Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.; Availability of a Request and Plant Pest Risk Similarity Assessment for an Extension of Determination of Nonregulated Status for Maize for Use in the Seed Production Technology for Africa Process, 71875-71876 [2020-25037]
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Notices
Federal Register
Vol. 85, No. 219
Thursday, November 12, 2020
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.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
[Docket No. APHIS–2020–0097]
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.;
Availability of a Request and Plant
Pest Risk Similarity Assessment for an
Extension of Determination of
Nonregulated Status for Maize for Use
in the Seed Production Technology for
Africa Process
Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
We are advising the public
that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service has received a
request to extend our determination of
nonregulated status of Pioneer Hi-Bred
International, Inc.’s (Pioneer’s) DP–
32138–1 SPT maintainer maize to maize
MS44 maintainer line DP56113 for use
in the Seed Production Technology for
Africa (SPTA) process (hereafter
DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize).
DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize has
been genetically engineered for
maintenance and recovery of malesterile maize breeding lines using the
same construct and method of
transformation as DP–32138–1 SPT
maintainer maize. We are making
available for public comment the
request and our plant pest risk
similarity assessment and preliminary
determination of nonregulated status.
DATES: We will consider all comments
that we receive on or before December
14, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by either of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2020-0097.
• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery:
Send your comment to Docket No.
APHIS–2020–0097, Regulatory Analysis
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:07 Nov 10, 2020
Jkt 253001
and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station
3A–03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118,
Riverdale, MD 20737–1238.
The Pioneer extension request, our
plant pest risk similarity assessment and
preliminary determination of
nonregulated status, and any comments
we receive on this docket may be
viewed at https://www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2020-0097 or
in our reading room, which is located in
Room 1620 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) 7997039
before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Cindy Eck, Biotechnology Regulatory
Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit
147, Riverdale, MD 20737–1236; (301)
851–3892; email: cynthia.a.eck@
usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the
authority of the plant pest provisions of
the Plant Protection Act (PPA) (7 U.S.C.
7701 et seq.), the regulations in 7 CFR
part 340, ‘‘Movement of Organisms
Modified or Produced Through Genetic
Engineering,’’ 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 organisms and products are
considered regulated articles.
Pursuant to the terms set forth in a
final rule published in the Federal
Register on May 18, 2020 (85 FR 29790–
29838, Docket No. APHIS–2018–0034),1
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, or
that APHIS extend a determination of
nonregulated status to other organisms.
Such an extension request must include
information to establish the similarity of
the antecedent organism and the
regulated article in question.
On June 28, 2011,2 APHIS announced
its determination of nonregulated status
1 To view the final rule, go to https://
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS2018-0034.
2 https://www.regulations.gov/
document?D=APHIS-2010-0041-0057.
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.’s
(Pioneer’s) DP–32138–1 SPT maintainer
maize, which was genetically
engineered for maintenance and
recovery of male-sterile maize breeding
lines. APHIS has received a request for
an extension of that determination of
nonregulated status of DP–32138–1 SPT
maintainer maize to maintainer maize
designated as MS44 maintainer line
maize event DP-;56113–9 and referred
to as DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize
(APHIS Petition Number 20–043–
01.ext), also from Pioneer. DP56113
SPTA maintainer maize has also been
genetically engineered for maintenance
and recovery of male-sterile maize
breeding lines. In its request, Pioneer
stated that this maintainer maize is
similar to the antecedent organism DP–
32138–1 SPT maintainer maize and,
based on the similarity to the antecedent
organism, 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 extension request,
DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize was
developed using the same constructs
and method of transformation as DP–
32138–1 SPT maintainer maize. Based
on the information in the request, we
have concluded that DP56113 SPTA
maintainer maize is similar to DP–
32138–1 SPT maintainer maize.
DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize is
currently regulated under 7 CFR part
340.
