirement of the Lacey 
Act; frequently asked questions; the phase-in implementation plan; a 
link to the Lacey Act Web Governance System (LAWGS); and the paper 
declaration form. The Web site will be updated as new materials become 
available. We encourage persons interested in receiving timely updates 
on APHIS' Lacey Act efforts to register for our stakeholder registry at 
https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAAPHIS/subscriber/new/ and 
select ``Lacey Act Declaration'' as a topic of interest.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of February 2015.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-02403 Filed 2-5-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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