[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 230 (Friday, November 29, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71129-71130]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-30224]


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 Notices
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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 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 230 / Friday, November 29, 2002 / 
Notices  

[[Page 71129]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 02-087-1]


Availability of an Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that an environmental assessment 
has been prepared by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
relative to the control of Pacific mealybug, Planococcus minor 
(Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). The environmental assessment considers the 
effects of, and alternatives to, the release of nonindigenous organisms 
into the environment for use as biological control agents to reduce the 
severity of Pacific mealybug infestations. We are making this 
environmental assessment available to the public for review and 
comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
December 30, 2002.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by postal mail/commercial delivery 
or by e-mail. If you use postal mail/commercial delivery, please send 
four copies of your comment (an original and three copies) to: Docket 
No. 02-087-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 
3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state 
that your comment refers to Docket No. 02-087-1. If you use e-mail, 
address your comment to [email protected]. Your comment must 
be contained in the body of your message; do not send attached files. 
Please include your name and address in your message and ``Docket No. 
02-087-1'' on the subject line.
    You may read any comments that we receive on the environmental 
assessment in our reading room. The reading room is located in room 
1141 of the USDA South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue 
SW., Washington, DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to 
help you, please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.
    APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related 
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who 
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Dale Meyerdirk, Agriculturalist, 
National Biological Control Institute, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 
135, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-5220.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA), is proposing to release nonindigenous 
species of parasitic wasps and predators in the continental United 
States and U.S. territories in the Caribbean to control Pacific 
mealybug, Planococcus minor (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). The following 
organisms are being considered for release:
    [sbull] Encyrtid wasps in the genera Aenasius, Anagyrus, 
Gyranusoidea, Leptomastix, and Pseudaphycus;
    [sbull] A pteromalid wasp, Patiana coccorum;
    [sbull] Platygastrid wasps in the genus Allotropa;
    [sbull] A lycaenid, Spalgis epius; and
    [sbull] A coccinellid, Cryptolaemus affinus.
    Pacific mealybug is a foreign plant pest that attacks over 240 
different species of plants, including both agricultural and ornamental 
plants. It has invaded areas in American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin 
Islands, and Mexico. This pest could enter the eastern United States 
from Mexico or from the Carribean or enter California from Mexico or 
from the Pacific. The purpose of the proposed release of biological 
control agents is to suppress Pacific mealybug infestations.
    The preferred alternative, biological control, is proposed because 
it is the best alternative to resolve the problems imposed by Pacific 
mealybug on various hosts. APHIS will import these biological control 
agents from different locations around the world into USDA-certified 
insect quarantine facilities, where species identifications will be 
confirmed by USDA and State taxonomists and undesirable organisms such 
as hyperparasites will be screened out and properly eliminated. 
Laboratory colonies reared on Pacific mealybug will be established by 
USDA, State, and U.S. territory cooperators in areas invaded by the 
Pacific mealybug.
    It is expected that the biological control agents will be 
introduced into areas where the Pacific mealybug occurs and reproduce 
naturally without further human intervention, and that the stingless 
wasps and predators will become established throughout the eventual 
geographical distribution of Pacific mealybug in the United States. The 
biological characteristics of the organisms under consideration 
preclude any possibility of harmful effects on human health.
    APHIS' review and analysis of the potential environmental impacts 
associated with releasing nonindigenous organisms into the environment 
are documented in detail in an environmental assessment entitled 
``Control of Pacific Mealybug, Planococcus minor (Homoptera: 
Pseudococcidae)'' (July 11, 2002). We are making this environmental 
assessment available to the public for review and comment. We will 
consider all comments that we receive by the date listed under the 
heading DATES at the beginning of this notice.
    You may request copies of the environmental assessment by calling 
or writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 
Please refer to the title of the environmental assessment when 
requesting copies. The environmental assessment is also available for 
review in our reading room (information on the location and hours of 
the reading room is listed under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning 
of this notice).
    The environmental assessment has been prepared in accordance with: 
(1) The National Environmental Policy Act

[[Page 71130]]

of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (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) USDA regulations 
implementing NEPA (7 CFR part 1), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing 
Procedures (7 CFR part 372).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 22nd day of November 2002.
Ron DeHaven,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 02-30224 Filed 11-27-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P