Availability of an Addendum to Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for Field Release of Genetically Engineered Pink Bollworm, 42348-42350 [E6-11939]
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sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
42348
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 143 / Wednesday, July 26, 2006 / Notices
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17:16 Jul 25, 2006
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[FR Doc. 06–6396 Filed 7–25–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–15–M
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
[Docket No. APHIS–2006–0015]
Availability of an Addendum to
Environmental Assessment and
Finding of No Significant Impact for
Field Release of Genetically
Engineered Pink Bollworm
Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: We are advising the public
that we have supplemented with an
addendum the environmental
assessment for a proposed field trial of
pink bollworm genetically engineered to
express green fluorescence as a marker.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) proposes to use this
marked strain to assess the effectiveness
of lower doses of radiation to create
sterile insects for its pink bollworm
sterile insect program. This program,
using sterile insect technique, has been
conducted by APHIS, with State and
grower cooperation, since 1968. Data
gained from this field experiment will
be used to improve the current program.
APHIS has supplemented its
environmental assessment in order to
evaluate a new location and new
conditions for the field test and has
concluded that this field test will not
have a significant impact on the quality
of the human environment. Based on its
finding of no significant impact, APHIS
has determined that an environmental
impact statement need not be prepared
for this field test.
DATES: Effective Date: July 26, 2006.
ADDRESSES: You may read the
environmental assessment (EA), the
supplement, the finding of no
significant impact (FONSI), and any
comments that we received on Docket
No. APHIS–2006–0015 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. The supplemented EA
and FONSI are also available on the
Internet at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/
brs/aphisdocs/05_09801r_ea.pdf.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.
Robyn Rose, Biotechnology Regulatory
Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit
147, Riverdale, MD 20737–1236; (301)
734–0489. To obtain copies of the EA,
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 143 / Wednesday, July 26, 2006 / Notices
FONSI, and response to comments,
contact Ms. Ingrid Berlanger at (301)
734–4885; e-mail:
ingrid.e.berlanger@aphis.usda.gov.
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.’’ A permit must be obtained or
a notification acknowledged before a
regulated article may be introduced. The
regulations set forth the permit
application requirements and the
notification procedures for the
importation, interstate movement, or
release into the environment of a
regulated article.
On April 8, 2005, the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
received a permit application (APHIS
No. 05–098–01r) from APHIS’ Plant
Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Center
for Plant Health Science and
Technology (CPHST) Decision Support
and Pest Management Systems
Laboratory in Phoenix, AZ, for a field
trial using the pink bollworm (PBW),
Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera:
Gelechiidae), that has been genetically
engineered to express an enhanced
green fluorescent protein (EGFP)
derived from the jellyfish Aequora
victoria. A piggyBac transposable
element derived from the plant pest
cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni) was
used to transform the subject PBW, and
expression of the EGFP is controlled
through use of a Bombyx mori
cytoplasmic actin promoter.
On February 13, 2006, APHIS
published a notice 1 in the Federal
Register (70 FR 7503–7504, Docket No.
APHIS–2006–0015) announcing the
availability of an environmental
assessment (EA) for the proposed field
trial. During the 30-day comment
period, APHIS received two comments.
The two comments were not sitespecific in nature.
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1 To view the notice, EA, and the comments we
received, go to https://www.regulations.gov, click on
the ‘‘Advanced Search’’ tab, and select ‘‘Docket
Search.’’ In the Docket ID field, enter APHIS–2006–
0015, then click on ‘‘Submit.’’ Clicking on the
Docket ID link in the search results page will
produce a list of all documents in the docket.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
17:16 Jul 25, 2006
Jkt 208001
On April 19, 2006, APHIS published
a notice in the Federal Register (71 FR
20068–20069, Docket No. APHIS–2006–
0015) announcing the availability of a
final EA and a finding of no significant
impact (FONSI) to issue this permit. The
two comments we received in response
to our February 2006 notice were also
addressed in this notice. The FONSI
was signed on April 10, 2006. On April
12, 2006, APHIS received a request to
amend this permit application. The
amendment includes a change of
location from Pima County, AZ, to
Yuma County, AZ. This change is
necessary because the Southwest Pink
Bollworm Eradication Program has
moved into Phase 2, which includes
Pima County. The program and the field
trial must be spatially isolated to ensure
that the data collected in the field trial
is not influenced by the eradication
program. The changes also included
new field conditions, including
releasing fewer insects over a smaller
area. These changes have resulted from
factors associated with moving the field
trial. None of these changes raised new
plant pest issues.
To inform the public of the changes
described above, APHIS published a
notice of availability for an addendum
to the EA in the Federal Register on
June 20, 2006 (71 FR 35408–35409,
Docket No. APHIS–2006–0015). The
notice provided for a 14-day comment
period, which ended on July 5, 2006.
