Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 99 / Wednesday, May 23, 2007 / Notices 28947 

(4) Minimize the burden of the 

information collection on those who are 

to respond, through use, as appropriate, 

of automated, electronic, mechanical, 

and other collection technologies, e.g., 

permitting electronic submission of 

responses. 

Estimate of burden: The public 

reporting burden for this collection of 

information is estimated to average 

2.4338 hours per response. 

Respondents: Importers and shippers 

of bees and related articles, foreign 

governments, and containment 

facilities. 

Estimated annual number of 

respondents : 869. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses per respondent: 1. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses: 869. 

Estimated total annual burden on 

respondents: 2,115 hours. (Due to 

averaging, the total annual burden hours 

may not equal the product of the annual 

number of responses multiplied by the 

reporting burden per response.) 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. All comments will 

also become a matter of public record. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of 

May 2007. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–9897 Filed 5–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2007–0060] 

Emerald Ash Borer; Availability of an 

Environmental Assessment 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of availability and 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that an environmental assessment has 

been prepared by the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service relative to the 

release of three insect parasitoid species 

for the biological control of the emerald 

ash borer Agrilus planipennis. The 

environmental assessment documents 

our review and analysis of 

environmental impacts associated with 

the release of these biological control 

agents. We are making this 

environmental assessment available to 

the public for review and comment. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before June 22, 

2007. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov, select 

‘‘Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service’’ from the agency drop-down 

menu, then click ‘‘Submit.’’ In the 

Docket ID column, select APHIS–2007–

0060 to submit or view public 

comments and to view supporting and 

related materials available 

electronically. Information on using 

Regulations.gov, including instructions 

for accessing documents, submitting 

comments, and viewing the docket after 

the close of the comment period, is 

available through the site’s ‘‘User Tips’’

link. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Please send four copies of your 

comment (an original and three copies) 

to Docket No. APHIS–2007–0060, 

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–

2007–0060. 

Reading Room: You may read any 

comments that we receive on the 

environmental assessment 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: Dr. 

Juli Gould, Entomologist, Otis Pest 

Survey, Detection, and Exclusion 

Laboratory, PPQ, APHIS, Building 1398, 

Otis ANGB, MA 02542–5008; (508) 563–

9303 ext. 220. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The emerald ash borer (EAB) (Agrilus 

planipennis) is a destructive 

woodboring insect that attacks ash trees 

(Fraxinus spp., including green ash, 

white ash, black ash, and several 

horticultural varieties of ash). The 

insect, which is indigenous to Asia and 

known to occur in China, Korea, Japan, 

Mongolia, the Russian Far East, Taiwan, 

and Canada, eventually kills healthy ash 

trees after it bores beneath their bark 

and disrupts their vascular tissues. 

The EAB regulations in 7 CFR 301.53–

1 through 301.53–9 restrict the interstate 

movement of regulated articles from 

quarantined areas to prevent the 

artificial spread of EAB into noninfested 

areas of the United States. The States of 

Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio and portions 

of the State of Michigan are currently 

designated as quarantined areas. We are 

also in the process of establishing a 

quarantine in Prince George’s County, 

MD. 

Despite State and Federal quarantines 

designed to contain EAB, the lack of 

effective methods to detect EAB-infested 

trees and the large area of EAB 

infestation has resulted in a shift in 

strategy by regulatory agencies from 

area-wide eradication to eradication in 

outlying areas and containment in the 

core infestation area. In the United 

States, EAB eradication efforts involve 

the removal of all ash trees within a 

specified radius around known 

infestations. However, by the time an 

infestation is discovered and treated, 

EAB has usually already dispersed 

outside the eradication zone. Besides 

natural dispersal, the spread of EAB has 

been accelerated through humanassisted movement of infested ash 

firewood, timber, solid wood packing 

materials, and nursery stock. As EAB 

spreads throughout North America, 

regulatory agencies, land managers, and 

the public are seeking sustainable 

management tools such as biological 

control to reduce EAB population 

densities and to slow its spread. 

APHIS has completed an 

environmental assessment that 

examines the potential effects on the 

quality of the human environment that 

may be associated with the release of 

three specific biological control agents 

to control infestations of EAB within the 

continental United States. APHIS and 

the Forest Service propose to release the 

three parasitoids into the environment 

of the continental United States for the 

purpose of reducing EAB populations. 

These parasitoids are known to attack 

EAB consistently in its native habitat in 

China. Initial releases of each parasitoid 

are planned for summer 2007. Postrelease monitoring of the spread and 

establishment of each parasitoid species 

and impacts on EAB and non-target 

wood-boring beetles will also be 

conducted. 

APHIS’ review and analysis of the 

potential environmental impacts 

associated with this biological control 

action are documented in detail in an 

environmental assessment entitled 

‘‘Proposed Release of Three Parasitoids 

for the Biological Control of the Emerald 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
28948 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 99 / Wednesday, May 23, 2007 / Notices 

Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) in the 

Continental United States’’ (April 2, 

2007). We are making this 

environmental assessment available to 

the public for review and comment. We 

will consider all comments that we 

receive on or before the date listed 

under the heading DATES at the 

beginning of this notice. 

