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

32787 

Vol. 74, No. 130 

Thursday, July 9, 2009 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Office of the Secretary 

7 CFR Part 1 

[Docket No. APHIS–2009–0039] 

Rules of Practice for Certain 

Adjudicatory Proceedings; 

Possession, Use, and Transfer of 

Select Agents and Toxins 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are amending the 

administrative regulations of the Office 

of the Secretary of Agriculture to 

provide that the rules of practice 

contained in those regulations shall be 

applicable to adjudicatory proceedings 

under the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service’s regulations 

pertaining to the possession, use, and 

transfer of select agents and toxins. This 

final rule is necessary to clarify the rules 

of practice that will apply to the 

adjudication of a violation of regulations 

pertaining to the regulation of select 

agents and toxins. 

DATES: Effective Date: July 9, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Steve O’Neill, Chief, Regulatory 

Analysis and Development, PPD, 

APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 118, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238; (301) 734– 

8682. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Public Health Security and 

Bioterrorism Preparedness and 

Response Act of 2002, Title II, 

‘‘Enhancing Controls on Dangerous 

Biological Agents and Toxins’’ (sections 

201 through 231), provides for the 

regulation of certain biological agents 

and toxins by the Department of Health 

and Human Services (subtitle A, 

sections 201–204) and the Department 

of Agriculture (subtitle B, sections 211– 

213), and provides for interagency 

coordination between the two 

departments regarding overlap agents 

and toxins (subtitle C, section 221). For 

the Department of Health and Human 

Services, the Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention (CDC) has been 

designated as the agency with primary 

responsibility for implementing the 

provisions of the Act; the Animal and 

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

is the agency fulfilling that role for the 

Department of Agriculture. 

In accordance with those statutory 

provisions, on August 12, 2002, APHIS 

published in the Federal Register (67 

FR 52383–52389) an interim rule that 

established the initial lists of biological 

agents and toxins and set out the 

manner in which persons in possession 

of listed agents and toxins were to 

provide notice of such possession. 

Section 212 of the Act also required 

the Secretary of Agriculture to provide 

by regulation for the establishment and 

enforcement of standards and 

procedures governing the possession, 

use, and transfer of listed biological 

agents and toxins in order to protect 

animal and plant health, and animal 

and plant products. Specifically, 

sections 212(b) and (c) required that the 

Secretary: 

• Establish and enforce safety 

procedures for listed agents and toxins, 

including measures to ensure proper 

training and appropriate skills to handle 

agents and toxins, and proper laboratory 

facilities to contain and dispose of 

agents and toxins; 

• Establish and enforce safeguard and 

security measures to prevent access to 

listed agents and toxins for use in 

domestic or international terrorism or 

for any other criminal purpose; 

• Establish procedures to protect 

animal and plant health, and animal 

and plant products, in the event of a 

transfer or potential transfer of a listed 

agent or toxin in violation of the safety 

procedures and safeguard and security 

measures established by the Secretary; 

and 

• Ensure appropriate availability of 

biological agents and toxins for 

research, education, and other 

legitimate purposes. 

In an interim rule published in the 

Federal Register on December 13, 2002 

(67 FR 76908–76938) and effective on 

February 11, 2003, APHIS established 

regulations in 7 CFR part 331 and 9 CFR 

part 121 governing the possession, use, 

and transfer of biological agents and 

toxins that have been determined to 

have the potential to pose a severe 

threat to both human and animal health, 

to animal health, to plant health, or to 

animal or plant products. APHIS 

adopted its December 2002 interim rule 

as a final rule in a document published 

in the Federal Register on March 18, 

2005 (70 FR 13242–13292). 

Section 212(i) of the Act provides that 

persons who violate the regulations are 

subject to civil penalties not to exceed 

$250,000 in the case of an individual 

and $500,000 in the case of any other 

person. APHIS is amending the 

administrative regulations of the Office 

of the Secretary in 7 CFR 1.31 to provide 

that the uniform rules of practice for the 

Department of Agriculture promulgated 

in 7 CFR part 1, subpart H, are 

applicable to adjudicatory, 

administrative proceedings to assess 

civil penalties for violations of APHIS’ 

regulations governing the possession, 

use, and transfer of select agents and 

toxins. 

This final rule also amends the 

regulations in 7 CFR 1.131 by removing 

references to statutory provisions that 

were repealed by the Animal Health 

Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.). 

Specifically, in paragraph (a) of that 

section we are removing the following 

references: 

• Act of May 29, 1884, commonly 

known as the Animal Industry Act, 

section 7, as amended (21 U.S.C. 117), 

• Act of August 30, 1890, section 6, 

as amended (21 U.S.C. 104), 

• Act of February 2, 1903, commonly 

known as the Cattle Contagious Diseases 

Act of 1903, section 3, as amended (21 

U.S.C. 122), 

• Act of March 3, 1905, section 6, as 

amended (21 U.S.C. 127), 

• Act of July 2, 1962, section 6(a), as 

amended (21 U.S.C. 134e), and 

• Act of May 6, 1970, section 2, as 

amended (21 U.S.C. 135a). 

Along those same lines, in paragraph 

(b) of § 1.131, we are replacing a 

reference to ‘‘the Animal Quarantine 

and Related Laws (21 U.S.C. 111 et 

seq.)’’ with a reference to the Animal 

Health Protection Act. 

