Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 8, 2008 / Notices 58925 

review. A formal request for 

nominations for membership is 

published in the Federal Register. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of 

September 2008. 

Boyd K. Rutherford, 

Assistant Secretary for Administration. 

[FR Doc. E8–23854 Filed 10–7–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2008–0119] 

Implementation of Revised Lacey Act 

Provisions 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Food, Conservation, and 

Energy Act of 2008 amended the Lacey 

Act to provide, among other things, that 

importers submit a declaration at the 

time of importation for certain plants 

and plant products. The declaration 

requirements of the Lacey Act become 

effective on December 15, 2008. The 

purpose of this notice is to inform the 

public about the new Lacey Act 

provisions, particularly the declaration 

requirements and the Federal 

Government’s plan to implement and 

enforce the declaration requirements. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before December 

8, 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=APHIS=2008=0119 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–2008–0119, 

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– 

2008–0119. 

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: Mr. 

Alex Belano, Assistant Branch Chief, 

Commodity Import Analysis and 

Operations, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737– 

1231; (301) 734–8758. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Lacey Act, first enacted in 1900 

and significantly amended in 1981, is 

the United States’ oldest wildlife 

protection statute. The Act combats 

trafficking in ‘‘illegal’’ wildlife, fish, and 

plants. The Food, Conservation, and 

Energy Act of 2008, effective May 22, 

2008, amended the Lacey Act by 

expanding its protection to a broader 

range of plants and plant products 

(Section 8204. Prevention of Illegal 

Logging Practices). As of May 22, 2008, 

the Lacey Act makes it unlawful to 

import, export, transport, sell, receive, 

acquire, or purchase in interstate or 

foreign commerce any plant, with some 

limited exceptions, taken, possessed, 

transported or sold in violation of the 

laws of the United States, a State, an 

Indian tribe, or any foreign law that 

protects plants. The Lacey Act also now 

makes it unlawful to make or submit 

any false record, account or label for, or 

any false identification of, any plant 

covered by the Act. 

In addition, Section 3 of the Lacey 

Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 3372), 

makes it unlawful, beginning December 

15, 2008, to import certain plants and 

plant products without an import 

declaration. The U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is 

working with a larger interagency group 

composed of representatives from U.S. 

Forest Service, Customs and Border 

Protection (CBP), U.S. Trade 

Representative (USTR), U.S. Department 

of Justice, U.S. Department of State, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), 

Council on Environmental Quality, and 

Department of Commerce, to implement 

the new provisions. 

Under the amended Lacey Act, 

beginning December 15, 2008, importers 

are required to submit a declaration for 

certain plants and plant products. The 

declaration must contain, among other 

things, the scientific name of the plant, 

value of the importation, quantity of the 

plant, and name of the country from 

which the plant was harvested. For 

paper and paperboard products with 

recycled plant content, the importer will 

not be required to specify the species or 

country of harvest with respect to the 

recycled plant product component, but 

will be required to provide the average 

percent recycled content. If the product 

also contains non-recycled plant 

materials, the basic declaration 

requirements still apply to that 

component of the product imported. For 

plant products (as opposed to plants), if 

the plant species from which they are 

made varies and are unknown, 

importers will have to declare the name 

of each species that may have been used 

to produce the product. Similarly, if a 

plant product is made of plant species 

commonly harvested in more than one 

country, and the country is unknown, 

the importer will be required to declare 

the name of each country from which 

the plant may have been harvested. 

Violations of the Lacey Act provisions 

may be prosecuted in three basic ways: 

(1) Civil—monetary penalties; (2) 

criminal—fines and penalties and 

potential incarceration; or (3) 

forfeiture—dispossession of the plant, 

fish, or wildlife in question. 

Scope of Plants and Plant Products 

Covered 

Under the Lacey Act, as amended, 

‘‘Plant’’ means: ‘‘Any wild member of 

the plant kingdom, including roots, 

seeds, parts or product thereof, and 

including trees from either natural or 

planted forest stands.’’ There are three 

categorical exemptions: 

1. Common cultivars, except trees, 

and common food crops (including 

roots, seeds, parts, or products thereof); 

2. Scientific specimens of plant 

genetic material (including roots, seeds, 

germplasm, parts, or products thereof) 

that are to be used only for laboratory 

or field research; 

3. Plants that are to remain planted or 

to be planted or replanted. 

