[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 15, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8707-8708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3504]


 ========================================================================
 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
 and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
 statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
 appearing in this section.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 31 / Tuesday, February 15, 2011 / 
Notices  

[[Page 8707]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2007-0016]


Syngenta Seeds, Inc.; Determination of Nonregulated Status for 
Corn Genetically Engineered To Produce an Enzyme That Facilitates 
Ethanol Production

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We are advising the public of our determination that a corn 
line developed by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., designated as transformation 
event 3272, which has been genetically engineered to produce a 
microbial enzyme that facilitates ethanol production, is no longer 
considered a regulated article under our regulations governing the 
introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms. Our 
determination is based on our evaluation of data submitted by Syngenta 
Seeds, Inc., in its petition for a determination of nonregulated 
status, our analysis of available scientific data, and comments 
received from the public in response to our previous notice announcing 
the availability of the petition for nonregulated status and its 
associated environmental assessment and plant pest risk assessment. 
This notice also announces the availability of our written 
determination and finding of no significant impact.

DATES: Effective Date: February 15, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may read the documents referenced in this notice and the 
comments we received 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. Those 
documents are also available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/not_reg.html and are posted with the previous 
notices and the comments we received on the Regulations.gov Web site at 
http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2007-0016.
    Other Information: Additional information about APHIS and its 
programs is available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Andrea Huberty, Biotechnology 
Regulatory Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 146, Riverdale, MD 
20737-1236; (301) 734-0485, email: [email protected]. To 
obtain copies of the documents referenced in this notice, contact Ms. 
Cindy Eck at (301) 734-0667, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    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.''
    The regulations in Sec.  340.6(a) provide that any person may 
submit a petition to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS) seeking a determination that an article should not be regulated 
under 7 CFR part 340. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of Sec.  340.6 describe 
the form that a petition for a determination of nonregulated status 
must take and the information that must be included in the petition.
    On October 7, 2005, APHIS received a petition seeking a 
determination of nonregulated status (APHIS Petition No. 05-280-01p) 
from Syngenta Seeds, Inc., of Research Triangle Park, NC (Syngenta), 
for corn (Zea mays L.) designated as transformation event 3272, which 
has been genetically engineered to produce a microbial enzyme that 
facilitates ethanol production. The petition stated that Event 3272 
corn is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and, therefore, should not 
be a regulated article under APHIS' regulations in 7 CFR part 340.
    In a notice \1\ published in the Federal Register on November 19, 
2008 (73 FR 69602-69604, Docket No. APHIS-2007-0016), APHIS announced 
the availability of the Syngenta petition and a draft environmental 
assessment (EA) for public comment. APHIS solicited comments on the 
petition, whether the subject corn is likely to pose a plant pest risk, 
and on the draft EA for 60 days ending on January 20, 2009. In a 
subsequent notice published in the Federal Register on June 4, 2009 (74 
FR 26832-26835, Docket No. APHIS-2007-0016), we reopened the comment 
period until July 6, 2009.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ To view the notice, petition, draft EA, the plant pest risk 
assessment and the comments we received, go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2007-0016.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    APHIS received over 13,000 comments during the comment period, most 
of which conveyed opposition to the deregulation of the Event 3272 
corn. APHIS has addressed the issues raised during the comment period 
and has provided responses to these comments as an attachment to the 
finding of no significant impact.

National Environmental Policy Act

    To provide the public with documentation of APHIS' review and 
analysis of any potential environmental impacts associated with the 
determination of nonregulated status for Syngenta's Event 3272 corn, an 
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). Based on our EA, 
the response to public comments, and other pertinent scientific data, 
APHIS has reached a

[[Page 8708]]

finding of no significant impact with regard to the preferred 
alternative identified in the EA.

Determination

    Based on APHIS' analysis of field, greenhouse, and laboratory data 
submitted by Syngenta, references provided in the petition, information 
analyzed in the EA, the plant pest risk assessment, comments provided 
by the public, and information provided in APHIS' response to those 
public comments, APHIS has determined that Syngenta's Event 3272 corn 
is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and should be granted 
nonregulated status.
    Copies of the signed determination document, as well as copies of 
the petition, plant pest risk assessment, EA, finding of no significant 
impact, and response to comments are available as indicated in the 
ADDRESSES and FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT sections of this notice.

    Authority:  7 U.S.C. 7701-7772 and 7781-7786; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 
CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 11th day of February 2011.
Kevin Shea,
 Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-3504 Filed 2-14-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P