[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 170 (Friday, August 31, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45957-45958]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-22033]
========================================================================
Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 170 / Friday, August 31, 2001 /
Notices
[[Page 45957]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 98-085-7]
Aquaculture; Public Meeting
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We are issuing this notice to inform the aquaculture
industries, interested parties, and the general public that a public
meeting will be held to discuss how and to what extent the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service should regulate aquatic species and to
discuss any other issues concerning possible regulation of aquaculture
by the Agency. This notice also invites written comments on these
issues.
DATES: The public meeting will be held on October 4, 2001, from 1:30
p.m. to 4 p.m. We will consider written comments that we receive on or
before February 1, 2002.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the University of
Arkansas at Pine Bluff, 1890 Extension Building, Spruce and Oliver
Streets, Pine Bluff, AR.
Please send four copies of your written comments (an original and
three copies) to: Docket No. 98-085-7, 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. 98-085-7.
You may read any written 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: For more information on the public
meeting, contact Dr. Otis Miller, Jr., National Aquaculture
Coordinator, Planning, Certification, and Monitoring, VS, APHIS, 4700
River Road Unit 46, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231, (301) 734-6188.
For information regarding aquaculture activities at the University
of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, call Dr. Carole Engle, Director of
Aquaculture/Fisheries Center, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff,
(870) 543-8537.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 4, 1999, the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) published an advance notice of proposed
rulemaking (ANPR) titled ``Aquaculture: Farm-Raised Fin Fish'' in the
Federal Register (64 FR 23795-23796, Docket No. 98-085-1). We published
this ANPR after receiving petitions \1\ asking us to regulate
aquaculture in various ways. Many petitioners asked us to define farmed
aquatic animals as livestock. In general, the petitioners seemed to be
interested in receiving the same services that domestic producers of
livestock receive for animals moving in interstate and foreign
commerce. However, based on the petitions alone, it was difficult for
us to determine what segments of the industry want services and exactly
what services they want. It was also difficult to determine the
objectives sought by the petitioners who were requesting Federal
regulation. We published the ANPR in an attempt to clarify the
industry's needs, the nature of the services sought, and the concerns
the petitioners had with regard to such regulations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ All the petitions we received are a part of the rulemaking
record for Docket No. 98-085-1. You may read the petitions in our
reading room. See the ADDRESSES section of this documents for the
location and hours of the reading room.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
We received 55 comments \2\ in response to the ANPR. A majority of
the commenters supported the idea of APHIS regulation of cultured fin
fish. Unfortunately, the commenters generally did not clearly
distinguish between fin fish raised for food and ornamental fin fish.
Commenters who wanted regulation were, however, very clear that they
want programs to prevent and control disease and to support increased
commerce, both domestic and export.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ All the comments we received are a part of the rulemaking
record for Docket No. 98-085-1. You may read the comments in our
reading room. See the ADDRESSES section of this document for the
location and hours of the reading room.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The commenters also suggested that any rulemaking initiated by
APHIS be a negotiated rulemaking. In negotiated rulemaking, industry
representatives and other interested persons meet with APHIS officials
and draft proposed regulations together. The proposed regulations are
then published for public comment. Negotiated rulemaking is designed to
ensure that all interested persons are involved together from the start
in the development of regulations.
Unfortunately, negotiated rulemaking is not suitable for all
situations. It works well when there is a small number of interested
parties and the parties are easy to identify. This is not the case with
aquaculture. Because the aquaculture industry is large and diverse, we
would have difficulty identifying everyone who should be represented in
a negotiated rulemaking. In addition, many parties outside aquaculture
would have a substantial interest in such a rulemaking. In our view,
the number of people who would need to participate in a negotiated
rulemaking would be too large and would suggest that negotiated
rulemaking is not appropriate. Furthermore, a negotiated rulemaking
would be expensive, and APHIS does not have adequate funds. Therefore,
we have concluded that it would not be appropriate to pursue an
aquaculture negotiated rulemaking.
However, we have not decided whether to pursue aquaculture
rulemaking by other means. Before we make that decision, we want to
have as much information as possible from all interested persons, and
we want to provide you with as much opportunity
[[Page 45958]]
as possible to discuss with us and inform us regarding the relevant
issues.
Therefore, we are holding a series of public meetings. Public
meetings allow all interested parties--industry representatives,
producers, consumers, and others--to present their views and to
exchange information among themselves and with APHIS.
There are no set agendas for the meetings. Any issues and concerns
related to aquaculture and possible APHIS regulatory action can be
discussed. However, we would like more information on three specific
issues. These are issues that the people and organizations who
commented on our ANPR either did not address or were unclear about.
Specifically, if APHIS does propose regulations: (1) Should our program
be mandatory or voluntary; (2) should we cover shell fish; and (3)
should we cover ornamental fin fish?
Information elicited at the meetings could result in a new APHIS
regulatory program or in changes to aquaculture-related services
currently provided by APHIS.
We have scheduled this public meeting for Thursday, October 4,
2001, at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff, AR. If
you wish to speak at the meeting, please register in advance by calling
the Regulatory Analysis and Development voice mail at (301) 734-4339.
Leave a message with your name, telephone number, organization, if any,
and an estimate of the time you need to speak. On the day of the
meeting, you may also register from 1 to 1:30 p.m. at the meeting site.
Starting with the advance registrants, we will call speakers in the
order in which they registered.
The meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. and is scheduled to end at 4
p.m. We may end the meeting early if all the registered speakers have
had a chance to speak and if no one else wants to speak. We may also
extend the meeting or limit the time allowed for each speaker, if
necessary, so all interested persons have an opportunity to
participate.
An APHIS representative will preside at the meeting. The meeting
will be recorded. We encourage speakers to present written statements,
though it is not required. If you choose to present a written
statement, please provide the chairperson with a copy. The complete
record, including the transcript and all written comments, will be
available to the public.
This meeting is part of our series of public meetings. The first
public meeting was held on January 25, 2001, in Lake Buena Vista, FL.
The second public meeting was held on February 16, 2001, in Hebron, KY.
The third public meeting was held on April 5, 2001, in Machias, ME, and
the fourth public meeting was held on June 8, 2001, in Twin Falls, ID.
Recently, we announced three other meetings: Washington (September 19,
2001, in conjunction with the joint meeting of the Pacific Coast
Shellfish Growers Association and the National Shellfish Association/
Pacific Coast Section Conference); Pennsylvania (October 9, 2001, in
conjunction with the annual meetings of the Pennsylvania Aquaculture
Advisory Committee and the Pennsylvania Aquaculture Association); and
Mississippi (October 10, 2001, in conjunction with the annual Board
meeting of the Catfish Farmers of America). On July 27, 2001, we
published a notice in the Federal Register (66 FR 39134-39136, Docket
No. 98-085-6) announcing the dates, times, and locations of these three
meetings. Transcripts of the proceedings of each meeting are available,
as we receive them, on the Internet at www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/aquaculture.html.
Additionally, to provide interested persons with as much
opportunity as possible to inform us of relevant issues, we are
accepting written comments mailed to the address listed at the
beginning of this document under ADDRESSES.
Done in Washington, DC, this 28th day of August 2001.
Craig A. Reed,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 01-22033 Filed 8-30-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P