[Federal Register: June 1, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 105)]
[Notices]
[Page 30865-30866]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01jn04-27]
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Notices
Federal Register
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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.
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[[Page 30865]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 04-039-1]
Mile-a-Minute Weed; 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 the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment relative to
the control of mile-a-minute weed (Polygonum perfoliatum). The
environmental assessment considers the effects of, and alternatives to,
the release of a nonindigenous weevil, Rhinoncomimus latipes, into the
environment to reduce the severity and extent of mile-a-minute weed
infestations in the continental United States. We are making the
environmental assessment available to the public for review and
comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before July
1, 2004.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send four copies
of your comment (an original and three copies) to Docket No. 04-039-1,
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. 04-039-1.
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. 04-039-1'' on the subject
line.
Agency Web site: Go to http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/cominst.html
for a form you can use to submit an e-mail comment through
the APHIS Web site.
Reading Room: You may read any 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.
Other Information: You may view APHIS documents published in the
Federal Register and related information, including the names of groups
and individuals who have commented on APHIS dockets, on the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Robert Flanders, Branch Chief,
Biological and Technical Services, Pest Permit Evaluations, Plant
Protection and Quarantine, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale,
MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-5930.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Mile-a-minute weed (Polygonum perfoliatum L. [Polygonaceae]) is an
annual vine that is indigenous to Asia. Since it was accidentally
introduced into Pennsylvania via imported nursery stock in the 1930s,
it has become established throughout the northeastern United States.
The weed grows rapidly, with stems that can extend up to 6 meters. Its
stems, petioles, and leaf veins are covered with downward-curving barbs
that aid the plant in climbing and supporting itself on other plants.
Large, dense patches of mile-a-minute weed develop during the
summer. As the vines climb over and cover other plants, they block
available sunlight, which can reduce the population of native plant
species in affected areas. Mile-a-minute weed can also interfere with
Christmas tree farms, pine plantations, and reforestation projects by
smothering tree seedlings. Nursery and horticultural crops that are not
regularly tilled can also be affected by mile-a-minute weed. The Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and several States list
mile-a-minute weed as a noxious weed.
A pest risk assessment that APHIS conducted in 1994 rated the risk
potential of mile-a-minute weed as ``high,'' based on its high ratings
for probability of spread and environmental impact potential and its
medium rating for economic consequences of establishment. That risk
assessment also noted that eradication of mile-a-minute weed is no
longer feasible, because it is distributed in at least seven States and
its seeds are spread by birds and water. The risk assessment
recommended that efforts to control mile-a-minute weed utilize
classical biocontrol, if feasible.
Pursuant to this recommendation, researchers have identified a
nonindigenous weevil, Rhinoncomimus latipes (Coleoptera:
Curculionidae), as a biological control agent capable of reducing the
severity and extent of mile-a-minute weed infestation.
R. latipes is a small (approximately 2 millimeters long) black
weevil, first collected in China, that lays its eggs on leaves and
stems of mile-a-minute weed. Newly hatched R. latipes larvae bore into
the weed's stem and spend their entire larval period feeding internally
in the stem. Feeding in the stem of mile-a-minute weed by a single R.
latipes larva kills the stem terminal, preventing development of seeds
on that terminal.
After about 3 weeks, the larvae leave the stem, drop to the soil,
and pupate. Adults emerge about 1 week later. Adult R. latipes feed on
mile-a-minute weed foliage, ingesting about 0.1 square centimeter of
foliage per weevil per day. Adults also lay about three eggs a day.
Adults can survive for up to a year in the laboratory.
Simulated damage studies suggest that larval feeding by this weevil
has the potential to kill small mile-a-minute weed plants and stunt and
reduce seed production by larger plants. Observations in China indicate
that R. latipes is host-specific and has caused considerable damage to
mile-a-minute plants in its native range, especially through larval
feeding.
Therefore, APHIS is considering issuing a permit for the release of
R. latipes into the continental United States in order to reduce the
severity and extent of mile-a-minute weed infestation. APHIS'' review
and analysis of the proposed action and its
[[Page 30866]]
alternatives are documented in detail in an environmental assessment
(EA) entitled, ``Field Release of Rhinoncomimus latipes (Coleoptera:
Curculionidae), a Weevil for Biological Control of Mile-A-Minute Weed
(Polygonum perfoliatum), in the Continental United States' (April
2004). We are making the EA 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.
The EA may be0 viewed on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/.
In the middle of that page, click on ``Document/Forms Retrieval
System.'' At the next screen, click on the triangle beside ``Permits--
Environmental Assessments.'' A list of documents will appear; the EA
for mile-a-minute weed is document number 0037. You may request paper
copies of the EA by calling or writing to the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the title of the EA when
requesting copies. The EA 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 EA 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 25th day of May 2004.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-12267 Filed 5-28-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P