Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service November 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with legislation implementing the results of the Uruguay Round of negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, we are informing the public of the international standard- setting activities of the World Organization for Animal Health, the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention, and the North American Plant Protection Organization, and we are soliciting public comment on the standards to be considered.

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared a draft environmental assessment relative to the control of giant reed (Arundo donax). The environmental assessment considers the effects of, and alternatives to, the field release of a gall-forming fly, Lasioptera donacis, into the continental United States for use as a biological control agent to reduce the severity of giant reed infestations. We are making the environmental assessment available to the public for review and comment.

We are advising the public that we are withdrawing an environmental assessment that was prepared by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service relative to a permitted environmental release of diamondback moths which have been genetically engineered for repressible female lethality and to express red fluorescence as a marker. While we reached a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) in connection with this action and posted that FONSI on our Web site, the public was not notified of the FONSI via publication of an associated notice in the Federal Register. We are therefore withdrawing the environmental assessment and FONSI.