This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

11946 

Vol. 80, No. 43 

Thursday, March 5, 2015 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Part 319 

[Docket No. APHIS–2014–0099] 

RIN 0579–AE06 

Importation of Tomato Plantlets in 

Approved Growing Media From Mexico 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend 

the regulations governing the 

importation of plants for planting to 

authorize the importation of tomato 

plantlets from Mexico in approved 

growing media, subject to a systems 

approach. The systems approach would 

consist of measures currently specified 

for tomato plants for planting not 

imported in growing media, as well as 

measures specific to all plants for 

planting imported into the United States 

in approved growing media. 

Additionally, the plantlets would have 

to be imported into greenhouses in the 

continental United States and the 

importers of the plantlets from Mexico 

or the owners of the greenhouses in the 

continental United States would have to 

enter into compliance agreements 

regarding the conditions under which 

the plants from Mexico must enter and 

be maintained within the greenhouses. 

This proposed rule would allow for the 

importation into the continental United 

States of tomato plantlets from Mexico 

in approved growing media, while 

providing protection against the 

introduction of plant pests. The 

proposed rule would also allow the 

imported greenhouse plantlets to 

produce tomato fruit for commercial 

sale within the United States. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before May 4, 

2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/#!docket

Detail;D=APHIS-2014-0099. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2014–0099, 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-2014-0099 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) 799–7039 before 

coming. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Lydia E. Colo ́n, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road, Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737– 

1236; (301) 851–2302. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Current Restrictions 

The regulations in 7 CFR part 319 

prohibit or restrict the importation of 

certain plants and plant products into 

the United States to prevent the 

introduction of quarantine plant pests. 

The regulations contained in ‘‘Subpart— 

Plants for Planting,’’ §§ 319.37 through 

319.37–14 (referred to below as the 

regulations), prohibit or restrict, among 

other things, the importation of living 

plants, plant parts, and seeds for 

propagation or planting. 

The regulations differentiate between 

prohibited articles and restricted 

articles. Prohibited articles are plants for 

planting whose importation into the 

United States is not authorized due to 

the risk the articles present of 

introducing or disseminating plant 

pests. Restricted articles are articles 

authorized for importation into the 

United States, provided that the articles 

are subject to measures to address such 

risk. 

Section 319.37–5 of the regulations 

lists restricted articles that may be 

imported into the United States only if 

they are accompanied by a 

phytosanitary certificate that contains 

an additional declaration either that the 

restricted articles are free of specified 

quarantine pests or that the restricted 

articles have been produced in 

accordance with certain mitigation 

requirements. Within the section, 

paragraph (r) contains requirements for 

the importation of restricted articles 

(except seeds) of Pelargonium or 

Solanum spp. into the United States. 

Solanum spp. restricted articles include 

tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) 

plantlets, in addition to other species 

and cultivars within the genus. 

Paragraph (r)(1) of § 319.37–5 

authorizes the importation into the 

United States of Pelargonium or 

Solanum spp. restricted articles from 

Canada under the provisions of a 

greenhouse-grown restricted plant 

program. Paragraph (r)(3) contains 

conditions for the importation into the 

United States of Pelargonium or 

Solanum spp. restricted articles that do 

not meet the conditions in paragraph 

(r)(1), and are from a country in which 

R. solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 is 

known to occur. 

Paragraph (r)(3) specifies that the 

articles must be produced in accordance 

with a systems approach consisting of 

the following requirements: 

• The national plant protection 

organization (NPPO) of the country in 

which the articles are produced must 

enter into a bilateral workplan with the 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) that specifies, among 

other things, the manner in which the 

NPPO will monitor and enforce the 

requirements of the systems approach. 

• The production site where the 

articles intended for export are 

produced must be registered with and 

certified by both APHIS and the NPPO. 

• The production site must conduct 

ongoing testing for R. solanacearum 

race 3 biovar 2 according to a testing 

procedure approved by APHIS, must 

only offer for export articles that have 

had negative test results for the disease, 

and must maintain records of the testing 

for at least 2 growing seasons. 

