Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 6 / Tuesday, January 9, 2024 / Notices 1061 

maintaining livestock movement 

records, and collecting blood and tissue 

samples. These agreements and 

procedures include information 

collection activities such as Approved 

Livestock Facility Agreements, Requests 

for Appeal of Denial of Agreement, 

Withdrawal of Livestock Facility 

Agreements, Requests for Appeal of 

Withdrawal of Agreements, Listing 

Agreements for Slaughter or Rendering 

Establishments, Slaughter or Rendering 

Facility Inspection Reports, Requests for 

Appeal of Denial of Listings, Requests 

for Appeal of Withdrawal of Listing, 

Schedules of Sales Days, Diseased 

Animal Notifications, Quarantine Signs, 

and maintaining animal movement 

records. 

Need and Use of the Information: The 

collection of this information identifies 

and prevents the interstate movement of 

unhealthy livestock animals with 

diseases within the United States. The 

information collected is used to: (1) 

establish Livestock Facility Agreements 

and Listing Agreements between APHIS 

and owners and operators of 

slaughtering and rendering 

establishments and livestock marketing 

facilities, (2) rapidly confirm livestock 

disease occurrences through reporting 

and sampling, (3) trace the sources of 

diseases, as well as the movement of 

other potentially infected animals, and 

(4) provide epidemiological data for 

new or updated risk analyses in support 

of disease control programs, and, as 

required, opening international markets 

for animal products. Without the 

agreements and sampling/reporting 

procedures, the risk of contagious 

disease spread becomes very high with 

serious consequences for U.S. meat 

industries and export markets. 

Description of Respondents: Business 

or other-for profit; State, Local or Tribal 

Government. 

Number of Respondents: 1,914. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

On occasion. 

Total Burden Hours: 3,352. 

Levi S. Harrell, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00226 Filed 1–8–24; 8:45 am] 

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2023–0077] 

Reclassification of Nuevo Leo ́n, 

Mexico to Level V for Bovine 

Tuberculosis 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that we have reclassified the region of 

Nuevo Leo ́n, Mexico as Level V for 

bovine tuberculosis. Previously, the 

Nuevo Leo ́n region was classified as 

Level IV for bovine tuberculosis. We 

took this action based on an onsite 

review of the bovine tuberculosis 

control and eradication program in 

Nuevo Leo ́n. 

DATES: The revised classification was 

effective December 1, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Kari Coulson, Import Risk Analyst, 

Regionalization Evaluation Services, 

Strategy and Policy, VS, APHIS, USDA, 

920 Main Campus Drive, Raleigh, NC 

27606; (919) 480–9876; 

AskRegionalization@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

regulations in 9 CFR part 93, subpart D 

(§§ 93.400 through 93.442, referred to 

below as part 93 or the subpart), contain 

requirements for the importation of 

ruminants into the United States to 

address the risk of introducing or 

disseminating diseases of livestock 

within the United States. Part 93 

currently contains provisions that 

address the risk that imported bovines 

(cattle or bison) may introduce or 

disseminate bovine tuberculosis within 

the United States. Within part 93, 

§ 93.437 contains the requirements for 

classification of foreign regions for 

bovine tuberculosis and § 93.438 

contains the process for requesting 

regional classification for bovine 

tuberculosis. 

In accordance with § 93.437(f), the 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) maintains lists of all 

Level I, Level II, Level III, Level IV, and 

Level V regions for bovine tuberculosis 

and makes changes to the lists in 

accordance with § 93.438. In accordance 

with § 93.437(e), regions that do not 

have a program that meets APHIS 

requirements for bovine tuberculosis 

classification, have a prevalence of 

bovine tuberculosis in their domestic 

bovine herds equal to or greater than 0.5 

percent, or are unassessed by APHIS 

with regard to bovine tuberculosis are 

considered to be Level V. 

Paragraph (d) of § 93.438 provides 

that a region may be required to allow 

APHIS to conduct additional 

information collection activities in order 

for that region to maintain its 

classification for bovine tuberculosis. If 

APHIS determines that a region’s 

classification is no longer accurate, 

APHIS will publish a notice in the 

Federal Register announcing the revised 

classification and setting forth the 

reasons for the reclassification. 

In March 2023, APHIS conducted an 

onsite review of the bovine tuberculosis 

control and eradication program in 

Nuevo Leo ́n. At the time of this review, 

APHIS recognized the Nuevo Leo ́n 

region as Level IV status for bovine 

tuberculosis. The review determined 

that the region no longer has a program 

that meets APHIS minimum 

requirements for Level IV status due to 

deficiencies in the following areas: 

Veterinary control and oversight; 

epidemiological investigations; 

management of affected herds; 

regulatory controls on the movement of 

livestock; and surveillance. These 

findings support reclassifying Nuevo 

Leo ́n as Level V for bovine tuberculosis. 

With the publication of this notice, 

we are announcing the revised 

classification of the Nuevo Leo ́n region 

of Mexico to Level V for bovine 

tuberculosis, effective December 1, 

2023. This notice serves as an official 

record and public notification of this 

action. 

Pursuant to the Congressional Review 

Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs 

designated this action as not a major 

rule, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1622 and 8301– 

8317; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 

9701; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 4th day of 

January 2024. 

Donna Lalli, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00265 Filed 1–8–24; 8:45 am] 

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