Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 133 / Monday, July 13, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 37483

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

9 CFR Part 93

[Docket No. 98–070–1]

Harry S Truman Animal Import Center

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Cancellation of lottery for

HSTAIC.

SUMMARY: In anticipation that the Harry

S Truman Animal Import Center

(HSTAIC) in Fleming Key, FL, may be

closed, we are giving notice that we do

not plan to hold a lottery in December

1998 for exclusive use of HSTAIC in

calendar year 1999. In addition, we do

not intend to enter into any more

cooperative-service agreements with

prospective importers for exclusive use

of the facility unless it is certain the

animals can enter HSTAIC on or before

December 31, 1998. Ensuring that no

animals enter HSTAIC after this date

would allow us to close HSTAIC before

the end of fiscal year l999 if a decision

is made to close the facility.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 13, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

Gary Colgrove, Chief Staff Veterinarian,

National Center for Import and Export,

VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 38,

Riverdale, MD 20737–1231; (301) 734–

3276; or e-mail

gcolgrove@aphis.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

regulations in 9 CFR part 93 (referred to

below as the regulations) govern the

importation of animals into the United

States to prevent the introduction of

serious communicable diseases of

livestock and poultry. Under the

regulations, certain animals may only be

imported into the United States if,

among other things, they are

quarantined upon arrival at the Harry S

Truman Animal Import Center

(HSTAIC), a Federal facility in Fleming

Key, FL, that provides maximum

biosecurity.

Importers pay the costs of using

HSTAIC while their animals are in the

facility. However, the Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) must

pay for staff, electricity, telephone, and

other overhead costs when the facility is

not occupied, as well as for general

maintenance and repairs. HSTAIC has

been consistently underutilized since it

opened in 1979, and demand for use of

the facility has been falling.

Consequently, APHIS is losing an

average of $220,000 annually keeping

HSTAIC available to importers. In

addition, HSTAIC urgently needs

approximately $4.5 million worth of

repairs and upgrades for which APHIS

does not have an appropriation. This

would significantly increase the already

substantial fees for use of HSTAIC if the

cost of the repairs and upgrades were to

be recovered from users. In addition, the

purpose for a facility such as HSTAIC,

to import new bloodlines from countries

with exotic diseases such as foot-andmouth disease and rinderpest, can now

be accomplished more cheaply and

more easily by importing germplasm,

such as semen and embryos.

Under these circumstances, we are

considering closing HSTAIC and plan to

publish a proposed rule in the Federal

Register for public comment on this

issue in the near future. If we decide to

close the facility following this

rulemaking, we would like to do so

before the end of fiscal year l999 to

minimize expenses we are incurring to

keep the facility operating. To close by

then, all animals would have to be out

of the facility by about April of l999.

Even if a decision is made to try to keep

HSTAIC open for use, and funding can

be obtained for the needed repairs and

upgrades, it will take many months to

complete the needed repairs and

upgrades. To allow for these possible

actions, we are announcing that we do

not plan to hold a lottery in December

1998 for exclusive use of HSTAIC in

calendar year 1999. (Under § 93.430 of

the regulations, APHIS enters into a

cooperative agreement with only one

importer at a time for use of HSTAIC.

We refer to this arrangement as

‘‘exclusive use.’’) This notice also

announces our intention not to enter

into any more cooperative agreements

with prospective importers for exclusive

use of the facility unless it is certain the

animals can enter HSTAIC on or before

December 31, 1998.

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1622; 19 U.S.C. 1306;

21 U.S.C. 102–105, 111, 114a, 134a, 134b,

134c, 134d, 134f, 135, 136, and 136a; 31

U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.2(d).

Done in Washington, DC, this 6th day of

July 1998.

Charles P. Schwalbe,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 98–18436 Filed 7–10–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE BOARD

12 CFR Part 904

[No. 98–26]

RIN 3069–AA71

Revisions to the Freedom of

Information Act Regulation

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance

Board.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request

for comments.

SUMMARY: The Federal Housing Finance

Board (Finance Board) is revising its

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

regulation to comply with new statutory

requirements. The Finance Board is also

reorganizing and streamlining the FOIA

regulation to clarify the Finance Board’s

practices and procedures in responding

to requests for information.

DATES: The interim final rule will

become effective on July 13, 1998. The

Finance Board will accept comments on

the interim final rule in writing on or

before September 11, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Mail comments to Elaine L.

Baker, Secretary to the Board, Federal

Housing Finance Board, 1777 F Street,

NW, Washington, DC 20006. Comments

will be available for public inspection at

this address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Elaine L. Baker, Secretary to the Board

and Associate Director, Executive

Secretariat, Office of the Managing

Director, 202/408–2837, or Janice A.

Kaye, Attorney-Advisor, Office of

General Counsel, 202/408–2505, Federal

Housing Finance Board, 1777 F Street,

NW, Washington, DC 20006.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Statutory and Regulatory Background

Congress amended FOIA by enacting

the Electronic Freedom of Information

Act Amendments of 1996 (EFOIA). See

5 U.S.C. 552, as amended by Pub. L.

104–231, 110 Stat. 3048 (Oct. 2, 1996).

Among other procedural changes,

EFOIA increases the time for responding

to a FOIA request from 10 to 20 days,

specifically applies FOIA disclosure

requirements to electronic records, and

adds frequently requested records as a

category of reading room records.

EFOIA also requires an agency to

promulgate regulations that provide for

the expedited processing of FOIA

requests.

In addition to amending its FOIA

regulation, codified at 12 CFR part 904,

to comply with these statutory changes,

the Finance Board is reorganizing and

streamlining the regulation to clarify its

practices and procedures in responding