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

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

8867

Vol. 62, No. 39

Thursday, February 27, 1997

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

9 CFR Part 94

[Docket No. 97–007–1]

Change in Disease Status of the

Netherlands Because of Hog Cholera

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim rule and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: We are amending the

regulations by removing The

Netherlands from the list of countries

free from hog cholera. We are taking this

action based on reports we have

received from The Netherlands that an

outbreak of hog cholera has occurred in

The Netherlands. As a result of this

action, there will be additional

restrictions on the importation of pork

and pork products into the United

States from The Netherlands, and the

importation of swine from The

Netherlands will be prohibited.

DATES: Interim rule effective February

21, 1997. Consideration will be given

only to comments received on or before

April 28, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and

three copies of your comments to

Docket No. 97–007–1, Regulatory

Analysis and Development, PPD,

APHIS, Suite 3C03, 4700 River Road

Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–1238.

Please state that your comments refer to

Docket No. 97–007–1. Comments

received may be inspected at USDA,

room 1141, South Building, 14th Street

and Independence Avenue SW.,

Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,

except holidays. Persons wishing to

inspect comments are requested to call

ahead on (202) 690–2817 to facilitate

entry into the comment reading room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

John Cougill, Staff Veterinarian, Animal

Products Program, National Center for

Import and Export, VS, APHIS, Suite

3B05, 4700 River Road Unit 39,

Riverdale, MD 20737–1231, (301) 734–

3399; or e-mail:

jcougill@aphis.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The regulations in 9 CFR part 94

(referred to below as the regulations)

govern the importation into the United

States of specified animals and animal

products in order to prevent the

introduction of various animal diseases,

including rinderpest, foot-and-mouth

disease, African swine fever, hog

cholera, and swine vesicular disease.

These are dangerous and destructive

communicable diseases of ruminants

and swine. Section 94.9 of the

regulations restricts the importation into

the United States of pork and pork

products from countries where hog

cholera is known to exist. Section 94.10

of the regulations, with certain

exceptions, prohibits the importation of

swine which originate in or are shipped

from or transit any country in which

hog cholera is known to exist. Sections

94.9(a) and 94.10(a) of the regulations

provide that hog cholera exists in all

countries of the world except for certain

countries listed in those sections.

Prior to the effective date of this

interim rule, The Netherlands was

included in the lists in §§ 94.9(a) and

94.10(a). The Netherlands has reported

that an outbreak of hog cholera has

occurred in that country. After

reviewing the reports submitted by The

Netherlands, APHIS has determined to

remove The Netherlands from the list of

countries free of hog cholera.

Therefore, we are amending §§ 94.9(a)

and 94.10(a) by removing The

Netherlands from the list of countries

declared to be free of hog cholera. As a

result of this action, the importation of

swine from The Netherlands is

prohibited, and pork and pork products

from The Netherlands will not be

eligible for entry into the United States

unless the pork or pork products are

cooked or cured and dried in

accordance with the regulations.

Emergency Action

The Administrator of the Animal and

Plant Health Inspection Service has

determined that an emergency exists

that warrants publication of this interim

rule without prior opportunity for

public comment. Immediate action is

necessary to prevent the introduction of

hog cholera into the United States.

Because prior notice and other public

procedures with respect to this action

are impracticable and contrary to the

public interest under these conditions,

we find good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553

to make it effective upon signature. We

will consider comments that are

received within 60 days of publication

of this rule in the Federal Register.

After the comment period closes, we

will publish another document in the

Federal Register. It will include a

discussion of any comments we receive

and any amendments we are making to

the rule as a result of the comments.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory

Flexibility Act

This rule has been reviewed under

Executive Order 12866. For this action,

the Office of Management and Budget

has waived its review process required

by Executive Order 12866.

The United States has been notified

that an outbreak of hog cholera has

occurred in The Netherlands. Hog

cholera is a contagious viral disease of

swine. The impact of an outbreak for

U.S. swine producers would be

economically damaging, as described in

a recent APHIS study (‘‘Costs of a

Potential Hog Cholera Outbreak,’’ C.

Matthew Rendleman, May 9, 1994). In

that study, a range of scenarios was set

forth, from infection of herds in a single

State to a nationwide outbreak. Potential

costs to producers, consumers, and

taxpayers were estimated to range from

$34 million to $5.4 billion in 1992

dollars.

The Netherlands has only been

recognized free of hog cholera since

August 1996 (61 FR 40292–40293,

Docket No. 96–014–2, which was

published on August 2, 1996 and

effective on August 19, 1996).

Consequently, any effects of that rule

change on pork imports from The

Netherlands would have had little time

to develop. Moreover, even with hog

cholera free status, inspection and

certification procedures were required

to ensure that pork imports originating

in The Netherlands were not

commingled with pork from

neighboring countries having swine

vesicular disease.
8868 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 39 / Thursday, February 27, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

In 1995, the year before The

Netherlands was declared free of hog

cholera, U.S. pork imports from The

Netherlands were valued at $14.5

million (less than 2 percent of the total

value of all U.S. pork imports that year).

No live swine or fresh pork were

imported from The Netherlands in 1995.

