Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service June 28, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment and reached a finding of no significant impact for confined field tests of rice plants genetically engineered to express the protein lactoferrin. The environmental assessment provides a basis for our conclusion that these field tests will not present a risk of introducing or disseminating a plant pest 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 for these field tests.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment and reached a finding of no significant impact for confined field tests of rice plants genetically engineered to express the protein lysozyme. The environmental assessment provides a basis for our conclusion that these field tests will not present a risk of introducing or disseminating a plant pest 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 for these field tests.