As part of our decision-making
process regarding a GE organism’s
regulatory status, APHIS evaluates the
plant pest risk of the article. In section
403 of the PPA, ‘‘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 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
similarity assessment (PPRSA) to
compare DP56113 SPTA maintainer
maize to the antecedent. As described in
the PPRSA, the same genetic constructs
used in DP56113 SPTA maintainer
maize were previously used in DP–
32138–1 SPT maintainer maize, and
APHIS has concluded that DP56113
SPTA maintainer maize is unlikely to
E:\FR\FM\12NON1.SGM
12NON1
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
71876
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 219 / Thursday, November 12, 2020 / Notices
pose a plant health risk. Therefore,
based on the similarity between
DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize and
DP–32138–1 SPT maintainer maize as
described in the PPRSA, APHIS has
concluded that DP56113 SPTA
maintainer maize is no more likely to
pose a plant pest risk than DP–32138–
1 SPT maintainer maize.
APHIS has analyzed information
submitted by Pioneer, references
provided in the extension request, peerreviewed publications, and supporting
documentation prepared for the
antecedent organism. Based on APHIS’
analysis of this information and the
similarity of DP56113 SPTA maintainer
maize to the antecedent organism DP–
32138–1 SPT maintainer maize, APHIS
has determined that DP56113 SPTA
maintainer maize is unlikely to pose a
plant pest risk. We have therefore
reached a preliminary decision to
approve the request to extend the
determination of nonregulated status of
DP–32138–1 SPT maintainer maize to
DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize,
whereby DP56113 SPTA maintainer
maize would no longer be subject to our
regulations governing the introduction
of certain genetically engineered
organisms.
We are therefore publishing this
notice to make available our evaluation
and inform the public of our
preliminary decision to extend the
determination of nonregulated status of
DP–32138–1 SPT maintainer maize to
DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize.
APHIS will accept written comments
on the request for extension, PPRSA,
and our preliminary determination for
DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize for 30
days. These documents are available for
public review as indicated under
ADDRESSES and FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT above. Copies of
these documents may also be obtained
by contacting the person listed under
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
After the comment period closes,
APHIS will review all written comments
received during the comment period
and any other relevant information. All
comments will be available for public
review. After reviewing and evaluating
the comments, if APHIS determines that
no substantive information has been
received that would warrant APHIS
altering its preliminary regulatory
determination, our preliminary
regulatory determination will become
final and effective upon notification of
the public through an announcement on
our website at https://
www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/
biotechnology/permits-notificationspetitions/petitions/petition-status.
APHIS will also furnish a response to
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:07 Nov 10, 2020
Jkt 253001
the petitioner regarding our final
regulatory determination. No further
Federal Register notice will be
published announcing the final
regulatory determination regarding
DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize.
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 6th day of
November 2020.
Michael Watson,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2020–25037 Filed 11–10–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–34–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Information Collection: Collaborative
Forest Landscape Restoration
Program
Forest Service, USDA.
Notice; request for comment.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is seeking
comments from all interested
individuals and organizations on the
renewal and revision of the information
collection, Collaborative Forest
Landscape Restoration Program.
DATES: Comments must be received in
writing on or before January 11, 2021 to
be assured of consideration. Comments
received after that date will be
considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: Comments concerning this
notice should be addressed to Lindsay
Buchanan, Collaborative Forest
Landscape Restoration Program
Coordinator, 1220 SW 3rd Ave.,
Portland, Oregon 97204. Comments may
also be submitted by email to:
lindsay.buchanan@usda.gov. The public
may inspect comments received at 1220
SW 3rd Ave., Portland, Oregon 97204,
during normal business hours. Visitors
are encouraged to call ahead to 503–
808–2810 to facilitate entry to the
building.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Lindsay Buchanan, Collaborative Forest
Landscape Restoration Program
Coordinator, Forest Management, Range
Management, and Vegetation Ecology,
can be reached by phone at 503–808–
2810, or by email at lindsay.buchanan@
usda.gov. Individuals who use
telecommunication devices for the deaf
(TDD) may call the Federal Information
Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–
8339, twenty-four hours a day, every
day of the year, including holidays.
