### United States

Department of Agriculture Anim al and Plant Health Inspection Service August 2013 **Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis**

**Final Rule**  **APHIS 2012 -**  **0089 Authorizing a Cold Treatment Facility at**  **Mascoutah, Illinois**

Policy & Program Development Policy Analysis & Development

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### Summary
This final rule will amend the regulations to allow a new cold treatment facility to be located at MidAmerica St. L ouis Airport, Mascoutah, I llinois. The facility is expected to be used mainly to treat imported blueberries. While most if not all blueberry farms in the United States are small entities, the final rule will not significantly affect the market for blueberries because the facility is not projected to r esult in a significant increase in the quantit y of blueberries imported by the United States. The United States is the world’s largest producer of blueberries and U.S. blueberry exports exceed imports four

- fold. The cold treatment facility will benefit the MidAmerica St. Louis Airport and local

econom y. The facility is expected to result in at least 800 flights of produce requiring cold treatment per ye ar, raising at least $8 million in direct income for the airport. MidAmerica St. Louis Airport is cla ssified as a small entity within the NAICS category of Other Airport Operations (NAICS 488119), for which the small

- entity standard is annual revenue of not more than $30 million. We have prepared this final regulatory flexibility

anal ys is in acknowledgmen t of expected positive economic effects of the rule for the MidAmerica St. Louis Airport and related local businesses.

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### Table of Contents Summary

................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. i Introduction

................................ ................................ ................................ ......................... 1 U.S Blueberry

Production and Trade

................................ ................................ .................. 1 Need for and Objectives of the Rule

................................ ................................ ................... 3 Significant Issues raised by Public Comment in response to the Initial Regulatory Flexibility

Anal ys is

.................................................................................. 4 Comments filed by

the Small Business Administration in response to the Proposed Rule 4 Potentially

Affected Small Entities

................................ ................................ ..................... 4 Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance Requirements

..................... 6 Steps taken by

APHI S to minimize Significant Economic I mpacts on Small Entities

...... 6

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### Introduction
The Regulatory

Flexibility

Act requires agencies to evaluate the potential effects of their
pro posed and final rules on small businesses, small organizations and small governmental jurisdictions. This final regulatory flexibility

analy sis describes expected impacts of this final rule on small entities, as required b y § 604 of the Act. Current cold treatment regulations found in 7 CFR 305.6, allow the establishment of cold treatment facilities for phy tosanitary applications in certain areas of the United States. Cold treatment facilities may

be located on the mainland United States either in the are a that is north of 39 ° latitude and east of 104° longitude, or outside this area at certain maritime ports and airports. The latter facilities operate under special conditions designed to prevent the introduction of pests of imported fruits and vegetables , particularly tropical fruit flies.
APHI S received a petition from North Bay Produce, Inc., requesting APHIS to consider a cold treatment facility

located at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, Mascoutah, I llinois . The facility is expected to be used mainly t o treat blueberries. As noted by North Bay

Produce, cold
treatment of the fruit upon arrival by air is the preferred treatment alternative, as opposed to cold treatment while en route by sea or fumigation that can decrease the shelf life of the fruit. Th e facility is not expected to result in a significant increase in the quantity of blueberries imported. 

### U.S **Blueberry Production and Trade** 

The United States is the largest producer of blueberries, providing 60 percent of the world ’s supply in 2010, followed by Canada (27 percent) and Poland (3 percent). It is a growing industry , with U.S. blueberry production having expanded by 18 percent between 2009 (about 130,000 metric tons (MT)) and 2012 (about 154,000 MT) (table 1). The four States of Michigan, Oregon, New Jersey , and Washington produce about one

- half of U.S blueberries.

