2014 Ss 0317

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Citrus Canker; Interstate Movement of Regulated Nursery Stock

And Fruit From Quarantined Areas

OMB No. 0579-0317

April 15, 2014

On September 25, 2013, APHIS published in the Federal Register (78 FR 58992-58993, Docket No. APHIS-2013-0075 to include fruit in this information collection; therefore, APHIS is including changing the title of the information collection.” As a result, the title for this information collection has been changed to “Citrus Canker; Interstate Movement of Regulated Nursery Stock and Fruit from Quarantined Areas.”

A. Justification

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection.

The United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), is responsible for preventing plant diseases or insect pests from entering the United States, preventing the spread of pests and noxious weeds not widely distributed in the United States, and eradicating those imported pests when eradication is feasible.

Under the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), the Secretary of Agriculture, either independently or in cooperation with the States, is authorized to carry out operations or measures to detect, eradicate, suppress, control, prevent, or retard the spread of plant pests (such as citrus canker) new to or not widely distributed throughout the United States. APHIS’ Domestic Quarantines (7 CFR Part 301) are issued under this authority.

APHIS has regulations in place to prevent the interstate spread of citrus canker. These regulations, contained in 7 CFR 301.75-1 through 301.75-17, restrict the interstate movement of regulated articles from and through areas quarantined because of citrus canker.

APHIS’ citrus canker quarantine regulations also prohibit the interstate movement of regulated nursery stock from a quarantined area. The interstate movement of nursery stock from an area quarantined for citrus canker poses an extremely high risk of spreading citrus canker outside the quarantined area. The regulations allow kumquat plants that are highly resistant to citrus canker to move interstate from a quarantined area under a protocol designed to ensure their freedom from citrus canker. APHIS is also continuing to allow the interstate movement of regulated nursery stock for immediate export, under certain conditions.

These regulations are necessary to address the risk associated with the interstate movement of citrus nursery stock and other regulated articles from areas quarantined for citrus canker.

APHIS is asking OMB to renew this information activity for an additional 3 years to prevent the interstate movement of citrus canker into noninfested areas of the United States.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

APHIS uses the following information activities to address the risk associated with the interstate movement of citrus nursery stock and other regulated articles from areas quarantined for citrus canker.

Compliance Agreement (PPQ Form 519)

If the fruit is repackaged after being packed in a commercial packinghouse and before it is moved interstate from the quarantined area, the person that repackages the fruit must enter into a compliance agreement with APHIS in accordance with §301.75-13 and issue and attach a certificate for the interstate movement of the fruit in accordance with §301.75-12.

Limited Permits (PPQ Form 530)

Limited permits may be issued for the interstate movement of regulated articles only by an inspector or by persons operating under a compliance agreement. Limited permits are used to authorize movement of regulated articles that are not certifiable to specified destinations for processing, treatment, or utilization.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.

Compliance Agreements (PPQ Form 519) are automated and posted at:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/library/forms/pdf/ppq519.pdf

The Limited Permit (PPQ 530) is a pressure sensitive form and is not practicable for automation.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purpose described in item 2 above.

The information APHIS collects is exclusive to its mission of preventing the incursion or interstate spread of plant pests and noxious weeds and is not available from any other source.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.

The information APHIS collects associated with this program is the minimum needed to prevent the spread of citrus canker into noninfested areas of the United States. APHIS has determined 100 percent of the respondents are small entities.

6. Describe the consequences o Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

Failing to collect this information or if this information was collected less frequently could cause a severe economic loss to the citrus industry.

7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the general information collection guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5:

• requiring respondents to report informa­tion to the agency more often than quarterly;

• requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any docu­ment;

• requiring respondents to retain re­cords, other than health, medical, governm­ent contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;

• in connection with a statisti­cal sur­vey, that is not de­signed to produce valid and reli­able results that can be general­ized to the uni­verse of study;

• requiring the use of a statis­tical data classi­fication that has not been re­vie­wed and approved by OMB;

• that includes a pledge of confiden­tiali­ty that is not supported by au­thority estab­lished in statute or regu­la­tion, that is not sup­ported by dis­closure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unneces­sarily impedes shar­ing of data with other agencies for com­patible confiden­tial use; or

• requiring respondents to submit propri­etary trade secret, or other confidential information unless the agency can demon­strate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permit­ted by law.

