Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service February 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to revise an information collection associated with regulations for restricted and controlled importation of nonfood animal and poultry products and byproducts into the United States and to request extension of approval of the information collection.

We are extending the comment period for a petition received 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). This action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments on the petition, our plant pest risk assessment, and our draft environmental assessment for the proposed determination of nonregulated status.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment for a proposed controlled field release of a genetically engineered clone of a Eucalyptus hybrid. The purpose of the field release is to assess the effectiveness of gene constructs intended to confer cold tolerance, to test the efficacy of genes introduced to alter lignin biosynthesis, to test the efficacy of genes designed to alter growth, and to test the efficacy of genes designed to alter flowering. We are making the environmental assessment available to the public for review and comment.

We are informing the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is soliciting feedback from our stakeholders in several areas having to do with our partnerships with businesses, academia, and other levels of government. We are also announcing that APHIS is hosting a public meeting to share information about the Agency's budget, process improvement efforts, and modernization initiatives and to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their thoughts on partnerships and the Agency's critical services.