This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

13484

Vol. 66, No. 44

Tuesday, March 6, 2001

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

[Docket No. 00–073–1]

Pine Shoot Beetle Host Material From

Canada; Availability of a Draft

Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability and

request for comments.

SUMMARY: We are advising the public

that the Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service has prepared a draft

environmental assessment concerning

various alternative actions for

addressing the spread of the pine shoot

beetle into noninfested areas of the

United States due to the importation of

pine shoot beetle host material from

Canada. The draft environmental

assessment documents our review and

analysis of the environmental impacts

associated with the alternative actions

under consideration. Among the

alternative actions considered in the

assessment is the imposition of specific

regulatory requirements covering the

importation of pine shoot beetle host

material into the United States from

Canada. We are making this draft

environmental assessment available to

the public for review and comment.

DATES: We invite you to comment on the

draft environmental assessment. We

will consider all comments that we

receive by April 5, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Please send four copies of

your comment (an original and three

copies) to: Docket No. 00–073–1,

Regulatory Analysis and Development,

PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03, 4700 River

Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–

1238.

Please state that your comment refers

to Docket No. 00–073–1.

A copy of the draft environmental

assessment and any comments that we

receive on this docket will be available

for public inspection 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.

APHIS documents published in the

Federal Register, and related

information, including the names of

organizations and individuals who have

commented on APHIS dockets, are

available on the Internet at http://

www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/

webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Jonathan Jones, Operations Officer,

Program Support, PPQ, APHIS, 4700

River Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD

20737–1236; (301) 734–8247.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Pine shoot beetle, Tomicus piniperda

(Linnaeus) is a pest of pine trees. Pine

shoot beetle (PSB) can cause damage in

weak and dying trees, where

reproduction and immature stages of

PSB occur, and in the new growth of

healthy trees. During ‘‘maturation

feeding,’’ young beetles tunnel into the

center of pine shoots (usually of the

current year’s growth), causing stunted

and distorted growth in host trees. PSB

is also a vector of several diseases of

pine trees. Adults can fly at least 1

kilometer, and infested trees and pine

products are often transported long

distances. These factors can result in the

establishment of PSB populations far

from the location of the original host

tree. This plant pest damages urban

ornamental trees and can cause

economic losses to the timber,

Christmas tree, and nursery industries.

PSB hosts include all pine species.

The beetle has been found in a variety

of pine species (Pinus spp.) in the

United States. Scotch pine (P. sylvestris)

is the preferred host of PSB. The Animal

and Plant Health Inspection Service

(APHIS) has determined, based on

scientific data from European countries,

that fir (Abies spp.), spruce (Larix spp.),

and larch (Picea spp.) are not hosts of

PSB.

PSB first established itself in Canada

approximately 8 years ago. Areas of

infestation are currently located in the

Provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and

are contiguous, for the most part, with

PSB infested areas located in the

northeastern United States. PSB

populations have spread in both Ontario

and Quebec in recent years despite the

efforts of the Canadian Food Inspection

Agency (CFIA) to implement regulatory

compliance practices to control the

spread of this plant pest.

Under the Plant Protection Act (Title

IV, Pub. L. 106–224, 114 Stat. 438, 7

U.S.C. 7701–7772), the Secretary of

Agriculture is authorized to prohibit or

restrict the importation and entry into

the United States of any plants and

plant products, including pine forest

materials and products, to prevent the

introduction of plant pests or noxious

weeds into the United States.

APHIS has regulated the interstate

movement of PSB host material from

areas of the United States that are

generally infested with PSB through its

domestic quarantine notices (see 7 CFR

301.50 through 301.50–10), but has not

established specific regulations in its

foreign quarantine notices prohibiting or

restricting the importation of PSB host

material into the United States from

foreign countries. Rather, we have used

our authority under the emergency

provisions of the Federal Plant Pest Act

(repealed in 2000, formerly at 7 U.S.C.

150dd), and more recently, the Plant

Protection Act, as the basis for any

actions we have taken on a case-by-case

basis to regulate the movement of

certain PSB host material from Canada

in order to prevent the introduction of

PSB into noninfested areas of the United

States.

APHIS is investigating the possibility

of implementing regulations that would

impose specific requirements on the

importation of PSB host material into

the United States from Canada in order

to prevent the spread of the PSB into

noninfested areas of the United States.

These new regulations, if implemented,

would parallel requirements recently

implemented by Canada with respect to

the export of PSB host material from the

United States to Canada. The reciprocal

regulation of imported PSB host

material by Canada and the United

States would be consistent with North

American Plant Protection Organization

standards of preventing the introduction

and spread of quarantine plant pests

and fostering the preservation of plant

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 6, 2001 / Notices 13485

resources in North America by

coordinating joint programs of mutual

interest.

To assist us in our decisionmaking,

APHIS has prepared a draft

environmental assessment (EA), entitled

‘‘Pine Shoot Beetle Host Material from

Canada’’ (December 2000), that

considers alternative actions and the

associated environmental impacts for

addressing the spread of PSB into

noninfested areas of the United States.