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Table 1. U.S blueberry

production, 2009

- 2012, metric tons

State 2009 2010 2011 2012 Aver age 2009- 2012
Mi chi gan 44, 906 49, 442 32, 659 39, 463 41, 617 O re gon 24, 040 22, 226 28, 123 23, 360 24, 437 N ew Je rse y 21, 772 24, 766 16, 420 18, 144 20, 276 Was hington 17, 690 19, 051 29, 710 32, 659 24, 778 N or th Carol ina 14, 832 17, 713 27, 669 31, 751 22, 991 F lo ri da 6, 123 7, 439 9, 707 7, 756 7, 756 A la bama 136 195 227 318 219 A rk ansas 227 295 181 181 221 To tal P roducti on of Li sted State s 129, 727 141, 126 144, 696 153, 632 142, 295
Re st of Un it ed S tate s 75, 750 82, 871 89, 766 97, 159 86, 386 U. S total P ro duc tion 205, 477 223, 997 234, 462 250, 791 228, 682 Per ce nt Share o f fo ur t op State s 53% 52% 46% 45% 49% P= Pre lim in ary Source : US DA Economi c Re se ach Se rv ic es ( ERS) U. S Bl ue be rry I ndustry tabl e0 2. xls http://usda.mannli b.corne ll.ed u/M annU sda/vi ewD oc ume ntInfo.do?doc ume ntID= 1765 Me tri c Tons



### In 2012, the q uantity

of blueberries exported by the United States total ed about 33,0 0 0
MT , and net exports totaled over 23,700 MT (table 2). Canada, the principal destination, received over 90 percent of U.S. blueberry exports between 2009 and 2012. Table 2. U.S b lueberr y exports, 200 9

- 2012, metric tons 2009 2010 2011 2012 29,158 31,858 35,603 33,375 32, 499 Canada 26,718 28,869 31,738 28,996 29, 080 Japan 1,478 1,684 2,602 2,377 2, 035 Hong Kong 181 321 355 992 462 South Kor ea 132 240 189 110 168 Un it ed Kin gdom 288 93 165 181 182 Re st of t he w orl d 362 651 553 719 571 Net Ex ports 23, 113 24, 181 26, 869 23,738 24, 721 Sourc e: US DA Eco nomi c Re sea rch Se rv ic es U. S Bl ueber ry I ndustry, Tab le 24. http://usda.mannl ib .c orne ll.edu/M an nU sda /viewD ocume ntInf o.do?doc ume ntID= 1765 Worl d Aver age 2009- 2011



### Chile is the leading supplier of blueberries imported by the United States, followed by Canada, Argentina, and Mexico (table 3). Blueberry imports from Chile have boomed in recent
ye ars. Blueberries from Chile have a relatively low tariff and Chile ’s production schedule is
counter

- seasonal to that of the United States. U.S. imports increased from about 6,000 MT in

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2009 to about 10,000 MT in 2012, but remain less than one

- fourth the size of U.S. exports. Blueberry imports are currentl y treated at the maritime ports of Wilmington, NC, Seattle, WA, Corpus Christi, TX, and Gulfport, MS; and at Seattle

- Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, WA, and Hartsfield

- Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta Georgia.
Table 3. U.S blueberry

imports, 2009

- 2012, metric tons

2009 2010 2011 2012 Pe rce nt Sha re 2012
6, 045 7, 677 8, 734 9, 637 Chi le 3, 367 4, 579 5, 566 5, 313 55% Canada 1, 864 1, 970 1, 922 2, 939 30% Ar ge nti na 720 933 952 953 10% Me xic o 35. 86 95. 17 186 357 4% Ur uguay 46. 82 79. 74 93 66 1% New Ze al and 11. 41 10. 48 8 5 0% Re st of the w orl d 0. 19 9. 64 7 3 0% 

### Sou rce: U SD A Ec on

om ic R esearch Serv ic es U .S B lu

eberry I nd us try t abl e30.x ls http://usda .ma nnl ib .c orne ll. ed u/M an nU sda /vi ewD oc ume ntInfo.do?doc ume ntID =1765 Wo rl d 1



### Need for and Objectives of the Rule
This final rule is in response to a request made b y North Bay Produce, Inc., for APHIS to consider allowing a cold treatment facility to be located at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, Mascoutah, Illinois. Based on the location and climatic conditions, APHI S h as determined that a cold treatment facility

operating at this location under conditions equivalent to those required for irradiation facilities in the southern United States will provide the phy tosanitary treatment
necessary to prevent entry

of quarantine d pests, in particular, tropical fruit flies. The objective of the rule is to allow a cold treatment facility to be located at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, Mascoutah, I llinois. The legal basis for this action is the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701

- 77 72 ) , which authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to prohibit or restrict the

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importation of any

plant product if the Secretary determines that the prohibition or restriction is
necessary to prevent the introduction of a plant pest or noxious weed into th e United States. The final rule is part of a continuing program to allow the importation of foreign agricultural products that APHI S has determined are without significant risk of introducing pests or diseases into the United States. 

