[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 14 (Monday, January 23, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4398-4399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-1635]



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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 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 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 14 / Monday, January 23, 1995 / 
Notices  
[[Page 4398]]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 94-129-1]


Availability of Environmental Assessments and Findings of No 
Significant Impact

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that five environmental assessments 
and findings of no significant impact have been prepared by the Animal 
and Plant Health Inspection Service relative to the issuance of permits 
to allow the field testing of genetically engineered organisms. The 
environmental assessments provide a basis for our conclusion that the 
field testing of these genetically engineered organisms 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 findings of no significant impact, the Animal and Plant 
Health Inspection Service has determined that environmental impact 
statements need not be prepared.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the environmental assessments and findings of no 
significant impact are available for public inspection at USDA, room 
1141, South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except holidays. Persons wishing to inspect those documents are 
requested to call ahead on (202) 690-2817 to facilitate entry into the 
reading room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dr. Arnold Foudin, Deputy Director, Biotechnology Permits, BBEP, APHIS, 
USDA, room 850, Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 
20782, (301) 436-7612. For copies of the environmental assessments and 
findings of no significant impact, write to Mr. Clayton Givens at the 
same address. Please refer to the permit numbers listed below when 
ordering documents.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The regulations in 7 CFR part 340 (referred 
to below as the regulations) regulate the introduction (importation, 
interstate movement, and release into the environment) of genetically 
engineered organisms and products that are plant pests or that there is 
reason to believe are plant pests (regulated articles). A permit must 
be obtained before a regulated article may be introduced into the 
United States. The regulations set forth the procedures for obtaining a 
limited permit for the importation or interstate movement of a 
regulated article and for obtaining a permit for the release into the 
environment of a regulated article. The Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service (APHIS) has stated that it would prepare an 
environmental assessment and, when necessary, an environmental impact 
statement before issuing a permit for the release into the environment 
of a regulated article (see 52 FR 22906).
    In the course of reviewing each permit application, APHIS assessed 
the impact on the environment that releasing the organisms under the 
conditions described in the permit application would have. APHIS has 
issued permits for the field testing of the organisms listed below 
after concluding that the organisms will not present a risk of plant 
pest introduction or dissemination and will not have a significant 
impact on the quality of the human environment. The environmental 
assessments and findings or no significant impact, which are based on 
data submitted by the applicants and on a review of other relevant 
literature, provide the public with documentation of APHIS' review and 
analysis of the environmental impacts associated with conducting the 
field tests.
    Environmental assessments and findings of no significant impact 
have been prepared by APHIS relative to the issuance of permits to 
allow the field testing of the following genetically engineered 
organisms:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                   Field test   
      Permit No.           Permittee     Date issued                  Organisms                     location    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
94-221-01............  Monsanto             10-27-94  Wheat plants genetically engineered to    Arizona.        
                        Agricultural                   express tolerance to the herbicide                       
                        Company.                       glyphosate and marker genes.                             
94-213-01............  University of        10-31-94  Cranberry plants genetically engineered   Wisconsin.      
                        Wisconsin.                     to express a gene from Bacillus                          
                                                       thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki (Btk) for                  
                                                       resistance to lepidopteran insects.                      
94-217-02............  Monsanto             10-31-94  Potato plants genetically engineered to   California,     
                        Agricultural                   express a gene from Bacillus              Florida.       
                        Company.                       thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis (Btt)                   
                                                       for resistance to coleopteran insects                    
                                                       and to express a gene for resistance to                  
                                                       potato leaf roll virus.                                  
94-280-01............  AgrEvo USA......     11-10-94  Canola plants genetically engineered to   California.     
                                                       express tolerance to the herbicide                       
                                                       glufosinate.                                             
94-207-02............  University of        11-21-94  Antibiotic producing Rhizobium strain,    Wisconsin.      
                        Wisconsin.                     to inhibit growth of closely related                     
                                                       bacteria in the soil.                                    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The environmental assessments and findings of no significant impact 
have been prepared in accordance with: (1) The National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), (2) Regulations of 
the Council on Environmental Quality for Implementing the Procedural 
Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), (3) [[Page 4399]] USDA 
Regulations Implementing NEPA (7 CFR part 1b), and (4) APHIS Guidelines 
Implementing NEPA (44 FR 50381-50384, August 28, 1979, and 44 FR 51272-
51274, August 31, 1979).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 17th day of January 1995.
Lonnie J. King,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 95-1635 Filed 1-20-95; 8:45 am]
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