Karnal Bunt; Restrictions on the Use of Grain Originating in a Regulated Area

We are amending the Karnal bunt regulations to prohibit grain grown in a regulated area from being used as seed outside the regulated areas. This action is necessary to address the absence in the regulations of an explicit prohibition on the use of grain grown in a regulated area as seed in fields located outside the regulated area. We are also removing the requirement that wheat seed, durum wheat seed, and triticale seed that originates within a regulated area be treated with a fungicide before it may be planted within a regulated area. This interim rule will help to prevent the artificial spread of Karnal bunt to fields outside the regulated area by prohibiting the use of potentially spore-positive grain as seed in those fields and will remove a treatment requirement that we have determined is not necessary.