[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 5, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10435-10436]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-5134]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 43 / Wednesday, March 5, 2003 / 
Notices  

[[Page 10435]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 03-021-1]


Tropical Soda Apple; 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 tropical soda apple, Solanum viarum Dunal 
(Solanaceae). The environmental assessment considers the effects of, 
and alternatives to, the release of a nonindigenous beetle, Gratiana 
boliviana Spaeth (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), into the environment as a 
biological control agent to reduce the severity of infestations of 
tropical soda apple in Florida and other infested States in the 
continental 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 April 
4, 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. 03-021-1, 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. 03-021-1. 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. 
03-021-1'' 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. Tracy A. Horner, Ecologist, 
Environmental Services, PPD, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 149, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-5213.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is 
considering an application from a researcher at the University of 
Florida for a permit to release a nonindigenous beetle, Gratiana 
boliviana Spaeth (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), into the environment to 
reduce the severity of infestations of tropical soda apple, Solanum 
viarum Dunal (Solanaceae) in Florida and other infested States in the 
continental United States.
    Tropical soda apple is a perennial shrub that belongs to the plant 
family Solanaceae, section Acanthophora, genus Solanum, and subgenus 
Leptostemonum. A plant with foliage unpalatable to livestock, tropical 
soda apple can infest a pasture or rangeland in 1 to 2 years, resulting 
in lower stocking rates. It is native to Brazil and Argentina but has 
become a weed in other areas of South America and in Africa, India, 
Nepal, the West Indies, Honduras, Mexico, and the United States. 
Tropical soda apple was originally detected in the United States in 
Florida in 1988. The pasture land infested in 1992 was estimated to be 
approximately 150,000 acres; 10 years later, the infested area had 
increased to more than 1 million acres of improved pastures, citrus 
groves, sugar cane fields, ditches, vegetable crops, sod farms, 
forestlands, and natural areas. Tropical soda apple was placed on the 
Federal Noxious Weed List in 1995, and it is listed as one of the most 
invasive species in Florida by the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council. 
In addition to Florida, the plant has been reported in Alabama, 
Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. Researchers believe that it has the 
potential to expand its range even further in the United States.
    Three types of controls are currently being used to limit the 
spread of tropical soda apple: chemical, mechanical, and regulatory. 
Chemical control involves the use of herbicides. Mechanical control is 
attempted by mowing to a three- to four-inch height to prevent the 
plants from producing fruit and seeds. Several southern States are 
trying to prevent the spread of tropical soda apple by means of 
regulatory control, regulating the movement of cattle, hay, sod, 
manure, lots of seed, and soil from infested areas to areas free of 
infestation. Unfortunately, herbicides and mowing only provide 
temporary weed suppression, and in addition to being expensive, they 
are not always practical in inaccessible areas. Moreover, herbicides 
can have negative environmental effects, which include leaving 
undesirable chemical residues in the ecosystem and in commodities and 
adversely affecting non-target organisms.
    The biological control agent G. boliviana, a nonindigenous tortoise 
beetle in the insect family Chrysomelidae, has the potential to reduce 
the severity of infestations of tropical soda apple in Florida and 
other infested States in the continental United States. Adults and 
larvae feed on tropical soda apple leaves, restricting the vigor and 
growth rate of the plants and potentially reducing the competitive 
advantage this invasive weed has over native vegetation. APHIS has 
completed an environmental assessment that considers the effects of, 
and alternatives to, the release of G. boliviana into the environment 
as a biological control agent for tropical soda apple.
    APHIS' review and analysis of the potential environmental impacts 
associated with releasing G. boliviana

[[Page 10436]]

into the environment are documented in detail in an environmental 
assessment entitled ``Field Release of a Nonindigenous Beetle, Gratiana 
boliviana (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), for Biological Control of 
Tropical Soda Apple, Solanum viarum (Solanaceae)'' (February 2003). 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.
    The environmental assessment may be viewed on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/ by following the link for ``Document/
Forms Retrieval System,'' then clicking on the triangle beside ``6-
Permits-Environmental Assessments'' and selecting document number 0033. 
You may request paper 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 28th day of February 2003.
Peter Fernandez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 03-5134 Filed 3-4-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P