• Each greenhouse on the production 

site must be constructed in a manner 

that ensures that runoff water from areas 

surrounding the production site cannot 

enter the production site, and must be 

surrounded by a 1-meter sloped buffer. 

• Dicotylendonous weeds must be 

controlled within each greenhouse on 

the production site and around it. 

• All equipment that comes in 

contact with articles of Pelargonium or 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 43 / Thursday, March 5, 2015 / Proposed Rules 11947 

1Notwithstanding the provisions in § 319.37– 

5(r)(3), a notice published in the Federal Register 

on April 18, 2013 (78 FR 23209–23219, Docket No. 

APHIS–2011–0072) added Solanum spp. plants for 

planting from all countries other than Canada to a 

list of taxa of plants for planting that are not 

authorized importation into the United States 

unless a pest risk analysis is prepared that identifies 

measures that will mitigate the plant pest risk 

associated with such importation. Solanum spp. 

plants for planting from countries other than 

Canada were added to this list in order to prevent 

the plants for planting from disseminating tomato 

torrado virus and tomato severe leaf curl virus 

within the United States. Accordingly, the pest risk 

assessment and risk management document 

prepared for this proposal examined the risk that 

plantlets from Mexico grown under the conditions 

specified by the NPPO could become infected with 

these viruses, and determined the risk to be 

negligible based on those growing conditions. 

Solanum spp. at the production site 

must be adequately sanitized so that the 

equipment cannot transmit R. 

solanacearum race 3 biovar 2. 

• Personnel must adequately sanitize 

their clothing and shoes and wash their 

hands before entering the production 

site. 

• Growing media for articles of 

Pelargonium or Solanum spp. at the 

production site must be free of R. 

solanacearum race 3 biovar 2, and 

growing media and containers used for 

the articles must not come in contact in 

contact with growing media that could 

transmit R. solanacearum race 3 biovar 

2. 

• Water used in maintenance of the 

production site must be free of R. 

solanacearum race 3 biovar 2. 

• Growing media used at the 

production site must not come in direct 

contact with a water source, and, if a 

drip irrigation system is used, backflow 

devices must be installed to prevent 

spread of R. solanacearum race 3 biovar 

2 through the irrigation system. 

• Production site personnel must be 

educated regarding the various 

pathways through which R. 

solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 could 

enter the production site, and must be 

trained to recognize symptoms of the 

disease. 

• Pelargonium or Solanum spp. 

restricted articles produced for export to 

the United States must be handled and 

packed in a manner which precludes 

introduction of R. solanacearum race 3 

biovar 2 to the articles and must be 

labeled with information indicating the 

production site from which the articles 

originated. 

• If R. solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 

is discovered in the production site or 

in consignments from the production 

site, the production site is ineligible to 

export articles of Pelargonium or 

Solanum spp. to the United States, and 

may only be reinstated if all problems 

at the production site have been 

addressed and corrected to the 

satisfaction of APHIS. 

• A phytosanitary certificate must 

accompany the articles, and must 

contain an additional declaration that 

the articles were produced in 

accordance with the regulations. 

• The government of the country in 

which the articles are produced must 

enter into a trust fund agreement with 

APHIS before each growing season, and 

must pay in advance for all costs 

incurred by APHIS in overseeing 

execution of the systems approach. 

Section 319.37–5 authorizes the 

importation of certain restricted articles 

into the United States. However, it does 

not authorize the importation of 

restricted articles in growing media. 

Conditions for the importation into the 

United States of restricted articles in 

growing media are specifically found in 

§ 319.37–8. Within that section, the 

introductory text of paragraph (e) lists 

taxa of restricted articles that may be 

imported into the United States in 

approved growing media, subject to the 

mandatory provisions of a systems 

approach. In § 319.37–8, paragraph 

(e)(1) lists the approved growing media, 

and paragraph (e)(2) contains the 

provisions of the systems approach. 

Within paragraph (e)(2), paragraphs (i) 

through (viii) contain provisions that are 

generally applicable to all the taxa listed 

in the introductory text of paragraph (e), 

and paragraphs (ix) through (xi) contain 

additional taxon-specific conditions. 

