[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 1, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30865-30866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-12267]


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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. 69, No. 105 / Tuesday, June 1, 2004 / 
Notices  

[[Page 30865]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 04-039-1]


Mile-a-Minute Weed; 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 the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment relative to 
the control of mile-a-minute weed (Polygonum perfoliatum). The 
environmental assessment considers the effects of, and alternatives to, 
the release of a nonindigenous weevil, Rhinoncomimus latipes, into the 
environment to reduce the severity and extent of mile-a-minute weed 
infestations in the continental United States. We are making the 
environmental assessment available to the public for review and 
comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before July 
1, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send four copies 
of your comment (an original and three copies) to Docket No. 04-039-1, 
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. 04-039-1.
     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. 04-039-1'' on the subject 
line.
     Agency Web site: Go to http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/cominst.html for a form you can use to submit an e-mail comment through 
the APHIS Web site.
    Reading Room: You may read any comments that we receive on this 
docket 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.
    Other Information: You may view APHIS documents published in the 
Federal Register and related information, including the names of groups 
and individuals who have commented on APHIS dockets, on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Robert Flanders, Branch Chief, 
Biological and Technical Services, Pest Permit Evaluations, Plant 
Protection and Quarantine, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, 
MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-5930.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Mile-a-minute weed (Polygonum perfoliatum L. [Polygonaceae]) is an 
annual vine that is indigenous to Asia. Since it was accidentally 
introduced into Pennsylvania via imported nursery stock in the 1930s, 
it has become established throughout the northeastern United States. 
The weed grows rapidly, with stems that can extend up to 6 meters. Its 
stems, petioles, and leaf veins are covered with downward-curving barbs 
that aid the plant in climbing and supporting itself on other plants.
    Large, dense patches of mile-a-minute weed develop during the 
summer. As the vines climb over and cover other plants, they block 
available sunlight, which can reduce the population of native plant 
species in affected areas. Mile-a-minute weed can also interfere with 
Christmas tree farms, pine plantations, and reforestation projects by 
smothering tree seedlings. Nursery and horticultural crops that are not 
regularly tilled can also be affected by mile-a-minute weed. The Animal 
and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and several States list 
mile-a-minute weed as a noxious weed.
    A pest risk assessment that APHIS conducted in 1994 rated the risk 
potential of mile-a-minute weed as ``high,'' based on its high ratings 
for probability of spread and environmental impact potential and its 
medium rating for economic consequences of establishment. That risk 
assessment also noted that eradication of mile-a-minute weed is no 
longer feasible, because it is distributed in at least seven States and 
its seeds are spread by birds and water. The risk assessment 
recommended that efforts to control mile-a-minute weed utilize 
classical biocontrol, if feasible.
    Pursuant to this recommendation, researchers have identified a 
nonindigenous weevil, Rhinoncomimus latipes (Coleoptera: 
Curculionidae), as a biological control agent capable of reducing the 
severity and extent of mile-a-minute weed infestation.
    R. latipes is a small (approximately 2 millimeters long) black 
weevil, first collected in China, that lays its eggs on leaves and 
stems of mile-a-minute weed. Newly hatched R. latipes larvae bore into 
the weed's stem and spend their entire larval period feeding internally 
in the stem. Feeding in the stem of mile-a-minute weed by a single R. 
latipes larva kills the stem terminal, preventing development of seeds 
on that terminal.
    After about 3 weeks, the larvae leave the stem, drop to the soil, 
and pupate. Adults emerge about 1 week later. Adult R. latipes feed on 
mile-a-minute weed foliage, ingesting about 0.1 square centimeter of 
foliage per weevil per day. Adults also lay about three eggs a day. 
Adults can survive for up to a year in the laboratory.
    Simulated damage studies suggest that larval feeding by this weevil 
has the potential to kill small mile-a-minute weed plants and stunt and 
reduce seed production by larger plants. Observations in China indicate 
that R. latipes is host-specific and has caused considerable damage to 
mile-a-minute plants in its native range, especially through larval 
feeding.
    Therefore, APHIS is considering issuing a permit for the release of 
R. latipes into the continental United States in order to reduce the 
severity and extent of mile-a-minute weed infestation. APHIS'' review 
and analysis of the proposed action and its

[[Page 30866]]

alternatives are documented in detail in an environmental assessment 
(EA) entitled, ``Field Release of Rhinoncomimus latipes (Coleoptera: 
Curculionidae), a Weevil for Biological Control of Mile-A-Minute Weed 
(Polygonum perfoliatum), in the Continental United States' (April 
2004). We are making the EA 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 EA may be0 viewed on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/. In the middle of that page, click on ``Document/Forms Retrieval 
System.'' At the next screen, click on the triangle beside ``Permits--
Environmental Assessments.'' A list of documents will appear; the EA 
for mile-a-minute weed is document number 0037. You may request paper 
copies of the EA by calling or writing to the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the title of the EA when 
requesting copies. The EA 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 EA 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 25th day of May 2004.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-12267 Filed 5-28-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P