Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 192 / Tuesday, October 4, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 61253 

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 77 

Animal diseases, Bison, Cattle, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Transportation, 

Tuberculosis. 

Accordingly, we are amending 9 CFR 

part 77 as follows: 

PART 77—TUBERCULOSIS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 77 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 8301–8317; 7 CFR 2.22, 

2.80, and 371.4. 

§ 77.7 [Amended] 

■ 2. Section 77.7 is amended as follows: 

■ a. In paragraph (a), by adding the 

words ‘‘New Mexico,’’ after the words 

‘‘New Jersey,’’. 

■ b. By removing and reserving 

paragraph (b)(2). 

§ 77.9 [Amended] 

■ 3. In § 77.9, paragraph (b)(3) is 

removed. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 30th day of 

September 2011. 

Gregory L. Parham, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–25687 Filed 10–3–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

9 CFR Part 77 

[Docket No. APHIS–2011–0100] 

Tuberculosis in Cattle and Bison; State 

and Zone Designations; Minnesota 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Interim rule and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: We are amending the bovine 

tuberculosis regulations regarding State 

and zone classifications by reclassifying 

a zone in Minnesota consisting of 

portions of Lake of the Woods, Roseau, 

Marshall, and Beltrami Counties. We 

have determined that the zone meets the 

criteria for accredited-free status. Since 

the remainder of the State is already 

classified as accredited free, the entire 

State of Minnesota is now classified as 

accredited free. This action relieves 

certain restrictions on the interstate 

movement of cattle and bison from the 

area of Minnesota that was previously 

classified as modified accredited 

advanced for tuberculosis. 

DATES: This interim rule is effective 

October 4, 2011. We will consider all 

comments that we receive on or before 

December 5, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0100- 

0001. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2011–0100, 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-2011-0100 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) 690–2817 

before coming. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Dr. C. William Hench, Senior Staff 

Veterinarian, Ruminant Health 

Programs, Veterinary Services, APHIS, 

2150 Centre Avenue, Building B–3E20, 

Fort Collins, CO 80526; (970) 494–7378. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Bovine tuberculosis is a contagious 

and infectious granulomatous disease 

caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium 

bovis. Although commonly defined as a 

chronic debilitating disease, bovine 

tuberculosis can occasionally assume an 

acute, rapidly progressive course. While 

any body tissue can be affected, lesions 

are most frequently observed in the 

lymph nodes, lungs, intestines, liver, 

spleen, pleura, and peritoneum. 

Although cattle are considered to be the 

true hosts of M. bovis, the disease has 

been reported in several other species of 

both domestic and nondomestic 

animals, as well as in humans. 

At the beginning of the past century, 

tuberculosis caused more losses of 

livestock than all other livestock 

diseases combined. This prompted the 

establishment in the United States of the 

National Cooperative State/Federal 

Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication 

Program for tuberculosis in livestock. 

In carrying out the national 

eradication program, the Animal and 

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

issues and enforces regulations. The 

regulations require the testing of cattle 

and bison for tuberculosis, define the 

Federal tuberculosis status levels for 

States or zones (accredited-free, 

modified accredited advanced, modified 

accredited, accreditation preparatory, 

and nonaccredited), provide the criteria 

for attaining and maintaining those 

status levels, and contain testing and 

movement requirements for cattle and 

bison leaving States or zones of a 

particular status level. These regulations 

are contained in 9 CFR part 77 and in 

the Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication 

Uniform Methods and Rules, 1999 

(UMR), which is incorporated by 

reference into the regulations. 

The status of a State or zone is based 

on its prevalence of tuberculosis in 

cattle and bison, the effectiveness of the 

State’s tuberculosis eradication 

program, and the degree of the State’s 

compliance with standards for cattle 

and bison contained in the UMR. The 

regulations provide that a State may 

request partitioning into specific 

geographic regions or zones with 

different status designations (commonly 

referred to as split-State status) if bovine 

tuberculosis is detected in a portion of 

a State and the State demonstrates that 

it meets certain criteria with regard to 

zone classification. 

Request for Advancement of Modified 

Accredited Advanced Zone 

In an interim rule effective and 

published in the Federal Register on 

October 10, 2008 (73 FR 60099–60102, 

Docket No. APHIS–2008–0117), we 

amended the tuberculosis regulations 

for cattle and bison by dividing 

Minnesota into two zones for 

tuberculosis. We classified the zone in 

the northwest corner of the State 

consisting of portions of Lake of the 

Woods, Roseau, Marshall, and Beltrami 

Counties as modified accredited, and 

the remainder of the State as modified 

accredited advanced. 

Subsequently, in an interim rule 

effective and published in the Federal 

Register on October 1, 2010 (75 FR 

60586–60588, Docket No. APHIS–2010– 

0097), we reclassified the modified 

accredited zone as modified accredited 

advanced, and the remainder of the 

State as accredited free. 

We have received from the State of 

Minnesota a request to reclassify the 

modified accredited advanced zone as 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with RULES
61254 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 192 / Tuesday, October 4, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 

accredited free. Based on the findings of 

a review of the tuberculosis eradication 

program in Minnesota conducted during 

June and July 2011, APHIS has 

determined that the zone meets the 

criteria for advancement of status 

contained in the regulations. 

