1940 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 6 / Friday, January 10, 2025 / Notices 

process. The Uniform Commercial Code 

(UCC), although not binding upon the 

Federal Government, is a useful tool in 

determining the rights and liabilities of 

the contacting parties in the contract 

formation process. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

There are six versions of bid forms 

divided into three categories. The same 

information is requested within each 

category, with minor differences in how 

respondents display the bid. The Forest 

Service decides on the form used for a 

sale or contract prior to advertising. A 

variety of factors affects the decision, 

including size, complexity, value and 

length of the contract. Respondents 

must use the form identified/provided 

by the Forest Service and cannot submit 

a response in a different format. This 

collection is required for the private 

sector to be considered for the benefit of 

National Forest System timber under 

various contract forms. To be 

considered for award of these contracts, 

bid forms must be submitted. 

Description of Respondents: Business 

or other for-profit; Individuals or 

households; 

Number of Respondents: 1,824. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

On occasion. 

Total Burden Hours: 118,018. 

Levi S. Harrell, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2025–00373 Filed 1–8–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2014–0062] 

Privacy Act of 1974; System of 

Records 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of a modified system of 

records. 

SUMMARY: The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) is modifying 

a system of records in its inventory of 

records systems subject to the Privacy 

Act of 1974, as amended. The system of 

records being modified is the Smuggling 

Interdiction and Trade Compliance 

(SITC) National Information 

Communication Activity System 

(SNICAS), USDA/APHIS–21. SNICAS 

maintains a record of activities 

conducted by the agency pursuant to its 

mission and authorized responsibilities. 

The purpose of the system is to record 

data and information about APHIS’ 

SITC activities nationwide. We are 

modifying the system to exempt the 

system from certain provisions of the 

Privacy Act. 

DATES: The exemption will become 

effective on February 10, 2025. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general questions, please contact Mr. 

Ricardo Valdez, Pest Exclusion and 

Import Programs, National Policy 

Manager, SITC, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road, Riverdale, MD 20737; (443) 745– 

7931; SITC.Mail@usda.gov. For Privacy 

Act questions concerning this system of 

records notice, please contact Director, 

Freedom of Information and Privacy Act 

Staff, 4700 River Road Unit 50, 

Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 851–4076; 

email: APHISPrivacy@usda.gov. For 

USDA Privacy Act questions, please 

contact the USDA Chief Privacy Officer, 

Information Security Center, Office of 

Chief Information Officer, USDA, Jamie 

L. Whitten Building, 1400 

Independence Ave. SW, Washington, 

DC 20250; email: USDAPrivacy@

usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 

1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), notice is given that 

the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department 

of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing to 

modify a system of records, USDA/ 

APHIS–21, Smuggling Interdiction and 

Trade Compliance (SITC) National 

Information Communication Activity 

System (SNICAS). 

On July 11, 2022, APHIS published 

SNICAS as a new system of records in 

the Federal Register (87 FR 41098– 

41101, Docket No. APHIS–2014–0062). 

(To view the notice, go to 

www.regulations.gov, and enter APHIS– 

2014–0062 in the Search field.) SNICAS 

maintains a record of activities 

conducted by the agency pursuant to its 

mission and responsibilities authorized 

by the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 

7701 et seq.); the Animal Health 

Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.); 

and the Honey Bee Act (7 U.S.C. 281 et 

seq.). The purpose of the system is to 

record data and information about 

APHIS’ SITC activities nationwide. 

SITC is within APHIS’ Plant Protection 

and Quarantine program. 

SITC officials use the information in 

SNICAS to identify and close pathways 

used for the introduction of prohibited 

commodities and those regulated 

commodities that lack the necessary 

certificates and permits to enter U.S. 

commerce. SITC officials also use 

SNICAS to perform activities such as 

legal and regulatory actions; scientific 

research; risk, trend, pathway and 

targeting analyses; trade support; 

administrative and budgetary support; 

supervision and program management; 

and overall decision support services. 

