This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

52775 

Vol. 73, No. 177 

Thursday, September 11, 2008 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

9 CFR Part 77 

[Docket No. APHIS–2008–0068] 

Tuberculosis; Amend the Status of 

New Mexico From Accredited Free to 

Modified Accredited Advanced 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Interim rule and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: We are amending the 

regulations to remove a zone in New 

Mexico from the list of accredited-free 

zones for bovine tuberculosis and 

reclassify the entire State as modified 

accredited advanced. Because two 

affected herds have been detected in 

New Mexico’s accredited-free zone 

since May 2007, the zone no longer 

meets our requirements for accreditedfree status. This action is necessary to 

reduce the likelihood of the spread of 

bovine tuberculosis within the United 

States. 

DATES: This interim rule is effective 

September 11, 2008. We will consider 

all comments that we receive on or 

before November 10, 2008. 

Compliance Date: The date for 

complying with certain requirements of 

9 CFR 77.10 for sexually intact heifers, 

steers, and spayed heifers moving 

interstate from New Mexico is delayed 

until further notice (see ‘‘Delay in 

Compliance’’ under SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION). The compliance date for 

all other provisions in 9 CFR part 77 

applicable to the interstate movement of 

cattle and bison from the State of New 

Mexico is September 11, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/ 

component/ 

main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS2008-0068 to submit or view comments 

and to view supporting and related 

materials available electronically. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Please send two copies of your comment 

to Docket No. APHIS–2008–0068, 

Regulatory Analysis and Development, 

PPD, APHIS, Station 3A–03.8, 4700 

River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1238. Please state that your 

comment refers to Docket No. APHIS– 

2008–0068. 

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: Additional 

information about APHIS and its 

programs is available on the Internet at 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

C. William Hench, Senior Staff 

Veterinarian, National Tuberculosis 

Eradication Program, Veterinary 

Services, APHIS, 2150 Centre Ave., 

Bldg. B, MSC 3E20, Ft. Collins, CO 

80526; (970) 494–7378. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Bovine tuberculosis is a contagious 

and infectious granulomatous disease 

caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium 

bovis. Although commonly defined as a 

chronic debilitating disease, bovine 

tuberculosis can occasionally assume an 

acute, rapidly progressive course. While 

any body tissue can be affected, lesions 

are most frequently observed in the 

lymph nodes, lungs, intestines, liver, 

spleen, pleura, and peritoneum. 

Although cattle are considered to be the 

true hosts of M. bovis, the disease has 

been reported in several other species of 

both domestic and nondomestic 

animals, as well as in humans. 

At the beginning of the past century, 

tuberculosis caused more losses of 

livestock than all other livestock 

diseases combined. This prompted the 

establishment in the United States of the 

National Cooperative State/Federal 

Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication 

Program for tuberculosis in livestock. 

In carrying out the national 

eradication program, the Animal and 

Plant Health Inspection Service issues 

and enforces regulations. The 

regulations require the testing of cattle 

and bison for tuberculosis, define the 

Federal tuberculosis status levels for 

States or zones (accredited-free, 

modified accredited advanced, modified 

accredited, accreditation preparatory, 

and nonaccredited), provide the criteria 

for attaining and maintaining those 

status levels, and contain testing and 

movement requirements for cattle and 

bison leaving States or zones of a 

particular status level. These regulations 

are contained in 9 CFR part 77 and in 

the Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication 

Uniform Methods and Rules, 1999, 

which is incorporated by reference into 

the regulations. 

Section 77.7 of the regulations lists 

accredited-free States and zones and 

also contains requirements for retention 

of accredited-free status. Under 

§ 77.7(c), if two or more affected herds 

are detected in an accredited-free State 

or zone within a 48-month period, that 

State or zone will be removed from the 

list of accredited-free States or zones 

and will be reclassified as modified 

accredited advanced. 

The State of New Mexico has been 

divided into two zones for the purpose 

of tuberculosis status classification, 

with one listed in § 77.7(b)(2) as 

accredited-free and a second listed in 

§ 77.9(b)(2) as modified accredited 

advanced. New Mexico has had an 

ongoing investigation to detect bovine 

tuberculosis in domestic cattle herds 

since April 2007, when an 

epidemiological investigation of a 

tuberculosis-positive cow found through 

slaughter surveillance confirmed an 

affected dairy herd in the accreditedfree zone. Recently, a second affected 

herd was identified in the same zone. 

