Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 186 / Thursday, September 25, 1997 / Notices 50285

movement of items that harbor

potentially harmful plant diseases and

pests can be controlled and monitored.

Another means we employ to control

and monitor the movement of these

potentially harmful items is to require

shippers to mark each container,

waybill, manifest, or bill of lading with

certain information, such as the nature

and quantity of the contents, name and

address of the shipper/owner/forwarder,

name of consignee, shipper’s identifying

mark and number, and the serial

number of the certificate or limited

permit authorizing the movement.

These and other information gathering

tools are critical to our mission of

protecting the United States from plant

diseases and pests which, if allowed to

spread, could cause millions of dollars

in damage to U.S. agriculture.

We are asking the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) to

approve the continued use of these

information collection activities.

The purpose of this notice is to solicit

comments from the public (as well as

affected agencies) concerning our

information collection. We need this

outside input to help us:

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of the

functions of the Agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility;

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of our

estimate of the burden of the proposed

collection of information, including the

validity of the methodology and

assumptions used;

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and

(4) Minimize the burden of the

collection of information 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

.09838 hours per response.

Respondents: U.S. growers, shippers,

and exporters; State and county plant

health protection authorities.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

174,072.

Estimated Numbers of Responses per

Respondent: 5.775.

Estimated Annual Number of

Responses: 1,005,331.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on

Respondents: 98,910 hours. (Due to

rounding, the total annual burden hours

may not equal the product of the annual

number of responses multiplied by the

average 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 22nd day of

September 1997.

Terry L. Medley,

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 97–25485 Filed 9–24–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

[Docket No. 97–098–1]

In Vitro Testing of Veterinary

Biologics; Public Meeting

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: We are advising the public

that the Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service is hosting a public

meeting to discuss the implementation

of guidelines for the in vitro testing of

veterinary biologics.

PLACE, DATE, AND TIME OF MEETING: The

meeting will be held in the main

auditorium of the National Animal

Disease Center, 2300 Dayton Road,

Ames, IA. The meeting will be held

from 8 a.m. until noon on Thursday,

October 16, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dr. Jeanette Greenberg, Center for

Veterinary Biologics, Licensing and

Policy Development, VS, APHIS, 4700

River Road Unit 148, Riverdale, MD

20737–1231; telephone (301) 734–8400;

fax (301) 734–8910; or E-mail:

jgreenberg@aphis.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a final

rule published on April 18, 1997 (62 FR

19033–19039, Docket No. 94–051–3), we

amended our regulations in 9 CFR part

113 to provide for the use of in vitro

potency tests when conducting

immunoassays to determine the relative

antigen content (potency) of a serial of

inactivated veterinary biological

product once immunogenicity is

established using host animal tests. The

amended regulations provide that such

tests are to be conducted using

unexpired immunogenic reference

preparations and parallel line assay or

another method that is at least

equivalent to the parallel line assay in

terms of its linearity, specificity, and

reproducibility.

The purpose of the public meeting

announced in this notice is to present

and discuss draft guidelines pertaining

to the qualification and requalification

of reference preparations used in in

vitro immunoassays affected by the

change in the regulations.

The meeting on October 16, 1997, will

begin at 8 a.m. and end at noon;

however, the meeting may end earlier if

all persons desiring to speak have been

heard. No advance registration is

necessary to attend this meeting.

Done in Washington, DC, this 22nd day of

September 1997.

Terry L. Medley,

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 97–25484 Filed 9–24–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

[Docket No. 97–090–1]

User Fees; Agricultural Quarantine and

Inspection Services

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice pertains to user

fees charged for agricultural quarantine

and inspection services we provide in

connection with commercial vessels,

commercial trucks, commercial railroad

cars, commercial aircraft, and

international airline passengers arriving

at ports in the Customs territory of the

United States. The purpose of this

notice is to remind the public of the

user fees for fiscal year 1998 (October 1,

1997 through September 30, 1998).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

information concerning program

Operations, contact Mr. Jim Smith,

Operations Officer, Program Support,

PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 60,

Riverdale, MD 20737–1236, (301) 734–

8295.

For information concerning rate

development, contact Ms. Donna Ford,

User Fees Section Head, FSSB, BAD,

APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 54,

Riverdale, MD 20737–1232, (301) 734–

8351.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The regulations in 7 CFR 354.3

(referred to below as the ‘‘regulations’’)

contain provisions for the collection of

user fees for agricultural quarantine and

inspection (AQI) services provided by
50286 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 186 / Thursday, September 25, 1997 / Notices

1Those commercial vessels subject to inspections

are specified in 7 CFR, chapter III, part 330 or in

9 CFR, chapter I, subchapter D of the regulations.

Exemptions to these user fees are specified in

§ 354.3(b)(2).

2Those commercial trucks subject to inspections

are specified in 7 CFR, chapter III, part 330 or in

9 CFR, chapter I, subchapter D of the regulations.

Exemptions to these user fees are specified in

§ 354.3(c)(2).

3Section 354.3(c)(2)(i) of the regulations states

that commercial trucks entering the Customs

territory of the United States from Canada are

exempt from paying an APHIS user fee.

4Those commercial railroad cars subject to

inspections are specified in 7 CFR, chapter III, part

330 or in 9 CFR, chapter I, subchapter D of the

regulations. Exemptions to these user fees are

specified in § 354.3(d)(2).

