[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 121 (Tuesday, June 24, 1997)] [Notices] [Pages 34043-34044] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 97-16487] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service [Docket No. 97-054-1] Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: We are advising the public that an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact have been prepared by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service relative to the proposed release into the environment of nonindigenous wasps for use as biological control agents to suppress the Pink Hibiscus Mealybug. The environmental assessment provides a basis for our conclusion that the release into the environment of the biological control agents will not present a risk of introducing plant pests into the United States or disseminating plant pests within the United States and will not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment. Based on its finding of no significant impact, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that an environmental impact statement need not be prepared. ADDRESSES: Copies of the environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact are available for public inspection at USDA, room 1141, South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Persons wishing to inspect those documents are requested to call ahead on (202) 690-2817 to facilitate entry into the reading room. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Dale E. Meyerdirk, Senior Staff Officer, Pink Hibiscus Mealybug Program, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 135, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236, (301) 734-5667. For copies of the environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact, write to Dr. Dale E. Meyerdirk at the same address. Please refer to the title of the environmental assessment when ordering copies. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As a part of a biological control project to suppress Pink Hibiscus Mealybug (PHM) (Maconellicoccus hirsutus [Green]) (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is proposing to release nonindigenous wasps in the genera Anagyrus and Gyranusoidea (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) in the continental United States and its Caribbean territories. PHM is currently established on the islands of St. Thomas and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands and on Puerto Rico. However, we anticipate that PHM will spread to other U.S. territories in the Caribbean and to the mainland United States. As PHM spreads, nonindigenous wasps in the genera Anagyrus and Gyranusoidea would be released in affected areas to suppress PHM. PHM is a devastating pest of cocoa, grapes, fiber crops, hibiscus, and many other field crops and ornamental plants. Wasps of the genus Anagyrus have controlled PHM in Egypt, India, and Hawaii, and wasps of the genus Gyranusoidae, closely related to Anagyrus wasps, offer similar potential as biological control agents for the suppression of PHM. To provide the public with documentation of APHIS' review and analysis of the environmental impact and plant pest risk associated with releasing these biological control agents into the environment, we have prepared an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact relative to the release into the environment of the following biological control agents: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date of finding of Organisms Title of environmental no assessment significant impact ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anagyrus spp. and Gyranusoidea spp. ``Field Releases of 5/30/97. Nonindigenous Species of Anagyrus and Gyranusoidea (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) for Biological Control of Pink Hibiscus Mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae)'' (June 1997). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact have been prepared in accordance with: (1) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA) (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). [[Page 34044]] Done in Washington, DC, this 18th day of June 1997. Terry L. Medley, Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. [FR Doc. 97-16487 Filed 6-23-97; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-34-P