[Federal Register: December 20, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 245)]
[Notices]
[Page 77959-77960]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20de02-19]
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[[Page 77959]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 98-090-4]
Recognition of Animal Disease Status of Regions in the European
Union; Availability of Environmental Assessments and Request for
Comments
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We are informing the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service has prepared two environmental assessments for a
proposal to do the following: (1) Recognize a region in the European
Union as a region in which hog cholera (classical swine fever) is not
known to exist, and from which breeding swine, swine semen, and pork
and pork products may be imported into the United States under certain
conditions; and (2) recognize Greece and certain Regions in Italy as
free of swine vesicular disease. The environmental assessments document
our review and analysis of environmental impacts associated with the
proposal. We are making these environmental assessments available to
the public for review and comment.
DATES: We invite you to comment on the environmental assessments. We
will consider all comments that we receive on or before January 21,
2003.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by postal mail/commercial delivery
or by e-mail. If you use postal mail/commercial delivery, please send
four copies of your comment (an original and three copies) to: Docket
No. 98-090-4, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station
3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state
that your comment refers to Docket No. 98-090-4. If you use e-mail,
address your comment to regulations@aphis.usda.gov. Your comment must
be contained in the body of your message; do not send attached files.
Please include your name and address in your message and ``Docket No.
98-090-4'' on the subject line.
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 dockets, are available on the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Gary Colgrove, Assistant Director,
Sanitary Trade Issues Team, VS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 38,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-8364.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the
United States Department of Agriculture regulates the importation of
animals and animal products into the United States to guard against the
introduction of animal diseases not currently present or prevalent in
this country. The regulations pertaining to the importation of animals
and animal products are set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), title 9, chapter I, subchapter D (9 CFR parts 91 through 99).
On June 25, 1999, we published in the Federal Register (64 FR
34155-34168, Docket No. 98-090-1) a proposal to amend the regulations
by recognizing--with the exception of specified areas in Germany and
Italy--the countries of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece,
Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain as a region in
which hog cholera (classical swine fever (CSF)) is not known to exist,
and from which breeding swine, swine semen, and pork and pork products
may be imported into the United States under certain conditions.
We also proposed to add Greece and eight Regions in northern Italy
to the list of regions recognized as free of swine vesicular disease
(SVD). Additionally, we proposed to add Greece and the eight Regions in
Italy to the list of SVD-free regions whose exports of pork and pork
products to the United States are subject to certain restrictions
because those regions either supplement their national pork supply with
fresh (chilled or frozen) meat of animals from a region where SVD is
considered to exist, have a common border with such regions, or conduct
certain trade practices that are less restrictive than are acceptable
to the United States.
In our proposed rule, we stated that we were preparing an
environmental assessment in accordance with: (1) The National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA) (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 1b), and (4)
APHIS' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372). We also stated
that when the environmental assessment was completed, we would inform
the public through a notice in the Federal Register that it was
available.
This notice announces the availability of two environmental
assessments for public review and comment. They are titled ``Proposed
Rule for Importation of Live Swine, Swine Semen, and Pork and Pork
Products from Certain Regions Within the European Union, Environmental
Assessment,'' dated October 2002; and ``Proposed Rule for Importation
of Pork and Pork Products from Greece and Certain Regions of Italy,
Environmental Assessment,'' also dated October 2002. The environmental
assessments do not take into consideration any regions that had an
outbreak of either CSF or SVD following publication of the June 1999
proposed rule and for which, consequently, import restrictions due to
CSF or SVD would not be removed.
The environmental assessments may be viewed on the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/es/vsdocs.html. You may request paper
copies of the environmental assessments
[[Page 77960]]
from the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please
refer to the title of the environmental assessments when requesting
copies. The environmental assessments are also available for review in
our reading room (the location and hours of the reading room are listed
under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this notice).
Done in Washington, DC, this 16th day of December 2002.
Peter Fernandez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 02-32059 Filed 12-19-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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