This rule relates to internal agency 

management. Therefore, this rule is 

exempt from the provisions of Executive 

Orders 12866 and 12988. Moreover, 


rmajette on DSK29S0YB1 with RULES
32788 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 130 / Thursday, July 9, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, notice of 

proposed rulemaking and opportunity 

for comment are not required for this 

rule, and it may be made effective less 

than 30 days after publication in the 

Federal Register. In addition, under 5 

U.S.C. 804, this rule is not subject to 

congressional review under the Small 

Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1996, Public Law 104– 

121. Finally, this action is not a rule as 

defined by 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, and thus is 

exempt from the provisions of that Act. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This final 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 in 7 CFR Part 1 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Agriculture, Antitrust, 

Claims, Cooperatives, Courts, Equal 

access to justice, Fraud, Freedom of 

information, Government employees, 

Lawyers, Motion pictures, Penalties, 

Privacy. 

■ Accordingly, we are amending 7 CFR 

part 1 as follows: 

PART 1—ADMINISTRATIVE 

REGULATIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, unless otherwise 

noted. 

Subpart H—Rules of Practice 

Governing Formal Adjudicatory 

Proceedings Instituted by the 

Secretary Under Various Statutes 

§ 1.131 [Amended] 

■ 2. Section 1.131 is amended as 

follows: 

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

entries for ‘‘Act of May 29, 1884, 

commonly known as the Animal 

Industry Act, section 7, as amended (21 

U.S.C. 117).’’, ‘‘Act of August 30, 1890, 

section 6, as amended (21 U.S.C. 104).’’, 

‘‘Act of February 2, 1903, commonly 

known as the Cattle Contagious Diseases 

Act of 1903, section 3, as amended (21 

U.S.C. 122).’’, ‘‘Act of March 3, 1905, 

section 6, as amended (21 U.S.C. 127).’’, 

‘‘Act of July 2, 1962, section 6(a), as 

amended (21 U.S.C. 134e).’’, and ‘‘Act of 

May 6, 1970, section 2, as amended (21 

U.S.C. 135a).’’. 

■ b. In paragraph (a), by adding, in 

alphabetical order, an entry for 

‘‘Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection 

Act of 2002, section 212(i) (7 U.S.C. 

8401(i)).’’. 

■ c. In paragraph (b)(2), by removing the 

words ‘‘Animal Quarantine and Related 

Laws (21 U.S.C. 111 et seq.)’’ and 

adding the words ‘‘Animal Health 

Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.)’’ 

in their place. 

Dated: June 29, 2009. 

Thomas J. Vilsack, 

Secretary of Agriculture. 

[FR Doc. E9–16195 Filed 7–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service 

7 CFR Part 3431 

RIN 0524–AA43 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program (VMLRP) 

AGENCY: Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Interim final rule and request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: This interim final rule 

establishes the process and procedures 

for designating veterinarian shortage 

situations, specifically for the 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program (VMLRP) authorized by the 

National Veterinary Medical Service Act 

(NVMSA) and administered by the 

Cooperative State Research, Education, 

and Extension Service (CSREES) of the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture. CSREES 

will designate geographic and practice 

areas that have a shortage of food supply 

veterinarians in order to carry out the 

VMLRP goals of strengthening the 

nation’s animal health infrastructure 

and supplementing the Federal response 

during animal health emergencies. 

CSREES will carry out NVMSA by 

entering into educational loan 

repayment agreements with 

veterinarians who agree to provide 

veterinary services in veterinarian 

shortage situations for a determined 

period of time. CSREES is establishing 

Subpart A for the designation of the 

veterinarian shortage situations and 

Subpart B for the administration of the 

VMLRP. 

DATES: This rule is effective July 9, 

2009. The Agency must receive 

comments by September 8, 2009 for 

them to be considered in the final rule. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 0524–AA43, by any of 

the following methods: 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

E-mail: vmlrp@csrees.usda.gov. 

Include Regulatory Information Number 

(RIN) number 0524–AA43 in the subject 

line of the message. 

Fax: 202–401–7752. 

Mail: Paper, disk or CD–ROM 

submissions should be submitted to 

Cooperative State Research, Education, 

and Extension Service; U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, STOP 2299, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–2299. 

Hand Delivery/Courier: Cooperative 

State Research, Education, and 

Extension Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Room 2258, Waterfront 

Centre, 800 9th Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20024. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and the 

RIN for this rulemaking. All comments 

received will be posted without change 

to http://www.regulations.gov, including 

any personal information provided. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary 

Sherman, National Program Leader, 

Veterinary Science, Cooperative State 

Research, Education, and Extension 

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

STOP 2220, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250– 

2220; Voice: 202–401–4952; Fax: 202– 

401–6156; e-mail: 

gsherman@csrees.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background and Purpose 

In January 2003, the National 

Veterinary Medical Service Act 

(NVMSA) was passed into law, adding 

section 1415A to the National 

Agricultural Research, Extension, and 

Teaching Policy Act of 1997 

(NARETPA). This law established a new 

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment 

Program (7 U.S.C. 3151a) authorizing 

the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out 

a program of entering into agreements 

with veterinarians under which they 

agree to provide veterinary services in 

veterinarian shortage situations. In 

November 2005, the Agriculture, Rural 

Development, Food and Drug 

Administration, and Related Agencies 

Appropriations Act, 2006 (Pub. L. 109– 

97) appropriated $495,000 for CSREES 

to implement the Veterinary Medicine 

Loan Repayment Program and 

represented the first time funds had 

been appropriated for this program. In 

February 2007, the Revised Continuing 

Appropriations Resolution, 2007 (Pub. 

L. 110–5) appropriated an additional 

$495,000 to CSREES for support of the 

program, and in December 2007, the 


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