Mexico is a country in which R. 

solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 is known 

to exist. Accordingly, the importation of 

Pelargonium and Solanum spp. 

restricted articles from Mexico into the 

United States is subject to the 

conditions in paragraph (r)(3) of 

§ 319.37–5.1 Additionally, under 

§ 319.37–8, neither Pelargonium nor 

Solanum spp. restricted articles from 

Mexico are currently authorized for 

importation in growing media. 

Request From the National Plant 

Protection Organization of Mexico 

APHIS received a request from the 

NPPO of Mexico to authorize the 

importation of tomato (Solanum 

lycopersicum) plantlets in growing 

media into the continental United States 

for propagation in greenhouses within 

the continental United States. The 

request came at the behest of potential 

importers of the greenhouse plantlets, 

who wish to use such greenhouse 

plantlets to produce tomato fruit for 

commercial sale within the United 

States. 

In its request, the NPPO of Mexico 

specified that the plantlets would be 

produced from certified seed, would be 

produced in greenhouses constructed 

and maintained to be pest-exclusionary, 

would be shipped in growing media 

maintained under similar conditions, 

and would be safeguarded during 

movement to the continental United 

States to prevent plant pests from being 

introduced to the plantlets. Finally, the 

request pertained only to tomato 

plantlets that would be imported into 

greenhouses in the continental United 

States and maintained within these 

greenhouses to aid in the commercial 

production of tomatoes within the 

United States. The NPPO did not 

request that we allow the imported 

plantlets to be commercially sold in the 

United States. Accordingly, as we 

discuss later in this document, we 

would prohibit the selling of the 

imported tomato plantlets grown in 

greenhouses in the United States. 

However, the NPPO did ask that we 

authorize the fruit from the plantlets 

grown in greenhouses in the United 

States to be sold commercially within 

the United States. 

In evaluating Mexico’s request, we 

prepared a pest risk assessment (PRA) 

and a risk management document 

(RMD). Copies of the PRA and the RMD 

may be obtained from the person listed 

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT or viewed on the 

Regulations.gov Web site (see 

ADDRESSES above for instructions for 

accessing Regulations.gov). 

The PRA, titled ‘‘Importation of Live 

Greenhouse-Grown Tomato Plantlets on 

Approved Growing Media from Mexico 

into the Continental United States; A 

Qualitative, Pathway-Initiated Pest Risk 

Assessment’’ (USDA 2014), analyzed the 

potential pest risk associated with the 

importation of tomato plantlets in 

approved growing media into the 

continental United States from Mexico. 

The PRA finds that, if the plantlets are 

produced in accordance with the 

conditions specified by the NPPO, there 

is a negligible risk of quarantine pests 

being introduced into the continental 

United States through their importation 

in approved growing media. 

Accordingly, the RMD recommends 

that APHIS require the plantlets to be 

produced in accordance with the 

conditions in paragraph (r)(3) of 

§ 319.37–5 and (e)(2)(i) through 

(e)(2)(viii) of § 319.37–8, which jointly 

would cover the growing conditions 

specified by the NPPO in their request. 

Since the PRA assumed that the 

greenhouse plantlets would not be 

commercially distributed, however, the 

RMD also recommends that the owner 

or owners of the greenhouses into which 

the plantlets would be imported enter 

into a compliance agreement with 

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11948 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 43 / Thursday, March 5, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

APHIS that will prohibit the plantlets 

from leaving the greenhouses for 

commercial sale. The compliance 

agreement would specify the conditions 

under which the imported plantlets 

could enter the greenhouses in the 

continental United States, and would 

specify the conditions under which they 

must be maintained within those 

greenhouses. The compliance agreement 

would also prohibit the imported 

plantlets from being shipped or 

otherwise removed from the 

greenhouses following importation, 

except for the authorized removal of 

dead plantlets. The RMD notes that 

these conditions, jointly, will also help 

ensure that the imported greenhouse 

plantlets will produce tomato fruit that 

presents a negligible risk of 

disseminating plants pests and that the 

movement of tomato fruit derived from 

the greenhouse plantlets for commercial 

distribution will not result in the 

dissemination of plant pests. 

