This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

20053

Vol. 63, No. 78

Thursday, April 23, 1998

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 98–046–1]

Mediterranean Fruit Fly; Addition to

Quarantined Areas

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim rule and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: We are amending the

Mediterranean fruit fly regulations by

adding a portion of Dade County, FL, to

the list of quarantined areas and

restricting the interstate movement of

regulated articles from the quarantined

area. This action is necessary on an

emergency basis to prevent the spread of

the Mediterranean fruit fly into

noninfested areas of the continental

United States.

DATES: Interim rule effective April 17,

1998. Consideration will be given only

to comments received on or before June

22, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and

three copies of your comments to

Docket No. 98–046–1, Regulatory

Analysis and Development, PPD,

APHIS, suite 3C03, 4700 River Road

Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–1238.

Please state that your comments refer to

Docket No. 98–046–1. Comments

received may be inspected 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 comments are requested to call

ahead on (202) 690–2817 to facilitate

entry into the comment reading room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Michael B. Stefan, Operations Officer,

Domestic and Emergency Programs,

PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 134,

Riverdale, MD 20737–1236, (301) 734–

8247; or e-mail:

mstefan@aphis.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis

capitata (Wiedemann), is one of the

world’s most destructive pests of

numerous fruits and vegetables. The

Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) can

cause serious economic losses. Heavy

infestations can cause complete loss of

crops, and losses of 25 to 50 percent are

not uncommon. The short life cycle of

this pest permits the rapid development

of serious outbreaks.

The regulations in 7 CFR part 301.78

through 301.78–10 (referred to below as

the regulations) restrict the interstate

movement of regulated articles from

quarantined areas to prevent the spread

of Medfly to noninfested areas of the

United States.

Recent trapping surveys by inspectors

of Florida State and county agencies and

by inspectors of the Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have

revealed that an infestation of Medfly

has occurred in a portion of Dade

County, FL.

The regulations in § 301.78–3 provide

that the Administrator of APHIS will list

as a quarantined area each State, or each

portion of a State, in which the Medfly

has been found by an inspector, in

which the Administrator has reason to

believe that the Medfly is present, or

that the Administrator considers

necessary to regulate because of its

inseparability for quarantine

enforcement purposes from localities in

which the Medfly has been found.

Less than an entire State will be

designated as a quarantined area only if

the Administrator determines that the

State has adopted and is enforcing

restrictions on the intrastate movement

of regulated articles that are equivalent

to those imposed on the interstate

movement of regulated articles, and the

designation of less than the entire State

as a quarantined area will prevent the

interstate spread of the Medfly. The

boundary lines for a portion of a State

being designated as quarantined are set

up approximately four-and-one-half

miles from the detection sites. The

boundary lines may vary due to factors

such as the location of Medfly host

material, the location of transportation

centers such as bus stations and

airports, the patterns of persons moving

in that State, the number and patterns

of distribution of the Medfly, and the

use of clearly identifiable lines for the

boundaries.

In accordance with these criteria and

the recent Medfly findings described

above, we are amending § 301.78–3 by

adding a portion of Dade County, FL, to

the list of quarantined areas. The new

quarantined area is described in the rule

portion of this document.

Emergency Action

The Administrator of the Animal and

Plant Health Inspection Service has

determined that an emergency exists

that warrants publication of this interim

rule without prior opportunity for

public comment. Immediate action is

necessary to prevent the Medfly from

spreading to noninfested areas of the

United States.

Because prior notice and other public

procedures with respect to this action

are impracticable and contrary to the

public interest under these conditions,

we find good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553

to make it effective less than 30 days

after publication in the Federal

Register. We will consider comments

that are received within 60 days of

publication of this rule in the Federal

Register. After the comment period

closes, we will publish another

document in the Federal Register. It

will include a discussion of any

comments we receive and any

amendments we are making to the rule

as a result of the comments.

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory

Flexibility Act

This rule has been reviewed under

Executive Order 12866. For this action,

the Office of Management and Budget

has waived its review process required

by Executive Order 12866.

This interim rule amends the Medfly

regulations by adding a portion of Dade

County, FL, to the list of quarantined

areas. This action is necessary on an

emergency basis to prevent the spread of

the Medfly into noninfested areas of the

United States.

This interim rule affects the interstate

movement of regulated articles from the

quarantined area of Dade County, FL.