Removing The Netherlands from the

list of countries free of hog cholera is

not expected to significantly affect U.S.

entities, large or small. The value of

pork products imported by the United

States from The Netherlands is expected

to be much the same as it was before

The Netherlands acquired hog cholera

free status 6 months ago.

Under these circumstances, the

Administrator of the Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service has

determined that this action will not

have a significant economic impact on

a substantial number of small entities.

Executive Order 12988

This rule has been reviewed under

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice

Reform. This rule: (1) Preempts all State

and local laws and regulations that are

inconsistent with this rule; (2) has no

retroactive effect; and (3) does not

require administrative proceedings

before parties may file suit in court

challenging this rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule contains no new

information collection or recordkeeping

requirements under the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501

et seq.).

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 94

Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock,

Meat and meat products, Milk, Poultry

and poultry products, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Accordingly, 9 CFR part 94 is

amended as follows:

PART 94—RINDERPEST, FOOT-ANDMOUTH DISEASE, FOWL PEST (FOWL

PLAGUE), EXOTIC NEWCASTLE

DISEASE, AFRICAN SWINE FEVER,

HOG CHOLERA, AND BOVINE

SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY:

PROHIBITED AND RESTRICTED

IMPORTATIONS

1. The authority citation for part 94

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 147a, 150ee, 161, 162,

and 450; 19 U.S.C. 1306; 21 U.S.C. 111, 114a,

134a, 134b, 134c, 134f, 136, and 136a; 31

U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 4331 and 4332; 7 CFR

2.22, 2.80, and 371.2(d).

§ 94.9 [Amended]

2. In § 94.9, paragraph (a) is amended

by removing the phrase ‘‘The

Netherlands,’’.

§ 94.10 [Amended]

3. In § 94.10, paragraph (a) is

amended by removing the phrase ‘‘The

Netherlands,’’.

Done in Washington, DC, this 21st day of

February 1997.

Terry L. Medley,

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 97–4932 Filed 2–26–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE BOARD

12 CFR Part 935

[No. 97–12]

Restrictions on Advances to NonQualified Thrift Lenders

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance

Board.

ACTION: Interim rule with request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Board of Directors of the

Federal Housing Finance Board

(Finance Board) is amending its

regulations on advances to members

that are not qualified thrift lenders to

implement certain changes made by the

Economic Growth and Regulatory

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996

(EGRPRA). Among other things, the

EGRPRA broadened the universe of

assets that a savings association may use

in meeting its qualified thrift lender

(QTL) requirement. Non-savings

association members are not directly

subject to the QTL requirement,

although their ability to obtain advances

is restricted if they do not meet the QTL

requirement. The amendments should

prove beneficial to many non-savings

association members by allowing them

to report increases in their levels of

qualified thrift investments and, in

some cases, satisfy the QTL

requirement. Because certain of the

items authorized by EGRPRA to be

included in the QTL calculation are not

separately identified on a non-savings

association member’s published

financial reports, such as a call report,

the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks)

have no readily available source from

which to obtain or verify that

information. To allow the Banks to

include the newly authorized items

when conducting their annual QTL

calculation of their non-savings

association members, the Finance Board

has determined that the Banks may rely

on a certification from their members of

any relevant QTL financial information

that is not available from published

financial reports. Because the Banks

must complete the annual QTL

calculations for calendar year 1996 no

later than April 15, 1997, the Finance

Board is issuing this rule as an interim

final rule. As the certification process

raises a number of questions about how

best the Banks can determine the QTL

status of their non-savings association

members, and because the Office of

Thrift Supervision (OTS) is in the

process of a rulemaking relating to the

EGRPRA amendments, the Finance

Board has determined to solicit

comments on the interim final rule for

a period of 30 days.

DATES: The interim rule is effective on

February 27, 1997. Comments must be

received by March 31, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Mail comments to Elaine L.

Baker, Executive Secretary, Federal

Housing Finance Board, 1777 F Street,

NW., Washington, DC 20006. Comments

will be available for public inspection at

this address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Steven P. Wojtaszek, Financial Analyst,

Financial Research Division, Office of

Policy, (202) 408–2863, or Neil R.

Crowley, Senior Attorney, Office of

General Counsel, (202) 408–2990,

Federal Housing Finance Board, 1777 F

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20006.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Historically, membership in the

Federal Home Loan Bank System

(System) had been comprised

predominantly of savings associations,

which tended to concentrate their

investments in residential mortgage

loans. In 1987, Congress established the

QTL test, which required savings

associations to maintain 60 percent of

their assets in instruments related to

domestic residential real estate or

manufactured housing. Competitive

Equality Banking Act of 1987, Public

Law 100–86, section 104(c), 101 Stat.

571–573 (August 10, 1987). Among

other things, a savings association that

failed the QTL test was limited in the

amount of advances that it could receive

from its Bank. Id. section 105. In 1989,

Congress authorized commercial banks

and credit unions, institutions that

historically had not been so

concentrated in residential mortgage

lending, to become members of the

System. Financial Institutions Reform,

Recovery , and Enforcement Act of 1989

(FIRREA), Public Law 101–73, section

704(a), 103 Stat. 415 (August 9, 1989),