This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

6596

Vol. 70, No. 25

Tuesday, February 8, 2005

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Parts 300 and 301

[Docket No. 04–092–1] 

Phytophthora Ramorum; Vacuum Heat 

Treatment for Bay Leaves

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend 

the Plant Protection and Quarantine 

Treatment Manual, which is 

incorporated by reference in the Code of 

Federal Regulations, to allow leaves of 

the California bay laurel (Umbellularia 

californica) to be treated with vacuum 

heat before being moved interstate from 

any area quarantined because of 

Phytophthora ramorum. This action 

would provide an alternative to the 

currently approved hot water dip used 

to treat greenery of host plants, 

specifically California bay laurel leaves, 

which ruins the suitability of the leaves 

for use as a dried spice.

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before April 11, 

2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• EDOCKET: Go to http://

www.epa.gov/feddocket to submit or 

view public comments, access the index 

listing of the contents of the official 

public docket, and to access those 

documents in the public docket that are 

available electronically. Once you have 

entered EDOCKET, click on the ‘‘View 

Open APHIS Dockets’’ link to locate this 

document. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Please send four copies of your 

comment (an original and three copies) 

to Docket No. 04–092–1, Regulatory 

Analysis and Development, PPD, 

APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road 

Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

Please state that your comment refers to 

Docket No. 04–092–1. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the instructions for locating this docket 

and submitting comments. 

Reading Room: You may read any 

comments that we receive on this 

docket in our reading room. The reading 

room is located in room 1141 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) 690–2817 before 

coming. 

Other Information: You may view 

APHIS documents published in the 

Federal Register and related 

information on the Internet at http://

www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/

webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

James Writer, Agriculturist, Invasive 

Species and Pest Management, PPQ, 

APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 137, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1231; (301) 734–

7121.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Phytophthora ramorum is a harmful 

fungus that attacks certain plants, 

particularly trees and shrubs. P. 

ramorum is also commonly referred to 

as sudden oak death or ramorum leaf 

blight and ramorum dieback. Symptoms 

of infection may include new growth 

that droops or turns from yellow to 

brown, the appearance of a bleeding 

canker; burgundy-red to tar-black thick 

sap oozing on the bark surface, or leaf 

spotting and stem canker infections. 

The regulations in ‘‘Subpart—

Phytophthora Ramorum’’ (7 CFR 301.92 

through 301.92–11, referred to below as 

the regulations) list 10 counties in 

California and a portion of Curry County 

in Oregon as quarantined areas and 

restrict the interstate movement of 

regulated articles from those areas. 

In addition, on December 21, 2004, 

the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) issued a Federal Order, 

effective January 10, 2005, which 

expands the list of quarantined areas to 

include Contra Costa, Humboldt, Lake, 

and San Francisco Counties, CA, as well 

as another portion of Curry County, OR. 

This order replaces the order of April 

22, 2004, and the clarification of that 

order which was issued on April 23, 

2004. The December 21, 2004, order is 

available on the Internet at http://

www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/ispm/sod/. 

Regulated articles are identified in 

§ 301.92–2 of the regulations. The list of 

regulated articles includes, among other 

things, unprocessed wreaths, garlands, 

and greenery of arrowwood (Viburnum

x bodnantense), big leaf maple (Acer 

macrophyllum), black oak (Quercus 

kelloggii), California bay laurel 

(Umbellularia californica), California 

buckeye (Aesculus californica), 

California coffeeberry (Rhamnus 

californica), California honeysuckle 

(Lonicera hispidula), coast live oak 

(Quercus agrifolia), huckleberry 

(Vaccinium ovatum) (except fruit), 

madrone (Arbutus menziesii), 

manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita.), 

rhododendron (Rhododendron spp., 

including azalea), Shreve’s oak (Quercus 

parvula var. shrevei), tanoak 

(Lithocarpus densiflorus), and Toyon 

(Heteromeles arbutifolia). 

