[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 197 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 54553]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-27369]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 197 / Tuesday, October 13, 1998 /
Rules and Regulations
[[Page 54553]]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Parts 319 and 354
[Docket No. 98-087-2]
Solid Wood Packing Material From China
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service is hosting, in addition to the public hearing in
Washington, DC, two more public hearings to accept oral comments from
the public on an interim rule that will amend the regulations for
importing logs, lumber, and other unmanufactured wood articles by
adding treatment and documentation requirements for solid wood packing
material imported from China.
Places, Dates, and Times of Meetings: The first meeting will be held at
the Jackson Federal Building, North and South Auditorium, 4th Floor,
915 Second Avenue, Seattle, WA. This meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m.
local time and is scheduled to end at 5:00 p.m. local time, on Tuesday,
November 3, 1998. Visitors must enter the Jackson Federal Building
through the Second Avenue entrance.
The second meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach,
Regency Ballroom ABC, 4th Floor, 200 South Pine Avenue, Long Beach, CA.
This meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. local time and is scheduled to end
at 5:00 p.m. local time, on Thursday, November 5, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ronald Campbell, Import
Specialist, Phytosanitary Issues Management Team, PPQ, APHIS, 4700
River Road, Unit 140, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236, (301) 734-6799.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 18, 1998, the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published an interim rule in the
Federal Register (63 FR 50100-50111, Docket No. 98-087-1) that will
amend the regulations for importing logs, lumber, and other
unmanufactured wood articles by adding treatment and documentation
requirements for solid wood packing material imported from China. This
change means that wooden pallets, crating, dunnage, and other wooden
packing material imported into the United States from China will have
to be heat treated, fumigated, or treated with preservatives prior to
departure from China. This action will affect anyone who uses solid
wood packing material in connection with exporting commodities from
China to the United States. This action is necessary to control the
risk that solid wood packing material from China could introduce
dangerous plant pests, including forest pests, into the United States,
a risk demonstrated by many recent incidents where exotic pests were
detected in solid wood packing material from China. This interim rule
is scheduled to become effective December 17, 1998.
In the preamble to the interim rule, we announced that there would
be three public hearings on the interim rule--one in Washington, DC, on
October 16, 1998, at the Jefferson Auditorium, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue, SW.,
and two others on the west coast, dates and locations to be announced.
This notice announces the dates and locations for the public hearings
on the west coast.
All three public hearings will provide interested persons a full
opportunity to present their views regarding this interim rule. The
public hearings will begin at 9:00 a.m. local time and are scheduled to
end at 5:00 p.m. local time. However, the hearings may be terminated at
any time after they begin if all persons desiring to speak have been
heard. We ask that anyone who reads a statement provide two copies to
the presiding officer at the hearing. If the number of speakers at the
hearing warrants, the presiding officer may limit the time for each
presentation so that everyone wishing to speak has the opportunity.
The purpose of the hearings is to give interested persons an
opportunity for oral presentations of data, views, and arguments.
Questions about the content of the interim rule may be part of the
commenters' oral presentations. Neither the presiding officer nor any
other representative of APHIS will respond to comments at the hearings.
However, they will be able to answer questions to clarify or explain
provisions of the interim rule.
Done in Washington, DC, this 6th day of October 1998.
Craig A. Reed,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 98-27369 Filed 10-9-98; 8:45 am]
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