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

66226

Vol. 65, No. 214

Friday, November 3, 2000

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

[Docket No. 00–099–1]

Notice of Request for Approval of an

Information Collection

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: New information collection;

comment request.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this

notice announces the Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service’s intention to

initiate the Bluetongue Surveillance

Pilot Project sentinel trial, which will be

an information collection activity. The

purpose of the sentinel trial, which will

be voluntary, is to support international

export trade through the identification

and development of an economically

feasible and highly representative

surveillance system to substantiate the

regionalization of the United States for

bluetongue. The sentinel trial will take

place on farms in Montana, Nebraska,

North Dakota, and South Dakota.

DATES: We invite you to comment on

this docket. We will consider all

comments that we receive by January 2,

2001.

ADDRESSES: Please send four copies (an

original and three copies) of your

comment to: Docket No. 00–099–1,

Regulatory Analysis and Development,

PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03, 4700 River

Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–

1238. Please state that your comment

refers to Docket No. 00–099–1.

You may read any comments that we

receive on this docket in our reading

room. The reading room 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.

APHIS documents published in the

Federal Register, and related

information, including the names of

organizations and individuals who have

commented on APHIS dockets, are

available on the Internet at http://

www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/

webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

information on the Bluetongue

Surveillance Pilot Program sentinel

trial, contact Ms. Marj Swanson,

Management Analyst, Centers for

Epidemiology and Animal Health, VS,

APHIS, 555 S. Howes, Fort Collins, CO

80521; (970) 490–7978. For copies of

more detailed information on the

information collection, contact Mrs.

Celeste Sickles, APHIS’ Information

Collection Coordinator, at (301) 734–

7477.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Bluetongue Surveillance Pilot

Program.

OMB Number: 0579–XXXX.

Type of Request: Approval of a new

information collection.

Abstract: The United States

Department of Agriculture is

responsible for protecting the health of

our Nation’s animals and poultry by

preventing the spread of contagious,

infectious, or communicable animal

diseases from one State to another and

by eradicating such diseases from the

United States when feasible. In

connection with this mission, the

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service (APHIS), Veterinary Services,

Center for Animal Health Monitoring, is

requesting approval to initiate the

Bluetongue Surveillance Pilot Program

(BSPP) sentinel trial information

collection activity.

Bluetongue viruses are transmitted by

blood-feeding midges (Culicoides spp.),

which breed in cattle manure and

transmit the viruses between hosts,

which include antelope, cattle, deer,

elk, goats, and sheep. Cattle are infected

naturally by these viruses but rarely

show clinical signs. However, sheep and

other ruminants show signs of the

disease, including abortion, birth

defects, emaciation, ulcers in the

digestive system and mouth, lameness,

pneumonia, and death. Twenty-four

serotypes of bluetongue virus are

distributed throughout the tropical and

temperate regions of the world; except

for Greece and Italy on occasion, Europe

is bluetongue virus-free. The viruses

and vectors (insects) have evolved to

establish well-defined regional

complexes of selected serotypes adapted

to specific midge populations. In the

United States, four serotypes of

bluetongue virus are known to occur;

however, their range is restricted to

Western and Southern States. This is the

result of climatic and ecologic

conditions that determine the

distribution of the North American

vector, Culicoides sonorensis.

Bluetongue is an Office International

des Epizooties (OIE) List A disease. The

criteria for inclusion on this list are

transmissibility, potential for serious

and rapid spread, and major economic

importance in the international trade of

animals and animal products. For these

reasons, countries, especially those

entirely free of bluetongue, take action

to minimize the risk of introducing

exotic serotypes of the virus, thus

restricting trade. These restrictions are

estimated to cost the United States $125

million annually (USDA Agricultural

Research Service, 1999).

The current method of bluetongue

surveillance tests blood samples taken

from animals at the time of slaughter

through the APHIS Market Cattle

Identification (MCI) system. Every 2

years, slaughter samples are tested from

18 Northeastern and North Central

States, Alaska, Hawaii, and western

Washington, which are considered to be

free of bluetongue. In the MCI slaughter

survey in 1996, 9,053 slaughter samples

were tested. Four of the 14 geographic

areas sampled had 2 percent or greater

positive samples, which exceeds the

OIE standard and leads to restrictions

on the export of animals from those

areas. Slaughter surveillance as the

method for bluetongue surveillance has

limited specificity and geographic

representativeness with regard to the

demands of international trade.

Detection of low levels of bluetongue

antibody may reflect animal movement

rather than disease occurrence at the

sampling locations, as the life history of

the animals sampled is unknown.

The purpose of the BSPP sentinel trial

is to support international export trade

through the identification and

development of an economically

feasible and more representative

surveillance system to substantiate the

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 214 / Friday, November 3, 2000 / Notices 66227

regionalization of bluetongue. The BSPP

sentinel trial is a surveillance

methodology development activity. In

the surveillance trial, specific sentinel

animals and farms will be tested

serologically over time in contrast to the

randomized on-farm and slaughter

market surveillance currently practiced.

