05-15166. Karnal Bunt; Regulated Areas

AGENCY:

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION:

Affirmation of interim rule as final rule.

SUMMARY:

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the Karnal bunt regulations by adding certain areas in La Paz, Maricopa, and Pinal Counties, AZ, and Riverside County, CA, to the list of regulated areas and by removing certain areas or fields in Maricopa and Pinal Counties, AZ, and Imperial County, CA, from the list of regulated areas. Those actions were necessary to prevent the spread of Karnal bunt to noninfected areas of the United States and to relieve restrictions on certain areas that are no longer necessary

EFFECTIVE DATE:

The interim rule became effective on March 28, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dr. Vedpal Malik, Agriculturalist, Invasive Species and Pest Management, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Karnal bunt is a fungal disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum), durum wheat (Triticum durum), and triticale (Triticum aestivum X Secale cereale), a hybrid of wheat and rye. Karnal bunt is caused by the fungus Tilletia indica (Mitra) Mundkur and is spread primarily through the planting of infected seed. Some countries in the international wheat market regulate Karnal bunt as a fungal disease requiring quarantine; therefore, without measures taken by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), United States Department of Agriculture, to prevent its spread, the presence of Karnal bunt in the United States could have significant consequences with regard to the export of wheat to international markets. The regulations regarding Karnal bunt are set forth in 7 CFR 301.89-1 through 301.89-16 (referred to below as the regulations).

In an interim rule effective and published in the Federal Register on March 28, 2005 (70 FR 15553-15557, Docket No. 04-118-1), we amended the regulations by adding certain areas in La Paz, Maricopa, and Pinal Counties, AZ, and Riverside County, CA, to the list of regulated areas either because they were found during surveys to contain a bunted wheat kernel, or because they are within the 3-mile-wide buffer zone around fields or areas affected with Karnal bunt. In the same interim rule, we also amended the regulations by removing certain areas or fields in Maricopa and Pinal Counties, AZ, and Imperial County, CA, from the list of regulated areas based on our determination that those fields or areas had met our criteria for release from regulation.

Comments on the interim rule were required to be received on or before May 27, 2005. We did not receive any comments. Therefore, for the reasons given in the interim rule, we are adopting the interim rule as a final rule.

This action also affirms the information contained in the interim rule concerning Executive Order 12866 and the Regulatory Flexibility Act, Executive Orders 12372 and 12988, and the Paperwork Reduction Act.

Further, for this action, the Office of Management and Budget has waived its review under Executive Order 12866.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 301

• Agricultural commodities
• Plant diseases and pests
• Quarantine
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements
• Transportation

PART 301—DOMESTIC QUARANTINE NOTICES

Accordingly, we are adopting as a final rule, without change, the interim rule that amended 7 CFR part 301 and that was published at 70 FR 15553-15557 on March 28, 2005.

Done in Washington, DC, this 27th day of July 2005.

Elizabeth E. Gaston,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.