### Significant Issues **ra ised**  **by Public Comment in**  **response to the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis** 

No significant issues were raised in response to the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analy sis . O ne comment was received in support of this rule , noting the additional jobs a nd local

revenue that the cold treatment facility will bring to Mascoutah, Illinois. 

### Comments filed **by the Small Business Administration in response to the**  **Proposed Rule**

No comments were filed by the Small Business Administration. 

### Potentially **Affected Small Entities** 
Blueberry production is classified within the North American Industry Classification Sy stem under Berry

(except Strawberry ) Farming (NAICS 111334), for which the Small Business Administration’s small

- entity standard is annual revenue of not more than $750,000. 1 

### The latest data on the number of farms that produce blueberries are found in the 2007 Census of

1 Sm all Business Administration Table of Small Business Size Standards http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/Size_Standards_Table(1).pdf

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Agriculture, which reports that the average market value of blueberries sold per farm was about $53,000. 2 

### Clearly , most if not all bluebe rry producers are small entities. Table 4 shows that between 2002 and 2007, the number of farms that harvested blueberries increased from 6,428 to 7,516, and the number of acres increased from about 52,000 to over 60,000.

Table 4. U.S blueberries: Num ber of farms and area harvested in leading States, 2007 and 2002

State 2007 2002 2007 2002

7, 516 6, 428 60, 353 52, 002 Mi chi gan 758 590 19, 641 12, 274 Ore gon 713 659 5, 185 3, 887 Was hi ngton 475 289 3, 926 289 Fl ori da 442 343 2, 376 1, 646 New Yo rk 407 351 1, 097 842 Ge or gi a 343 408 4, 802 4, 451 Mi ssi ssi ppi 317 249 2, 209 1, 289 Nor th Carol in a 297 267 5, 323 5, 009 New Je rs ey 268 240 7, 605 7, 468 Ala ba ma 207 196 347 400 Cal ifo rni a 186 97 2, 232 827 Ar ka nsa s 82 140 269 675
Othe rs 3, 779 3, 189 24, 982 25, 219 Sourc e: N ASS, Ce nsus of Ag ri cu lt ur e, 2007 a nd 2002. Numbe r of Far

ms Ac res U. S



### The cold treatment facility is expected to benefit the MidAmerica St. Louis Airport and local econom y. The facility is expected to result in at least 800 flights of produce requiring cold treatment per ye ar, raising at least $8 million in direct income for the airport. 3 

### MidAmerica St.
Lo u is Airport is classified as a small entity within the NAICS category of O ther A irport

2 2007 U.S. Census of Agriculture and USDA Economic Research Services (ERS) U.S Blueberry Indus try

3 Based on estimated impacts cited in a letter w ritten by Mr. M. Tim Cantwell, MidAmerica St. Louis Airport Director, date d July 30, 2012, and addressed to Mr. Mark Girardin, President, North Bay Produce, Inc.

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O perations (NAICS 488119) , for which the sma ll

- entity standard is annual revenue of not more than $ 30 million

. 

### Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and **Other Compliance**  **Requirement s**  Reporting and recordkeeping requirements associated with the final rule are discussed in the rule under the heading "P aperwork Reduction Act." Compliance costs specific to this final rule will be those incurred in accordance with the phy tosanitary treatment requirements for operation of a cold treatment facility

. 

### Steps taken by APHIS to minimize Significant Economic **Imp act**  **s on Small Entities** 

Based on our review of available information, we do not expect the rule to significantl y affect the market for blueberries because the cold treatment facility is not projected to result in a significant increase in the total quantit y of blueberries imported b y the United States. We have prepared this final regulatory flexibility

anal ys is in acknowledgment of expected positive economic effects of the rule for the MidAmerica St. Louis Airport and related local businesses. Since these effects will be positive, we have not identified steps that APHI S could take to minimize such impacts.