Proposed Rule 

Based on the findings of the PRA and 

the recommendations of the RMD, we 

are proposing to amend the regulations 

to authorize the importation of tomato 

plantlets in approved growing media 

from Mexico into the continental United 

States. Specifically, we are proposing to 

amend the introductory text of 

paragraph (e) of § 319.37–8 to add 

Solanum lycopersicum from Mexico as 

a restricted article that may be imported 

into the continental United States in 

approved growing media. 

We are also proposing to add a new 

paragraph (e)(2)(xii) to § 319.37–8. This 

paragraph would authorize the 

importation of tomato plantlets in 

approved growing media from Mexico 

into the continental United States, if the 

plantlets meet all of the requirements in 

paragraphs (r)(3) of § 319.37–5 and 

paragraphs (e)(2)(i) through (e)(2)(viii) of 

§ 319.37–8; and if the plantlets from 

Mexico are imported directly into a 

greenhouse in the continental United 

States, the owner or owners of which 

must have entered into a compliance 

agreement with APHIS. The required 

compliance agreement would specify 

the conditions under which the 

plantlets must enter and be maintained 

within the greenhouse and would 

prohibit the plantlets from being moved 

from the greenhouse following 

importation, other than for the 

appropriate disposal of dead plantlets. 

We are also proposing that if all of the 

above requirements are correctly 

complied with, tomato fruit produced 

from the imported greenhouse plantlets 

may be shipped from the greenhouses 

for commercial sale within the United 

States. This proposed rule, through the 

conditions in paragraphs (r)(3) of 

§ 319.37–5, paragraphs (e)(2)(i) through 

(e)(2)(viii) of § 319.37–8, and proposed 

(e)(2)(xii) of § 319.37–8, would thereby 

include the conditions specified by the 

NPPO of Mexico for the production of 

the plantlets in Mexico and allow for 

the importation of the plantlets in 

accordance with Mexico’s request. 

Finally, to clarify the intent and force 

of the compliance agreement, we are 

also proposing to add a definition of 

compliance agreement to the 

regulations. We would define 

compliance agreement to mean a 

written agreement between APHIS and 

a person (individual or corporate) 

engaged in the production, processing, 

handling, or moving of restricted 

articles imported pursuant to the 

regulations, in which the person agrees 

to comply with the regulations and the 

terms and conditions specified within 

the agreement itself. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 and 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for the 

purposes of Executive Order 12866 and, 

therefore, has not been reviewed by the 

Office of Management and Budget. 

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 603, we 

have performed an initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis, which is 

summarized below, regarding the 

economic effects of this proposed rule 

on small entities. Copies of the full 

analysis are available by contacting the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT or on the 

Regulations.gov Web site (see 

ADDRESSES above for instructions for 

accessing Regulations.gov). 

Based on the information currently 

available to us, we have no reason to 

conclude that adoption of this proposed 

rule would result in any significant 

economic effect on a substantial number 

of small entities. However, we do not 

currently have all of the data necessary 

for a comprehensive analysis of the 

effects of this proposed rule on small 

entities. Therefore, we are inviting 

comments on potential effects. In 

particular, we are interested in 

determining the number and kind of 

small entities that may incur benefits or 

costs from the implementation of this 

proposed rule. 

The proposed rule would allow the 

importation of tomato plantlets in 

approved growing media from Mexico 

into the continental United States. 

Currently, only tomato plantlets in 

growing media from Canada can be 

imported into the United States. The 

tomato plantlets from Mexico would be 

allowed to be imported only to APHISapproved greenhouse facilities under 

compliance agreement, and would be 

used only for fruit production, not for 

the selling of the imported plantlets 

themselves. 

Data are not available on the 

production or trade for tomato plantlets. 

However, U.S. greenhouse (protectedculture) tomato production and import 

levels provide evidence of the 

expanding derived demand for tomato 

plantlets. In 2011, protected-culture 

tomatoes made up 40 percent of the U.S. 

tomato supply, up from less than 10 

percent in 2004; they now dominate the 

retail industry. The value of protectedculture tomato imports by the United 

States grew by two-thirds between 2009 

and 2013, in response to expanding 

consumer demand, from $795 million to 

$1.33 billion. 

