[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 122 (Friday, June 25, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35573-35574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-14431]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 04-041-1]


Availability of Environmental Assessment for Field Test of 
Genetically Engineered Organisms

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment for a 
confined field of corn plants genetically engineered to express the 
protein trypsinogen. This environmental assessment is available for 
public review and comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments we receive on or before July 26, 
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. 04-041-1, 
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. 04-041-1.
     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. 04-041-1'' 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 the environmental assessment and any 
comments that we receive 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. Michael Wach, BRS, APHIS, 4700 
River Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-0485. To 
obtain a copy of the environmental assessment, contact Ms. Kay Peterson 
at (301) 734-4885; e-mail: [email protected]. The 
environmental assessment is also available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/04_11402r_ea.pdf.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The regulations in 7 CFR part 340, 
``Introduction of Organisms and Products Altered or Produced Through 
Genetic Engineering Which Are Plant Pests or Which There Is Reason to 
Believe Are Plant Pests,'' regulate, among other things, the 
introduction (importation, interstate movement, or release into the 
environment) of organisms and products altered or produced through 
genetic engineering that are plant pests or that there is reason to 
believe are plant pests. Such genetically engineered organisms and 
products are considered ``regulated articles.'' A permit must be 
obtained or a notification acknowledged before a regulated article may 
be introduced into the United States. The regulations set forth the 
permit application requirements and the notification procedures for the 
importation, interstate movement, and release into the environment of a 
regulated article.
    On April 23, 2004, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS) received a permit application (APHIS No. 04-114-02r) from 
ProdiGene, Inc., College Station, TX, for a permit for a confined field 
test of corn (Zea mays L.) plants genetically engineered to express a 
gene coding for the enzyme trypsinogen. The field test is to be 
conducted in Frio County, TX. The subject corn plants have been 
genetically engineered to express a trypsinogen amino acid sequence 
that is identical to bovine (Bos taurus L.) trypsin precursor. The 
subject corn

[[Page 35574]]

plants also express the pat gene from Streptomyces viridochromogenes, a 
common soil bacterium. The pat gene expresses a phosphinothricin 
acetyltransferase enzyme, which confers tolerance to the herbicide 
glufosinate, and is useful as a marker gene. The experimental genes 
were transferred into corn plants through use of the Agrobacterium 
tumefaciens transformation system, and expression of the added genes is 
controlled in part by the plant pathogen cauliflower mosaic virus. The 
genetically engineered corn plants are considered regulated articles 
under the regulations in 7 CFR part 340 because they contain gene 
sequences from plant pathogens.
    The purpose of the proposed field trial is threefold: (1) Grain 
production; (2) hybrid seed production; and (3) line development in a 
nursery. The tests will be conducted through use of a combination of 
biological and physical containment measures. In addition, the 
experimental protocols and field plot design, as well as the procedures 
for termination of the field tests, are designed to ensure that none of 
the subject corn plants persist in the environment beyond the 
termination of the experiments.
    To provide the public with documentation of APHIS'' review and 
analysis of any potential environmental impacts and plant pest risk 
associated with the proposed confined field test of the subject corn 
plants, an environment assessment (EA) has been prepared. The EA was 
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 1b), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing 
Procedures (7 CFR part 372).

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1622n and 7701-7772; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR 
2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 21st day of June 2004.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-14431 Filed 6-24-04; 8:45 am]
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