In the December 21, 2004, Federal 

Order, APHIS expanded the list of 

regulated articles to include 16 

additional confirmed hosts of P. 

ramorum. These additional regulated 

articles are: Camellia spp., Canyon live 

oak (Quercus chrysolepis), coast 

redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), 

doublefile viburnum (Viburnum 

plicatum var. tomentosum), Douglas fir 

(Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), 

False Solomon’s Seal (Maianthemum

racemosum formerly Smilacina

racemosa), Fraser’s Photinia or Red tip 

(Photinia fraseri), Heather (Calluna

vulgaris), Himalaya pieris (Pieris 

formosa), Japanese pieris (Pieris 

japonica), laurustinus (Viburnum tinus), 

pieris ‘‘Brouwer’s Beauty’’ (Pieris 

floribunda x japonica), pieris ‘‘Forest 

Flame’’ (Pieris formosa x japonica), 

western starflower (Trientalis latifolia), 

witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), 

and wood rose (Rosa gymnocarpa). 

Regulated articles must meet the 

conditions specified in the regulations 

before they may be moved interstate 

from a quarantined area. One of the 

conditions for movement is treatment. 

The Plant Protection and Quarantine 

Treatment Manual (PPQ Treatment 

Manual), which is maintained by 

APHIS, contains approved treatment 

schedules for many plant pests and 

diseases and is incorporated by 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 25 / Tuesday, February 8, 2005 / Proposed Rules 6597

1 Information concerning this research may be 

obtained from the person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT.

reference into the Code of Federal 

Regulations at 7 CFR 300.1. Approved 

treatments for some articles can also be 

found in the regulations. Currently, the 

only approved treatment for 

unprocessed wreaths, garlands, and 

greenery of host plants moving 

interstate from the quarantined areas is 

listed in § 301.92–10 of the regulations. 

This treatment consists of a hot water 

dip for 1 hour at a sustained 

temperature of at least 160° F. However, 

this treatment is not a viable option for 

treating leaves from the California bay 

laurel (Umbellularia californica), as it 

ruins the leaves for their intended use 

as a dried spice. 

APHIS has received several requests 

from a spice company in California to 

approve the use of vacuum heat 

treatment as an alternative method of 

treatment for California bay laurel 

leaves that are moving interstate from a 

quarantined area for use as a dried 

spice. Vacuum heat treatment is an 

already existing industry standard 

method for treating California bay laurel 

leaves harvested outside the 

quarantined area. Research 1 conducted 

by APHIS’ Treatment Quality Assurance 

Unit at the Center for Plant Health 

Science and Technology has 

demonstrated that vacuum heat 

treatment effectively eliminates P. 

ramorum on leaves of the California bay 

laurel. Therefore, we are proposing to 

amend the PPQ Treatment Manual to 

add vacuum heat treatment as an 

acceptable treatment method for bay 

leaves used as a dried spice. This action 

would provide an alternative to the hot 

water dip that is currently being used to 

treat greenery of the California bay 

laurel in the quarantined areas. The 

treatment procedure we would add to 

the PPQ Treatment Manual is described 

in the following paragraph.

Treatment Procedure 

Place greenery in a vacuum chamber. 

Starting at 0 hour, gradually reduce to 

0.133 Kpa vacuum at 8 hours. Maintain 

the vacuum until the end of the 

treatment. Gradually increase the 

temperature in the vacuum chamber 

from ambient temperature at 0 hour to 

60 °C at 5 hours. After 5 hours, 

gradually lower the temperature to 30 °C 

at 22 hours. The length of the treatment 

is 22 hours. 

In addition to adding this vacuum 

heat treatment schedule, which would 

be designated as T101–m–2–1–2, to the 

PPQ Treatment Manual, we would also 

amend the PPQ Treatment Manual’s 

incorporation by reference in 7 CFR 

300.1 to reflect the date of the 

treatment’s inclusion in the manual. In 

addition, we would amend the list of 

accepted treatments in § 301.92–10 to 

include any treatments authorized for 

use on P. ramorum that are listed in the 

PPQ Treatment Manual. 

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 under Executive 

Order 12866. 

We are proposing to amend the PPQ 

Treatment Manual to allow leaves of the 

California bay laurel to be treated with 

vacuum heat before being moved 

interstate from any area quarantined 

because of P. ramorum. This action 

would provide an alternative to the 

currently approved hot water dip used 

to treat California bay laurel leaves, 

which ruins the suitability of the leaves 

for use as a dried spice. 

