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contains documents other than rules or

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section.

Notices Federal Register

84109 

Vol. 89, No. 203 

Monday, October 21, 2024 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2024–0053] 

Notice of Request for Approval of an 

Information Collection; A Survey of 

Livestock Producer Perceptions of 

Predators and Predator Damage 

Management Methods 

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 

request approval of a new information 

collection associated with a study to 

understand livestock producers’ 

perceptions of predator damage 

management methods and their 

willingness to continue using such 

methods. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before December 

20, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

www.regulations.gov. Enter APHIS– 

2024–0053 in the Search field. Select 

the Documents tab, then select the 

Comment button in the list of 

documents. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2024–0053, Regulatory Analysis 

and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 

2C–10.16, 4700 River Road, Unit 25, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

Supporting documents and any 

comments we receive on this docket 

may be viewed at regulations.gov or in 

our reading room, which is located in 

Room 1620 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: For 

information on this predator damage 

management study, contact Dr. Megan 

Cross, Social Scientist, National 

Wildlife Research Center, WS, APHIS, 

4101 La Porte Ave., Fort Collins, CO 

80521; (970) 266–6366; email: 

Megan.Cross@usda.gov. For more 

information on the information 

collection process, contact Mr. Joseph 

Moxey, APHIS’ Paperwork Reduction 

Act Coordinator; (301) 851–2533; email: 

joseph.moxey@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: A Survey of Livestock Producer 

Perceptions of Predators and Predator 

Damage Management Methods. 

OMB Control Number: 0579–XXXX. 

Type of Request: Approval of a new 

information collection. 

Abstract: Under the Act of March 2, 

1931 (7 U.S.C. 8351), the Secretary of 

Agriculture is authorized to conduct a 

program of wildlife services with 

respect to injurious animal species and 

take any action the Secretary considers 

necessary in conducting the program. 

Additionally, the Secretary of 

Agriculture is authorized to conduct 

activities to control nuisance mammals 

and birds (except for urban rodent 

control) and those mammals and bird 

species that are reservoirs for zoonotic 

disease. This authority has been 

delegated to the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

Wildlife Services (WS). Two 

responsibilities of the Deputy 

Administrator of Wildlife Services are to 

assist Federal, State, local, and foreign 

agencies and individuals regarding 

wildlife damage and control and 

conduct research to develop wildlife 

damage management methods (7 CFR 

371.6). 

Depredation of livestock by large 

predators, such as wolves, bears, and 

mountain lions, is a significant source of 

human-wildlife conflict and economic 

losses in the United States. Protecting 

livestock from predators is a complex 

and challenging endeavor, with each 

situation requiring an evaluation of 

relevant legal, social, economic, 

biological, and technical aspects. While 

no single management technique is 

appropriate in every situation, various 

stakeholder groups are increasingly 

calling for the use of nonlethal predator 

damage management techniques. 

Congress has appropriated funding to 

Wildlife Services since 2020 to support 

the use of nonlethal predator damage 

management methods. Wildlife Services 

is using the money to test several 

nonlethal predator damage management 

methods on livestock operations in 12 

States (Arizona, California, Colorado, 

Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, 

New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, 

Wisconsin, and Wyoming). 

Through the APHIS WS National 

Wildlife Research Center, a Federal 

institution devoted to resolving humanwildlife conflict, APHIS would like to 

conduct a survey of livestock producers 

who: (1) Experienced livestock loss from 

predators; (2) worked with Wildlife 

Services to try and mitigate losses; and 

(3) allowed WS State Directors to share 

their contact information within APHIS. 

The information collected from these 

livestock producers is critical to 

improving WS Nonlethal Initiative 

programs, identifying any barriers to the 

continued use of nonlethal predator 

damage management methods, and 

determining whether livestock 

producers’ attitudes towards predators 

and nonlethal predator damage 

management have changed. APHIS 

anticipates that, among other things, 

results of the study may inform whether 

nonlethal predator damage management 

methods are a viable and acceptable 

alternative to the use of methods that 

result in the death of large predators 

from the perspective of livestock 

producers. 

The information collection activity 

associated with this study consists of a 

multi-item questionnaire administered 

to livestock producers who have 

received predator damage management 

services from WS Nonlethal Initiative 

programs and are located in one of the 

12 States (Arizona, California, Colorado, 

Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, 

New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, 

Wisconsin, or Wyoming). 

We are asking the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) to 

approve our use of this information 

collection activity for 3 years. 

The purpose of this notice is to solicit 

comments from the public (as well as 

affected agencies) concerning our 


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84110 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 203 / Monday, October 21, 2024 / Notices 

1To view the NAPPRA lists, go to: https://

www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/ 

import-information/permits/plants-and-plantproducts-permits/plants-for-planting/ct_nappra. 