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Collaborative Forest Landscape
Restoration Program.
OMB Number: 0596–0245.
Expiration Date of Approval: January
31, 2021.
Type of Request: Renewal with
Revisions.
Abstract: The Collaborative Forest
Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP)
is a USFS program started in 2010 to
encourage collaborative groups of
neighboring landowners, to work with
the Forest Service to find common
ground pertaining to forest restoration.
Such collaborative neighboring
landowners include State, local, and
Tribal government representatives,
businesses, interest groups, and nonprofit organizations. Partners work with
the USFS to implement restoration work
and multi-party monitoring of landscape
restoration treatments.
The Forest Landscape Restoration Act
(FLRA) of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 7303), which
enabled the CFLRP, requires monitoring
‘‘to assess the positive or negative
ecological, social, and economic effects
of projects implementing a selected
proposal for not less than 15 years after
project implementation commences.’’
This Information Collection Request
(ICR) will help meet the obligation for
monitoring the social impacts on
residents and stakeholders of activities
conducted under the CFLRP. The scope
of the ICR includes residents of
communities within and adjacent to the
CFLRP landscapes and collaborative
participants.
Gaining information from individuals
who work or live in the geographic area
of the CFLRP projects provides valuable
information to partners and land
management decision makers. To ensure
the USFS is informed about the
opinions of participants of collaborative
processes and public members living in
or around the CFLRP project, the USFS
seeks to obtain approval by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) of an
ICR to collect both qualitative and
quantitative feedback from stakeholders
on management decisions, forest
restoration work, monitoring activities,
and land management planning. The
information will be collected through a
census survey of participants and a
mail-in, on-line, and hard copy survey
of residents. Through the collection of
this information, managers and planners
will obtain valuable information to
inform future decisions. USFS public
affairs staff, social scientists, and
economists may also use this
information, and USFS, academic, and
other researchers may use or cite the
results or data collected in publications.
E:\FR\FM\12NON1.SGM
12NON1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 219 (Thursday, November 12, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71875-71876]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-25037]
========================================================================
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.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 219 / Thursday, November 12, 2020 /
Notices
[[Page 71875]]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2020-0097]
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.; Availability of a Request
and Plant Pest Risk Similarity Assessment for an Extension of
Determination of Nonregulated Status for Maize for Use in the Seed
Production Technology for Africa Process
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service has received a request to extend our determination
of nonregulated status of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.'s
(Pioneer's) DP-32138-1 SPT maintainer maize to maize MS44 maintainer
line DP56113 for use in the Seed Production Technology for Africa
(SPTA) process (hereafter DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize). DP56113 SPTA
maintainer maize has been genetically engineered for maintenance and
recovery of male-sterile maize breeding lines using the same construct
and method of transformation as DP-32138-1 SPT maintainer maize. We are
making available for public comment the request and our plant pest risk
similarity assessment and preliminary determination of nonregulated
status.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
December 14, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2020-0097.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2020-0097, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
The Pioneer extension request, our plant pest risk similarity
assessment and preliminary determination of nonregulated status, and
any comments we receive on this docket may be viewed at https://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2020-0097 or in our reading
room, which is located in Room 1620 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) 7997039
before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Cindy Eck, Biotechnology
Regulatory Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD
20737-1236; (301) 851-3892; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of the plant pest
provisions of the Plant Protection Act (PPA) (7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.),
the regulations in 7 CFR part 340, ``Movement of Organisms Modified or
Produced Through Genetic Engineering,'' 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 organisms and products are considered
regulated articles.
