This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

56730 

Vol. 76, No. 178 

Wednesday, September 14, 2011 

1A list of pest-free-areas currently recognized by 

APHIS can be found at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ 

import_export/plants/manuals/ports/downloads/ 

DesignatedPestFreeAreas.pdf. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2011–0088] 

Determination of Pest-Free Areas in 

Australia; Request for Comments 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that we have received a request from the 

Government of Australia to recognize 

additional areas as pest-free areas for 

Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis 

capitata) or Queensland fruit fly 

(Bactrocera tryoni). After reviewing the 

documentation submitted in support of 

this request, the Administrator of the 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service has determined that these areas 

meet the criteria in our regulations for 

recognition as pest-free areas. We are 

making that determination, as well as an 

evaluation document we have prepared 

in connection with this action, available 

for review and comment. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before November 

14, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0088- 

0001. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2011–0088, 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-2011-0088 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: Ms. 

Meredith C. Jones, Regulatory 

Coordination Specialist, Regulatory 

Coordination and Compliance, APHIS, 

4700 River Road Unit 156, Riverdale, 

MD 20737; (301) 734–7467. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

regulations in ‘‘Subpart—Fruits and 

Vegetables’’ (7 CFR 319.56–1 through 

319.56–51, referred to below as the 

regulations), the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

prohibits or restricts the importation of 

fruits and vegetables into the United 

States from certain parts of the world to 

prevent plant pests from being 

introduced into and spread within the 

United States. 

Section 319.56–4 of the regulations 

contains a performance-based process 

for approving the importation of 

commodities that, based on the findings 

of a pest risk analysis, can be safely 

imported subject to one or more of the 

designated phytosanitary measures 

listed in paragraph (b) of that section. 

One of the designated phytosanitary 

measures is that the fruits or vegetables 

are imported from a pest-free area 1 in 

the country of origin that meets the 

requirements of § 319.56–5 for freedom 

from that pest and are accompanied by 

a phytosanitary certificate stating that 

the fruits or vegetables originated in a 

pest-free area in the country of origin. 

Under the regulations in § 319.56–5, 

APHIS requires that determinations of 

pest-free areas be made in accordance 

with the criteria for establishing 

freedom from pests found in 

International Standards for 

Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) No. 4, 

‘‘Requirements For the Establishment of 

Pest Free Areas.’’ The international 

standard was established by the 

International Plant Protection 

Convention of the United Nations’ Food 

and Agriculture Organization and is 

incorporated by reference in our 

regulations in 7 CFR 300.5. In addition, 

APHIS must also approve the survey 

protocol used to determine and 

maintain pest-free status, as well as 

protocols for actions to be performed 

upon detection of a pest. Pest-free areas 

are subject to audit by APHIS to verify 

their status. 

APHIS has received a request from the 

Government of Australia to recognize 

new areas of that country as being free 

of Ceratitis capitata, the Mediterranean 

fruit fly (Medfly), and to recognize other 

areas of the country as being free of 

Bactrocera tryoni, the Queensland fruit 

fly. Specifically, the Government of 

Australia asked that we recognize the 

States of New South Wales, Northern 

Territory, Queensland, South Australia, 

Tasmania, and Victoria as free of Medfly 

and the State of Western Australia as 

free of Queensland fruit fly. 

Each proposed pest-free area is free of 

one of the fruit flies, but may have the 

other fruit fly, so fruit from these areas 

of Australia would still require a 

quarantine treatment. However the 

treatments required are different for 

each fly, are less stringent than the 

treatments for both flies, and therefore 

are less damaging to the commodity. 

In accordance with our regulations 

and the criteria set out in ISPM No. 4, 

we have reviewed and approved the 

survey protocols and other information 

provided by Australia relative to its 

system to establish freedom, 

phytosanitary measures to maintain 

freedom, and system for the verification 

of the maintenance of freedom. Because 

this action concerns the expansion of a 

currently recognized pest-free area in 

Australia from which fruits and 

vegetables are authorized for 

importation into the United States, our 

review of the information presented by 

Australia in support of its request is 

examined in a commodity import 

evaluation document (CIED) titled 

‘‘Recognition of Additional States as 

Medfly and Queensland fruit fly PestFree Areas (PFA) for Australia.’’ 

The CIED 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 

CIED by calling or writing to the person 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 178 / Wednesday, September 14, 2011 / Notices 56731 

1To view the notice, EA, risk assessments, the 

comments we received, and the FONSI, go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/

component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS–

2011–0089. 

