[Federal Register: June 25, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 122)]
[Notices]
[Page 35573-35574]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25jn04-45]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 04-041-1]
Availability of Environmental Assessment for Field Test of
Genetically Engineered Organisms
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment for a
confined field of corn plants genetically engineered to express the
protein trypsinogen. This environmental assessment is available for
public review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments we receive on or before July 26,
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. 04-041-1,
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. 04-041-1.
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. 04-041-1'' 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 the environmental assessment and any
comments that we receive 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. Michael Wach, BRS, APHIS, 4700
River Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-0485. To
obtain a copy of the environmental assessment, contact Ms. Kay Peterson
at (301) 734-4885; e-mail: Kay.Peterson@aphis.usda.gov. The
environmental assessment is also available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/04_11402r_ea.pdf
.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The regulations in 7 CFR part 340,
``Introduction of Organisms and Products Altered or Produced Through
Genetic Engineering Which Are Plant Pests or Which There Is Reason to
Believe Are Plant Pests,'' regulate, among other things, the
introduction (importation, interstate movement, or release into the
environment) of organisms and products altered or produced through
genetic engineering that are plant pests or that there is reason to
believe are plant pests. Such genetically engineered organisms and
products are considered ``regulated articles.'' A permit must be
obtained or a notification acknowledged before a regulated article may
be introduced into the United States. The regulations set forth the
permit application requirements and the notification procedures for the
importation, interstate movement, and release into the environment of a
regulated article.
On April 23, 2004, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) received a permit application (APHIS No. 04-114-02r) from
ProdiGene, Inc., College Station, TX, for a permit for a confined field
test of corn (Zea mays L.) plants genetically engineered to express a
gene coding for the enzyme trypsinogen. The field test is to be
conducted in Frio County, TX. The subject corn plants have been
genetically engineered to express a trypsinogen amino acid sequence
that is identical to bovine (Bos taurus L.) trypsin precursor. The
subject corn
[[Page 35574]]
plants also express the pat gene from Streptomyces viridochromogenes, a
common soil bacterium. The pat gene expresses a phosphinothricin
acetyltransferase enzyme, which confers tolerance to the herbicide
glufosinate, and is useful as a marker gene. The experimental genes
were transferred into corn plants through use of the Agrobacterium
tumefaciens transformation system, and expression of the added genes is
controlled in part by the plant pathogen cauliflower mosaic virus. The
genetically engineered corn plants are considered regulated articles
under the regulations in 7 CFR part 340 because they contain gene
sequences from plant pathogens.
The purpose of the proposed field trial is threefold: (1) Grain
production; (2) hybrid seed production; and (3) line development in a
nursery. The tests will be conducted through use of a combination of
biological and physical containment measures. In addition, the
experimental protocols and field plot design, as well as the procedures
for termination of the field tests, are designed to ensure that none of
the subject corn plants persist in the environment beyond the
termination of the experiments.
To provide the public with documentation of APHIS'' review and
analysis of any potential environmental impacts and plant pest risk
associated with the proposed confined field test of the subject corn
plants, an environment assessment (EA) has been prepared. The EA was
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 1b), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing
Procedures (7 CFR part 372).
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1622n and 7701-7772; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR
2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, this 21st day of June 2004.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-14431 Filed 6-24-04; 8:45 am]
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