[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 5, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6577-6578]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-2048]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

7 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. APHIS-2007-0114]


Imported Fire Ant; Additions to the List of Quarantined Areas

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Affirmation of interim rule as final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim 
rule that amended the imported fire ant regulations by designating as 
quarantined areas all or portions of 2 counties in Arkansas, 3 in North 
Carolina, and 3 in Tennessee, by expanding the quarantined area in 1 
county in Arkansas and 15 in Tennessee, and by designating the entire 
State of South Carolina as a quarantined area. The interim rule was 
necessary to prevent the artificial spread of imported fire ant to 
noninfested areas of the United States. As a result of the interim 
rule, the interstate movement of regulated articles from those 
quarantined areas is restricted.

DATES: Effective on February 5, 2008, we are adopting as a final rule 
the interim rule published at 72 FR 60533-60537 on October 25, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Charles L. Brown, Imported Fire 
Ant Quarantine Program Manager, Pest Detection and Management Programs, 
PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 
734-4838.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The imported fire ant regulations (contained in 7 CFR 301.81 
through 301.81-10 and referred to below as the regulations) quarantine 
infested States or infested areas within States and restrict the 
interstate movement of regulated articles to prevent the artificial 
spread of the imported fire ant. The regulations are intended to 
prevent the imported fire ant from spreading throughout its ecological 
range within the country.
    The regulations in Sec.  301.81-3 provide that the Administrator of 
the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will list as a 
quarantined area each State, or each portion of a State, that is 
infested with the imported fire ant. The Administrator will designate 
less than an entire State as a quarantined area only under the 
following conditions: (1) The State has adopted and is enforcing 
restrictions on the intrastate movement of the regulated articles 
listed in Sec.  301.81-2 that are equivalent to the interstate movement 
restrictions imposed by the regulations; and (2) designating less than 
the entire State will prevent the spread of the imported fire ant. The 
Administrator may include uninfested acreage within a quarantined area 
due to its proximity to an infestation or its inseparability from an 
infested locality for quarantine purposes. In Sec.  301.81-3, paragraph 
(e) lists quarantined areas.
    In an interim rule \1\ effective and published in the Federal 
Register on October 25, 2007 (72 FR 60533-60537, Docket No. APHIS-2007-
0114), we amended Sec.  301.81-3(e) by:
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    \1\ To view the interim rule, go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2007-0114.
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    <bullet> Adding all of Lonoke and Yell Counties, AR, to the 
quarantined area;
    <bullet> Expanding the quarantined area in Faulkner County, AR, to 
include the entirety of the county;
    <bullet> Adding portions of Iredell, Lincoln, and Rutherford 
Counties, NC, to the list of quarantined areas;
    <bullet> Expanding the quarantined areas in Cherokee, Greenville, 
and Spartanburg Counties, SC, to include the entirety of each county, 
with the result that the entire State of South Carolina is now 
designated as a quarantined area;
    <bullet> Adding portions of Crockett, Morgan, and Warren Counties, 
TN, to the list of quarantined areas;
    <bullet> Expanding the quarantined areas in Anderson, Coffee, 
Cumberland, Haywood, Knox, and Williamson Counties, TN; and
    <bullet> Expanding the quarantined areas in Bedford, Benton, 
Bledsoe, Blount, Carroll, Grundy, Hickman, Rutherford,

[[Page 6578]]

and Van Buren Counties, TN, to include the entirety of each county.
    Comments on the interim rule were required to be received on or 
before December 24, 2007. We did not receive any comments. Therefore, 
for the reasons given in the interim rule, we are adopting the interim 
rule as a final rule.
    This action also affirms the information contained in the interim 
rule regarding Executive Order 12866 and the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act, Executive Orders 12372 and 12988, and the Paperwork Reduction Act.
    Further, for this action, the Office of Management and Budget has 
waived its review under Executive Order 12866.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 301

    Agricultural commodities, Plant diseases and pests, Quarantine, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.

PART 301--DOMESTIC QUARANTINE NOTICES

0
Accordingly, we are adopting as a final rule, without change, the 
interim rule that amended 7 CFR part 301 and that was published at 72 
FR 60533-60537 on October 25, 2007.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 30th day of January 2008.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
 [FR Doc. E8-2048 Filed 2-4-08; 8:45 am]
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