State animal health officials in 

Minnesota have demonstrated that the 

State enforces and complies with the 

provisions of the UMR. The State of 

Minnesota has demonstrated that the 

modified accredited advanced zone has 

zero percent prevalence of cattle and 

bison herds affected with tuberculosis 

and has had no findings of tuberculosis 

in any cattle or bison in the zone since 

the last affected herd in the zone was 

depopulated in January 2009. Therefore, 

Minnesota has demonstrated that the 

zone within the State previously 

classified as modified accredited 

advanced meets the criteria for 

accredited-free status as set forth in the 

definition of accredited-free State or 

zone in § 77.5 of the regulations. 

Based on our evaluation of 

Minnesota’s request, we are classifying 

the zone consisting of portions of Lake 

of the Woods, Roseau, Marshall, and 

Beltrami Counties as accredited free, 

which results in the entire State of 

Minnesota having an accredited-free 

classification. 

Immediate Action 

Immediate action is warranted to 

relieve restrictions on the interstate 

movement of cattle and bison from 

portions of Lake of the Woods, Roseau, 

Marshall, and Beltrami Counties in 

Minnesota. Under these circumstances, 

the Administrator has determined that 

prior notice and opportunity for public 

comment are contrary to the public 

interest and that there is good cause 

under 5 U.S.C. 553 for making this 

action effective less than 30 days after 

publication in the Federal Register. 

We will consider comments we 

receive during the comment period for 

this interim rule (see DATES above). 

After the comment period closes, we 

will publish another document in the 

Federal Register. The document will 

include a discussion of any comments 

we receive and any amendments we are 

making to the rule. 

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

This interim rule is subject to 

Executive Order 12866. However, for 

this action, the Office of Management 

and Budget has waived its review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

In accordance with the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, we have analyzed the 

potential economic effects of this action 

on small entities. The analysis is 

summarized below. The full analysis 

may be viewed on the Regulations.gov 

Web site (see ADDRESSES above for 

instructions for accessing 

Regulations.gov) or obtained from the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

Advancing the status of the former 

modified accredited advanced zone in 

Minnesota will reduce the interstate 

movement restrictions for cattle and 

bison originating from portions of Lake 

of the Woods, Roseau, Marshall, and 

Beltrami Counties. Herd owners in the 

area will no longer have to test their 

cattle and bison for bovine tuberculosis 

in order to move them interstate. 

Tuberculosis testing, including 

veterinary fees, costs about $10 to $15 

per head. The annual cost savings 

associated with the removal of those 

tests for the 254 herds in the affected 

area is expected to be between $110,280 

and $165,420, or from $434 to $651 per 

herd on average. In addition, 

tuberculosis testing costs represent no 

more than about 1.7 percent of the 

average value of the cattle tested, which 

was $870 per head on January 1, 2010. 

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 12372 

This program/activity is listed in the 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

under No. 10.025 and is subject to 

Executive Order 12372, which requires 

intergovernmental consultation with 

State and local officials. (See 7 CFR part 

3015, subpart V.) 

Executive Order 12988 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform. This rule has no retroactive 

effect and 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 77 

Animal diseases, Bison, Cattle, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Transportation, 

Tuberculosis. 

Accordingly, we are amending 9 CFR 

part 77 as follows: 

PART 77—TUBERCULOSIS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 77 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 8301–8317; 7 CFR 

2.22, 2.80, and 371.4. 

§ 77.7 [Amended] 

■ 2. Section 77.7 is amended as follows: 

■ a. In paragraph (a), by adding the 

word ‘‘Minnesota,’’ after the word 

‘‘Massachusetts,’’. 

■ b. By removing paragraph (b)(3). 

§ 77.9 [Amended] 

■ 3. In § 77.9, paragraph (b)(2) is 

removed and reserved. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 30th day of 

September 2011. 

Gregory L. Parham, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–25688 Filed 10–3–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

11 CFR Parts 104 and 109 

[Notice 2011–13] 

Interpretive Rule on When Certain 

Independent Expenditures Are 

‘‘Publicly Disseminated’’ for Reporting 

Purposes 

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of interpretive rule. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Election 

Commission is issuing guidance on 

when independent expenditure 

communications that take the form of 

yard signs, mini-billboards, handbills, 

t-shirts, hats, buttons, and similar items 

are ‘‘publicly disseminated’’ for 

purposes of certain reporting 

requirements in Commission 

regulations. 

DATES: Effective October 4, 2011. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Amy Rothstein, Assistant General 

Counsel, Ms. Cheryl A.F. Hemsley or 

Mr. Theodore M. Lutz, Attorneys, 999 E 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20463, 

(202) 694–1650 or (800) 424–9530. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An 

independent expenditure is ‘‘an 

expenditure by a person for a 

communication expressly advocating 

the election or defeat of a clearly 

identified candidate that is not made in 

cooperation, consultation, or concert 

with, or at the request or suggestion of, 

a candidate, a candidate’s authorized 

committee, or their agents, or a political 

party committee or its agents.’’ 11 CFR 


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