Additionally, SITC officials use SNICAS 

to generate reports to evaluate the risk 

status of the commercial sites where 

regulated commodities are seized, the 

effectiveness of the program, and quality 

control of the data. 

Among other things, in addition to 

listing the routine uses and how 

information in the system is used, 

APHIS will share information from the 

system pursuant to the requirements of 

the Privacy Act and, in the case of its 

routine uses, when the disclosure is 

compatible with the purpose for which 

the information was compiled. APHIS 

proposed to exempt specific records in 

the system from certain Privacy Act 

requirements in accordance with 5 

U.S.C. 552a(k)(2) (Investigative Law 

Enforcement Materials). APHIS 

proposed to exempt the system from 

Privacy Act access requirements 

including 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3); (d); (e)(1); 

(e)(4)(G), (H), and (I); and (f), and 

indicated that an individual who is the 

subject of a record in this system may 

not seek access to those records that are 

exempt from the access provisions. A 

determination of whether a record may 

be accessed would be made at the time 

a request is received. 

We solicited comments on the 

SNICAS system of records notice for 30 

days ending on August 10, 2022. We 

received no comments. 

Concurrently with the publication of 

the SNICAS system of records notice, 

we published a proposed rule in 

accordance with the requirements of 5 

U.S.C. 553(b), (c), and (d) in the same 

issue of the Federal Register (87 FR 

41077–41078, Docket No. APHIS–2015– 

0008) to exempt the SNICAS system of 

records from certain provisions of the 

Privacy Act to prevent interference with 

law enforcement functions. 

We solicited comments on the 

proposed rule for 30 days ending 

August 10, 2022. We received no 

comments by that date. A final rule has 

been issued in accordance with the 

requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553(b), (c), and 

(d) and has been published in today’s 

Federal Register (Docket No. APHIS– 

2015–0008). 

Therefore, we are modifying the 

SNICAS system of records to add the 

exemption for law enforcement 

purposes pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2) 

of the Privacy Act. 

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER: 

USDA/APHIS–21, Smuggling 

Interdiction and Trade Compliance 

(SITC) National Information 


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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 6 / Friday, January 10, 2025 / Notices 1941 

1To view the final rule, go to https://

www.regulations.gov/document/APHIS-2021-0052- 

0014. 

2To view the notice or the comments that we 

received, go to https://www.regulations.gov/docket/ 

APHIS-2023-0058. Additionally, please note that on 

November 22, 2024, we issued a correction to the 

notice to provide a proposed fee that was 

inadvertently omitted from table 21 in the initial 

notice. 

Communication Activity System 

(SNICAS). 

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: 

Sensitive but unclassified. 

SYSTEM LOCATION: 

The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS), within the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 

maintains records in a Governmentapproved cloud server accessed through 

secure data centers in the continental 

United States. Paper files are held at 

various Plant Protection and Quarantine 

(PPQ) Smuggling Interdiction and Trade 

Compliance national, district, and field 

offices. 

SYSTEM MANAGER(S): 

Deputy Administrator of Plant 

Protection and Quarantine, APHIS, 

USDA, 4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 

20737. 

* * * * * 

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM: 

The Agency has exempted this system 

from subsections (c)(3); (d); (e)(1); 

(e)(4)(G), (H), and (I); and (f) of the 

Privacy Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

552a(k)(2). The exemptions will be 

applied only to the extent that the 

information in the system is subject to 

exemption pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

552a(k)(2). 

HISTORY: 

Smuggling Interdiction and Trade 

Compliance (SITC) National Information 

Communication Activity System 

(SNICAS), USDA/APHIS–21, was 

published as a new system in its 

entirety on July 11, 2022, (87 FR 41098– 

41101, Docket No. APHIS–2014–0062). 

