[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80872-80873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33009]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2010-0103]
Dow AgroScience LLC; Availability of Petition, Plant Pest Risk
Assessment, and Environmental Assessment for Determination of
Nonregulated Status of Corn Genetically Engineered for Herbicide
Tolerance
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 received a petition from Dow AgroScience LLC
seeking a determination of nonregulated status of corn designated as
DAS-40278-9, which has been genetically engineered for increased
resistance to broadleaf herbicides in the phenoxy auxin group (such as
the herbicide 2,4-D) and resistance to grass herbicides in the
aryloxyphenoxypropionate acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase inhibitor group
(such as quizalofop herbicides). The petition has been submitted in
accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain
genetically engineered organisms and products. We are soliciting
comments on whether this genetically engineered corn is likely to pose
a plant pest risk. We are making available for public comment the Dow
AgroScience LLC petition, our plant pest risk assessment, and our draft
environmental assessment for the proposed determination of nonregulated
status.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
February 27, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2010-0103-0001.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2010-0103, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2010-
0103 or in our reading room, which 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.
The petition, draft environmental assessment, and plant pest risk
assessment are also available on the APHIS Web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/09_23301p.pdf, http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/09_23301p _dea.pdf, and http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/09_23301p _dpra.pdf.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Evan Chestnut, Policy Analyst,
Biotechnology Regulatory Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 147,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-0942, email:
[email protected]. To obtain copies of the petition, draft
environmental assessment, or plant pest risk assessment, contact Ms.
Cindy Eck at (301) 734-0667, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Under the authority of the plant pest provisions of the Plant
Protection Act (7
[[Page 80873]]
U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), 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.
APHIS has received a petition (APHIS Petition Number 09-233-01p)
from Dow AgroScience LLC (Dow) of Indianapolis, IN, seeking a
determination of nonregulated status of corn (Zea mays) designated as
event DAS-40278-9, which has been genetically engineered for increased
resistance to broadleaf herbicides in the phenoxy auxin group (such as
the herbicide 2,4-D) and resistance to grass herbicides in the
aryloxyphenoxypropionate acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase inhibitor group
(such as quizalofop herbicides), stating that this 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.
As described in the petition, corn event DAS-40278-9 has been
genetically engineered to express the aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase
protein AAD-1. Corn event DAS-40278-9 is currently regulated under 7
CFR part 340. Interstate movements and field tests of corn event DAS-
40278-9 have been conducted under permits issued or notifications
acknowledged by APHIS.
Field tests conducted under APHIS oversight allowed for evaluation
in a natural agricultural setting while imposing measures to minimize
the risk of persistence in the environment after completion of the
test. Data are gathered on multiple parameters and used by the
applicant to evaluate agronomic characteristics and product
performance. These and other data are used by APHIS to determine if the
new variety poses a plant pest risk.
In section 403 of the Plant Protection Act, ``plant pest'' is
defined as any living stage of any of the following that can directly
or indirectly injure, cause damage to, or cause disease in any plant or
plant product: A protozoan, a nonhuman animal, a parasitic plant, a
bacterium, a fungus, a virus or viroid, an infectious agent or other
pathogen, or any article similar to or allied with any of the
foregoing. APHIS has prepared a plant pest risk assessment to determine
if corn event DAS-40278-9 is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk.
APHIS has also prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) in
which it presents two alternatives based on its analyses of data
submitted by Dow, a review of other scientific data, and field tests
conducted under APHIS oversight. APHIS is considering the following
alternatives: (1) Take no action, i.e., APHIS would not change the
regulatory status of corn event DAS-40278-9 and it would continue to be
a regulated article, or (2) make a determination of nonregulated status
of corn event DAS-40278-9.
The draft EA has been prepared to provide the APHIS decisionmaker
with a review and analysis of any potential environmental impacts
associated with the proposed determination of nonregulated status of
corn event DAS-40278-9. The draft 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).
In accordance with Sec. 340.6(d) of the regulations, we are
publishing this notice to inform the public that APHIS will accept
written comments regarding the petition for a determination of
nonregulated status from interested or affected persons for a period of
60 days from the date of this notice. We are also soliciting written
comments from interested or affected persons on the plant pest risk
assessment and the draft EA prepared to examine any potential
environmental impacts of the proposed determination for the
deregulation of the subject corn line. The petition, draft EA, and
plant pest risk assessment are available for public review, and copies
of the petition, draft EA, and plant pest risk assessment are available
as indicated under ADDRESSES and FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT above.
After the comment period closes, APHIS will review all written
comments received during the comment period and any other relevant
information. All comments received regarding the petition, draft EA,
and plant pest risk assessment will be available for public review.
After reviewing and evaluating the comments on the petition, the draft
EA, plant pest risk assessment, and other data, APHIS will furnish a
response to the petitioner, either approving or denying the petition.
APHIS will also publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing the
regulatory status of corn event DAS-40278-9 and the availability of
APHIS' written environmental decision and regulatory determination.
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 19th day of December 2011.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-33009 Filed 12-22-11; 8:45 am]
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