The amendments, including the 

declaration requirements, still apply for 

items described under 2 and 3 if the 

plant is listed: 

• In an appendix to the Convention 

on International Trade in Endangered 

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (27 

UST 1087; TIAS 8249) (CITES); 

• As an endangered or threatened 

species under the Endangered Species 

Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

(ESA); or 

• Pursuant to any State law that 

provides for the conservation of species 

that are indigenous to the State and are 

threatened with extinction. 

All covered plants and plant products 

will require an import declaration, 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
58926 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 8, 2008 / Notices 

except for those used exclusively as 

packaging material to support, protect, 

or carry another item, unless the 

packaging material itself is the item 

being imported. Thus, the scope of 

products that will require a declaration 

under the Lacey Act is broad and 

includes certain live plants, plant parts, 

lumber, wood pulp, paper and 

paperboard, and products containing 

certain plant material or products, 

which may include certain furniture, 

tools, umbrellas, sporting goods, printed 

matter, musical instruments, products 

manufactured from plant-based resins, 

and textiles. 

USDA and the Department of the 

Interior have been given authority under 

the Lacey Act to define the terms 

‘‘common cultivar’’ and ‘‘common food 

crop.’’ APHIS and FWS are currently 

working on a joint rulemaking that will 

define those terms, thus clarifying the 

application of the declaration 

requirements. 

Implementation Plan for Declaration 

Requirements 

CBP already collects some of the 

information that the Lacey Act 

amendments require importers to 

include in their declaration. CBP is 

currently developing an electronic 

system that will collect the remaining 

data required to be declared, and we 

intend to begin enforcement of the 

declaration requirements upon 

completion of the electronic system. 

CBP anticipates completing the 

electronic system by April 1, 2009. We 

will publish a notice in the Federal 

Register announcing the specific dates 

in which enforcement of the declaration 

requirements will begin once the 

electronic system is near completion. 

Once the electronic system is 

completed, all agencies with Lacey Act 

enforcement authority will employ a 

phase-in approach to enforcement of the 

Lacey Act declaration requirements. 

Prior to the availability of electronic 

filing, from December 15, 2008, to April 

1, 2009, or as soon thereafter as the 

electronic system is available, APHIS 

will make a paper declaration form 

available for voluntary submission. No 

agencies with Lacey Act enforcement 

authority will bring prosecutions or 

forfeiture actions for failing to complete 

the paper declaration form before the 

electronic system for data collection is 

available (April 1, 2009, or after); 

however, any person who submits a 

form containing false information may 

be prosecuted. 

On April 1, 2009, or as soon thereafter 

as the electronic system for collecting 

the declaration is available, we will 

begin enforcement of the declaration for 

wood and certain wood products and 

certain live plants and related products 

(see table below). During the initial few 

months of phase-in for any group of 

products, enforcement agencies will 

take into consideration in their actions 

and decisions any technical issues that 

may be encountered in the initial 

process of implementing the electronic 

filing system. The proposed phase-in 

enforcement schedule through 

September 30, 2009, is described in the 

table below. 

PROPOSED PHASE-IN SCHEDULE OF ENFORCEMENT OF THE DECLARATION REQUIREMENTS FOR GOODS OF, OR

CONTAINING, PLANTS OR PLANT PRODUCTS*

[Specific goods may be exempt **] 

I II III 

Present—March 2009 Beginning April 1, 2009 (or as soon thereafter as an 

electronic system is available) 

Beginning July 1, 2009 

(approximate) 

PPQ Plant Import Declaration Form will be available 

on Web site, and accepted after Dec. 15, 2008.

Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) Chapters: ............

Ch. 44 (wood & articles of wood) ............................

HTS Chapters: 

Ch. 47 (wood pulp). 

Ch. 48 (paper & articles of). 

Ch. 92 (musical instruments). 

Ch. 94 (furniture). 

