36998 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 142 / Monday, July 27, 2009 / Notices 

OMB Control Number: 0596–0201. 

Summary of Collection: Section 323 of 

Public Law 108–7 (16 U.S.C. 2104 Note) 

requires the Forest Service (FS) and 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to 

report to Congress annually on the role 

of local communities in the 

development of agreement or contract 

plans through stewardship contracting. 

To meet that requirement FS plans to 

conduct an annual telephone survey to 

gather the necessary information for use 

by both the FS and BLM in developing 

their separate annual reports to 

Congress. 

Need and Use of the Information: The 

survey will collect information on the 

role of local communities in the 

development of agreement or contract 

plans through stewardship contracting. 

The survey will provide information 

regarding the nature of the local 

community involved in developing 

agreement or contract plans, the nature 

of roles played by the entities involved 

in developing agreement or contract 

plans, the benefits to the community 

and agency by being involved in 

planning and development of contract 

plans, and the usefulness of stewardship 

contracting in helping meet the needs of 

local communities. 

Description of Respondents: 

Individuals or households; business or 

other for-profit; not-for-profit 

institutions; Federal Government; State, 

Local or Tribal Government. 

Number of Respondents: 401. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

Annually. 

Total Burden Hours: 301. 

Charlene Parker, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–17834 Filed 7–24–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2009–0027] 

National Animal Identification System; 

Close of Comment Period 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This is a notice to inform the 

public that the comment period for the 

submission of stakeholder concerns 

related to the implementation of the 

National Animal Identification System 

will be closing on August 3, 2009. The 

comment period opened on May 1, 

2009, with the publication of our first 

notice announcing public meetings on 

the subject. The last meeting was held 

on June 30, 2009, and it was our 

intention to continue to provide the 

public with the option of submitting 

written comments for at least 30 days 

following that final meeting. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before August 3, 

2009. 

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=APHIS2009-0027 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–2009–0027, 

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– 

2009–0027. 

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. 

Adam Grow, Director, Surveillance and 

Identification Programs, National Center 

for Animal Health Programs, VS, 

APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 200, 

Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 734–3752. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As part of 

its ongoing efforts to safeguard animal 

health, the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) initiated 

implementation of a National Animal 

Identification System (NAIS) in 2004. 

The NAIS is a cooperative State-Federalindustry program administered by 

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS). The 

purpose of the NAIS is to provide a 

streamlined information system that 

will help producers and animal health 

officials respond quickly and effectively 

to animal disease events in the United 

States. 

The ultimate long-term goal of the 

NAIS is to provide State and Federal 

officials with the capability to identify 

all animals and premises that have had 

direct contact with a disease of concern 

within 48 hours after discovery. Meeting 

that goal requires a comprehensive 

animal-disease traceability 

infrastructure. An NAIS User Guide and 

a Business Plan, both available on our 

Web site at http:// 

animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/ 

animal_id/index.shtml, provide detailed 

information about our plans for 

implementing the system. 

Despite concerted efforts, APHIS has 

not been able to fully implement the 

NAIS. Many of the same issues that 

producers originally had with the 

system, such as the cost and impact on 

small farmers, privacy and 

confidentiality, and liability, continue 

to cause concern. 

In order to provide individuals and 

organizations an opportunity to discuss 

their concerns regarding the NAIS and 

offer potential solutions, we have held 

14 public meetings throughout the 

country and have been soliciting 

comments via our Web site. 

Our goal is to gather feedback and 

input from a wide range of stakeholders 

to assist us in making an informed 

decision regarding both the future of the 

NAIS and the objectives and direction 

for animal identification and 

traceability. We would particularly 

welcome feedback on the following 

topics: 

• Cost. What are your concerns about 

the cost of the NAIS? What steps would 

you suggest APHIS use to address cost? 

• Impact on small farmers. What are 

your concerns about the effect of the 

NAIS on small farmers? What 

approaches would you suggest APHIS 

take to address the potential impact on 

small farmers? 

• Privacy and confidentiality. What 

are your concerns regarding how the 

NAIS will affect your operation’s 

privacy and/or the confidentiality of 

your operation? What steps or tactics 

would you suggest APHIS use to 

address privacy and confidentiality 

issues? 

• Liability. What are your concerns 

about your operation’s liability under 

the NAIS? What would you suggest 

APHIS consider to address liability 

concerns? 

• Premises registration. Do you have 

any suggestions on how to make 

premises registration, or the 

identification of farm or ranch locations, 

easier for stakeholders? How should we 

address your concerns regarding 

premises registration? 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 142 / Monday, July 27, 2009 / Notices 36999 

1A list of pest-free-areas currently recognized by 

APHIS can be found at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ 

import_export/plant/manuals/ports/downloads/ 

DesignatedPestFreeAeas.pdf. 

