[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 222 (Thursday, November 18, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67532-67533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-3249]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 03-101-3]


Environmental Impact Statement; Petition for Deregulation of 
Genetically Engineered Glyphosate-Tolerant Creeping Bentgrass

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
and proposed scope of study; reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: We are reopening the comment period for our notice that 
advises the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
intends to prepare an environmental impact statement as part of its 
consideration of a petition received from Monsanto Company and The 
Scotts Company for a determination of nonregulated status for a 
glyphosate-tolerant creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera). This 
action will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and 
submit comments. We are also announcing our intent to hold a public 
meeting to promote further public involvement in the development of the 
environmental impact statement. The location and date of the public 
meeting will be announced in a future issue of the Federal Register.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
December 2, 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. 03-101-2, 
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. 03-101-2.
     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. 03-101-2'' 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. Susan M. Koehler, BRS, APHIS, 4700 
River Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238; (301) 734-4886.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 14, 2003 APHIS received a petition 
(APHIS Petition No. 03-104-01p) from Monsanto Company (St. Louis, MO) 
and The Scotts Company (Gervais, OR) (Monsanto/Scotts), requesting 
deregulation of a creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L., synonym 
A. palustris Huds.) that has been genetically engineered for tolerance 
to the herbicide glyphosate. The Monsanto/Scotts petition states that 
the subject creeping bentgrass, designated as event ASR368, should not 
be regulated by APHIS because it does not present a plant pest risk. 
(The petition is available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/03_10401p.pdf.)
    In a notice published in the Federal Register on January 5, 2004 
(69 FR 315-317, Docket No. 03-101-1), APHIS announced the receipt of 
the Monsanto/Scotts petition and solicited comments

[[Page 67533]]

on whether the subject creeping bentgrass would present a plant pest 
risk. We solicited comments concerning our notice for 60 days, ending 
March 5, 2004.
    On September 24, 2004, APHIS published in the Federal Register (69 
FR 57257 57260, Docket No. 03-101-2) a notice advising the public of 
our decision to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) as part 
of our consideration of petition 03-104-01p. Our decision was based on 
several factors: (1) Data associated with the petition, (2) a report 
prepared by the Weed Science Society of America on the weed management 
implications associated with the potential deregulation and 
commercialization of glyphosate-tolerant and glufosinate-tolerant 
creeping bentgrass varieties, (3) our preliminary risk assessment 
(available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/03_10401p.pdf), and (4) public comments received in response to our 
January 5, 2004, notice.
    Pursuant to the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality 
in 40 CFR 1501.4(d), APHIS has initiated the scoping process as 
mandated by National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), beginning with the January 5, 2004, 
Federal Register notice. The comment period for our September 24, 2004, 
notice of intent closed on October 24, 2004. We are reopening the 
comment period for an additional 2 weeks from the date of this notice 
to give interested parties additional time to respond. We will also 
consider all comments we received between the October 24, 2004, close 
of the original comment period and the date of this notice.
    APHIS has also decided to hold a public meeting to encourage 
additional public participation in the EIS scoping process. The date 
and location of the public meeting will be announced on the APHIS Web 
site (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/brs_meetings.html) and in a future 
Federal Register notice.
    Comments that provide information relevant to the scope identified 
in the September 24, 2004, Federal Register notice or that identify 
other potentially significant environmental issues or alternatives that 
should be examined in the context of the EIS process would be 
especially helpful. All comments that we received in response to the 
January 5, 2004, notice will be included as part of this scoping 
process and need not be resubmitted. We will fully consider all the 
comments received in response to the January 5, 2004, notice; the 
comments received on our September 24, 2004, notice of intent; and the 
comments received at the future public meeting in developing a final 
scope of study and in preparing the draft EIS. When the draft EIS is 
completed, we will publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing 
its availability and inviting the public to comment on it. Following 
our consideration of the comments received, APHIS will prepare a final 
EIS; its availability will also be announced in the Federal Register 
along with a 30-day public comment period, after which the Record of 
Decision will be issued.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 12th day of November 2004.
Elizabeth E. Gaston,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
 [FR Doc. E4-3249 Filed 11-17-04; 8:45 am]
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