A report on the modified system of 

records, required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), as 

implemented by Office of Management 

and Budget Circular A–108, was sent to 

the Chairman and Ranking Member of 

the House Committee on Oversight and 

Reform, Chairman and Ranking 

Member of the Senate Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental 

Affairs, and the Administrator of the 

Office of Management and Budget’s 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 12th day of 

December 2024. 

Michael Watson, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2025–00335 Filed 1–8–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2023–0058] 

Veterinary Services User Fees 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA). 

ACTION: Final notice. 

SUMMARY: The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) is 

announcing adjusted user fee rates for 

the costs of providing certain goods and 

services, including veterinary diagnostic 

goods and services and veterinary 

services for imports and exports of live 

animals and animal products. This 

action is necessary because the 

regulations provide that APHIS will 

issue such a notice. This action ensures 

that the fees charged more closely align 

with the costs of providing the goods or 

services, thus ensuring program 

solvency. 

DATES: The fee rates in this notice go 

into effect January 10, 2025. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the user fee activities 

covered by this notice, contact Ms. Lisa 

Slimmer, User Fee Financial Team 

Manager, Veterinary Services Money 

Management, 920 Main Campus Drive, 

Raleigh, NC 27606; (919) 414–7205. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The regulations in 9 CFR part 130 

(referred to below as the regulations or 

the user fee regulations), cover user fees 

to reimburse the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and 

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

for the costs of providing veterinary 

diagnostic services and import/export 

related services for live animals, animal 

products and byproducts, poultry, birds, 

germplasm, organisms, and vectors. 

These user fees are authorized by 

section 2509(c) of the Food, Agriculture, 

Conservation, and Trade Act (FACT 

Act) of 1990, as amended (21 U.S.C. 

136a(c)), which provides that the 

Secretary of Agriculture may, among 

other things, prescribe regulations and 

collect fees to recover the costs of 

providing import/export related services 

for animals, animal products and 

byproducts, birds, germplasm, 

organisms, and vectors, and for 

veterinary diagnostics relating to the 

control and eradication of 

communicable diseases of livestock or 

poultry within the United States. 

Since fiscal year 1992, APHIS has 

received no directly appropriated funds 

to cover the cost of certain veterinary 

diagnostics or to provide import/export 

related services for animals, animal 

products and byproducts, birds, 

germplasm, organisms, and vectors. Our 

ability to provide these services 

depends on user fees. User fees are 

associated with providing services for 

live animal, animal product, bird, and 

germplasm imports and exports and the 

user fees fund, among other things, 

quarantine services, the processing of 

import permit applications, port of entry 

inspections, inspections and approvals 

of import/export facilities and 

establishments, endorsements of export 

certificates, and services related to 

emergency situations that arise during 

the export or import process. 

On August 1, 2023, APHIS published 

a final rule in the Federal Register that 

revised the regulations (88 FR 49994– 

50002, Docket No. APHIS–2021–0052, 

referred to below as the August 2023 

final rule).1 This final rule removed 

tables providing the individual fees 

from the regulations and instead 

indicated that they are posted on the 

following website: www.aphis.usda.gov/ 

business-services/vs-fees. It also 

provided that, on an annual basis, 

APHIS would propose changes to the 

fee rates through publication of a notice 

in the Federal Register. 

On November 8, 2024, we published 

the first such notice in the Federal 

Register (89 FR 88697, Docket No. 

APHIS–2023–0058, referred to below as 

the November 2024 notice). 2

We solicited comments on the notice 

for 30 days, ending on December 9, 

2024. We received 33 comments by that 

date from industry groups and private 

citizens. 

General Comment 

Four of the commenters supported the 

fee increases articulated in the notice. 

One of these commenters asked if the 

revenue generated by the fee increases 

would be used to reopen an USDA 

APHIS office in Conyers, Georgia. 

We are uncertain what office the 

commenter is referring to because the 

USDA APHIS office in Conyers, Georgia 

is currently open. 

Similarly, a commenter asked us if the 

additional revenue generated by the fees 

would go to additional staffing of 


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