[Federal Register: March 6, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 44)]
[Notices]
[Page 13484-13485]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06mr01-39]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 13484]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
[[Page 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
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 2001/03/06 EST