Neither one-time, on-farm nor slaughter

market surveillance allows animals to

be tracked over time, and the geographic

history of the origin of the animals is

difficult to establish with consistent

reliability.

The Center for Animal Health

Monitoring is proposing the BSPP

sentinel trial, which will use active

serosurveillance, adult insect trapping,

and soil sampling for insect larvae from

suspect vector breeding sites. The

objectives of this study include: (1)

Develop a pilot sentinel system as a tool

to substantiate disease freedom and

compare it to other surveillance options;

(2) test for bluetongue status in two

demarcated populations (free and

infected); and (3) develop data on the

epidemiology of bluetongue in a

seasonally infected area.

The ideal choice of States is a

contiguous north-south group, (e.g.,

Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota,

and Nebraska) that transects the border

between the disease-free (North Dakota)

and the seasonally affected zone

(Montana and Nebraska) with a

transitional State (South Dakota) having

both free and infected zones. This

provides a continuous gradient of

environmental determinants of vector

distribution that can be measured when

moving from north to south.

The Sanitary and Phytosanitary

Agreement of the World Trade

Organization provides that countries

can create disease-free and lowprevalence zones. Determination of such

areas must be based on factors such as

geography, ecosystems, epidemiological

surveillance, and the effectiveness of

sanitary and phytosanitary controls.

Further, it is up to the exporting country

to develop a regionalization proposal

with sufficient information to

substantiate zoning for a disease. The

importing country is charged with

reviewing the proposal and providing a

transparent and science-based decision.

In the case of bluetongue, a vector-borne

disease, it is largely the ecology of the

vector that determines the distribution

of the disease.

The potential benefits to trade from

better bluetongue surveillance include

access to new export markets and

preservation of existing markets through

increased confidence in disease

freedom.

Information from this study will be

disseminated and used by livestock

producers, animal health officials,

private veterinary practitioners, animal

industry groups, policymakers, public

health officials, the media, educational

institutions, and others to improve

agricultural productivity and

competitiveness.

Participation in the BPSS sentinel

trial is voluntary, and all data are

confidential.

We are asking the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) to

approve the use of this information

collection activity.

The purpose of this notice is to solicit

comments from the public (as well as

affected agencies) concerning this

information collection. These comments

will help us:

(1) Evaluate whether the collection of

information is necessary for the proper

performance of the functions of the

Agency, including whether the

information will have practical utility;

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of our

estimate of the burden of the

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, through use, as appropriate,

of automated, electronic, mechanical,

and other collection technologies, e.g.,

permitting electronic submission of

responses.

Estimate of burden: The public

reporting burden for this collection of

information is estimated to average

.93814 hours per response.

Respondents: Industry personnel,

private veterinary practitioners,

company and independent producers,

academicians, State veterinary medical

officers, and State public health

officials.

Estimated annual number of

respondents: 1,365.

Estimated annual number of

responses per respondent: 1.06593.

Estimated annual number of

responses: 1,455.

Estimated total annual burden on

respondents: 1,373 hours. (Due to

rounding, the total annual burden hours

may not equal the product of the annual

number of responses multiplied by the

average reporting burden per response.)

All responses to this notice will be

summarized and included in the request

for OMB approval. All comments will

also become a matter of public record.

Done in Washington, DC, this 30th day of

October 2000.

Bobby R. Acord,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 00–28247 Filed 11–2–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation

Request for Reinstatement and

Revision of a Previously Approved

Information Collection

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this

notice announces the intention of the

Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)

and the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to

request the reinstatement and revision

of a previously approved information

collection. This information collection

is used by CCC and FSA to document

or determine whether representatives or

survivors of a producer are entitled to

received payments earned by a producer

who dies, disappears, or is declared

incompetent before receiving payments

or other disbursements.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received on or before January 2, 2001 to

be assured consideration.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS:

Contact David Tidwell, Agricultural

Program Specialist, Production,

Emergencies, and Compliance Division,

USDA, FSA, STOP 0517, 1400

Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20250–0517, telephone

(202)720–4542.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Application for Payment of

Amounts Due Persons Who Have Died,

Disappeared, or Have Been Declared

Incompetent.

OMB Control Number: 0560–0026.

Type of Request: Extension and

revision of a currently approved

information collection.

Abstract: Persons desiring to claim

payment due a person who has died,

disappeared, or has been declared

incompetent must do so on Form FSA–

325, ‘‘Application for Payment of

Amounts Due Persons Who Have Died,

Disappeared, or Have Been Declared

Incompetent’’. This information is used

by FSA county office employees to

document the relationship of heirs or

beneficiaries and determine the order of

precedence for disbursing payments to