2To view the notice, supporting documents, and 

the comments we received, go to https://

www.regulations.gov/document/APHIS-2021-0076- 

0001. 

3To view the requirements of the APHIS 

Artificially Dwarfed Plants program, go to: https:// 

www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/ 

manuals/ports/downloads/plants_for_planting.pdf. 

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 collection 

of information, 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 

collection of information 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 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to average 0.164 hours per 

response. 

Respondents: Livestock producers 

who have received predator damage 

management services from WS 

Nonlethal Initiative programs and are 

located in one of the 12 States (Arizona, 

California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, 

Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, 

Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, or 

Wyoming). 

Estimated annual number of 

respondents: 200. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses per respondent: 8. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses: 1,608. 

Estimated total annual burden on 

respondents: 265 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.) 

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 15th day of 

October 2024. 

Michael Watson, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24215 Filed 10–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2021–0076] 

Importation of Acer spp. (Acer 

buergerianum, A. palmatum, and A. 

pseudosieboldianum) Dwarf Plants 

From the Republic of Korea Into the 

Continental United States 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are notifying the public 

that we are removing three Acer spp. 

(Acer buergerianum, A. palmatum, and 

A. pseudosieboldianum) dwarf plants 

from the Republic of Korea from our 

lists of taxa of plants for planting whose 

importation into the United States is not 

authorized pending pest risk analysis, 

thereby allowing the importation of 

such Acer spp. into the continental 

United States, subject to certain 

conditions. We are taking this action in 

response to a request from this country 

and after determining that the plants 

can be imported, under certain 

conditions, without resulting in the 

introduction into, or the dissemination 

within, the United States of a plant pest. 

DATES: Imports may be authorized 

beginning October 21, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Narasimha Chary Samboju, Senior 

Regulatory Policy Specialist, PPQ, 

APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 133, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1236; (301) 851– 

2038. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under the regulations in ‘‘Subpart 

H—Plants for Planting’’ (7 CFR 319.37– 

1 through 319.37–23, 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 

plants for planting (including living 

plants, plant parts, seeds, and plant 

cuttings) to prevent the introduction of 

quarantine pests into the United States. 

Quarantine pest is defined in § 319.37– 

2 of the regulations as a plant pest or 

noxious weed that is of potential 

economic importance to the United 

States and not yet present in the United 

States, or present but not widely 

distributed and being officially 

controlled. Section 319.37–4 of the 

regulations provides that certain taxa of 

plants for planting are not authorized 

for importation into the United States 

pending pest risk analysis (NAPPRA) to 

prevent the introduction of quarantine 

pests into the United States. 

Paragraph (e) of § 319.37–4 describes 

the process for removing taxa from the 

NAPPRA lists.1 After receiving a request 

to remove taxa from the NAPPRA lists, 

APHIS will conduct a pest risk analysis 

(PRA) in response to such a request and 

make the PRA available for public 

review and comment. Following the 

close of the comment period, we will 

review all comments received and 

announce our decision regarding the 

request in a subsequent notice. 

On January 31, 2022, we published in 

the Federal Register (87 FR 4832–4833, 

Docket No. APHIS–2021–0076) a 

notice 2 in which we proposed to revise 

the NAPPRA lists to allow the 

importation of three Acer spp. (Acer 

buergerianum, A. palmatum, and A. 

pseudosieboldianum) dwarf plants from 

the Republic of Korea (South Korea) into 

the continental United States, subject to 

the conditions required for all approved 

dwarf plants imported under the APHIS 

Artificially Dwarfed Plants program 3 as 

well as additional conditions outlined 

in a risk management document (RMD) 

accompanying the notice. 

We solicited comments on the notice 

for 60 days ending on April 1, 2022. We 

received three comments by that date, 

all from private citizens. The issues 

raised by the commenters are addressed 

below. 

All three commenters expressed 

concern that importing non-native 

plants, or plants from regions with plant 

pests, may introduce foreign pests, or 

otherwise endanger plants native to the 

United States. 

We understand the commenters’ 

concerns but find no basis for changing 

our recommendations based on the 

comments. As the documentation 

associated with the initial notice for 

comment shows, APHIS thoroughly and 

sufficiently assessed potential risks from 

this importation and proposed 

conditions adequate to mitigate the 

possible risks. Our methodology for the 

pest risk assessment that accompanied 

the initial notice included careful 

examination of scientific literature, portof-entry pest interception data, and 

information provided by the 

Government of the Republic of Korea. 


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