[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 7, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36608-36609]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-17155]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 129 / Wednesday, July 7, 1999 /
Proposed Rules
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
7 CFR Part 319
[Docket No. 99-037-1]
Environmental Impact Statement for the Importation of
Unmanufactured Solid Wood Packing Material
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Identification of regulatory alternatives and request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service intends to prepare an environmental impact statement
in connection with regulations we are considering proposing regarding
the importation of unmanufactured solid wood packing material. This
notice identifies potential regulatory alternatives and issues that we
plan to analyze in the environmental impact statement and requests
public comment to further delineate the scope of the alternatives and
issues.
DATES: We invite you to comment on this docket. We will consider all
comments that we receive by September 7, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Please send your comment and three copies to: Docket No. 99-
037-1, 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. 99-037-1.
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.
APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who
have commented on APHIS rules, are available on the Internet at http://
www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Nancy Sweeney, Environmental
Protection Officer, Environmental Analysis and Documentation, PPD,
APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 149, Riverdale, MD 20737-1237; (301) 734-
7681; or e-mail: Nancy.E.Sweeney@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) is considering amending the regulations on the
importation of logs, lumber, and other unmanufactured wood articles to
decrease the risk of solid wood packing material (e.g., crates,
dunnage, wooden spools, pallets, packing blocks) introducing exotic
plant pests into the United States. Under the provisions of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4331, et
seq.), we are required to consider the potential environmental effects
from the regulations under consideration. The purpose of this notice is
to inform the public of our intent to prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) and to solicit public comments on the scope of the
environmental issues to be analyzed in the EIS.
The regulations in 7 CFR 319.40-1 through 319.40-11 (referred to
below as the regulations) are intended to mitigate the plant pest risk
presented by the importation of logs, lumber, and other unmanufactured
wood articles, including solid wood packing material (SWPM).
Introductions into the United States of exotic plant pests such as the
pine shoot beetle and the Asian longhorned beetle have been linked to
the importation of SWPM. These and other plant pests that could be
carried by imported SWPM pose a serious threat to U.S. agriculture and
to natural, cultivated, and urban forests.
On September 18, 1998, we published an interim rule in the Federal
Register (63 FR 50100-50111, Docket No. 98-087-1) to require that SWPM
from China be heat treated, fumigated, or treated with preservatives
prior to arrival in the United States. We took this action because a
number of recent incidents, including the introduction of the Asian
longhorned beetle, demonstrate that China is the largest source of
exotic plant pests in SWPM imported into the United States. The interim
rule became effective on December 17, 1998. We amended the interim rule
in a second interim rule effective and published in the Federal
Register on December 17, 1998 (63 FR 69539-69543, Docket No. 98-087-4).
The second interim rule made minor revisions regarding three documents
in order to better coordinate the requirements of the rule with the
United States Customs Service's electronic Automated Broker Interface
system and entry operations procedures.
On January 20, 1999, we published an advance notice of proposed
rulemaking in the Federal Register (64 FR 3049-3052, Docket No. 98-057-
1) to seek information and develop regulatory options on the general
problem of plant pests in SWPM imported from any country. In the
notice, we requested public comment on what actions would be most
effective and appropriate to further reduce the risk of SWPM
introducing exotic plant pests into the United States. We received 102
comments in response to the advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
We are now considering proposing regulations to address the problem
of SWPM introducing exotic plant pests into the United States. We
intend to prepare an EIS to inform the public and APHIS decisionmakers
of the potential environmental effects from various regulatory
alternatives. We are requesting public comments to help us identify
potential regulatory alternatives and significant environmental issues
that should be analyzed in the EIS.
We have identified five alternatives that we plan to consider in
the EIS, as follows:
Take no additional regulatory action (i.e., maintain the
current requirements for importing SWPM, including finalizing the
requirements established by the September 18 and December 17 interim
rules concerning importing SWPM from China);
Apply the same requirements concerning SWPM from China to
SWPM from the rest of the world (i.e., require SWPM imported from any
part of the world to be heat treated, fumigated, or treated with
preservatives prior to arrival in the United States);
[[Page 36609]]
Impose restrictions--either treatment or ban--on a
country-by-country basis based on pest risk assessments;
Prohibit the importation of SWPM in any form from any
country;
Prohibit the importation of SWPM except for types of SWPM
that are intended for extended, multiple shipment use and are: 100
percent free of bark, either kiln dried to an industrial standard or
heat treated to a minimum of 71.1 deg.C for 75 minutes, and marked so
as to be easily identifiable.
We specifically requested comments on some of these alternatives in
the advance notice of proposed rulemaking. All of the alternatives were
addressed or identified in comments submitted in response to the
advance notice of proposed rulemaking. We would like comments on these
alternatives and on other alternatives that should be analyzed in the
EIS.
We will analyze the potential effects of each regulatory
alternative on the human environment, including possible risks to human
health, and the potential effects on forests, biodiversity, and
nontarget species in the United States. We are also interested in
comments that identify other issues that should be analyzed in the EIS.
Potential issues include identification of treatment methods other than
those currently approved in the regulations (currently approved
treatments are heat treatment, heat treatment with moisture reduction,
surface pesticide treatment, methyl bromide fumigation, and
preservative treatment) and the ability to effectively monitor
compliance with potential alternatives.
Comments regarding the proposed scope of the EIS are welcome and
will be fully considered. When the draft EIS is completed, a notice
announcing its availability and an invitation to comment on it will be
published in the Federal Register.
Done in Washington, DC, this 30th day of June 1999.
Craig A. Reed,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 99-17155 Filed 7-6-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
