This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

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REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

1415 

Vol. 72, No. 8 

Friday, January 12, 2007 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Part 301 

[Docket No. APHIS–2006–0114] 

RIN 0579–AC07 

Citrus Canker; Quarantine of the State 

of Florida; Technical Amendment 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Interim rule; technical 

amendment. 

SUMMARY: In an interim rule published 

in the Federal Register on August 1, 

2006, we amended the citrus canker 

regulations to list the entire State of 

Florida as a quarantined area for citrus 

canker and to amend the requirements 

for the movement of regulated articles 

from Florida now that the eradication of 

citrus canker in Florida is no longer 

being carried out as an objective. We 

also amended the regulations to allow 

regulated articles that would not 

otherwise be eligible for interstate 

movement to be moved to a port for 

immediate export. In this amendment, 

we are clarifying that, if citrus canker is 

found in any grove during the 

preharvest inspection or afterward, fruit 

from that grove will be ineligible to 

move interstate for that entire shipping 

season. 

DATES: Effective Date: January 12, 2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Stephen Poe, Senior Operations Officer, 

EDP, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 

137, Riverdale, MD 20737–1231; (301) 

734–4387. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The regulations in 7 CFR 301.75–1 

through 301.75–14 (referred to below as 

the regulations) prohibit or restrict the 

interstate movement of regulated 

articles from and through areas 

quarantined because of citrus canker 

and provide conditions under which 

regulated fruit may be moved into, 

through, and from quarantined areas for 

packing. These regulations are 

promulgated pursuant to the Plant 

Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.). 

In an interim rule published in the 

Federal Register on August 1, 2006 (71 

FR 43345–43352, Docket No. APHIS– 

2006–0114), we amended the 

regulations to list the entire State of 

Florida as a quarantined area for citrus 

canker and to amend the requirements 

for the movement of regulated articles 

from Florida now that the eradication of 

citrus canker in Florida is no longer 

being carried out as an objective. We 

also amended the regulations to allow 

regulated articles that would not 

otherwise be eligible for interstate 

movement to be moved to a port for 

immediate export. 

Following publication of the interim 

rule, it came to our attention that one of 

the provisions in the rule did not make 

clear our intention. As established by 

the interim rule, § 301.75–7 spells out 

the requirements that must be met in 

order for regulated fruit to be moved 

from a quarantined area. Paragraph 

(a)(2) of that section provides that, no 

more than 30 days before the beginning 

of harvest, every tree must be inspected 

by an inspector and the grove must be 

found free of citrus canker. Further, in 

groves producing limes, every tree must 

be inspected by an inspector and the 

grove must be found free of citrus 

canker every 120 days or less thereafter 

for as long as harvest continued. Some 

regulated entities have interpreted these 

provisions as allowing for the interstate 

movement of fruit from groves with 

trees showing signs of citrus canker, 

provided that the affected trees are 

removed and the grove is then 

reinspected prior to harvest and found 

free of citrus canker. This interpretation 

is not consistent with the intent of these 

provisions. Rather, these provisions are 

intended to only allow the interstate 

movement of fruit from groves where 

citrus canker has not been found during 

the preharvest inspection and afterward. 

Therefore, in order to avoid confusion, 

we are revising § 301.75–7(a)(2) to 

explicitly state that, if citrus canker is 

found in a grove when the preharvest 

inspection is conducted, or at any other 

time beginning August 1 of the year in 

which the fruit is to be harvested and 

extending through the harvest season 

(including into the next calendar year), 

fruit from the grove will not be eligible 

for interstate movement for the 

remainder of the harvest season. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 301 

Agricultural commodities, Plant 

diseases and pests, Quarantine, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Transportation. 

■ Accordingly, we are amending 7 CFR 

part 301 as follows: 

PART 301—DOMESTIC QUARANTINE 

NOTICES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 301 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701–7772 and 7781– 

7786; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3. 

Section 301.75–15 issued under Sec. 204, 

Title II, Public Law 106–113, 113 Stat. 

1501A–293; sections 301.75–15 and 301.75– 

16 issued under Sec. 203, Title II, Public Law 

106–224, 114 Stat. 400 (7 U.S.C. 1421 note). 

■ 2. In § 301.75–7, paragraph (a)(2) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 301.75–7 Interstate movement of 

regulated fruit from a quarantined area. 

(a) * * * 

(2) No more than 30 days before the 

beginning of harvest, every tree was 

inspected by an inspector and the grove 

was found free of citrus canker. Further, 

in groves producing limes, every tree 

was inspected by an inspector and the 

grove was found free of citrus canker 

every 120 days or less thereafter for as 

long as harvest continued. If citrus 

canker is found in a grove when the 

preharvest inspection is conducted, or 

at any other time beginning August 1 of 

the year in which the fruit is to be 

harvested and extending through the 

harvest season (including into the next 

calendar year), fruit from that grove will 

not be eligible for interstate movement 

for the remainder of the harvest season. 

* * * * * 

Done in Washington, DC, this 8th day of 

January 2007. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–370 Filed 1–11–07; 8:45 am] 

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