[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 15, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8707-8708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3504]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
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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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 31 / Tuesday, February 15, 2011 /
Notices
[[Page 8707]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2007-0016]
Syngenta Seeds, Inc.; Determination of Nonregulated Status for
Corn Genetically Engineered To Produce an Enzyme That Facilitates
Ethanol Production
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public of our determination that a corn
line developed by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., designated as transformation
event 3272, which has been genetically engineered to produce a
microbial enzyme that facilitates ethanol production, is no longer
considered a regulated article under our regulations governing the
introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms. Our
determination is based on our evaluation of data submitted by Syngenta
Seeds, Inc., in its petition for a determination of nonregulated
status, our analysis of available scientific data, and comments
received from the public in response to our previous notice announcing
the availability of the petition for nonregulated status and its
associated environmental assessment and plant pest risk assessment.
This notice also announces the availability of our written
determination and finding of no significant impact.
DATES: Effective Date: February 15, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may read the documents referenced in this notice and the
comments we received 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. Those
documents are also available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/not_reg.html and are posted with the previous
notices and the comments we received on the Regulations.gov Web site at
http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2007-0016.
Other Information: Additional information about APHIS and its
programs is available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Andrea Huberty, Biotechnology
Regulatory Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 146, Riverdale, MD
20737-1236; (301) 734-0485, email: [email protected]. To
obtain copies of the documents referenced in this notice, contact Ms.
Cindy Eck at (301) 734-0667, e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
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.''
The regulations in Sec. 340.6(a) provide that any person may
submit a petition to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) seeking a determination that an article should not be regulated
under 7 CFR part 340. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of Sec. 340.6 describe
the form that a petition for a determination of nonregulated status
must take and the information that must be included in the petition.
On October 7, 2005, APHIS received a petition seeking a
determination of nonregulated status (APHIS Petition No. 05-280-01p)
from Syngenta Seeds, Inc., of Research Triangle Park, NC (Syngenta),
for corn (Zea mays L.) designated as transformation event 3272, which
has been genetically engineered to produce a microbial enzyme that
facilitates ethanol production. The petition stated that Event 3272
corn is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and, therefore, should not
be a regulated article under APHIS' regulations in 7 CFR part 340.
In a notice \1\ published in the Federal Register on November 19,
2008 (73 FR 69602-69604, Docket No. APHIS-2007-0016), APHIS announced
the availability of the Syngenta petition and a draft environmental
assessment (EA) for public comment. APHIS solicited comments on the
petition, whether the subject corn is likely to pose a plant pest risk,
and on the draft EA for 60 days ending on January 20, 2009. In a
subsequent notice published in the Federal Register on June 4, 2009 (74
FR 26832-26835, Docket No. APHIS-2007-0016), we reopened the comment
period until July 6, 2009.
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\1\ To view the notice, petition, draft EA, the plant pest risk
assessment and the comments we received, go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2007-0016.
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APHIS received over 13,000 comments during the comment period, most
of which conveyed opposition to the deregulation of the Event 3272
corn. APHIS has addressed the issues raised during the comment period
and has provided responses to these comments as an attachment to the
finding of no significant impact.
National Environmental Policy Act
To provide the public with documentation of APHIS' review and
analysis of any potential environmental impacts associated with the
determination of nonregulated status for Syngenta's Event 3272 corn, an
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). Based on our EA,
the response to public comments, and other pertinent scientific data,
APHIS has reached a
[[Page 8708]]
finding of no significant impact with regard to the preferred
alternative identified in the EA.
Determination
Based on APHIS' analysis of field, greenhouse, and laboratory data
submitted by Syngenta, references provided in the petition, information
analyzed in the EA, the plant pest risk assessment, comments provided
by the public, and information provided in APHIS' response to those
public comments, APHIS has determined that Syngenta's Event 3272 corn
is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and should be granted
nonregulated status.
Copies of the signed determination document, as well as copies of
the petition, plant pest risk assessment, EA, finding of no significant
impact, and response to comments are available as indicated in the
ADDRESSES and FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT sections of this notice.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701-7772 and 7781-7786; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7
CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, this 11th day of February 2011.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-3504 Filed 2-14-11; 8:45 am]
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