Protected-culture tomato producers 

are classified in the North American 

Industry Classification System within 

Other Vegetable (except Potato) and 

Melon Farming (NAICS 111219), for 

which the Small Business 

Administration small-entity standard is 

annual receipts of not more than 

$750,000. The average market value of 

agricultural products sold by operations 

in this industry in 2012 was about 

$314,000. While we are unable to 

determine the number of businesses that 

would be affected by the proposed rule, 

we can assume that most of them are 

small entities. 

The proposed rule would enable U.S. 

producers of protected-culture tomatoes 

to draw upon Mexican plantlet 

suppliers in addition to Canadian and 

domestic suppliers. The NPPO of 

Mexico has stated that, if this rule were 

finalized, they would expect the 

exportation of approximately 4 million 

plantlets annually to the United States. 

It is unknown to what extent these 

tomato plantlets imported from Mexico 

will displace tomato plantlet imports 

from Canada and we therefore cannot 

project the net increase in imports. If 

there were no import displacement, we 

think that the tomato plantlet imports 

from Mexico could result in an increase 

in U.S. protected-culture tomato 

production of between 5 and 10 percent. 

However, we understand that the U.S. 

protected-culture tomato industry is in 

favor of having an additional source of 

tomato plantlets imports besides those 

from Canada. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. If this proposed rule is 

adopted: (1) All State and local laws and 

regulations that are inconsistent with 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 43 / Thursday, March 5, 2015 / Proposed Rules 11949 

this rule will be preempted; (2) no 

retroactive effect will be given to this 

rule; and (3) administrative proceedings 

will not be required before parties may 

file suit in court challenging this rule. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

To provide the public with 

documentation of APHIS’ review and 

analysis of any potential environmental 

impacts associated with the importation 

of greenhouse tomato plantlets in 

approved growing media from Mexico 

into the continental United States, we 

have prepared an environmental 

assessment. The environmental 

assessment was 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). 

The environmental assessment may 

be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web 

site or in our reading room. (A link to 

Regulations.gov and information on the 

location and hours of the reading room 

are provided under the heading 

ADDRESSES at the beginning of this 

proposed rule.) In addition, copies may 

be obtained by calling or writing to the 

individual listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with section 3507(d) of 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the information 

collection or recordkeeping 

requirements included in this proposed 

rule have been submitted for approval to 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). Please send written comments 

to the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: 

Desk Officer for APHIS, Washington, DC 

20503. Please state that your comments 

refer to Docket No. APHIS–2014–0099. 

Please send a copy of your comments to: 

(1) Docket No. APHIS–2014–0099, 

Regulatory Analysis and Development, 

PPD, APHIS, Station 3A–03.8, 4700 

River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1238, and (2) Clearance Officer, 

OCIO, USDA, Room 404–W, 14th Street 

and Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20250. A comment to 

OMB is best assured of having its full 

effect if OMB receives it within 30 days 

of publication of this proposed rule. 

APHIS is proposing to amend the 

plants for planting regulations to allow 

the importation of greenhouse tomato 

plantlets in approved growing media 

from Mexico into the continental United 

States. As a condition of entry, the 

plantlets would have to be produced in 

accordance with the regulatory 

requirements of specific APHIS 

regulations which include a specific 

systems approach. This action would 

allow for the importation of tomato 

plantlets from Mexico into the 

continental United States while 

providing protection against the 

introduction of plant pests. 

Allowing tomato plantlets from 

Mexico to be imported into the 

continental United States will require 

information collection activities, 

including phytosanitary certificates, 

greenhouse registration, commodity 

labeling, an operational workplan, and 

compliance agreements. 

We are soliciting comments from the 

public (as well as affected agencies) 

concerning our proposed information 

collection and recordkeeping 

requirements. These comments will 

help us: 

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed 

information collection is necessary for 

the proper performance of our agency’s 

functions, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of our 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

information collection, 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 

information collection on those who are 

to respond (such as through the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology; e.g., permitting 

electronic submission of responses). 