APHIS received no comments by that
date.
The subject transgenic PBW is
considered a regulated article under the
regulations in 7 CFR part 340 because
the recipient organism is a plant pest.
The proposed field test will evaluate the
mating efficiency and competitiveness
of the transgenic insects in the field.
The transgenic PBW will be reared in
the Phoenix PBW genetic rearing facility
and treated with radiation levels
suitable to induce F1 sterility. The
irradiated insects will be released into a
4.6 acre field site in the middle of a 40
to 80 acre field of cotton expressing the
Bt toxin, which is toxic to PBW. This
release is part of the research to support
and improve CPHST’s PBW sterile
insect program. Information resulting
from this research will be used in
support of APHIS’ efforts to eradicate
the PBW in the United States.
Additional information on the PBW
eradication plan for the United States
may be found at https://
www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/pdmp/cotton/
pinkbollworm/eradication/
eradication.pdf. An EA prepared for the
Southwest Pink Bollworm Eradication
Program may be found at https://
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42349
www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/es/
pdf%20files/swpbwea.pdf.
Pursuant to its regulations (7 CFR
340) promulgated under the Plant
Protection Act, APHIS has determined
that this field trial will not pose a risk
of the introduction or dissemination of
a plant pest for the following reasons:
EGFP transgenic insects will not
persist in the environment. They will be
sterilized by irradiation (Tothova and
Merec, 2001). The EGFP PBW line to be
released has significantly lower
fecundity than wild-type PBW.
Redundant mitigation measures are
incorporated into the experimental
procedures to ensure that genetically
modified EGFP PBW will not become
established in the environment. These
measures are as follows:
• The cotton in the proposed release
site expresses Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)
toxin that kills PBW larvae.
• There are no sexually compatible
relatives of the PBW in the United
States, so the transgene cannot spread
via hybridization with other species.
• The piggyBac-derived transposable
element used to make the transforming
construct has no functional transposase
gene, thereby eliminating its ability to
mobilize itself.
• The release area will be monitored
intensively with pheromone traps that
attract and collect PBW male moths.
Traps will be set up to 5 miles away
from the site.
• If adverse persistence is observed,
unwanted bollworms will be killed with
insecticides. Larvae from eggs
oviposited on Bt cotton will not survive.
• PBW populations can be
suppressed by flooding the area with a
high ratio of sterilized bollworms to
field insects.
• All moths will be securely managed
and contained in production and
transport using standard operating
procedures with extremely high
reliability developed for a long-running
sterile insect technique program.
• All living bollworms reared for this
field trial that are not used as part of the
environmental release will be killed.
Based on the factors described above
and the analysis contained in the EA,
APHIS has determined that the
proposed field trial will not have a
significant impact on the quality of the
human environment.
The EA, the addendum to the EA, and
the FONSI were 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
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 143 / Wednesday, July 26, 2006 / Notices
implementing NEPA (7 CFR part 1b),
and (4) APHIS’ NEPA Implementing
Procedures (7 CFR part 372). Copies of
the EA and FONSI are available from
the individual listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
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 20th day of
July 2006 .
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E6–11939 Filed 7–25–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–34–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Housing Service
Notice of Request for Collection of
Public Information With the Use of a
Survey
Rural Housing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Proposed collection; comments
requested.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice announces the Rural Housing
Service’s (RHS) intention to request
clearance for continuation of
information collection to measure the
quality of loan servicing provided by the
RHS, Centralized Servicing Center (CSC)
in St. Louis, MO.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be
received by September 25, 2006, to be
assured of consideration.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Terrie Barton, Customer Service Branch
Chief, Centralized Servicing Center,
1520 Market Street, Room 3622, St.
Louis, Missouri 63103, phone (314)
206–2108, e-mail:
Terrie.barton@stl.usda.gov.
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Rural Development—Customer
Satisfaction Survey.
Type of Request: Extension of a
currently approved information
collection.
Abstract: RHS, provides insured loans
to low- and moderate-income applicants
located in rural geographic areas to
assist them in obtaining decent, sanitary
and safe dwellings. RHS currently
processes loan originations through
approximately 700 Field Offices. The
CSC provides support to the Field
Offices and is responsible for loan
servicing functions for RHS program
borrowers. The CSC was established to
achieve a high level of customer service
and operating efficiency. The CSC has
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17:16 Jul 25, 2006
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established a fully integrated call center
and is able to provide borrowers with
convenient access to their loan account
information.
To facilitate CSC’s mission and in an
effort to continuously improve its
services, a survey has been developed
that will measure the change in quality
of service that borrower’s receive when
they contact the CSC. Two previous
surveys have been completed under
prior authorization. Respondents will
only need to report information on a
one-time basis.
