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

We are advising the public of our determination that a soybean line developed by the Monsanto Co., designated as event MON 87769, which has been genetically engineered to produce stearidonic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid not found in conventional soybean, is no longer considered a regulated article under our regulations governing the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms. Our determination is based on our evaluation of data submitted by the Monsanto Company in its petition for a determination of nonregulated status, our analysis of available scientific data, and comments received from the public in response to our previous notice announcing the availability of the petition for nonregulated status and its associated environmental assessment and plant pest risk assessment. This notice also announces the availability of our written determination and finding of no significant impact.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has received a petition from the Monsanto Company (Monsanto) seeking a determination of nonregulated status of soybean designated as MON 87712, which has been genetically engineered for increased yield. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are making the Monsanto petition available for review and comment to help us identify potential environmental and interrelated economic issues and impacts that APHIS may determine should be considered in our evaluation of the petition.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has received a petition from Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Inc., seeking a determination of nonregulated status of apple events designated as events GD743 and GS784, which have been genetically engineered to resist browning. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are making the Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Inc., petition available for review and comment to help us identify potential environmental and interrelated economic issues and impacts that APHIS may determine should be considered in our evaluation of the petition.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has received a petition from BASF Plant Science LP (BASF) seeking a determination of nonregulated status of soybean designated as event BPS-CV127-9, which has been genetically engineered for tolerance to herbicides in the imidazolinone family. The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are making the BASF petition available for review and comment to help us identify potential environmental and interrelated economic issues and impacts that APHIS may determine should be considered in our evaluation of the petition.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has received a petition from Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., (Pioneer) seeking a determination of nonregulated status of canola designated as DP-073496-4, which has been genetically engineered for tolerance 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 Pioneer petition available for review and comment to help us identify potential environmental and interrelated economic issues and impacts that APHIS may determine should be considered in our evaluation of the petition.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared a finding of no significant impact and a preliminary decision regarding a request from Bayer CropScience LP to extend to cotton event T303-3, which has been genetically engineered to be tolerant to the herbicide glufosinate and resistant to several lepidopteran pests, our determination of nonregulated status of TwinLinkTM cotton (event T304-40). We are making available for public comment our finding of no significant impact for the proposed determination of nonregulated status.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has received a petition from GENECTIVE SA seeking a determination of nonregulated status of maize designated as VCO-[Oslash]1981-5, which has been genetically engineered for tolerance 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 GENECTIVE SA petition available for review and comment to help us identify potential environmental and interrelated economic issues and impacts that APHIS may determine should be considered in our evaluation of the petition.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS) intention to request an approval of an information collection associated with the APHIS Asian longhorned beetle eradication program.

We are announcing the creation of a new Plant Protection and Quarantine Web site that will provide stakeholders with information about the commodity import approval process for plants and plant products and give them the opportunity to consult with us on risk assessments as they are being drafted. We are doing this in response to stakeholder requests for more information about the commodity import approval process and the opportunity to comment on draft risk assessments. This Web site will make the commodity import approval process more visible to stakeholders and allow them to comment on draft risk assessments.

We are amending a final rule, which will take effect when these amendments become effective, that will establish a herd certification program to control chronic wasting disease (CWD) in farmed or captive cervids in the United States. Under that rule, owners of deer, elk, and moose herds who choose to participate in the CWD Herd Certification Program would have to follow requirements for animal identification, testing, herd management, and movement of animals into and from herds. This document amends that final rule to provide that our regulations will set minimum requirements for the interstate movement of farmed or captive deer, elk, and moose but will not preempt State or local laws or regulations that are more restrictive than our regulations. This document requests public comment on that change. This document also amends the final rule to require farmed or captive deer, elk, and moose to participate in the Herd Certification Program and to be monitored for CWD for 5 years before they can move interstate, clarify our herd inventory procedures, establish an optional protocol for confirmatory DNA testing of CWD-positive samples, add a requirement to continue testing cervids that are killed or sent to slaughter from Certified herds, and make several other changes. These actions will help to control the incidence of CWD in farmed or captive cervid herds and prevent its spread.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request approval of an extension to and revision of an information collection associated with regulations for the importation of wooden handicrafts from China.