No special circumstances exist that would require this collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the general information collection guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.

8. Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting form, and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported. If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency’s notice, soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB.

In 2013, APHIS held productive consultations with the following citrus producer associations concerning the information collection activities associated with citrus canker:

Florida Citrus Mutual

Attn: Mark Wheeler

302 South Massachusetts Ave.

Lakeland, FL 33802

(863) 682-1111

Peckett’s Inc.

Michele Peckett

5643 Round Tree Lake Rd.

Apopka, FL 32712

(407) 886-5901

Florida Fruits and Vegetables Association

Butch Calhoun

P.O. Box 948153

Maitland, FL 32794-8153

(321) 214-5206

On Wednesday, September 25, 2013, pages 58992-58993, APHIS published in the Federal Register, a 60-day notice seeking public comments on its plans to request a 3-year renewal of this collection of information. During this time APHIS received no comments.

9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than reenumeration of contractors or grantees.

This information collection activity involves no payments (other than appropriate, program-related payments) or gifts to respondents.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in status, regulation, or agency policy.

No additional assurance of confidentiality is provided with this information collection. Any and all information obtained in this collection shall not be disclosed except in accordance with

5 U.S.C. 552a.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and others that are considered private. This justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

This information collection activity asks no questions of a personal or sensitive nature.

12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated.

• Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and explanation of how the burden was estimated. If this request for approval covers more than one form, provide separate hour burden estimates for each form and aggregate the hour burdens in Item 13 of OMB Form 83-I.

See APHIS Form 71 for hour burden estimates.

• Provide estimates of annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens for collections of information, identifying and using appropriate wage rate categories.

APHIS arrived at the total cost to respondents by multiplying the total burden hours (1,943) by the estimated average hourly wage of respondents ($29.75) = $57,804.25.

The hourly rate was taken from http://www.salaryexpert.com.

13. Provide estimates of the total annual cost burden to respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information, (do not include the cost of any hour burden shown in items 12 and 14). The cost estimate should be split into two components: (a) a total capital and start-up cost component annualized over its expected useful life; and (b) a total operation and maintenance and purchase of services component.

There is zero annual burden associated with capital and start-up costs, maintenance costs, and purchase of services in connection with this program.

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government. Provide a description of the method used to estimate cost and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information.

See APHIS Form 79 for annualized cost to the Federal Government which is estimated to be $74,946.00. This cost is based on the estimated average time required to process fund request applications.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of the OMB Form 83-1.

ICR Summary of Burden:

	Requested	Program Change Due to New Statute	Program Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA	Previously Approved
Annual Number of Responses	9,642	0	0	6,479	0	3,163
Annual Time Burden (Hr)	1,943	0	0	1,068	0	875
Annual Cost Burden ($)	0	0	0	0	0	0

There is an adjustment of +38 respondents increasing from 338 to 371 and + 6,479 annual responses increasing from 3,163 to 9,642 resulting in an adjustment of +1,068 burden hours increasing from 875 to 1,943 hours. The adjustment is due to an increase in shipping requests for Florida citrus for both compliance agreements and limited permits.

16. For collections of information whose results are planned to be published, outline plans for tabulations and publication.

APHIS has no plans to tabulate or publish the information collected.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

PPQ Form 519 is used in 11 information collections; and the PPQ 530 is used in 8 collections; therefore, it is not practical to include an OMB expiration date because of the various expiration dates for each collection. APHIS is seeking approval to not display the OMB expiration date on these forms.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in the “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act.”

APHIS is able to certify compliance with all the provisions under the Act.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

Statistical methods are not used in this information collection.