Vacuum heat treatment costs are 

similar to costs of vapor heat and hotair treatment systems. All three 

treatments require substantial initial 

capital investments ranging from 

$55,000 to $200,000 for larger 

commercial facilities. By comparison, 

hot water immersion treatment systems 

can be assembled for less than $8,000. 

Clearly, hot-water immersion treatment 

is less expensive, but in this case it is 

not feasible because it renders the 

treated article-bay leaves-unsuitable for 

its use as a dried spice. 

Table 1 shows that representative unit 

costs for hot air or vapor heat treatments 

total less than $30 per ton of 

commodities treated. The cost of 

vacuum heat treatment is comparable. 

This cost is higher than the unit cost of 

hot water immersion, given the large 

difference in capital costs indicated 

above, but is relatively minor when 

compared to the value of the commodity 

being treated.

TABLE 1.—REPRESENTATIVE COSTS

OF HOT AIR OR VAPOR HEAT

TREATMENT OF A PERISHABLE COMMODITY

Capital costs ........ $4.41/metric ton of commodity treated. 

Operating costs1 .. $25.00/metric ton of 

commodity treated. 

Total cost ...... $29.41/metric ton of 

commodity treated. 

1 Labor, energy, maintenance, and 

insurance. 

One pound of dried bay leaves sells 

for $3.75, that is, $8,267.33 per metric 

ton. Thus, the representative cost shown 

in table 1 is equal to less than 0.4 

percent of the sales price of the spice. 

Compared to other costs, such as 

harvesting, storage, processing, 

packaging, and transport, the cost of the 

vacuum heat treatment is relatively 

insignificant overall. 

We also note that use of the vacuum 

heat treatment would be on a voluntary 

basis to qualify dried bay leaves for 

interstate movement from the 

quarantined counties. 

According to the 2002 Agricultural 

Census, there were approximately 600 

nurseries in the 14 California counties 

operating under quarantine for P. 

ramorum. The 600 nurseries reported 

approximately $882 million in annual 

sales. A small nursery, according to 

Small Business Administration size 

standards (SBA), is one with $750,000 

or less in annual receipts. APHIS does 

not have information on the size 

distribution of the nurseries in the 14 

counties, in terms of annual receipts. 

We also do not have information on the 

number of these nurseries that have bay 

laurel trees and seedlings for sale, or of 

the quantity of bay laurel leaves they 

produce and the percentage sold to 

customers outside the quarantined area. 

It is expected that, primarily, 

producers/processors of bay leaves will 

conduct the vacuum heat treatment. 

According to the 2002 Economic 

Census, there were approximately 44 

spice and extract manufacturing 

establishments (NAICS 311942) in 

California, employing 1,521 people (or 

an average of 34 persons per entity). No 

data are available for California by 

county. According to the SBA 

definition, the size standard for a small 

entity in this industry is 500 or fewer 

employees. However, information on 

the size distribution of these 

establishments was unavailable. Even 

though the number and size of the 

entities that could be affected by the 

proposed rule is unknown, we have no 

evidence indicating that there would be 

a significant economic impact on any 

entity, large or small.

Under these circumstances, the 

Administrator of the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service has 

determined that this action would 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 

6598 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 25 / Tuesday, February 8, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

State and local officials. (See 7 CFR part 

3015, subpart V.) 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. If this proposed rule is 

adopted: (1) All State and local laws and 

regulations that are inconsistent with 

this rule will be preempted; (2) no 

retroactive effect will be given to this 

rule; and (3) administrative proceedings 

will not be required before parties may 

file suit in court challenging this rule. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This interim 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 

7 CFR Part 300 

Incorporation by reference, Plant 

diseases and pests, Quarantine. 

7 CFR Part 301 

Agricultural commodities, Plant 

diseases and pests, Quarantine, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Transportation.

Accordingly, we are proposing to 

amend 7 CFR parts 300 and 301 as 

follows:

PART 300—INCORPORATION BY 

REFERENCE 

1. The authority citation for part 300 

would continue to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701–7772; 7 CFR 2.22, 

2.80, and 371.3.