The results of the survey will provide
a general satisfaction level among
borrowers throughout the nation. The
data analysis will provide comparisons
to prior surveys and reveal areas of
increased satisfaction as well as areas in
need of improvement. CSC’s goal is to
continuously improve program delivery,
accessibility and overall customer
service satisfaction. A follow up survey
will be conducted in 18–24 months, but
may or may not be sent to the same
initial respondents. Additionally, in
accordance with Government
Performance and Results Act (GPRA),
the survey will enable CSC to measure
the results and overall effectiveness of
customer services provided as well as
implement action plans and measure
improvements.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting
burden for this collection of information
is estimated to average 10 minutes per
response.
Respondents: Borrowers who have a
Rural Housing Program services loan.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
6,000.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 1.
Estimated Number of Responses:
6,000.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 1,000 hours.
Copies of this information collection
can be obtained from Cheryl Thompson,
Regulations and Paperwork
Management Branch, Support Services
Division at (202) 692–0043.
Comments: Comments are invited on:
(a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of agency’s estimate of
the burden of the proposed collection of
information including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on those who are to respond, including
through the use of appropriate
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automated, electronic, mechanical, or
other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information
technology. Comments may be sent to
Cheryl Thompson, Regulations and
Paperwork Management Branch,
Support Services Division, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Rural
Development, STOP 0742, 1400
Independence Ave., SW., Washington,
DC 20250–0742. All responses to this
notice will be summarized and included
in the request for OMB approval. All
comments will also become a matter of
public record.
Dated: July 20, 2006.
Russell T. Davis,
Administrator, Rural Housing Service.
[FR Doc. E6–11946 Filed 7–25–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–XV–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
The Department of Commerce (DOC)
has submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
clearance the following proposal for
collection of information under
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).
Agency: Bureau of Industry and
Security.
Title: BIS Program Evaluation.
Agency Form Number: N/A.
OMB Approval Number: 0694–0125.
Type of Request: Renewal of an
existing collection.
Burden: 500 hours.
Average Time per Response: 10
minutes per response.
Number of Respondents: 3,000
respondents.
Needs and Uses: This survey
capability is needed by BIS seminar
instructors for seminar programs
conducted throughout the year. Seminar
participants will be asked to evaluate
seminar content and to provide input
for future programs. Their responses
will provide useful and practical
information that BIS can use to
determine whether or not it is providing
a quality program and gives BIS
information useful to making
recommended improvements.
Affected Public: Individuals,
businesses or other for-profit
institutions.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.
OMB Desk Officer: David Rostker.
Copies of the above information
collection proposal can be obtained by
calling or writing Diana Hynek, DOC
Paperwork Clearance Officer, (202) 482–
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 143 (Wednesday, July 26, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42348-42350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-11939]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2006-0015]
Availability of an Addendum to Environmental Assessment and
Finding of No Significant Impact for Field Release of Genetically
Engineered Pink Bollworm
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have supplemented with an
addendum the environmental assessment for a proposed field trial of
pink bollworm genetically engineered to express green fluorescence as a
marker. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) proposes
to use this marked strain to assess the effectiveness of lower doses of
radiation to create sterile insects for its pink bollworm sterile
insect program. This program, using sterile insect technique, has been
conducted by APHIS, with State and grower cooperation, since 1968. Data
gained from this field experiment will be used to improve the current
program. APHIS has supplemented its environmental assessment in order
to evaluate a new location and new conditions for the field test and
has concluded that this field test will not have a significant impact
on the quality of the human environment. Based on its finding of no
significant impact, APHIS has determined that an environmental impact
statement need not be prepared for this field test.
DATES: Effective Date: July 26, 2006.
ADDRESSES: You may read the environmental assessment (EA), the
supplement, the finding of no significant impact (FONSI), and any
comments that we received on Docket No. APHIS-2006-0015 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. The supplemented EA and FONSI
are also available on the Internet at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/
aphisdocs/05_09801r_ea.pdf.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Robyn Rose, Biotechnology
Regulatory Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD
20737-1236; (301) 734-0489. To obtain copies of the EA,
[[Page 42349]]
FONSI, and response to comments, contact Ms. Ingrid Berlanger at (301)
734-4885; e-mail: ingrid.e.berlanger@aphis.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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.'' A permit must be
obtained or a notification acknowledged before a regulated article may
be introduced. The regulations set forth the permit application
requirements and the notification procedures for the importation,
interstate movement, or release into the environment of a regulated
article.
On April 8, 2005, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) received a permit application (APHIS No. 05-098-01r) from
APHIS' Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Center for Plant Health
Science and Technology (CPHST) Decision Support and Pest Management
Systems Laboratory in Phoenix, AZ, for a field trial using the pink
bollworm (PBW), Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae),
that has been genetically engineered to express an enhanced green
fluorescent protein (EGFP) derived from the jellyfish Aequora victoria.