Pursuant to the terms set forth in a final rule published in the
Federal Register on May 18, 2020 (85 FR 29790-29838, Docket No. APHIS-
2018-0034),\1\ 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, or that APHIS
extend a determination of nonregulated status to other organisms. Such
an extension request must include information to establish the
similarity of the antecedent organism and the regulated article in
question.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ To view the final rule, go to https://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2018-0034.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On June 28, 2011,\2\ APHIS announced its determination of
nonregulated status of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.'s
(Pioneer's) DP-32138-1 SPT maintainer maize, which was genetically
engineered for maintenance and recovery of male-sterile maize breeding
lines. APHIS has received a request for an extension of that
determination of nonregulated status of DP-32138-1 SPT maintainer maize
to maintainer maize designated as MS44 maintainer line maize event DP-
[Oslash]56113-9 and referred to as DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize (APHIS
Petition Number 20-043-01.ext), also from Pioneer. DP56113 SPTA
maintainer maize has also been genetically engineered for maintenance
and recovery of male-sterile maize breeding lines. In its request,
Pioneer stated that this maintainer maize is similar to the antecedent
organism DP-32138-1 SPT maintainer maize and, based on the similarity
to the antecedent organism, is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and,
therefore, should not be a regulated article under APHIS' regulations
in 7 CFR part 340.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=APHIS-2010-0041-0057.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As described in the extension request, DP56113 SPTA maintainer
maize was developed using the same constructs and method of
transformation as DP-32138-1 SPT maintainer maize. Based on the
information in the request, we have concluded that DP56113 SPTA
maintainer maize is similar to DP-32138-1 SPT maintainer maize. DP56113
SPTA maintainer maize is currently regulated under 7 CFR part 340.
As part of our decision-making process regarding a GE organism's
regulatory status, APHIS evaluates the plant pest risk of the article.
In section 403 of the PPA, ``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 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 similarity assessment (PPRSA)
to compare DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize to the antecedent. As
described in the PPRSA, the same genetic constructs used in DP56113
SPTA maintainer maize were previously used in DP-32138-1 SPT maintainer
maize, and APHIS has concluded that DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize is
unlikely to
[[Page 71876]]
pose a plant health risk. Therefore, based on the similarity between
DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize and DP-32138-1 SPT maintainer maize as
described in the PPRSA, APHIS has concluded that DP56113 SPTA
maintainer maize is no more likely to pose a plant pest risk than DP-
32138-1 SPT maintainer maize.
APHIS has analyzed information submitted by Pioneer, references
provided in the extension request, peer-reviewed publications, and
supporting documentation prepared for the antecedent organism. Based on
APHIS' analysis of this information and the similarity of DP56113 SPTA
maintainer maize to the antecedent organism DP-32138-1 SPT maintainer
maize, APHIS has determined that DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize is
unlikely to pose a plant pest risk. We have therefore reached a
preliminary decision to approve the request to extend the determination
of nonregulated status of DP-32138-1 SPT maintainer maize to DP56113
SPTA maintainer maize, whereby DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize would no
longer be subject to our regulations governing the introduction of
certain genetically engineered organisms.
We are therefore publishing this notice to make available our
evaluation and inform the public of our preliminary decision to extend
the determination of nonregulated status of DP-32138-1 SPT maintainer
maize to DP56113 SPTA maintainer maize.
APHIS will accept written comments on the request for extension,
PPRSA, and our preliminary determination for DP56113 SPTA maintainer
maize for 30 days. These documents are available for public review as
indicated under ADDRESSES and FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT above.
Copies of these documents may also be obtained by contacting the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
After the comment period closes, APHIS will review all written
comments received during the comment period and any other relevant
information. All comments will be available for public review. After
reviewing and evaluating the comments, if APHIS determines that no
substantive information has been received that would warrant APHIS
altering its preliminary regulatory determination, our preliminary
regulatory determination will become final and effective upon
notification of the public through an announcement on our website at
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/biotechnology/permits-notifications-petitions/petitions/petition-status. APHIS will also
furnish a response to the petitioner regarding our final regulatory
determination. No further Federal Register notice will be published
announcing the final regulatory determination regarding DP56113 SPTA
maintainer maize.
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 6th day of November 2020.
Michael Watson,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-25037 Filed 11-10-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