Estimate of burden: Public reporting 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to average 0.02564 hours 

per response. 

Respondents: The NPPO of Mexico, 

producers, and importers of tomato 

plantlets from Mexico in approved 

growing media. 

Estimated annual number of 

respondents: 3. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses per respondent: 4,181. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses: 12,543. 

Estimated total annual burden on 

respondents: 319 hours. (Due to 

averaging, the total annual burden hours 

may not equal the product of the annual 

number of responses multiplied by the 

reporting burden per response.) 

Copies of this information collection 

can be obtained from Ms. Kimberly 

Hardy, APHIS’ Information Collection 

Coordinator, at (301) 851–2727. 

E-Government Act Compliance 

The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service is committed to 

compliance with the E-Government Act 

to promote the use of the Internet and 

other information technologies, to 

provide increased opportunities for 

citizen access to Government 

information and services, and for other 

purposes. For information pertinent to 

E-Government Act compliance related 

to this proposed rule, please contact Ms. 

Kimberly Hardy, APHIS’ Information 

Collection Coordinator, at (301) 851– 

2727. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 319 

Coffee, Cotton, Fruits, Imports, Logs, 

Nursery stock, Plant diseases and pests, 

Quarantine, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Rice, 

Vegetables. 

Accordingly, we propose to amend 7 

CFR part 319 as follows: 

PART 319—FOREIGN QUARANTINE 

NOTICES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 319 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701–7772, and 

7781–7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 

2.22, 2.80, and 371.3. 

■ 2. Section 319.37–1 is amended by 

adding, in alphabetical order, a 

definition for compliance agreement to 

read as follows: 

§ 319.37–1 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

Compliance agreement. A written 

agreement between APHIS and a person 

(individual or corporate) engaged in the 

production, processing, handling, or 

moving of restricted articles imported 

pursuant to this subpart, in which the 

person agrees to comply with the 

subpart and the terms and conditions 

specified within the agreement itself. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Section 319.37–8 is amended as 

follows: 

■ a. In paragraph (e), introductory text, 

by removing the period after the entry 

for ‘‘Schlumberga spp. from the 

Netherlands and Denmark’’ and adding, 

in alphabetical order, an entry for 

‘‘Solanum lycopersicum from Mexico.’’. 

■ b. By adding paragraph (e)(2)(xii). 

The addition reads as follows: 

§ 319.37–8 Growing media. 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(2) * * * 

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11950 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 43 / Thursday, March 5, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

(xii) Plantlets of Solanum 

lycopersicum from Mexico must also 

meet the following conditions: 

(A) The plantlets must be produced in 

accordance with § 319.37–5(r)(3); 

(B) The plantlets can only be 

imported into the continental United 

States, and may not be imported into 

Hawaii or the territories of the United 

States; and 

(C) The plantlets must be imported 

from Mexico directly into a greenhouse 

in the continental United States, the 

owner or owners of which have entered 

into a compliance agreement with 

APHIS. The required compliance 

agreement will specify the conditions 

under which the plants must enter and 

be maintained within the greenhouse, 

and will prohibit the plantlets from 

being moved from the greenhouse 

following importation, other than for the 

appropriate disposal of dead plantlets. 

(D) If all of the above requirements are 

correctly complied with, then the 

tomato fruit produced from the 

imported greenhouse plantlets may be 

shipped from the greenhouses for 

commercial sale within the United 

States. 

* * * * * 

Done in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of 

March 2015. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–05058 Filed 3–4–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Housing Service 

7 CFR Part 3555 

RIN 0575–AD00 

Single Family Housing Guaranteed 

Loan Program 

AGENCY: Rural Housing Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Rural Housing Service 

(RHS or Agency) proposes to amend the 

current regulation for the Single Family 

Housing Guaranteed Loan Program 

(SFHGLP) on the subjects of lender 

indemnification, principal reduction, 

refinancing, and qualified mortgage 

requirements. 

DATES: Written or email comments on 

the proposed rule must be received on 

or before May 4, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this proposed rule by any one of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

electronically. 

