Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 194 / Tuesday, October 9, 2007 / Notices 57285 

or parts of cattle develop written 

procedures for the removal, segregation, 

and disposition of specified risk 

materials (SRMs). Establishments are 

also required by FSIS to maintain daily 

records sufficient to document the 

implementation and monitoring of their 

procedures for the removal, segregation, 

and disposition of SRMs, and any 

corrective actions taken to ensure that 

such procedures are effective. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

FSIS will collect information from 

establishments to ensure that cattle 

slaughtered for meat product are free 

from Bovine Spongiform 

Encephalopathy. 

Description of Respondents: Business 

or other for-profit. 

Number of Respondents: 3,512. 

Frequency of Responses: 

Recordkeeping; Reporting: On occasion. 

Total Burden Hours: 123,216. 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

Title: Advanced Meat Recovery 

Systems. 

OMB Control Number: 0583–0130. 

Summary of Collection: The Food 

Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has 

been delegated the authority to exercise 

the functions of the Secretary as 

provided in the Federal Meat Inspection 

Act (FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). This 

statute mandates that FSIS protect the 

public by ensuring that meat and 

poultry products are safe, wholesome, 

unadulterated, and properly labeled and 

packaged. FSIS requires that official 

establishments that produce meat from 

Advanced Meat Recovery (AMR) 

systems ensure that bones used for AMR 

systems do not contain brain, trigeminal 

ganglia, or spinal cord, to test for 

calcium, iron, spinal cord, and dorsal 

root ganglia, to document their testing 

protocols, to assess the age of cattle 

product used in the AMR system, and 

to document their procedures for 

handling product in a manner that does 

not cause product to be misbranded or 

adulterated, and to maintain records of 

their documentation and test results. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

FSIS will collect information from 

establishments to ensure that the meat 

product produced by the use of AMR 

systems is free from Bovine Spongiform 

Encephalopathy. 

Description of Respondents: Business 

or other for-profit. 

Number of Respondents: 56. 

Frequency of Responses: 

Recordkeeping; Reporting: On occasion. 

Total Burden Hours: 25,209. 

Ruth Brown, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. E7–19758 Filed 10–5–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

[Docket No. FSIS–2007–0041] 

Non-Escherichia coli O157:H7 Shiga 

Toxin-Producing E. coli 

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice is announcing 

that the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and 

Inspection Service (FSIS), the Food and 

Drug Administration’s Center for Food 

Safety and Applied Nutrition (FDA 

CFSAN), and the National Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

will co-sponsor a public meeting on 

October 17, 2007. The purpose of the 

meeting is to consider the public health 

significance of non-Escherichia coli (E. 

coli) O157:H7 Shiga toxin-producing E. 

coli. 

DATES: The public meeting will be held 

on Wednesday, October 17, 2007, 8:30 

a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Arlington campus of George Mason 

University, 3401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 

244, Arlington, VA 22201. 

Registration 

Pre-registration for this meeting is 

encouraged. To pre-register to attend in 

person or via teleconference, access the 

FSIS Web site, http://www.fsis.usda.gov. 

Contact Sheila Johnson for more 

information on logistics at 202–690–

6498 or via e-mail at 

Sheila.johnson@fsis.usda.gov. 

All documents related to the meeting 

will be available for public inspection in 

the FSIS Docket Room, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., Room 2534 

South Building, Washington, DC 20250, 

between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, as soon as they 

become available. 

FSIS will finalize an agenda on or 

before the meeting date and post it on 

the FSIS Web page at: http:// 

www.fsis.usda.gov/News/ 

Meetings_&_Events/. Also, when it 

becomes available, the official transcript 

of the meeting will be kept in the FSIS 

Docket Room at the above address and 

will also be posted on the Agency Web 

site, http://www.fsis.usda.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Denise Eblen, phone (202) 690–6238, 

fax (202) 690–6334, e-mail: 

Denise.eblen@fsis.usda.gov or at the 

mail address: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, Office of Public Health Science, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 357 

Aerospace Center, Washington, DC 

20250–3766. 