Therefore, in accordance with 

§ 319.56–5(c), we are announcing the 

Administrator’s determination that the 

States of New South Wales, Northern 

Territory, Queensland, South Australia, 

Tasmania, and Victoria meet the criteria 

of § 319.56–5(a) and (b) with respect to 

freedom from Medfly and the State of 

Western Australia meets the criteria of 

§ 319.56–5(a) and (b) with respect to 

freedom from Queensland fruit fly. After 

reviewing the comments we receive on 

this notice, we will announce our 

decision regarding the status of these 

areas with respect to their freedom from 

Medfly and Queensland fruit fly. If the 

Administrator’s determination remains 

unchanged, we will amend the list of 

pest-free areas to list the States of New 

South Wales, Northern Territory, 

Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, 

and Victoria as free of Medfly and the 

State of Western Australia as free of 

Queensland fruit fly. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 7th day of 

September 2011. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–23431 Filed 9–13–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2011–0089] 

Oral Rabies Vaccine Trial; Availability 

of an Environmental Assessment and 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that an environmental assessment and 

finding of no significant impact have 

been prepared by the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service relative to an 

oral rabies vaccination field trial in 

West Virginia. Based on its finding of no 

significant impact, the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service has 

determined that an environmental 

impact statement need not be prepared. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Dennis Slate, Rabies Program 

Coordinator, Wildlife Services, APHIS, 

59 Chennell Drive, Suite 7, Concord, NH 

03301; (603) 223–9623. To obtain copies 

of the environmental assessment or 

finding of no significant impact, contact 

Ms. Beth Kabert, Environmental 

Coordinator, Wildlife Services, 140–C 

Locust Grove Road, Pittstown, NJ 08867; 

(908) 735–5654, fax (908) 735–0821, or 

e-mail beth.e.kabert@aphis.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Wildlife Services (WS) program 

in the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) cooperates 

with Federal agencies, State and local 

governments, and private individuals to 

research and implement the best 

methods of managing conflicts between 

wildlife and human health and safety, 

agriculture, property, and natural 

resources. Wildlife-borne diseases that 

can affect domestic animals and humans 

are among the types of conflicts that 

APHIS–WS addresses. Wildlife is the 

dominant reservoir of rabies in the 

United States. 

On August 8, 2011, we published in 

the Federal Register (76 FR 48119– 

48120, Docket No. APHIS–2011–0089) a 

notice 1 in which we announced the 

availability, for public review and 

comment, of an environmental 

assessment (EA) that examined the 

potential environmental impacts 

associated with the proposed field trial 

to test the safety and efficacy of an 

experimental oral rabies vaccine for 

wildlife in West Virginia. 

We solicited comments on the EA for 

30 days ending September 7, 2011. We 

received 13 comments by that date. 

They were from private citizens and 

representatives of public health, 

agriculture, and natural resources 

agencies in the United States and 

Canada. Nine of the commenters fully 

supported the proposed field trial. The 

remaining commenters presented 

specific questions or suggestions 

regarding the field trial or the 

experimental vaccine. All the 

comments, and APHIS’ responses to 

those comments, are presented in an 

appendix to the EA (see footnote 1). 

In this document, we are advising the 

public of our finding of no significant 

impact (FONSI) regarding the 

implementation of a field trial to test the 

safety and efficacy of the AdRG1.3 

wildlife rabies vaccine in Greenbrier, 

Summers, and Monroe Counties, WV, 

including portions of U.S. Forest 

Service National Forest System lands, 

but excluding Wilderness Areas. The 

finding, which is based on the EA, 

reflects our determination that the 

distribution of this experimental 

wildlife rabies vaccine will not have a 

significant impact on the quality of the 

human environment. 

The EA and FONSI may be viewed on 

the APHIS Web site at http://www.

aphis.usda.gov/regulations/ws/ws_

nepa_environmental_documents.shtml 

and on the Regulations.gov Web site 

(see footnote 1). Copies of the EA and 

FONSI are also available for public 

inspection 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 copies are requested 

to call ahead on (202) 690–2817 to 

facilitate entry into the reading room. In 

addition, copies may be obtained as 

described under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

The EA and FONSI have 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 1b), and (4) APHIS’ NEPA 

Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 

372). 

Done in Washington, DC, this 8th day of 

September 2011. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–23587 Filed 9–13–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Fremont and Winema Resource 

Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting/field tour. 

SUMMARY: The Fremont and Winema 

Resource Advisory Committee will meet 

in Bly, Oregon and travel to various 

project sites along the North Fork of the 

Sprague River, for the purpose of 

monitoring and viewing active and 

completed Title II watershed restoration 

projects. The committee operates in 

compliance with the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act, under the provisions of 

Title II of the Secure Rural Schools and 

Community Self-Determination Act 

(Pub. L. 110–343) of 2000 (reauthorized 

in 2008). 

DATES: The tour will be held on Oct 6, 

2011 9 a.m.–14 p.m. 

ADDRESS: The tour will commence from 

Bly, OR onto the Fremont-Winema 

Forest and along the North Fork of the 

Sprague River including a private ranch. 

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