[Federal Register: January 6, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 3)]
[Notices]
[Page 539-540]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06ja03-39]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 02-116-1]
Oriental Mealybug; Notice of Availability of an Environmental
Assessment
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that an environmental assessment
has been prepared by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
relative to the control program of the Oriental mealybug (Planococcus
lilacinus). The environmental assessment documents our review and
analysis of environmental impacts associated with five alternatives for
control of Oriental mealybug, as well as a recommendation for the use
of biological control agents in the event Oriental mealybug is detected
in the United States. We are making this environmental assessment
available to the public for review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
February 5, 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. 02-116-1, 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. 02-116-1. 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.
02-116-1'' on the subject line.
You may read any comments that we receive on the draft
environmental assessment 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. Dale Meyerdirk, Agriculturalist,
National Biological Control Institute, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit
135, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-5220.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Oriental mealybug (Planococcus lilacinus) is a foreign plant pest
that attacks at least 96 different species of plants, including
agricultural and ornamental plants. Oriental mealybug is widely
distributed in the Eastern Hemisphere. In the Western Hemisphere,
Oriental mealybug is found in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
Guam, and Haiti. Susceptible areas include coastal locations in Mexico
as well as the area abutting the Rio Grande Valley. In the United
States, an area including all of the south, and extending north and
west as far as Pennsylvania; lower Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri; and
eastern Texas, is susceptible. Even in cold regions, certain greenhouse
crops would be at risk of infestation. For these reasons, Oriental
mealybug could become a serious agricultural threat if it were to enter
and become established in the United States.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has
completed an environmental assessment that considers various methods of
suppression for Oriental mealybug in the event this pest is detected in
the United States. Based on our findings, we believe that the most
effective alternative available is the use of biological control agents
in the form of encrytid wasps of the genera Aenasius, Anagyrus,
Aphycus, Gyranusoidea, Leptomastix, Pseudaphyscus, Taftia,
Tetracnemoidea, and Promuscidae in the family Aphelinidae. Therefore,
we propose to import these biological control agents and rear them on
Oriental mealybug in U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified insect
quarantine facilities in preparation for their dissemination into the
ecosystem in the event of an infestation of Oriental mealybug.
It is expected that the biological control agents would be
introduced into areas where the Oriental mealybug occurs and reproduce
naturally without further human intervention, and that these stingless,
parasitic wasps would become established throughout the
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eventual geographical distribution of Oriental mealybug in the United
States. The biological characteristics of the organisms under
consideration preclude any possibility of harmful effects on human
health.
APHIS' review and analysis of the potential environmental impacts
associated with each of the possible alternatives are documented in
detail in an environmental assessment entitled ``Control of Oriental
Mealybug, Planococcus lilacinus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae)'' (October
2002). We are making this environmental assessment available to the
public for review and comment. We will consider all comments that we
receive on or before the date listed under the heading DATES at the
beginning of this notice.
You may request copies of the environmental assessment by calling
or writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Please refer to the title of the environmental assessment when
requesting copies. The environmental assessment is also available for
review in our reading room (information on the location and hours of
the reading room is listed under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning
of this notice).
The environmental assessment has been prepared in accordance with:
(1) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended
(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 1), and (4) APHIS'' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR
part 372).
Done in Washington, DC, this 30th day of December 2002.
Peter Fernandez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 03-213 Filed 1-3-03; 8:45 am]
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