[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 100 (Friday, May 23, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28190-28191]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-12993]


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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 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 100 / Friday, May 23, 2003 / 
Notices  

[[Page 28190]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 03-053-1]


Hydrilla; 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 the aquatic weed hydrilla (Hydrilla 
verticillata). The environmental assessment considers the effects of, 
and alternatives to, the release of the nonindigenous leaf-mining flies 
Hydrellia pakistanae Deonier and H. balciunasi Bock (Diptera: 
Ephydridae) as biological control agents to reduce the severity of 
infestations of hydrilla 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 June 
23, 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. 03-053-1, 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. 03-053-1. 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. 
03-053-1'' 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 by a researcher at the U.S. Army Engineer 
Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, MS, for a permit for the 
continued release of the nonindigenous leaf-mining flies Hydrellia 
pakistanae Deonier and H. balciunasi Bock (Diptera: Ephydridae) in the 
continental United States. These agents, which have previously been 
released in the United States, would be used by the applicant for the 
biological control of the aquatic weed hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata 
(L.F.) Royle) (Hydrocharitaceae) in new areas infested with hydrilla.
    Hydrilla, which is native to the warmer areas of Asia, was first 
discovered in the United States in 1960. A submersed aquatic plant, it 
has the ability to multiply profusely, producing long, thick stands. It 
has become a major nuisance in many aquatic systems, displacing native 
aquatic plants such as pondweeds and eel grass, causing navigational 
interference, hindering waterflow, and detracting from recreational use 
of water bodies.
    Four types of controls are currently being used to limit the spread 
of hydrilla: Chemical, mechanical, cultural/physical, and biological. 
Chemical controls include various herbicides. Mechanical controls 
include hand cutting/pulling, cutting, harvesting, and grinding. 
Cultural/physical controls include dredging/sediment removal, drawdown, 
benthic barriers (covering plants with a growth-inhibiting substance), 
and shading/light attenuation. Biological controls include, in addition 
to the two species of flies under consideration in the present 
environmental assessment, two weevil species.
    The efficacy of these methods varies, and environmental and 
economic impacts may also limit the utility of some of them. The 
herbicides employed as chemical controls are safe when used according 
to their labels but are broad spectrum in their plant-species response 
and may affect non-target submersed vegetation. Hand cutting/pulling, 
although labor intensive, can be very effective in localized areas, 
while cutting, harvesting, and grinding are all considered cosmetic, 
nonselective, and short-term solutions. Due to its high cost, 
environmental impacts, and the problem of sediment disposal, dredging 
is considered a multipurpose lake remediation technique and should not 
be done solely for aquatic plant management. Drawdown, which involves 
removing the water of a lake to a given depth and holding it at that 
level for at least a month to provide complete drying, is only 
effective for 1 to 2 years when applied to hydrilla. Benthic barriers 
are too expensive for widespread use and also heavily affect benthic 
communities. Shading or light attenuation (controlling plants by light 
reduction) has only limited applicability.
    The biological control agents H. pakistanae and H. balciunasi, 
which have been released previously in several States, have the 
potential to reduce the severity of infestations of hydrilla in other 
areas of the continental United States. H. pakistanae and H. balciunasi 
are flies in the family Ephydridae. Female Hydrellia spp. lay their 
eggs on hydrilla, and after several days, the eggs hatch into larvae. 
The larvae of both species damage hydrilla plants by mining leaves. 
APHIS has completed an environmental assessment that considers the 
effects of, and alternatives to, the release of H. pakistanae and H.

[[Page 28191]]

balciunasi into the environment as biological control agents for 
hydrilla.
    APHIS' review and analysis of the potential environmental impacts 
associated with releasing H. pakistanae and H. Balciunasi into the 
environment are documented in detail in an environmental assessment 
entitled ``Field Release of the Nonindigenous Leaf-mining Flies 
Hydrellia pakistanae Deonier and H. balciunasi Bock (Diptera: 
Ephydridae), for Biological Control of Hydrilla verticillata (L.F.) 
Royle (Hydrocharitaceae)'' (April 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 0035. 
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 16th day of May 2003.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 03-12993 Filed 5-22-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P