[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 122 (Friday, June 25, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35574-35575]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-14432]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 04-044-1]


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 aprotinin. 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. 04-044-1, 
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. 04-044-1.
     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. 04-044-1'' 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. James White, BRS, APHIS, 4700 
River Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-5940. 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_12101r_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 30, 2004, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS) received a permit application (APHIS No. 04-121-01r) 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 (protein) aprotinin. The field test is to be 
conducted in Frio County, TX. The subject corn plants have been 
genetically engineered to express an aprotinin protein that is 
identical to the native bovine (Bos taurus L.) protein. The subject 
corn 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

[[Page 35575]]

they contain gene sequences from plant pathogens.
    The purpose of the proposed field trial is to produce grain, hybrid 
seed, and to develop a research line 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. 04-14432 Filed 6-24-04; 8:45 am]
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