[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 160 (Friday, August 19, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-20407]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: August 19, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 24
RIN 1018-AC36
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designated Ports
for Listed Plants
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) hereby amends the
regulations that establish designated ports for the importation,
exportation, and reexportation of plants by adding the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) ports at Gulfport, MS, Portland, OR, and
Vancouver, WA, as designated ports for the importation of logs and
lumber from trees that are listed as endangered or threatened under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), or listed under the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora (CITES). The USDA has adequate facilities and personnel at
these ports to qualify the ports as designated ports for the
importation, exportation, and reexportation of plants under the terms
of the Act and CITES. The addition of these ports to the list of
designated ports will facilitate trade and the enforcement of the Act
and CITES.
EFFECTIVE DATE: August 19, 1994.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marshall P. Jones, Chief, Office of
Management Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1849 C Street
NW., (MS 420 C ARLSQ), Washington, DC 20240, telephone (703) 358-2093.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), requires,
among other things, that plants be imported, exported, or reexported
only at designated ports or, under certain limited circumstances, at
nondesignated ports. Section 9(f) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1538[f])
provides for the designation of ports. Under section 9(f)(1), the
Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) has the authority to establish
designated ports based on a finding that such an action would
facilitate enforcement of the Act and reduce the costs of that
enforcement. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the
Secretary are responsible for enforcing provisions of the Act and the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora (CITES) relating to the importation, exportation, and
reexportation of plants listed as endangered or threatened under the
Act or listed under CITES.
The regulations in 50 CFR part 24, ``Importation and Exportation of
Plants,'' are for the purpose of establishing ports for the
importation, exportation, and reexportation of plants. Plants that are
listed as endangered or threatened in 50 CFR 17.12 or in the appendices
to CITES in 50 CFR 23.23 are required to be accompanied by
documentation and may be imported, exported, or reexported only at one
of the USDA ports listed in section 24.12(a) of the regulations.
Certain other USDA ports are designated for the importation,
exportation, or reexportation of specific listed plants. Section
24.12(e) of the regulations contains a list of USDA ports that are, for
the purposes of the Act and CITES, designated ports for the
importation, exportation, and reexportation of plants that are not
listed as endangered or threatened. (The USDA regulations in 7 CFR
319.37 contain additional prohibitions and restrictions governing the
importation of plants through those ports.)
In a March 24, 1994, Federal Register notice (59 FR 13921), the
Service proposed that the USDA ports at Gulfport, MS, Portland, OR, and
Vancouver, WA, be listed as designated ports for the importation of
logs and lumber from trees that are listed as endangered or threatened
under the Act or listed under CITES.
Comments Submitted
The Service's March 24, 1994, notice invited the submission of
written comments regarding the proposal for a 60-day comment period
ending on May 23, 1994. One comment was received by that date, from a
lumber company. The commenter fully supported the proposed rule.
Requests for Public Hearing
Section 9(f)(1) of the Act provides that any person may request an
opportunity to comment at a public hearing before the Secretary of the
Interior confers designated port status on any port. Accordingly, the
Service's March 24, 1994, notice invited public hearing requests, which
were required to be received by the Service on or before May 9, 1994.
No such requests were received.
Treasury Department Approval To Designate Proposed Ports
Section 9(f)(1) of the Act also provides, in part, that:
``For the purpose of facilitating enforcement of this chapter and
reducing costs thereof, the Secretary of the Interior, with approval of
the Secretary of the Treasury and after notice and opportunity for
public hearing, may, by regulation, designate ports and change such
designations.''
Approval from the Secretary of the Treasury was obtained in
accordance with these provisions.
Therefore, based on the rationale set forth in the proposed rule,
the Service is adopting the provisions of the proposal as a final rule.
Effective Date
The effect of this rule is to grant an exemption from 16 U.S.C.
1538(f), which generally prohibits importation of wildlife and plants
except at such ports as may be designated. Accordingly, it may be given
immediate effect under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1), which permits a rule that
``grants or recognizes an exemption or relieves a restriction'' to be
given immediate effect.
Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act
This rule was not subject to Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
review under Executive Order 12866.
The Service believes that establishing the USDA ports at Gulfport,
MS, Portland, OR, and Vancouver, WA, as designated ports for the
importation of logs and lumber from trees listed as endangered or
threatened under the Act or listed under CITES will have a positive
economic impact. These ports are major ports of entry for logs and
lumber, but they had not been designated as ports for the importation
of logs and lumber from listed trees (prior to the effective date of
this rule). Presently, importers wishing to import logs and lumber from
listed trees into a U.S. port on the Gulf of Mexico can use only
Mobile, AL, New Orleans, LA, and Houston and Brownsville, TX. Importers
wishing to import logs and lumber from listed trees into a port in the
northwestern United States have only the port of Seattle, WA. Adding
Gulfport, MS, Portland, OR, and Vancouver, WA, to the list of
designated ports for the importation of logs and lumber from trees
listed as endangered or threatened under the Act or listed under CITES
will result in a savings in time and transportation costs for importers
of logs and lumber.
Under these circumstances, the Service has determined that this
action will not have a significant economic effect on a substantial
number of small entities, as described in the Regulatory Flexibility
Act (5 U.S.C. 601).
National Environmental Policy Act
The Service has determined that this final rule adding designated
ports under authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 for the
importation of plants is not a major Federal action which will
significantly affect the quality of the human environment within the
meaning of section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This final rule contains no information collection or recordkeeping
requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.).
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 24
Endangered and threatened species, exports, harbors, imports and
plants.
Accordingly, we are amending 50 CFR part 24 as follows:
PART 24--IMPORTATION AND EXPORTATION OF PLANTS
1. The authority citation for part 24 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Secs. 9(f)(1), 11(f), Pub. L. 93-205, 87 Stat. 893,
897 (16 U.S.C. 1538(f)(1), 1540(f)).
Sec. 24.12 [Amended]
2. In Sec. 24.12, paragraph (e) is amended by adding the words
``Gulfport, Mississippi;'' after ``Baltimore, Maryland;'', by adding
the words ``Portland, Oregon;'' after ``Wilmington and Morehead City,
North Carolina;'', and by removing the words ``and Norfolk, Virginia,''
and adding the words ``Norfolk, Virginia; and Vancouver, Washington,''
in their place.
Dated: July 18, 1994.
George T. Frampton,
Assistant Secretary, Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 94-20407 Filed 8-18-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