• Animal identification. Do you have 

any suggestions on how to make animal 

identification practical and useful to 

stakeholders while simultaneously 

meeting the needs of animal health 

officials who must conduct disease 

tracebacks? 

• Animal tracing. Do you have any 

suggestions on how to make the animal 

tracing component practical, in 

particular the reporting of animal 

movements to other premises, while 

meeting the needs of animal health 

officials who must conduct disease 

tracebacks? 

During the time that the public 

meetings were being held, we provided 

members of the public who were not 

able to attend a meeting with the option 

of submitting comments via the 

Regulations.gov Web site. The last 

meeting was held on June 30, 2009, and 

it was our intention to continue to 

provide the public with the option of 

submitting written comments for at least 

30 days following that final meeting. As 

noted in the heading DATES at the 

beginning of this notice, we will 

consider all comments that we receive 

on or before August 3, 2009. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 21st day of 

July 2009. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–17797 Filed 7–24–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2009–0037] 

Determination of Pest-Free Areas in 

the Republic of South Africa; Request 

for Comments 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that we have received a request from the 

Government of the Republic of South 

Africa to recognize 16 additional 

magisterial districts in 3 provinces as 

pest-free areas for citrus black spot. 

After reviewing the documentation 

submitted in support of this request, the 

Administrator of the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service has 

determined that these areas meet the 

criteria in our regulations for 

recognition as pest-free areas. We are 

making that determination, as well as an 

evaluation document we have prepared 

in connection with this action, available 

for review and comment. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

we receive on or before September 25, 

2009. 

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=APHIS2009-0037 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–2009–0037, 

Regulatory Analysis and Development, 

PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River 

Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737– 

1238. Please state that your comment 

refers to Docket No. APHIS–2009–0037. 

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. 

Phillip B. Grove, Regulatory 

Coordination Specialist, Regulatory 

Coordination and Compliance, APHIS, 

4700 River Road Unit 156, Riverdale, 

MD 20737; (301) 734–6280. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

regulations in ‘‘Subpart-Fruits and 

Vegetables’’ (7 CFR 319.56 through 

319.56–49, referred to below as the 

regulations), the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

prohibits or restricts the importation of 

fruits and vegetables into the United 

States from certain parts of the world to 

prevent plant pests from being 

introduced into and spread within the 

United States. 

Section 319.56–4 of the regulations 

contains a performance-based process 

for approving the importation of 

commodities that, based on the findings 

of a pest risk analysis, can be safely 

imported subject to one or more of the 

designated phytosanitary measures 

listed in paragraph (b) of that section. 

One of the designated phytosanitary 

measures is that the fruits or vegetables 

are imported from a pest-free area in the 

country of origin that meets the 

requirements of § 319.56–5 for freedom 

from that pest and are accompanied by 

a phytosanitary certificate stating that 

the fruits or vegetables originated in a 

pest-free area in the country of origin. 

Under the regulations in § 319.56–5, 

APHIS requires that determinations of 

pest-free areas be made in accordance 

with the criteria for establishing 

freedom from pests found in 

International Standard for Phytosanitary 

Measures (ISPM) No. 4, ‘‘Requirements 

for the establishment of pest-free areas.’’ 

The international standard was 

established by the International Plant 

Protection Convention of the United 

Nations’ Food and Agriculture 

Organization and is incorporated by 

reference in our regulations in 7 CFR 

300.5. In addition, APHIS must also 

approve the survey protocol used to 

determine and maintain pest-free status, 

as well as protocols for actions to be 

performed upon detection of a pest. 

Pest-free areas are subject to audit by 

APHIS to verify their status. 

APHIS has received a request from the 

Government of the Republic of South 

Africa to recognize additional areas of 

that country as being free of Guignardia 

citricarpa, citrus black spot.1 Currently, 

we only allow importation of citrus fruit 

from the Republic of South Africa when 

it is grown in the Western Cape 

Province and the magisterial districts of 

Hartswater and Warrenton of the 

Northern Cape Province, which are 

areas that APHIS has determined to be 

free of citrus black spot.2 Specifically, 

the Government of the Republic of 

South Africa asked that we recognize 

the magisterial districts of Boshof, 

Fauresmith, Jacobsdal, Koffiefontein, 

and Philippolis in the Free State 

Province; Christiania and Taung in the 

North West Province; and Barkly-wes/ 

west, Gordonia, Hay, Herbert, 

Hopetown, Kenhardt, Kimberely, 

Namakwaland, and Prieska in the 

Northern Cape Province as areas that are 

free of citrus black spot. 

In accordance with our regulations 

and the criteria set out in ISPM No. 4, 

we have reviewed and approved the 

survey protocols and other information 

provided by the Republic of South 

Africa relative to its system to establish 

freedom, phytosanitary measures to 

maintain freedom, and system for the 

verification of the maintenance of 

freedom. Because this action concerns 

the expansion of a currently recognized 

pest-free area in the Republic of South 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES