[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 3 (Monday, January 6, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 539-540]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-213]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 02-116-1]


Oriental Mealybug; Notice of 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 program of the Oriental mealybug (Planococcus 
lilacinus). The environmental assessment documents our review and 
analysis of environmental impacts associated with five alternatives for 
control of Oriental mealybug, as well as a recommendation for the use 
of biological control agents in the event Oriental mealybug is detected 
in the United States. 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 
February 5, 2003.

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. 02-116-1, 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. 02-116-1. 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. 
02-116-1'' on the subject line.
    You may read any comments that we receive on the draft 
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

    Oriental mealybug (Planococcus lilacinus) is a foreign plant pest 
that attacks at least 96 different species of plants, including 
agricultural and ornamental plants. Oriental mealybug is widely 
distributed in the Eastern Hemisphere. In the Western Hemisphere, 
Oriental mealybug is found in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, 
Guam, and Haiti. Susceptible areas include coastal locations in Mexico 
as well as the area abutting the Rio Grande Valley. In the United 
States, an area including all of the south, and extending north and 
west as far as Pennsylvania; lower Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri; and 
eastern Texas, is susceptible. Even in cold regions, certain greenhouse 
crops would be at risk of infestation. For these reasons, Oriental 
mealybug could become a serious agricultural threat if it were to enter 
and become established in the United States.
    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has 
completed an environmental assessment that considers various methods of 
suppression for Oriental mealybug in the event this pest is detected in 
the United States. Based on our findings, we believe that the most 
effective alternative available is the use of biological control agents 
in the form of encrytid wasps of the genera Aenasius, Anagyrus, 
Aphycus, Gyranusoidea, Leptomastix, Pseudaphyscus, Taftia, 
Tetracnemoidea, and Promuscidae in the family Aphelinidae. Therefore, 
we propose to import these biological control agents and rear them on 
Oriental mealybug in U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified insect 
quarantine facilities in preparation for their dissemination into the 
ecosystem in the event of an infestation of Oriental mealybug.
    It is expected that the biological control agents would be 
introduced into areas where the Oriental mealybug occurs and reproduce 
naturally without further human intervention, and that these stingless, 
parasitic wasps would become established throughout the

[[Page 540]]

eventual geographical distribution of Oriental 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 each of the possible alternatives are documented in 
detail in an environmental assessment entitled ``Control of Oriental 
Mealybug, Planococcus lilacinus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae)'' (October 
2002). We are making this environmental assessment available to the 
public for review and comment. We will consider all comments that we 
receive on or before 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 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 30th day of December 2002.
Peter Fernandez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 03-213 Filed 1-3-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P