We are amending the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of tomatoes from the member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, tomatoes from the ECOWAS will be subject to a systems approach that includes requirements for pest exclusion at the production site, fruit fly trapping and monitoring, and procedures for packing the tomatoes. The tomatoes will also be required to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of the exporting country with an additional declaration that the tomatoes have been produced in accordance with these requirements. This action will allow for the importation of tomatoes from the ECOWAS into the continental United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of quarantine pests.

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. After assessing the application for a permit for the field release, reviewing pertinent scientific information, and considering comments from the public, we have concluded that the field release is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk or to have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment. Based on the finding of no significant impact, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that an environmental impact statement need not be prepared for this field release.

We are amending the Asian longhorned beetle regulations to make changes to the list of quarantined areas by adding portions of Worcester County, MA, and Clermont County, OH, to the list of quarantined areas. We are also removing a portion of Suffolk County, NY, from the list of quarantined areas based on our determination that the area meets our criteria for removal. These actions are necessary to prevent the artificial spread of Asian longhorned beetle to noninfested areas of the United States and to relieve restrictions on certain areas that are no longer necessary.

We are advising the public that we have determined that it is necessary to immediately add to the Plant Protection and Quarantine Treatment Manual a treatment schedule for methyl bromide fumigation of cottonseed for the fungal plant pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum (FOV). We have prepared a treatment evaluation document that describes the new treatment schedule and explains why we have determined that it is effective at neutralizing FOV, certain strains of which are quarantine pests. We are making the treatment evaluation document available to the public for review and comment.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with regulations for the importation of commercial shipments of fresh papaya from Colombia and Ecuador into the continental United States.

We are giving notice that the Secretary is soliciting nominations for membership for this Committee to serve for 2- to 3-year staggered terms.

We are advising the public of our decision to begin issuing permits for the importation into the continental United States of fresh celery, arugula, and spinach from Colombia. Based on the findings of three pest risk analyses, which we made available to the public for review and comment through a previous notice, we believe that the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of fresh celery, arugula, and spinach from Colombia.

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) regulations by quarantining portions of Suffolk and Norfolk Counties, MA, and expanding the quarantined area in Worcester County, MA. The interim rule also amended the regulations to add plants of the genus Koelreuteria (golden raintree) to the list of regulated articles. The interim rule, which restricted the interstate movement of regulated articles from these areas, was necessary to prevent the artificial spread of ALB to noninfested areas of the United States.

We are amending the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of fresh pitaya fruit from Central America into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, the pitaya fruit must be produced in accordance with a systems approach that includes requirements for monitoring and oversight, establishment of pest-free places of production, and procedures for packing the pitaya fruit. This action will allow for the importation of pitaya fruit from Central America into the continental United States while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of plant pests.

We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk analysis that evaluates the risks associated with the importation into the continental United States of fresh strawberry fruit from Egypt. Based on that analysis, we believe that the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of fresh strawberry fruit from Egypt. We are making the pest risk analysis available to the public for review and comment.

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that amended the Karnal bunt regulations to make changes to the list of areas or fields regulated because of Karnal bunt, a fungal disease of wheat. Specifically, we removed areas and fields in Riverside County, CA, from the list of regulated areas based on our determination that those fields or areas meet our criteria for release from regulation. The interim rule was necessary to relieve restrictions on certain areas that were no longer necessary.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment concerning authorization to ship for the purpose of field testing, and then to field test, an unlicensed Feline Interleukin-2 Immunomodulator, Live Canarypox Vector. The environmental assessment, which is based on a risk analysis prepared to assess the risks associated with the field testing of this vaccine, examines the potential effects that field testing this veterinary vaccine could have on the quality of the human environment. Based on the risk analysis, we have reached a preliminary determination that field testing this veterinary vaccine will not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment, and that an environmental impact statement need not be prepared. We intend to authorize shipment of this vaccine for field testing following the close of the comment period for this notice unless new substantial issues bearing on the effects of this action are brought to our attention. We also intend to issue a U.S. Veterinary Biological Product license for this vaccine, provided the field test data support the conclusions of the environmental assessment and the issuance of a finding of no significant impact and the product meets all other requirements for licensing.