Persons requiring a sign language 

interpreter or other special 

accommodations should notify Dr. 

Eblen by October 10, 2007. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) 

was first identified in the early 1980s in 

North America as the cause of outbreaks 

of bloody diarrhea, often leading to 

severe and fatal illness. These outbreaks 

were associated with ground beef 

consumption, and E. coli O157:H7 was 

the STEC identified as causing the 

illnesses. In 1994, FSIS notified the 

public that raw ground beef 

contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 is 

adulterated under the FMIA unless the 

ground beef is processed to destroy this 

pathogen. Also in 1994, FSIS began 

sampling and testing ground beef for E. 

coli O157:H7. 

On January 19, 1999, FSIS published 

a policy statement in the Federal 

Register that explained that if non-intact 

raw beef products or intact raw beef 

products that are to be processed into 

non-intact product prior to distribution 

for consumption are found to be 

contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, they 

will be deemed to be adulterated if not 

processed to destroy the pathogen (64 

FR 2803). 

Shiga toxins are produced by other E. 

coli serotypes in addition to E. coli 

O157:H7. While many STEC strains 

have been found in ruminant feces, not 

all of these STECs are pathogenic. The 

scientific community believes that the 

STECs that are pathogenic not only 

contain the Shiga toxin but also 

additional virulence determinants that, 

together with the toxin, cause illnesses 

similar to those caused by E. coli 

O157:H7. The subset of STECs that 

contain both the toxin and these 

additional virulence determinants, 

including E. coli O157:H7, is known as 

enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC). 

In the United States, there is growing 

awareness that STECs other than E. coli 

O157:H7 (non-O157:H7 STECs) cause 

sporadic and outbreak-associated 

illnesses. This awareness is attributable 

in part to the increasing availability of 

laboratory reagents that can be used to 

diagnose illnesses and to detect strains 

of STECs in food and other 

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57286 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 194 / Tuesday, October 9, 2007 / Notices 

environmental samples. The number of 

non-O157:H7 STEC infections reported 

to the CDC from 2000 to 2005 increased 

from 171 to 501 cases, suggesting a 

higher burden of illness than previously 

thought. 

Outbreaks associated with nonO157:H7 STECs have been reported 

worldwide, including thirteen in the 

United States from 1990 to 2006. The 

2006 data is still preliminary. Many 

outbreaks were attributed to 

consumption of fresh produce; none 

were attributed to ground beef 

consumption. However, in 2006, nonO157:H7 STEC illness was diagnosed in 

a patient in New York who had 

consumed ground beef shortly before 

illness onset. The same STEC strain, 

indistinguishable by pulsed field gel 

electrophoresis, was detected in the 

patient’s stool and in leftover ground 

beef that the patient had consumed. In 

this case, FSIS was unable to take 

further action because the product could 

not be definitively traced to a 

production lot. 

FSIS, FDA CFSAN, and CDC will hold 

a public meeting on October 17, 2007, 

to solicit input from industry, 

consumers, academia, and other public 

health and regulatory agencies on the 

issue of whether non-O157:H7 STECs 

should also be considered to be 

adulterants. This meeting will rely on 

relevant data in addressing the most 

important questions that underlie this 

issue, including: 

• What is the epidemiology of nonO157:H7 STEC illness? 

• What can be done to enhance the 

surveillance and reporting of nonO157:H7 STEC illnesses? 

• What is the prevalence of nonO157:H7 STEC in livestock and in 

finished product? Are species other than 

cattle, such as sheep, goats, and swine, 

important sources of non-O157:H7 

STECs? 

• What are the best methods for 

detecting pathogenic non-O157:H7 

STECs in food? What are the most 

relevant markers for pathogenic STECs? 

• Are interventions designed to 

remove or destroy E. coli O157:H7 in 

foods or raw products effective against 

non-O157:H7 STECs as well? 

• How should regulatory agencies 

define, monitor, and control pathogenic 

non-O157:H7 STECs in food or raw 

products? 