• Mail: Submit written comments via 

the U.S. Postal Service to the Branch 

Chief, Regulations and Paperwork 

Management Branch, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, STOP 0742, 1400 

Independence Ave. SW., Washington, 

DC 20250–0742. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Submit 

written comments via Federal Express 

mail, or other courier service requiring 

a street address to the Branch Chief, 

Regulations and Paperwork 

Management Branch, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, 300 7th Street SW., 7th 

Floor, Washington, DC 20024. 

All written comments will be 

available for public inspection during 

regular work hours at the 300 7th Street 

SW., 7th Floor address listed above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lilian Lipton, Loan Specialist, Single 

Family Housing Guaranteed Loan 

Division, STOP 0784, Room 2250, 

USDA Rural Development, South 

Agriculture Building, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0784, telephone: 

(202) 260–8012, email is lilian.lipton@

wdc.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: RHS 

proposes to amend the current 

regulation for the Single Family 

Housing Guaranteed Loan Program 

(SFHGLP) on the subjects of lender 

indemnification, principal reduction, 

refinancing, and qualified mortgage 

requirements. 

Indemnification: The Agency seeks to 

expand its lender indemnification 

authority for loss claims in the case of 

fraud, misrepresentation, or 

noncompliance with applicable loan 

origination requirements. This action is 

taken to continue the Agency’s efforts to 

improve and expand the risk 

management of the SFHGLP. The 

proposed change is in accordance with 

the recommendations in the Office of 

Inspector General Report 04703–003– 

HY, from October 2012. 

Principal Reduction: The Agency is 

proposing to amend its regulations at 7 

CFR 3555.10 and 3555.304 to add a new 

special loan servicing option to the 

SFHGLP that lenders may utilize while 

still maintaining the SFHGLP loan 

guarantee. The Agency will allow 

lenders to reduce the principal balance 

on behalf of borrowers in amounts up to 

30 percent of the unpaid principal 

balance of the loan as of the date of 

default, inclusive of any Mortgage 

Recovery Advance (MRA), after the 

lender has exhausted all other 

traditional loss mitigation options such 

as a loan modification or forbearance. 

Refinance: The Agency is proposing 

to amend its refinancing provisions at 

3555.101(d)(3) to remove the 

requirement that the new interest rate be 

at least 100 basis points below the 

original loan rate. The interest rate 

reduction requirement of 

3555.101(d)(3)(i) is being revised to 

simply require that the new interest rate 

not exceed the interest rate on the 

original loan. 

The Agency is also proposing to 

amend its regulations at 7 CFR 3555.101 

to add a new refinance option, 

‘‘streamlined-assist,’’ which was 

formerly the Rural Refinance Pilot 

(pilot), to the SFHGLP. The streamlinedassist refinance differs from the 

traditional refinance options in that 

there is no appraisal or credit report 

requirement in most instances, as long 

as the borrower has not defaulted on 

their first mortgage during the previous 

12 months. Appraisals are still required 

for refinancing direct loans where the 

borrower has received a subsidy, for 

purposes of calculating subsidy 

recapture. 

Qualified Mortgage: The agency 

intends to amend its regulation to 

indicate that a loan guaranteed by RHS 

is a Qualified Mortgage if it meets 

certain requirements set forth by the 

Consumer Protection Finance Bureau 

(CFPB). The CFPB published a Qualified 

Mortgage rule (12 CFR 1026) which 

implements in part the Dodd-Frank 

Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

Protection Act of 2010 (P.L. 111–203). 

The CFPB rule includes a sunset 

provision that presumes RHS 

guaranteed loans are Qualified 

Mortgages until January 10, 2021, or 

until USDA publishes its own Qualified 

Mortgage rule, whichever comes first. 

Classification 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be non-significant by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) under Executive Order 12866. 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform. Except where specified, all 

State and local laws and regulations that 

are in direct conflict with this rule will 

be preempted. Federal funds carry 

Federal requirements. No person is 

required to apply for funding under this 

program, but if they do apply and are 

selected for funding, they must comply 

with the requirements applicable to the 

Federal program funds. This rule is not 

retroactive. It will not affect agreements 

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