Domestic and International Outreach .......................... Ch. 6 (live trees, plants, bulbs, cut flowers, ornamental foliage, etc.).Plus chapters included in Phase 

II. 

Note: Chapter descriptions are for ease of reference only. * Declaration requirements are effective as of Dec.15, 2008. All declarations submitted must be accurate; false statements are enforceable. 

Failure to submit a declaration will not be prosecuted, and customs clearance will not be denied for lack of a declaration until after the phase-in 

date above. **Example: In HTS Ch. 6, most live plants not listed under CITES, the ESA, or certain State laws would be exempt from these declaration requirements. See the Lacey Act regarding further exemptions. 

After September 30, 2009, based on 

experience with the implementation of 

the electronic system for declaration 

data collection, we will phase in 

enforcement of the declaration 

requirements for additional chapters 

containing plants and plant products 

covered by the Lacey Act, including (but 

not limited to) Ch. 12 (oil seeds, misc. 

grain, seed, fruit, plant, etc.), Ch. 13 

(gums, lacs, resins, vegetable saps, 

extracts, etc.), Ch. 14 (vegetable plaiting 

materials and products not elsewhere 

specified or included), Ch. 45 (cork and 

articles of), Ch. 46 (basket ware and 

wickerwork), Ch. 66 (umbrellas, walking 

sticks, riding crops), Ch. 82 (tools), Ch. 

93 (guns), Ch. 95 (toys, games and 

sporting equipment), Ch. 96 (brooms, 

pencils, and buttons), and Ch. 97 (works 

of art). We will announce a specific 

phase-in schedule for those chapters in 

a subsequent Federal Register notice. 

Information Collection 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

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

et seq.), APHIS is currently seeking 

Office of Management and Budget 

emergency approval to collect 

information that the Lacey Act requires 

importers to include in the declaration 

and that is not already being collected 

for other purposes. APHIS is also 

requesting emergency approval of a 

paper form that may be used for 

declarations. The emergency approval 

will be valid for 6 months and will 

allow us to collect the information and 

make the paper form available for 

immediate use. Once we have this 

emergency approval, APHIS will 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

announcing the availability of the paper 

form and soliciting comments from the 

public (as well as affected agencies) on 

these information collection 

requirements and stating our intention 

to request an extension of the 6-month 

approval. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 8, 2008 / Notices 58927 

Public Meeting 

We are advising the public that we are 

hosting a public meeting on 

implementation of the amendments to 

the Lacey Act on October 14, 2008, from 

10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The meeting will be 

held in the Jefferson Auditorium, South 

Agriculture Building, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC. 

Participants should enter the South 

Agriculture Building through the 7th 

wing entrance of the building located at 

Independence Avenue and 14th Street. 

Valid photo identification is required 

for clearance by building security 

personnel. Please arrive 30 minutes 

prior to the scheduled start of the 

meeting. The purpose of the meeting is 

to provide the public with information 

on the declaration requirements and 

declaration enforcement phase-in plan, 

enforcement of provisions that are 

already in effect, scope, and other 

related issues, as well as to provide the 

public with an opportunity to ask 

questions of the agencies involved in 

the implementation of the declaration 

requirements and enforcement of the 

Act. 

If you require special 

accommodations, such as a sign 

language interpreter, please contact the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

Additional meetings are likely to be 

held this winter near key port locations 

in the United States. We will announce 

the locations and dates of those 

meetings in the Federal Register. 

Additional Information 

APHIS will provide the latest 

information regarding the Lacey Act on 

our Web site, http:// 

www.aphis.usda.gov. The Web site 

currently contains the Lacey Act, as 

amended; a Microsoft PowerPoint 

presentation covering background and 

context, new requirements, 

commodities and products covered, 

information on prohibitions, and the 

current status of implementation of the 

declaration requirements of the Lacey 

Act; frequently asked questions; and the 

phase-in implementation plan. The Web 

site will be updated as new materials 

become available. Persons interested in 

receiving timely updates on APHIS’ 

Lacey Act efforts should register for our 

stakeholder registry at https:// 

web01.aphis.usda.gov/ 

PPQStakeWeb2.nsf and select ’’Lacey 

Act Declaration’’ as a topic of interest. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 3rd day of 

October 2008. 