2. Section 300.1 would be amended as 

follows: 

a. In paragraph (a)(8), by removing the 

word ‘‘and’’. 

b. In paragraph (a)(9), by removing the 

period and adding the word ‘‘; and’’ in 

its place. 

c. By adding a new paragraph (a)(10) 

to read as set forth below:

§ 300.1 Plant Protection and Quarantine 

Treatment Manual. 

(a) * * * 

(10) Treatment T101–m–2–1–2, 

datedll.

* * * * *

PART 301—DOMESTIC QUARANTINE 

NOTICES 

3. The authority citation for part 301 

would continue to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701–7772; 7 CFR 2.22, 

2.80, and 371.3.

Section 301.75–15 also issued under Sec. 

204, Title II, Pub. L. 106–113, 113 Stat. 

1501A–293; sections 301.75–15 and 301.75–

16 also issued under Sec. 203, Title II, Pub. 

L. 106–224, 114 Stat. 400 (7 U.S.C. 1421 

note).

4. Section 301.92–10 would be 

revised to read as follows:

§ 301.92–10 Treatments. 

Treatment schedules listed in the 

Plant Protection and Quarantine 

Treatment Manual to destroy 

Phytophothora ramorum are authorized 

for use on certain regulated articles. The 

Plant Protection and Quarantine 

Treatment Manual is incorporated by 

reference at § 300.1 of this chapter. The 

following treatments also may be used 

for the regulated articles indicated: 

(a) Soil—Heat to a temperature of at 

least 180 °F for 30 minutes in the 

presence of an inspector. 

(b) Wreaths, garlands, and greenery of 

host material—Dip for 1 hour in water 

that is held at a temperature of at least 

160 °F.

Done in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of 

February 2005. 

Elizabeth E. Gaston, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 05–2322 Filed 2–7–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 923 

[Docket Nos. AO–F&V–923–3; FV03–923–01] 

Sweet Cherries Grown in Designated 

Counties in Washington; Secretary’s 

Decision and Referendum Order on 

Proposed Amendments to Marketing 

Agreement and Order No. 923; 

Correction

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule and referendum 

order; correction. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service published in the Federal 

Register on January 14, 2005, a 

Secretary’s Decision and Referendum 

Order on proposed amendments to the 

Washington sweet cherry marketing 

order. This docket corrects the 

representative period for voting in the 

referendum from April 1, 2003, through 

March 31, 2004, to April 1, 2004, 

through February 28, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Melissa Schmaedick, Marketing Order 

Administration Branch, Fruit and 

Vegetable Programs, Agricultural 

Marketing Service, USDA, Post Office 

Box 1035, Moab, UT 84532, telephone: 

(435) 259–7988, fax: (435) 259–4945.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Secretary’s decision and 

referendum order that are the subject of 

this correction propose amendments to 

the marketing agreement and order 

(order) and provide growers with the 

opportunity to vote in a referendum to 

determine if they favor the proposed 

amendments. 

Need for Correction 

As published, the representative 

period for the purpose of the 

referendum is being changed from April 

1, 2003, through March 31, 2004, to 

April 1, 2004, through February 28, 

2005, to reflect the most recent crop 

year. 

Correction of Publication 

Accordingly, the publication of the 

proposed rule and referendum order 

(Docket Nos. AO–F&V–923–3; FV03–

923–01), which was the subject of FR 

Doc. 05–825 published on January 14, 

2005 (70 FR 2573) is corrected as 

follows: 

1. On page 2574, column one, under 

DATES; the dates ‘‘April 1, 2003, through 

March 31, 2004,’’ are corrected to read 

‘‘April 1, 2004, through February 28, 

2005.’’

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.

Dated: February 3, 2005. 

Kenneth C. Clayton, 

Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service.

[FR Doc. 05–2388 Filed 2–7–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. NN301; Notice No. 25–05–01–

SC] 

Special Conditions: Boeing Model 

747SP; NASA Stratospheric 

Observatory for Infrared Astronomy 

(SOFIA); Cryogenic Systems Using 

Liquid Nitrogen and Liquid Helium

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed special 

conditions. 

SUMMARY: This notice proposes special 

conditions for the Boeing Model 747SP 

airplane. This airplane, as modified by 

L–3 Communications/Integrated