A piggyBac transposable element derived from the plant pest cabbage
looper (Trichoplusia ni) was used to transform the subject PBW, and
expression of the EGFP is controlled through use of a Bombyx mori
cytoplasmic actin promoter.
On February 13, 2006, APHIS published a notice \1\ in the Federal
Register (70 FR 7503-7504, Docket No. APHIS-2006-0015) announcing the
availability of an environmental assessment (EA) for the proposed field
trial. During the 30-day comment period, APHIS received two comments.
The two comments were not site-specific in nature.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ To view the notice, EA, and the comments we received, go to
https://www.regulations.gov, click on the ``Advanced Search'' tab,
and select ``Docket Search.'' In the Docket ID field, enter APHIS-
2006-0015, then click on ``Submit.'' Clicking on the Docket ID link
in the search results page will produce a list of all documents in
the docket.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On April 19, 2006, APHIS published a notice in the Federal Register
(71 FR 20068-20069, Docket No. APHIS-2006-0015) announcing the
availability of a final EA and a finding of no significant impact
(FONSI) to issue this permit. The two comments we received in response
to our February 2006 notice were also addressed in this notice. The
FONSI was signed on April 10, 2006. On April 12, 2006, APHIS received a
request to amend this permit application. The amendment includes a
change of location from Pima County, AZ, to Yuma County, AZ. This
change is necessary because the Southwest Pink Bollworm Eradication
Program has moved into Phase 2, which includes Pima County. The program
and the field trial must be spatially isolated to ensure that the data
collected in the field trial is not influenced by the eradication
program. The changes also included new field conditions, including
releasing fewer insects over a smaller area. These changes have
resulted from factors associated with moving the field trial. None of
these changes raised new plant pest issues.
To inform the public of the changes described above, APHIS
published a notice of availability for an addendum to the EA in the
Federal Register on June 20, 2006 (71 FR 35408-35409, Docket No. APHIS-
2006-0015). The notice provided for a 14-day comment period, which
ended on July 5, 2006. APHIS received no comments by that date.
The subject transgenic PBW is considered a regulated article under
the regulations in 7 CFR part 340 because the recipient organism is a
plant pest. The proposed field test will evaluate the mating efficiency
and competitiveness of the transgenic insects in the field. The
transgenic PBW will be reared in the Phoenix PBW genetic rearing
facility and treated with radiation levels suitable to induce F1
sterility. The irradiated insects will be released into a 4.6 acre
field site in the middle of a 40 to 80 acre field of cotton expressing
the Bt toxin, which is toxic to PBW. This release is part of the
research to support and improve CPHST's PBW sterile insect program.
Information resulting from this research will be used in support of
APHIS' efforts to eradicate the PBW in the United States.
Additional information on the PBW eradication plan for the United
States may be found at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/pdmp/cotton/
pinkbollworm/eradication/eradication.pdf. An EA prepared for the
Southwest Pink Bollworm Eradication Program may be found at https://
www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/es/pdf%20files/swpbwea.pdf.
Pursuant to its regulations (7 CFR 340) promulgated under the Plant
Protection Act, APHIS has determined that this field trial will not
pose a risk of the introduction or dissemination of a plant pest for
the following reasons:
EGFP transgenic insects will not persist in the environment. They
will be sterilized by irradiation (Tothova and Merec, 2001). The EGFP
PBW line to be released has significantly lower fecundity than wild-
type PBW. Redundant mitigation measures are incorporated into the
experimental procedures to ensure that genetically modified EGFP PBW
will not become established in the environment. These measures are as
follows:
The cotton in the proposed release site expresses Bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt) toxin that kills PBW larvae.
There are no sexually compatible relatives of the PBW in
the United States, so the transgene cannot spread via hybridization
with other species.
The piggyBac-derived transposable element used to make the
transforming construct has no functional transposase gene, thereby
eliminating its ability to mobilize itself.
The release area will be monitored intensively with
pheromone traps that attract and collect PBW male moths. Traps will be
set up to 5 miles away from the site.
If adverse persistence is observed, unwanted bollworms
will be killed with insecticides. Larvae from eggs oviposited on Bt
cotton will not survive.
PBW populations can be suppressed by flooding the area
with a high ratio of sterilized bollworms to field insects.
All moths will be securely managed and contained in
production and transport using standard operating procedures with
extremely high reliability developed for a long-running sterile insect
technique program.
All living bollworms reared for this field trial that are
not used as part of the environmental release will be killed.
Based on the factors described above and the analysis contained in
the EA, APHIS has determined that the proposed field trial will not
have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment.
The EA, the addendum to the EA, and the FONSI were 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
[[Page 42350]]
implementing NEPA (7 CFR part 1b), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing
Procedures (7 CFR part 372). Copies of the EA and FONSI are available
from the individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
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 20th day of July 2006 .
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E6-11939 Filed 7-25-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