The environmental assessment may 

be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web 

site or in our reading room (see 

ADDRESSES above for instructions for 

accessing Regulations.gov and 

information on the location and hours of 

the reading room). You may request 

paper copies of the environmental 

assessment by calling or writing to the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the 

title of the environmental assessment 

when requesting copies. 

The environmental assessment has 

been 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 1), and (4) APHIS’ NEPA 

Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 

372). 

Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of 

May 2007 . 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–9895 Filed 5–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2007–0049] 

National Wildlife Services Advisory 

Committee; Meeting 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: We are giving notice of a 

meeting of the National Wildlife 

Services Advisory Committee. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on June 

19 and 20, 2007, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

each day. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Utah State University Inn, Room 

507, 4300 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mrs. 

Joanne Garrett, Director, Operational 

Support Staff, WS, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road Unit 87, Riverdale, MD 20737; 

(301) 734–7921. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

National Wildlife Services Advisory 

Committee (the Committee) advises the 

Secretary of Agriculture concerning 

policies, program issues, and research 

needed to conduct the Wildlife Services 

(WS) program. The Committee also 

serves as a public forum enabling those 

affected by the WS program to have a 

voice in the program’s policies. 

The meeting will focus on operational 

and research activities. The Committee 

will discuss WS efforts to increase 

operational capacity through 

prioritizing research objectives. 

Additionally, the Committee will 

discuss pertinent national programs and 

how to increase their effectiveness, as 

well as ensuring WS remains an active 

participant in the goal of agricultural 

protection. 

The meeting will be open to the 

public. However, due to time 

constraints, the public will not be 

allowed to participate in the discussions 

during the meeting. Written statements 

on meeting topics may be filed with the 

Committee before or after the meeting 

by sending them to the person listed 

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. Written statements may also 

be filed at the meeting. Please refer to 

Docket No. APHIS–2007–0049 when 

submitting your statements. 

This notice of meeting is given 

pursuant to section 10 of the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 

2). 

Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of 

May 2007. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–9896 Filed 5–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket No. APHIS–2007–0065] 

Declaration of Extraordinary 

Emergency Because of Plum Pox Virus 

An exotic plant virus, plum pox virus, 

has been confirmed in New York and 

Michigan. Plum pox virus is the most 

devastating viral disease of stone fruit 

worldwide, causing yield losses to 

growers and reducing the marketability 

of fruit. Previously, the disease was 

known to be present in the United 

States only in portions of several 

counties in south-central Pennsylvania. 

Plum pox virus is the cause of an 

extremely serious plant disease, 

affecting a number of Prunus species, 

including peach, nectarine, apricot, 

plum, and almond. Infection eventually 

results in severely reduced fruit 

production, and the fruit that is 

produced is often misshapen and 

blemished. There is no cure or treatment 

for the disease once a tree becomes 

infected. In Europe, where plum pox 

has been present for a number of years, 

the disease is considered to be the most 

serious disease affecting susceptible 

Prunus species. The disease is spread 

over short distances by a number of 

different aphid species, and over longer 

distances through the movement of 

infected budwood and nursery stock. 

Since the detection of plum pox virus 

in Pennsylvania in 1999, an aggressive 

eradication program has been conducted 

in that State, involving a cooperative 

effort between APHIS and the 

Pennsylvania Department of 

Agriculture. The program in 

Pennsylvania has resulted in significant 

success, with no spread of the disease 

outside of the general area in which it 

was first found in 1999, and with only 

trace amounts of plum pox virus being 

detected in 2005 and 2006. Following 

the detection of plum pox virus in 

Pennsylvania, APHIS has worked with 

States in which there was commercial 

production of peaches and other stone 

fruit to conduct a series of national 

surveys. Prior to 2006, the result of 

these surveys has always been negative. 

As a result of a cooperative survey 

conducted by APHIS and the New York 

State Department of Agriculture and 

Markets, plum pox virus was confirmed 

in Niagara County, NY, on July 7, 2006. 

A total of three infected trees were 

discovered in two commercial orchard 

locations. Cooperative surveys were also 

conducted in Michigan, in this case 

involving APHIS and the Michigan 

Department of Agriculture. As a result 

of these surveys, plum pox virus was 

detected in a single plum tree at the 

Michigan State University’s Southwest 

Michigan Research and Education 

Center, a State-operated facility, on 

August 11, 2006. 

In order to prevent the spread of plum 

pox virus from these new detection 

sites, an aggressive eradication program 

will be necessary. The eradication 

program will involve removal of all 

infected trees and of all host trees 

within 500 meters, conducting 

delimiting and detection surveys over a 

period of several years to ensure that 

there are no additional infestations, and 

establishing appropriate safeguards to 

ensure that additional spread of plum 

pox virus does not occur while the 

eradication program is being completed. 

Following consultation with State 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES