Northern Border Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / www.cbp.gov
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has prepared the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for Northern Border Activities. The purpose of this PEIS is to provide broad-based analysis of CBP activities that could become required within the next five to seven years in response to yet unknown changes in threat conditions along the 4000 mile border with Canada stretching from Maine to Washington state.
Proposed Action
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) proposes the use of a multilayered law enforcement approach to deploy border security program elements in the most effective combination to respond to any evolution of cross-border terrorist, criminal, and public safety threats along the northern border over the next five to seven years. Border security program elements consist of facilities; technologies for communication, detection, inspection, and surveillance; and land-based security infrastructure. These assets are used by agents, officers, specialists, and other personnel to pursue effective control of air, land, and sea borders between the United States and Canada. Under this proposal, CBP is evaluating alternative programmatic approaches that focus on augmenting particular elements for future responses to evolving threats and changes in security or trade and travel facilitation priorities. These alternative approaches may effectively change the pace of CBP operations and increase CBP’s inventory of physical assets if implemented.
Notice of Availability & Next Steps
A Notice of Availability (NOA) announcing the release of the Final PEIS and a Draft Record of Decision was published in the Federal Register on July 27, 2012. These documents are available for 30-days after the publication date after which CBP will finalize and issue a notice for the Final Record of Decision in the Federal Register and on this website. The Final PEIS and Draft Record of Decision are provided below.
( CBP Northern Border Activities Final PEIS Volume 1 )
( CBP Northern Border Activities Final PEIS Volume 2 )
( Draft Record of Decision )
FDA Warns Consumers Not to Eat Shellfish from Oyster Bay Harbor, Nassau County, NY
U.S. Food & Drug Administration / www.fda.gov
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat raw or partially cooked oysters and clams (shellfish) with tags listing Oyster Bay Harbor, in Nassau County, N.Y., as the harvest area, following illnesses reported in several states caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria.
- Shellfish harvested from Oyster Bay Harbor have been linked to confirmed and possible cases of Vibrio parahaemolyticus illness.
- Ill persons reported consumption of raw or partially cooked shellfish from the affected area.
- The New York state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) closed Oyster Bay Harbor, on July 13 to shellfish harvesting.
- All shellfish harvesters, shippers, re-shippers, processors, restaurants, and retail food establishments are advised to check the identity tags on all containers of shellfish in their inventories. If the tag indicates the harvest area was Oyster Bay Harbor and a harvest date on or after June 1, 2012, the product should be disposed of and not be sold or served.
What are the Symptoms of Vibrio parahaemolyticusIllness?
Illness is typically characterized by nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The symptoms begin from a few hours to as many as five days after consumption of raw or undercooked seafood, particularly shellfish.
What do Consumers Need to Do?
Consumers possessing shellfish with tags listing Oyster Bay Harbor as the harvest area and a harvest date on or after June 1, 2012 should dispose of and not eat the shellfish. Consumers possessing shellfish for which the harvest area is not known should inquire of the retailer, restaurant or other facility about the source of shellfish. If the shellfish was already consumed and no one became ill, no action is needed. However, if you develop a diarrheal illness within a week after consuming raw or undercooked shellfish, see your health care provider and inform the provider about this exposure.
Where was the Shellfish Distributed?
Records and information obtained by the New York state DEC indicate that the shellfish from this area of Oyster Bay Harbor in New York were distributed in several states, including, but not necessarily limited to, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
What is Being Done About the Problem?
The New York state DEC has prohibited the harvesting of shellfish from Oyster Bay Harbor in Nassau County, and has issued media releases advising establishments not to use shellfish from this harvest area and advising consumers not to eat the shellfish. The DEC has notified states that received implicated shellfish and the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference, which has subsequently notified its membership.
The map at http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7765.html1 shows the area that has been closed to harvesting of shellfish. This closure will remain in effect until samples collected by the DEC indicate that shellfish from the affected area are no longer a threat to consumers.
No other harvest areas have been implicated in the recent Vibrio parahaemolyticus illnesses.
Who Should be Contacted?
Consumers with questions about seafood safety may call the FDA at 1-888-SAFEFOOD or email consumer@fda.gov.
The information in this press release reflects the FDA’s best efforts to communicate what it has learned from state and local public health agencies involved in the investigation. The agency will provide updates as more information becomes available.
Port Surveillance News: CPSC Takes Safety to the Front Lines, Prevents More Than 360,000 Violative Units from Reaching Consumers in 2nd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2012
U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission / www.cpsc.gov
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) investigators continued to enforce product safety by screening more than 3,700 imported products at ports of entry into the United States and preventing more than 360,000 units of violative and hazardous imported products from reaching the hands of consumers during the second quarter of fiscal year 2012.
CPSC port investigators, working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, successfully identified 319 different consumer products that were in violation of U.S. safety rules or found to be hazardous, between January 1 and April 30, 2012.
In the first half of fiscal year 2012, CPSC port investigators screened more than 6,600 imported products at ports of entry and prevented more than 1,000,000 units of violative or dangerous products from reaching consumers.
Continuing to top the list of products stopped were children's products containing levels of lead exceeding the federal limits. This was also the leading category of products stopped in the first quarter.
Second on the list was children's sleepwear that did not meet the federal flammability standards.
Toys and other articles with small parts that present a choking hazard for children younger than 3 years old also continued to be prominent in the second quarter.
In addition to violative toys, children's sleepwear and other children's products, other significant shipments stopped at import included noncompliant fireworks and mattresses.
CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum said the proactive work at the ports shows CPSC is on the front lines protecting consumers.
"CPSC investigators are standing shoulder to shoulder with Customs and Border Protection agents and working to prevent defective and violative products from ever reaching store shelves and the hands of consumers," Chairman Tenenbaum said.
Tenenbaum also said consumers can be confident that the state of product safety is strong and built to last.
"The pilot risk assessment methodology that we are testing is aimed at early detection and targeting of high risk products and repeat offenders at import," Tenenbaum said. "I believe this will make CPSC even more effective in using our limited resources."
During fiscal year 2011, CPSC inspected more than 9,900 product shipments at the ports nationwide and stopped almost 4.5 million units of violative or hazardous consumer products from entering the stores and homes of U.S. consumers.
CPSC has been screening products at ports since it began operating in 1973.The agency intensified its efforts in 2008 with the creation of an import surveillance division, and again in 2011 with the creation of the Office of Import Surveillance and Inspection.
To See Violative Products CPSC Stopped from Reaching Consumers go to:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12231.html?tab=news
Department of Transportation Praises U.S. Court of Appeals Decision to Uphold Airline Passenger Protections
U.S. Department of Transportation / www.dot.gov
D.C. Circuit decision calls U.S. DOT protections "common sense"
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood praised today’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in favor of the U.S. Department of Transportation in Spirit Airlines, Inc. v. United States Department of Transportation. Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Air, and Southwest Airlines challenged portions of the Department of Transportation’s April 2011 air passenger consumer protection rule requiring airlines and ticket agents to include all mandatory taxes and fees in published airfares, hold a reservation without payment or penalty for 24 hours after the reservation is made, and prohibit post purchase baggage price increases after the initial ticket sale.
“Airline passengers have the right to all necessary information when choosing their flights so that they can make the most informed decisions to fit their needs,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Today’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals strengthens our effort to help air travelers receive the respect they deserve.”
The court ruled that it was reasonable for DOT to require airlines to add government fees and taxes to the base fare and disclose these together as a total price, prominently displayed to prevent confusion over the total cost of their travel. As the court noted: ”Based on common sense and over three decades of experience and complaints, DOT concluded that it was deceitful and misleading when the most prominent price listed by an airline was anything other than the total final price of air travel.”
Further, the court concluded that the rule properly regulates airline cancellation policies because existing airline cancellation and refund practices were deceptive and unfair, and that the regulation was “plainly allowed” under DOT’s statute that targets unfair and deceptive practices. Finally, the court ruled that it was reasonable for DOT to conclude that increasing the prices for baggage after the purchase of a ticket amounts to an unfair consumer practice.
The new requirements are among the final provisions from DOT’s most recent airline consumer rule. DOT is looking at other airline consumer protection measures for a possible future rulemaking, including requiring that all airline optional fees be disclosed wherever consumers can book a flight, strengthening disclosure of code-share flights, and requiring additional carriers to file on-time performance reports.
Burlington Coat Factory Agrees to $1.5 Million Civil Penalty for Failure to Report Drawstrings in Children's Outerwear and for Selling Recalled Outerwear
U.S. Consumer Safety Product Commission / www.cspc.gov
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., of Burlington, N.J., has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1,500,000. The settlement agreement (pdf) has been provisionally accepted by the Commission (4-0).
The settlement resolves CPSC staff allegations that from 2003 to 2010, Burlington knowingly failed to report immediately to CPSC, as required by federal law, that it had sold many different children's sweatshirts and jackets with drawstrings at the neck. Children's upper outerwear with drawstrings, including sweatshirts, sweaters, and jackets, poses strangulation and entanglement hazards to children that can result in serious injury or death. The settlement also resolves CPSC staff allegations that from 2008 to 2012, contrary to federal law, Burlington knowingly sold or had in its store inventories many of these garments after they had been recalled.
The penalty is the highest that CPSC has ever assessed for violations involving children's upper outerwear with drawstrings.
Federal law requires manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to report to CPSC immediately (within 24 hours) after obtaining information reasonably supporting the conclusion that a product contains a defect that could create a substantial product hazard, creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death, or fails to comply with any consumer product safety rule or any other rule, regulation, standard or ban enforced by CPSC. Federal law also bars selling products that have been recalled by a manufacturer.
CPSC began warning about drawstring dangers in the early 1990s. The agency issued guidelines in 1996 about drawstrings in children's upper outerwear. Those guidelines were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997. In 2006, CPSC's Office of Compliance announced (pdf) that children's upper outerwear with drawstrings at the hood or neck would be regarded as defective and presenting a substantial risk of injury to young children. Then, in July 2011, based on the guidelines and voluntary standard, CPSC issued a federal regulation that designated as substantial product hazards children's upper outerwear in sizes 2T to 12 (or extra-small to large) with neck or hood drawstrings, and children's upper outerwear in sizes 2T to 16 (or extra-small to extra-large) with certain waist or bottom drawstrings.
The sweatshirts and jackets that are the subject of the penalty were sold by Burlington Coat Factory stores throughout the country. Beginning in 2007, CPSC and the garments' manufacturers and distributors, as well as Burlington in 2010, announced the recalls listed in the chart below of children's garments with drawstrings covered by the penalty. In agreeing to the settlement, Burlington denies CPSC staff allegations that it knowingly violated the law.
Further details: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12235.html
FTC Calls Wireless Phone Bill Cramming a Significant Consumer Problem
Federal Trade Commission / www.ftc.gov
In Comment to FCC, Agency Says Wireless Customers Should Be Given the Option to Block All Third-Party Charges
In response to a request by the Federal Communications Commission for comment, the Federal Trade Commission said that the “cramming” of unauthorized charges on wireless phone bills poses a serious problem for American consumers. The FTC said in its comment that wireless providers should be required to give customers the option to block all third-party charges from their bills.
The FTC has extensive experience protecting consumers against the cramming of unauthorized charges on their landline telephone bills through aggressive law enforcement actions, and has advocated for reforms to eliminate landline cramming. With regard to wireless cramming, the comment notes, in the past few years the FTC and FCC have reviewed thousands of complaints about unauthorized third-party charges on wireless bills. The number of reported complaints undoubtedly understates the full extent of wireless cramming by a substantial amount.
“Mobile cramming is likely to continue to grow as cramming schemes expand beyond the landline platform and mobile phones are more commonly used for payments,” the comment states.
Many of the complaints involve recurring charges of just under $10 a month for “premium services” that provide trivia or horoscope information by text message to a consumer’s phone, the comment states. Consumers often report receiving a text message informing them of a subscription to a service of which they have never heard and that they never requested.
The comment states that it would be premature to recommend a ban or default blocking of third-party billing as it did for landline phone bills in a separate comment to the FCC in October of last year. In contrast to landline third-party billing, which has been used almost exclusively by scam artists, the mobile billing platform has been used for some legitimate charitable activity; it also is a potential platform for consumers to fund mobile payments by placing those payments on their wireless bills, the comment states.
However, it is unclear whether industry best practices have been consistently followed or are effective in stopping mobile cramming, the comment states. In light of the significant number of mobile cramming complaints received, the FTC believes that some basic consumer protections are needed in the mobile billing space.
“At a minimum, all wireless providers should offer their customers the ability to block all third-party charges. Wireless providers should clearly and prominently inform their customers that third party charges may be placed on the consumers’ accounts and explain how to block such charges at the time accounts are established and when they are renewed. And wireless providers should provide a clear and consistent process for customers to dispute suspicious charges placed on their accounts and obtain reimbursement. The FTC believes that such measures should be mandated by law or regulation to ensure that consumers have baseline protections,” the comment states.
The Commission vote approving the comment and its submission to the FCC was 5-0. It was submitted on July 20, 2012.
Rio Grande City Port CBP Officers Seize More Than $2 Million in Marijuana
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / www.cbp.gov
Rio Grande City, Texas — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Rio Grande City port of entry seized over 2,500 pounds of alleged marijuana with an estimated street value of $2,070,000.
On July 23, CBP officers at the Rio Grande City/Ciudad Camargo International Bridge cargo facility came in contact with a red 2008 International tractor/trailer that arrived with a manifested commercial shipment of serrano peppers. A CBP officer referred the shipment to secondary for a thorough examination of conveyance and commodity. Once the cargo was offloaded, officers discovered a total of 448 packages of alleged marijuana, weighing approximately 2,587 pounds, concealed within the crates of serrano peppers. CBP seized the marijuana, tractor/trailer and the commodity.
"This is the second big load of marijuana that we have seized at our port within a week and is one of the most significant seizures made at the Rio Grande City port of entry,” said Severiano Solis, Rio Grande City Port Director. “Our officer's excellent commitment to the CBP mission has enabled us to intercept these narcotics from the drug trafficking organizations and help keep our communities safe.”