[Federal Register: November 18, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 222)]
[Notices]
[Page 67532-67533]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18no04-11]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 03-101-3]
Environmental Impact Statement; Petition for Deregulation of
Genetically Engineered Glyphosate-Tolerant Creeping Bentgrass
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement
and proposed scope of study; reopening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: We are reopening the comment period for our notice that
advises the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
intends to prepare an environmental impact statement as part of its
consideration of a petition received from Monsanto Company and The
Scotts Company for a determination of nonregulated status for a
glyphosate-tolerant creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera). This
action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and
submit comments. We are also announcing our intent to hold a public
meeting to promote further public involvement in the development of the
environmental impact statement. The location and date of the public
meeting will be announced in a future issue of the Federal Register.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
December 2, 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. 03-101-2,
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. 03-101-2.
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. 03-101-2'' 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. Susan M. Koehler, BRS, APHIS, 4700
River Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238; (301) 734-4886.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 14, 2003 APHIS received a petition
(APHIS Petition No. 03-104-01p) from Monsanto Company (St. Louis, MO)
and The Scotts Company (Gervais, OR) (Monsanto/Scotts), requesting
deregulation of a creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L., synonym
A. palustris Huds.) that has been genetically engineered for tolerance
to the herbicide glyphosate. The Monsanto/Scotts petition states that
the subject creeping bentgrass, designated as event ASR368, should not
be regulated by APHIS because it does not present a plant pest risk.
(The petition is available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/03_10401p.pdf.
)
In a notice published in the Federal Register on January 5, 2004
(69 FR 315-317, Docket No. 03-101-1), APHIS announced the receipt of
the Monsanto/Scotts petition and solicited comments
[[Page 67533]]
on whether the subject creeping bentgrass would present a plant pest
risk. We solicited comments concerning our notice for 60 days, ending
March 5, 2004.
On September 24, 2004, APHIS published in the Federal Register (69
FR 57257 57260, Docket No. 03-101-2) a notice advising the public of
our decision to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) as part
of our consideration of petition 03-104-01p. Our decision was based on
several factors: (1) Data associated with the petition, (2) a report
prepared by the Weed Science Society of America on the weed management
implications associated with the potential deregulation and
commercialization of glyphosate-tolerant and glufosinate-tolerant
creeping bentgrass varieties, (3) our preliminary risk assessment
(available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/03_10401p.pdf
), and (4) public comments received in response to our
January 5, 2004, notice.
Pursuant to the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality
in 40 CFR 1501.4(d), APHIS has initiated the scoping process as
mandated by National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), beginning with the January 5, 2004,
Federal Register notice. The comment period for our September 24, 2004,
notice of intent closed on October 24, 2004. We are reopening the
comment period for an additional 2 weeks from the date of this notice
to give interested parties additional time to respond. We will also
consider all comments we received between the October 24, 2004, close
of the original comment period and the date of this notice.
APHIS has also decided to hold a public meeting to encourage
additional public participation in the EIS scoping process. The date
and location of the public meeting will be announced on the APHIS Web
site (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/brs_meetings.html) and in a future
Federal Register notice.
Comments that provide information relevant to the scope identified
in the September 24, 2004, Federal Register notice or that identify
other potentially significant environmental issues or alternatives that
should be examined in the context of the EIS process would be
especially helpful. All comments that we received in response to the
January 5, 2004, notice will be included as part of this scoping
process and need not be resubmitted. We will fully consider all the
comments received in response to the January 5, 2004, notice; the
comments received on our September 24, 2004, notice of intent; and the
comments received at the future public meeting in developing a final
scope of study and in preparing the draft EIS. When the draft EIS is
completed, we will publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing
its availability and inviting the public to comment on it. Following
our consideration of the comments received, APHIS will prepare a final
EIS; its availability will also be announced in the Federal Register
along with a 30-day public comment period, after which the Record of
Decision will be issued.
Done in Washington, DC, this 12th day of November 2004.
Elizabeth E. Gaston,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E4-3249 Filed 11-17-04; 8:45 am]
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