The finding of the second affected herd 

within a 48 month period means that 

the zone no longer meets the 

requirements for accredited-free status. 

Therefore, we are reclassifying the 

entire State of New Mexico as modified 

accredited advanced. This action is 

necessary to reduce the likelihood of the 

spread of tuberculosis within the United 

States. 

As a result of this action, cattle or 

bison being moved interstate from 


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52776 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 177 / Thursday, September 11, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 

1New Mexico’s accredited-free zone was 

established in a subsequent interim rule, effective 

and published in the Federal Register on July 22, 

2005 (70 FR 42259–42261, Docket No. 04–068–1). 

anywhere in New Mexico will now have 

to meet the testing requirements that 

apply to animals from modified 

accredited advanced States or zones. 

Under the regulations in § 77.10, cattle 

or bison that originate in a modified 

accredited advanced State or zone, and 

are not known to be infected with or 

exposed to tuberculosis, may be moved 

interstate only under one of the 

following conditions: 

• The cattle or bison are moved 

directly to slaughter at an approved 

slaughtering establishment (§ 77.10(a)); 

• The cattle or bison are sexually 

intact heifers moved to an approved 

feedlot, or are steers or spayed heifers; 

and are either officially identified or 

identified by premises of origin 

identification (§ 77.10(b)); 

• The cattle or bison are from an 

accredited herd and are accompanied by 

a certificate stating that the accredited 

herd completed the testing necessary for 

accredited status with negative results 

within 1 year prior to the date of 

movement (§ 77.10(c)); or 

• The cattle or bison are sexually 

intact animals, are not from an 

accredited herd, are officially identified, 

and are accompanied by a certificate 

stating that they were negative to an 

official tuberculin test conducted within 

60 days prior to the date of movement 

(§ 77.10(d)). 

Delay in Compliance 

Previous rulemaking changing the 

tuberculosis classifications of the States 

of Texas, California, New Mexico, and 

Minnesota from accredited free to 

modified accredited advanced allowed 

for delayed compliance with certain 

provisions of § 77.10. The interim rule 

that amended the classification of Texas 

was effective June 3, 2002, and 

published in the Federal Register on 

June 6, 2002 (67 FR 38841–38844, 

Docket No. 02–021–1); in a document 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 31, 2002, the date by which 

Texas had to comply with certain 

provisions of § 77.10 was extended from 

January 1, 2003, to September 30, 2003 

(67 FR 79836–79837, Docket No. 02–

021–3). The interim rule that amended 

the classification of California was 

effective and published in the Federal 

Register on April 25, 2003 (68 FR 

20333–20336, Docket No. 03–005–1). 

The interim rule that amended the 

classification of New Mexico was 

effective and published in the Federal 

Register on July 24, 2003 (68 FR 43618–

43621, Docket No. 03–044–1).1 The 

2003 interim rules changing the statuses 

of California and New Mexico from 

accredited-free to modified accredited 

advanced also allowed for a delay in the 

compliance date for certain provisions 

of § 77.10 until September 30, 2003. 

The specific provisions of § 77.10 for 

which we delayed the compliance date 

were as follows: 

• The identification of sexually intact 

heifers moving to approved feedlots and 

steers and spayed heifers moving to any 

destination (§ 77.10(b)); 

• The identification requirements for 

sexually intact heifers moving to 

feedlots that are not approved feedlots 

(§ 77.10(d)); and 

• Because identification is required 

for certification, the certification 

requirements for sexually intact heifers 

moving to unapproved feedlots 

(§ 77.10(d)). 

Initially, we had delayed the date of 

compliance with these requirements for 

the State of Texas until September 30, 

2003, for two reasons. First, the size of 

the cattle industry in Texas necessitated 

additional time to implement the 

identification requirements of the 

regulations. Second, some cattle that 

had begun moving through channels 

prior to the change in Texas’

tuberculosis status would not have been 

identified at their premises of origin. 

The compliance date was delayed for 

California and New Mexico to provide 

equitable treatment for producers in 

those States. 