The alternative actions reviewed and

analyzed include implementing

reciprocal regulations on imported PSB

host material from Canada, taking no

action (i.e., retaining the current

domestic quarantine program only), or

rescinding the domestic quarantine

program and not implementing

reciprocal regulations on imported PSB

host material from Canada.

We are making this draft EA available

to the public for review and comment.

We will consider all comments that we

receive by the date listed under the

heading DATES at the beginning of this

notice.

The draft EA may be viewed on the

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

ppd/es/ppq/psbcan.pdf. You may also

request paper copies of the draft EA by

calling or writing to the person listed

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. Please refer to the title of the

draft EA when requesting copies. The

draft EA is also available for review in

our reading room (information on the

location and hours of the reading room

is listed under the heading ADDRESSES at

the beginning of this notice).

The draft EA has been prepared in

accordance with: (1) The National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969

(NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et

seq.), (2) regulations of the Council on

Environmental Quality for

implementing the procedural provisions

of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500–1508), (3)

USDA regulations implementing NEPA

(7 CFR part 1), and (4) APHIS’ NEPA

Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part

372).

Done in Washington, DC, this 28th day of

February 2001.

Bobby R. Acord,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 01–5422 Filed 3–5–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

[Docket No. 00–008–2]

Imported Fire Ant

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service will continue to

administer its imported fire ant

program.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron

Milberg, Operations Officer, PPQ,

APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 134,

Riverdale, MD 20737–1236; (301) 734–

5255.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Our

imported fire ant program is based on

our imported fire ant regulations (7 CFR

301.81–1 through 301.81–10, referred to

below as the regulations). The

regulations govern the interstate

movement of regulated articles from

areas quarantined because of the

imported fire ant. Section 301.81–2 of

the regulations provides a list of articles

regulated because of the imported fire

ant. Regulated articles are imported fire

ant queens and reproducing colonies of

imported fire ants, soil (except potting

soil shipped in its original container),

baled hay or straw stored in direct

contact with the ground, nursery stock

(except plants maintained indoors in a

home or office environment and not for

sale), used soil-moving equipment

(unless removed of all noncompacted

soil), and any other article or means of

conveyance determined to present a risk

of spreading imported fire ant. Section

301.81–3 of the regulations lists areas

quarantined because of the imported fire

ant. Quarantined areas are all or

portions of the following States and

territories: Alabama, Arkansas,

California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,

Mississippi, New Mexico, North

Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South

Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

Sections 301.81–4 through 301.81–10

provide requirements for moving

regulated articles interstate from

quarantined areas to nonquarantined

areas. These sections include

requirements for certificates and limited

permits and for treatment of regulated

articles.

On March 2, 2000, we published in

the Federal Register (65 FR 11281–

11283, Docket No. 00–008–1), a notice

announcing four public meetings to

discuss how we should administer our

imported fire ant program in light of

reduced funding. The meetings were

held in Raleigh, NC, on March 21, 2000;

Orlando, FL, on March 23, 2000; Austin,

TX, on March 28, 2000; and Santa Ana,

CA, on March 30, 2000. We also

solicited written comments on our

notice for 60 days, ending May 1, 2000.

In the notice, we asked the public to

comment on the following three

options: (1) Maintain our imported fire

ant program with minimal Federal

regulatory activity, in line with Fiscal

Year 2000 funding; (2) eliminate the

imported fire ant regulations (i.e.,

rescind the Federal quarantine) and

develop model guidelines for States to

use in harmonizing their quarantines; or

(3) eliminate the imported fire ant

regulations (i.e., rescind the Federal

quarantine) and establish a voluntary

nursery self-certification program.

Approximately 105 individuals

representing industry and cooperating

States attended the public meetings. In

addition, we received 58 written

comments in response to the notice by

the May 1, 2000, close of the comment

period. They were from representatives

of industry, cooperating States, and

other interested individuals. With one

exception, those who spoke at the

public meetings and those who

submitted written comments supported

retention of the current imported fire

ant program with a significant increase

in funding for the program. They stated

that the program enhances producers’

ability to move regulated articles

interstate. One commenter

recommended enacting more stringent

regulations in order to prevent the

spread of the imported fire ant to the

State of Hawaii. The majority of

respondents also supported the National

Plant Board’s proposal for $7.5 million

in congressional funding for the

imported fire ant program and the

Gulfport Plant Protection Station’s

unique methods development work.

Given the public support for our

imported fire ant program, we will

maintain the program in line with

current funding. Therefore, our

regulations will continue to provide

uniform standards for the regulated

industry, along with consistent

interstate shipping requirements. Along

with cooperating States, we will also

continue to enforce the Federal

quarantine. This means that when

alerted by States, APHIS personnel will

investigate noncompliance with the

regulations and will examine the origin

and pathway of introduction of

imported fire ants found on regulated

articles. In addition, we will continue to

develop new regulatory treatments and

nursery compliance protocols to control

or reduce imported fire ant populations