We estimate that there are seven entities

in the quarantined area of Dade County,

FL, that sell, process, handle, or move

regulated articles; this estimate includes
20054 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 78 /Thursday, April 23, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

one mobile vendor and six stores/

markets. The number of these entities

that meet the U.S. Small Business

Administration’s (SBA) definition of a

small entity is unknown, since the

information needed to make that

determination (i.e., each entity’s gross

receipts or number of employees) is not

currently available. However, it is

reasonable to assume that most of the

seven entities are small in size, since the

overwhelming majority of businesses in

Florida, as well as the rest of the United

States, are small entities by SBA

standards.

We believe that few, if any, of the

seven entities will be significantly

affected by the quarantine action taken

in this interim rule because few of these

types of entities move regulated articles

outside the State of Florida during the

normal course of their business. Nor do

consumers of products purchased from

these type of entities generally move

those products interstate. The effect on

the small entities that do move

regulated articles interstate from the

quarantined area will be minimized by

the availability of various treatments

that, in most cases, will allow those

small entities to move regulated articles

interstate with very little additional

costs. Also, many of these types of small

entities sell other items in addition to

regulated articles, so the effect, if any,

of the interim rule should be minimal.

Under these circumstances, the

Administrator of the Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service has

determined that this action will not

have a significant economic impact on

a substantial number of small entities.

Executive Order 12372

This program/activity is listed in the

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

under No. 10.025 and is subject to

Executive Order 12372, which requires

intergovernmental consultation with

State and local officials. (See 7 CFR part

3015, subpart V.)

Executive Order 12988

This rule has been reviewed under

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice

Reform. This rule: (1) Preempts all State

and local laws and regulations that are

inconsistent with this rule; (2) has no

retroactive effect; and (3) does not

require administrative proceedings

before parties may file suit in court

challenging this rule.

National Environmental Policy Act

An environmental assessment and

finding of no significant impact have

been prepared for this rule. The site

specific environmental assessment and

programmatic Medfly environmental

impact statement provide a basis for our

conclusion that implementation of

integrated pest management to achieve

eradication of the Medfly would not

have a significant impact on human

health and the natural environment.

Based on the finding of no significant

impact, the Administrator of the Animal

and Plant Health Inspection Service has

determined that an environmental

impact statement need not be prepared.

The environmental assessment and

finding of no significant impact were

prepared in accordance with: (1) The

National Environmental Policy Act of

1969 (NEPA) (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).

Copies of the environmental

assessment and finding of no significant

impact are 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 by

writing to the individual listed under

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule contains no information

collection or recordkeeping

requirements under the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501

et seq.).

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 301

Agricultural commodities,

Incorporation by reference, Plant

diseases and pests, Quarantine,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Transportation.

Accordingly, 7 CFR part 301 is

amended as follows:

PART 301—DOMESTIC QUARANTINE

NOTICES

1. The authority citation for part 301

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 147a, 150bb, 150dd,

150ee, 150ff, 161, 162, and 164–167; 7 CFR

2.22, 2.80, and 371.2(c).

2. In § 301.78–3, paragraph (c) is

revised to read as follows:

§ 301.78–3 Quarantined areas.

* * * * *

(c) The areas described below are

designated as quarantined areas:

Florida

Dade County. That portion of Dade

County in Hialeah bounded by a line

beginning at the intersection of LeJeune

Road (East 8th Avenue) and East 33rd

Street; then south along LeJeune Road

(East 8th Avenue) (including both sides

of LeJeune Road) to Northwest 36th

Street (State Highway 948); then west

along Northwest 36th Street (State

Highway 948) to the east side of

Palmetto Expressway (State Highway

826); then north along the east side of

Palmetto Expressway (State Highway

826) to the section line between sections

2 and 11, T. 53 S., R. 40 E. (on a line

with West 37th Street); then east along

the section line between sections 2 and

11, T. 53 S., R. 40 E., to its continuation

as West 37th Street; then east along

West 37th Street to West 4th Avenue;

then south along West 4th Avenue to

West 33rd Street; then east along West

33rd Street (including both sides of

West 33rd Street) to its continuation as

East 33rd Street; then east along East

33rd Street (including both sides of East

33rd Street) to the point of beginning.

Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of

April 1998.

Craig A. Reed,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 98–10794 Filed 4–22–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration

7 CFR Parts 800 and 810

United States Standards for Rye

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Grain Inspection, Packers

and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA)

is revising the United States Standards

for Rye to certificate dockage to the

nearest tenth of a percent. The current

method of dockage certification rounds

the actual dockage percentage down to

the nearest whole percent. This method

may result in understating the level of

dockage up to 0.99 percent on the

certificate. Certification of dockage to

the nearest tenth of a percent is more

precise than the current method and

should enhance the marketability of

U.S. rye traded in the domestic and

export markets. This change requires the

establishment of new inspection

tolerances or breakpoints, as

appropriate.