Based on the comments that we 

received on the interim rule for Texas, 

we concluded that the tuberculosis risk 

associated with the movement of 

nonbreeding cattle from modified 

accredited advanced States or zones 

through feeder channels to slaughter is 

low and that identification requirements 

for certain cattle destined for slaughter 

may be unnecessary. Therefore, on 

March 22, 2004, we published in the 

Federal Register (69 FR 13218–13219, 

Docket No. 03–072–2) an interim rule 

further delaying the date for compliance 

with the identification and certification 

requirements of § 77.10(b) and (d) for 

nonbreeding cattle from the States of 

Texas, California, and New Mexico, 

until further notice. The interim rule 

published in the Federal Register on 

January 30, 2006 (71 FR 4808–4810, 

Docket No. APHIS–2006–0004) 

changing the status of Minnesota from 

accredited-free to modified accredited 

advanced also allowed for a delay in the 

compliance date for certain provisions 

of § 77.10 until further notice. This 

delay of the date for compliance with 

the provisions of § 77.10 listed above 

also applies to the current rulemaking 

changing the tuberculosis status of a 

zone in New Mexico from accreditedfree to modified accredited advanced. 

Emergency Action 

This rulemaking is necessary on an 

emergency basis to prevent the spread of 

bovine tuberculosis within the United 

States. Under these circumstances, the 

Administrator has determined that prior 

notice and opportunity for public 

comment are contrary to the public 

interest and that there is good cause 

under 5 U.S.C. 553 for making this rule 

effective less than 30 days after 

publication in the Federal Register. 

We will consider comments we 

receive during the comment period for 

this interim rule (see DATES above). 

After the comment period closes, we 

will publish another document in the 

Federal Register. The document will 

include a discussion of any comments 

we receive and any amendments we are 

making to the rule. 

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. 

This emergency situation makes 

timely compliance with section 603 of 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 

601 et seq.) impracticable. We are 

currently assessing the potential 

economic effects of this action on small 

entities. Based on that assessment, we 

will either certify that the rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities or 

publish a regulatory flexibility analysis. 

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 

State and local officials. (See 7 CFR part 

3015, subpart V.) 

Executive Order 12988 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform. This rule: (1) Preempts all State 

and local laws and regulations that are 

in conflict with this rule; (2) has no 

retroactive effect; and (3) does not 

require administrative proceedings 

before parties may file suit in court 

challenging this rule. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This rule contains no new 

information collection or recordkeeping 

requirements under the Paperwork 


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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 177 / Thursday, September 11, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 52777 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 

et seq.). 

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 77 

Animal diseases, Bison, Cattle, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Transportation, 

Tuberculosis. 

■ Accordingly, we are amending 9 CFR 

part 77 as follows: 

PART 77—TUBERCULOSIS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 77 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 8301–8317; 7 CFR 2.22, 

2.80, and 371.4. 

§ 77.7 [Amended] 

■ 2. Section 77.7, paragraph (b), is 

amended by removing the paragraph 

number ‘‘(1)’’ and by removing 

paragraph (b)(2). 

§ 77.9 [Amended] 

■ 3. Section 77.9 is amended as follows: 

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

word ‘‘None’’ and adding the words 

‘‘New Mexico’’ in its place. 

■ b. In paragraph (b), by removing the 

paragraph number ‘‘(1)’’ and by 

removing paragraph (b)(2). 

Done in Washington, DC, this 5th day of 

September 2008. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–21117 Filed 9–10–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2008–0449; Directorate 

Identifier 2007–SW–10–AD; Amendment 39–

15669; AD 2008–19–02] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Bell 

Helicopter Textron Canada Model 222, 

222B, 222U, 230, and 430 Helicopters 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration, DOT. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are superseding an 

existing airworthiness directive (AD) for 

Bell Helicopter Textron Canada (Bell) 

Model 222, 222B, 222U, 230, and 430 

helicopters. That AD currently requires 

visually inspecting the main rotor 

hydraulic actuator support (support) to 

verify the presence of all dowel pins 

and sealant between the support and 

transmission and verifying the proper 

torque of each attaching nut (nut). This 

AD requires the same actions as the 

existing AD and also requires repetitive 

actions at intervals not to exceed 600 

hours time-in-service (TIS) or 12 

months, whichever occurs first. This AD 

is prompted by the discovery that a 12- 

month compliance requirement was 

correctly included in an Emergency AD 

(EAD) that we issued but was 

inadvertently omitted when we 

published the Final rule; request for 

comments following the issuance of the 

EAD. The actions specified by this AD 

are intended to prevent failure of the 

support and subsequent loss of control 

of the helicopter. 

