[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 5 (Friday, January 8, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 902-903]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-00160]
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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. 81, No. 5 / Friday, January 8, 2016 /
Notices
[[Page 902]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2015-0096]
The Scotts Co. and Monsanto Co.; Availability of Petition for
Determination of Nonregulated Status of Creeping Bentgrass Genetically
Engineered for Resistance to Glyphosate
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 the Scotts Company and
Monsanto Company seeking a determination of nonregulated status of
creeping bentgrass designated as event ASR368, which has been
genetically engineered for resistance to the herbicide glyphosate. The
petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations
concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms
and products. We are making the Scotts Company and Monsanto Company
petition available for review and comment to help us identify potential
environmental and interrelated economic issues and impacts that the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service may determine should be
considered in our evaluation of the petition.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before March
8, 2016.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2015-0096.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2015-0096, 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-2015-
0096 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) 799-7039 before coming.
The petition is also available on the APHIS Web site at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/petitions_table_pending.shtml under
APHIS petition 15-300-01p.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. John Turner, Director,
Environmental Risk Analysis Programs, Biotechnology Regulatory
Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236;
(301) 851-3954, email: [email protected]. To obtain copies
of the petition, contact Ms. Cindy Eck at (301) 851-3892, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of the plant pest
provisions of the Plant Protection Act (7 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 (GE)
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 15-300-01p)
from the Scotts Company of Marysville, OH, and Monsanto Company of St.
Louis, MO (Scotts/Monsanto), seeking a determination of nonregulated
status of creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) designated as
event ASR368, which has been genetically engineered for resistance to
the herbicide glyphosate. The Scotts/Monsanto petition states that
information collected during field trials and laboratory analyses
indicates that ASR368 bentgrass is not likely to be a plant pest and
therefore should not be a regulated article under APHIS' regulations in
7 CFR part 340.
As described in the petition, ASR368 bentgrass contains the cp4
epsps gene from Agrobacterium sp. strain CP4 that confers resistance to
the herbicide glyphosate. ASR368 bentgrass is currently regulated under
7 CFR part 340. Interstate movements and field tests of ASR368
bentgrass have been conducted under 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
tests. 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.
Paragraph (d) of Sec. 340.6 provides that APHIS will publish a
notice in the Federal Register providing 60 days for public comment for
petitions for a determination of nonregulated status. On March 6, 2012,
we published in the Federal Register (77 FR 13258-13260, Docket No.
APHIS-2011-0129) a notice \1\ describing our process for soliciting
public comment when considering petitions for determinations of
nonregulated status for GE organisms. In that notice we indicated that
APHIS would accept written comments regarding a petition once APHIS
deemed it complete.
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\1\ To view the notice, go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0129.
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In accordance with Sec. 340.6(d) of the regulations and our
process for soliciting public input when considering petitions for
determinations
[[Page 903]]
of nonregulated status for GE organisms, 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. The petition is available for public review and comment, and
copies are available as indicated under ADDRESSES and FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT above. We are interested in receiving comments
regarding potential environmental and interrelated economic issues and
impacts that APHIS may determine should be considered in our evaluation
of the petition. We are particularly interested in receiving comments
regarding biological, cultural, or ecological issues, and we encourage
the submission of scientific data, studies, or research to support your
comments. We also request that, when possible, commenters provide
relevant information regarding specific localities or regions as
creeping bentgrass growth, crop management, and crop utilization may
vary considerably by geographic region.
After the comment period closes, APHIS will review all written
comments received during the comment period and any other relevant
information. Any substantive issues identified by APHIS based on our
review of the petition and our evaluation and analysis of comments will
be considered in the development of our decisionmaking documents. As
part of our decisionmaking process regarding a GE organism's regulatory
status, APHIS prepares a plant pest risk assessment to assess its plant
pest risk and the appropriate environmental documentation--either an
environmental assessment (EA) or an environmental impact statement
(EIS)--in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),
to provide the Agency with a review and analysis of any potential
environmental impacts associated with the petition request. For
petitions for which APHIS prepares an EA, APHIS will follow our
published process for soliciting public comment (see footnote 1) and
publish a separate notice in the Federal Register announcing the
availability of APHIS' EA and plant pest risk assessment.
Should APHIS determine that an EIS is necessary, APHIS will
complete the NEPA EIS process in accordance with Council on
Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR part 1500-1508) and APHIS'
NEPA implementing regulations (7 CFR part 372).
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 4th day of January 2016.
Michael C. Gregoire,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-00160 Filed 1-7-16; 8:45 am]
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