5Those commercial aircraft subject to inspections

are specified in 7 CFR, chapter III, part 330 or in

9 CFR, chapter I, subchapter D of the regulations.

Exemptions to these user fees are specified in

§ 354.3(e)(2).

6Those international airline passengers subject to

inspections are specified in 7 CFR, chapter III, part

330 or in 9 CFR, chapter I, subchapter D of the

regulations. Exemptions to these user fees are

specified in § 354.3(f)(2).

the Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service (APHIS). These services

include, among other things, inspecting

commercial vessels, commercial trucks,

commercial railroad cars, commercial

aircraft, and international airline

passengers arriving at ports in the

Customs territory of the United States

from points outside the United States.

(The Customs territory of the United

States is defined in the regulations as

the 50 States, the District of Columbia,

and Puerto Rico.)

These user fees are authorized by

§ 2509(a) of the Food, Agriculture,

Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (21

U.S.C. 136a). This statute, known as the

Farm Bill, was amended by § 504 of the

Federal Agriculture Improvement and

Reform Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104–127) on

April 4, 1996.

On July 24, 1997, we published in the

Federal Register (62 FR 39747–39755,

Docket No. 96–038–3) a final rule to

amend the regulations by adjusting our

user fees for servicing commercial

vessels, commercial trucks, commercial

railroad cars, commercial aircraft, and

international airline passengers arriving

at ports in the Customs territory of the

United States from points outside the

United States and by setting user fees

for these services for fiscal years 1997

through 2002. When we established the

user fees for fiscal years 1997 through

2002, we stated that, prior to the

beginning of the fiscal year, we would

publish a notice to remind the public of

the user fees for that fiscal year. This

document provides notice to the public

of the user fees for fiscal year 1998.

We inspect commercial vessels of 100

net tons or more 1. As specified in

§ 354.3(b)(1), our user fee for inspecting

commercial vessels will be $454.50

during fiscal year 1998 (October 1, 1997

through September 30, 1998).

We inspect commercial trucks 2

entering the Customs territory of the

United States. Commercial trucks may

pay the APHIS user fee each time they

enter the Customs territory of the United

States from Mexico 3 or purchase a

prepaid APHIS permit for a calendar

year. Since commercial trucks are also

subject to Customs user fees, our

regulations provide that commercial

trucks must prepay the APHIS user fee

if they are prepaying the Customs user

fee. In that case, the required APHIS

user fee is 20 times the user fee for each

arrival, and is valid for an unlimited

number of entries during the calendar

year (see § 354.3(c)(3)(i) of the

regulations). The truck owner or

operator, upon payment of the APHIS

and the Customs user fees, receives a

decal to place on the truck windshield.

This is a joint decal, indicating that both

the Customs and APHIS user fees for the

truck have been paid for that calendar

year. As specified in § 354.3(c)(1), our

user fee for inspecting commercial

trucks will be $4.00 for individual

arrivals and, as specified in

§ 354.3(c)(2), $80.00 for a calendar year

1998 decal.

We inspect commercial railroad cars 4

entering the Customs territory of the

United States. These user fees may be

paid per inspection or prepaid. Prepaid

user fees cover one calendar year’s

worth of AQI inspections. As specified

in § 354.3(d)(1), the user fee for this

service will be $6.50 per loaded

commercial railroad car for each arrival

or, if user fees are prepaid, $130 (20

times the individual arrival fee) for each

loaded rail car during fiscal year 1998

(October 1, 1997 through September 30,

1998).

We inspect international commercial

aircraft 5 arriving at ports in the Customs

territory of the United States. As

specified in § 354.3(e)(1), the user fee

will be $59.75 during fiscal year 1998

(October 1, 1997 through September 30,

1998).

We also inspect international airline

passengers 6 arriving at ports in the

Customs territory of the United States.

As specified in § 354.3(f)(1), the

international airline passenger user fee

will be $2.00 during fiscal year 1998

(October 1, 1997 through September 30,

1998).

Done in Washington, DC, this 22nd day of

September 1997.

Terry L. Medley,

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 97–25483 Filed 9–24–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Farm Service Agency

Commodity Credit Corporation

Request for Extension and Revision of

a Currently Approved Information

Collection; Reinstatement and

Extension of a Currently Approved

Information Collection; and a

Proposed New Information Collection

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency and the

Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this

notice announces the intention of the

Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)

and Farm Service Agency (FSA) to

request an extension and revision of an

approved information collection to

support the Tobacco Marketing Quota

and Price Support program; a

reinstatement and extension of an

approved information collection to

support Importer Assessments on

imported tobacco; and an approval of a

new information collection for

conducting tobacco marketing quota

referenda. These information collections

are authorized by the following

regulations: 7 CFR part 723, Tobacco; 7

CFR part 1464, Tobacco; and 7 CFR part

717, Holding of Referenda. Such

regulations are issued under the

authority of the Agricultural Adjustment

Act of 1938, as amended, and the

Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received on or before November 24,

1997 to be assured of consideration.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS:

Michael D. Thompson, USDA, Farm

Service Agency, Tobacco and Peanuts

Division, STOP 0514, 1400

Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20250–0514, (202) 720–

4318; facsimile (202) 720–1288; or

Internet e-mail,

mdthomps@wdc.fsa.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Tobacco Marketing Quota and

Price Support Program, 7 CFR parts 711,

723 and 1464.

OMB Control Number: 0560–0058.

Expiration Date: September 30, 1997.