DATES: Effective October 16, 2008. 

The incorporation by reference of Bell 

Helicopter Textron Alert Service 

Bulletin Nos. 222–00–86, 222U–00–57, 

230–00–18, and 430–00–17, all dated 

May 19, 2000, was approved previously 

for incorporation by reference by the 

Director of the Federal Register on 

March 2, 2001 (66 FR 10361, February 

15, 2001). 

ADDRESSES: You may examine the AD 

docket on the Internet at http:// 

regulations.gov or in person at the 

Docket Operations office, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, M–30, 

West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

Washington, DC between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m. Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

You may get the service information 

identified in this AD from Bell 

Helicopter Textron Canada, 12,800 Rue 

de l’Avenir, Mirabel, Quebec J7J1R4, 

telephone (450) 437–2862 or (800) 363–

8023, fax (450) 433–0272. 

Examining the AD Docket: The AD 

docket contains the Notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM), the economic 

evaluation, any comments received, and 

other information. The street address 

and operating hours for the Docket 

Operations office (telephone (800) 647–

5527) are in the ADDRESSES section of 

this AD. Comments will be available in 

the AD docket shortly after they are 

received. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tyrone Millard, Aerospace Engineer, 

FAA, Rotorcraft Directorate, Rotorcraft 

Standards Staff, Fort Worth, Texas 

76193–0110, telephone (817) 222–5439, 

fax (817) 222–5961. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 5, 2001, we issued EAD 2001–

01–51 for Bell Model 222, 222B, 222U, 

230, and 430 helicopters which 

requires, at specified time intervals, 

visually inspecting the support for the 

presence of all dowel pins and sealant 

between the support and transmission 

and verifying the proper torque of each 

nut. That action was prompted by the 

failure of a support resulting in an 

accident of a Bell Model 222U 

helicopter. All retaining studs and shear 

pins were found sheared or pulled out 

at the junction between the support and 

transmission case. The requirements of 

that EAD are intended to prevent failure 

of the support and subsequent loss of 

control of the helicopter. 

On February 2, 2001, we issued AD 

2001–01–51, Amendment 39–12105, 

Docket No. 2000–SW–54–AD as a Final 

rule; request for comments (66 FR 

10361, February 15, 2001). Since issuing 

that AD, we discovered that we 

inadvertently omitted the phrase ‘‘or 12 

months, whichever occurs first,’’ from 

compliance paragraph (a) of the 

published final rule AD. Because the 

two versions of AD 2001–01–51 have 

different compliance times, we issued 

an NPRM on April 14, 2008 (73 FR 

21853, April 23, 2008) proposing to 

supersede AD 2001–01–51 and require 

the following: 

• Within 25 hours TIS, and thereafter 

at intervals not to exceed 600 hours TIS 

or 12 months, whichever occurs first: 

• Visually inspecting the support 

and, if any pin is missing or if there is 

no sealant visible, further inspecting the 

support, the transmission case, studs, 

and dowel pins and repairing or 

replacing any unairworthy part before 

further flight; 

• Verifying the torque of the nuts and, 

depending on the location and number 

of loose nuts, before further flight: 

• Removing the support and further 

inspecting the support, transmission 

case, studs, and dowel pins and 

repairing or replacing any unairworthy 

part; and 

• Retorqueing certain nuts; 

• At not less than 20 hours TIS nor 

more than 30 hours TIS after reinstalling 

a support for any reason, verifying the 

torque of the nuts. 

By publishing the NPRM, we gave the 

public an opportunity to participate in 

developing this AD. However, we 

received no comment on the NPRM or 

on our determination of the cost to the 

public. Therefore, based on our review 

and evaluation of the available data, we 

have determined that air safety and the 

public interest require adopting the AD 

as proposed. 

We have reviewed Bell Alert Service 

Bulletin Nos. 222–00–86, 222U–00–57, 

230–00–18, and 430–00–17, all dated 

May 19, 2000 (ASB’s), which specify, 

within 25 hours TIS, conducting a onetime inspection of the support 

installation by accomplishing a torque 

check of the support attaching nuts. In 


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