All interested parties are welcome to 

attend the meeting and to submit 

written comments and suggestions 

through October 15, 2007 to Dr. Eblen 

by phone (202) 690–6238, fax (202) 690–

6334, e-mail: 

Denise.eblen@fsis.usda.gov, or at the 

mail address: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, Office of Public Health Science, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 357 

Aerospace Center, Washington, DC 

20250–3766. Individuals who do not 

wish FSIS to post their personal contact 

information—mailing address, e-mail 

address, telephone number—on the 

Internet may leave the information off 

their comments. 

The comments and the official 

transcript of the meeting, when they 

become available, will be posted on the 

agency’s Web site at http:// 

www.fsis.usda.gov. 

Additional Public Notification 

Public awareness of all segments of 

rulemaking and policy development is 

important. Consequently, in an effort to 

ensure that minorities, women, and 

persons with disabilities are aware of 

this notice, FSIS will announce it online 

through the FSIS Web page located at 

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/ 

2007_Notices_Index/. FSIS will also 

make copies of this Federal Register 

publication available through the FSIS 

Constituent Update, which is used to 

provide information regarding FSIS 

policies, procedures, regulations, 

Federal Register notices, FSIS public 

meetings, and other types of information 

that could affect or would be of interest 

to constituents and stakeholders. The 

Update is communicated via Listserv, a 

free electronic mail subscription service 

for industry, trade groups, consumer 

interest groups, health professionals, 

and other individuals who have asked 

to be included. The Update is also 

available on the FSIS Web page. 

Through Listserv and the Web page, 

FSIS is able to provide information to a 

much broader and more diverse 

audience. In addition, FSIS offers an 

electronic mail subscription service 

which provides automatic and 

customized access to selected food 

safety news and information. This 

service is available at http:// 

www.fsis.usda.gov/news_and_events/ 

email_subscription/. Options range from 

recalls to export information to 

regulations, directives and notices. 

Customers can add or delete 

subscriptions themselves, and have the 

option to password protect their 

accounts. 

Done at Washington, DC, on: October 4, 

2007. 

Alfred V. Almanza, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 07–4975 Filed 10–4–07; 1:45 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Notice of New Recreation Fee Site; 

Federal Lands Recreation 

Enhancement Act, (Title VIII, Pub. L. 

108–447) 

AGENCY: Daniel Boone National Forest, 

USDA Forest Service. 

ACTION: Notice of new recreation fee 

site. 

SUMMARY: The Daniel Boone National 

Forest will begin charging a $25 group 

day use rental fee for the Alpine Picnic 

Area picnic shelter, the Natural Arch 

Scenic Area picnic shelter and the 

Natural Arch Scenic Area amphitheater. 

These facilities are currently only 

available on a first come first serve 

basis. Rentals of other picnic shelters on 

the Daniel Boone National Forest have 

shown that groups would like an option 

to reserve the shelters for their use. 

Shelter rentals allow public groups to 

plan activities in advance with the 

guarantee the shelter will be available 

for their use. The facilities will continue 

to be available on a first come first serve 

basis if not reserved. Fee revenue will 

be used to help cover the administrative 

cost of reserving and preparing the 

facilities for group rentals. 

DATES: The fee is scheduled for 

implementation in May of 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Recreation Fee Program 

Coordinator, Daniel Boone National 

Forest, 1700 Bypass Road, Winchester, 

KY 40391. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Myra Williamson, Recreation Fee 

Coordinator, 859–745–3154. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Federal Recreation Lands Enhancement 

Act (Title VIII, Pub. L. 108–447) 

directed the Secretary of Agriculture to 

publish advance notice in the Federal 

Register whenever new recreation fee 

areas are established. This new fee will 

be reviewed by a Recreation Resource 

Advisory Committee prior to a final 

decision and implementation. The 

Daniel Boone National Forest currently 

charges $25 group use rental fees for 

two other picnic shelters under the 

authority of the Federal Recreation 

Lands Enhancement Act. 

Dated: October 1, 2007. 

Jerome E. Perez, 

Daniel Boone National Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 07–4964 Filed 10–5–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–52–M 

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