Cindy J. Smith, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–23984 Filed 10–7–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Dakota Prairie Grasslands; North 

Dakota; Dakota Prairie Grasslands 

Land and Resource Plan Amendment 

and Site Specific Projects for the 

Elkhorn Ranchlands 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is 

to inform the public that the Forest 

Service intends to prepare an 

environmental impact statement for 

amending the Dakota Prairie Grasslands 

Land and Resource Management Plan 

(DPG Plan) pursuant to 16 U.S.C. 

1604(f)(5) and 36 CFR 219.12. This 

includes approving certain site specific 

projects associated with the same lands. 

The National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA), the Forest and Rangeland 

Renewable Resources Planning Act 

(RPA) and the National Forest 

Management Act (NFMA) are among the 

laws that set forth the requirements for 

Forest Service planning. This DPG Plan 

amendment will determine management 

direction including land-use 

determinations, management area 

prescriptions, and standards and 

guidelines. 

The need for the DPG Plan 

amendment results from the recent 

acquisition of 5,200 acres of private 

land, the majority of which lie in a solid 

block east of the Little Missouri River in 

Billings County, North Dakota. Site 

specific project proposals relate to: (1) 

Restoring ecological functions and 

wildlife habitat, (2) improving livestock 

grazing opportunities, (3) enhancing 

heritage and recreation opportunities, 

and 4) promoting conservation 

activities. 

Respondents are encouraged to review 

grassland planning documents and the 

final response to the Scientific Review 

Team Report for more information on 

woody and riparian communities’ 

restoration, prescribed burning, grazing 

management issues, and drought 

management strategies. Documents are 

available at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/ 

dakotaprairie/ and http://www.fs.fed.us/ 

ngp. 

The Forest Service will be soliciting 

comments from individuals, state and 

local governments, American Indians, 

federal agencies, and organizations on 

the scope of the analysis specific to this 

DPG Plan amendment and the sitespecific projects proposed. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received within 

45 days of the scoping letter. The draft 

environmental impact statement is 

expected in late May 2009 and the final 

environmental impact statement is 

expected November 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments 

to: Sherri Schwenke, DPG Plan 

Amendment Interdisciplinary Team 

Leader, Dakota Prairie Grasslands, 240 

W. Century Avenue, Bismarck, North 

Dakota 58503 or by e-mail to: 

comments-northern-dakotaprairie@fs.fed.us. When commenting by 

e-mail, please be sure to list LRMP 

Amendment in the subject line and 

provide a U.S. Postal Service address so 

that we may add you to our mailing list. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sherri Schwenke, DPG Plan 

Amendment Interdisciplinary Team 

Leader, Dakota Prairie Grasslands, 240 

W. Century Avenue, Bismarck, North 

Dakota 58503. 

Background Information 

The USDA Forest Service manages 

over 190 million acres of public land in 

the United States of America. These 

public lands are managed in accordance 

with numerous laws enacted by 

Congress including the Bankhead-Jones 

Farm Tenant Act (BJFTA), the National 

Forest Management Act (NFMA), 16 

U.S.C. 1604 et seq. and the Multiple-Use 

Sustained Yield Act (MUSYA) 16 U.S.C. 

528 et seq. which directs the agency to 

provide for the multiple use and 

sustained yield of the National Forest 

System lands. In addition, Congress has 

instructed the agency to develop land 

and resource management plans for the 

public land it manages (NFMA, 16 

U.S.C. 1604(a)), which includes the 

involvement of the American public in 

the planning process (NFMA, 16 U.S.C. 

1604(d)). Of the public land managed by 

the Forest Service, approximately 4 

million of those acres are National 

Grasslands. The National Grasslands lie 

primarily within the Great Plains states, 

with roughly 1.1 million of those acres 

occurring in North Dakota. The Little 

Missouri National Grassland in western 

North Dakota comprises over 1 million 

of those and is managed under BJFTA, 

NFMA and other authorities of the 

Forest Service. The National Grasslands 

in North Dakota are managed by the 

Forest Service as part of the Dakota 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES