[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 5 (Friday, January 8, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 902-903]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-00160]


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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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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 
 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.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 5 / Friday, January 8, 2016 / 
Notices  

[[Page 902]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2015-0096]


The Scotts Co. and Monsanto Co.; Availability of Petition for 
Determination of Nonregulated Status of Creeping Bentgrass Genetically 
Engineered for Resistance to Glyphosate

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 received a petition from the Scotts Company and 
Monsanto Company seeking a determination of nonregulated status of 
creeping bentgrass designated as event ASR368, which has been 
genetically engineered for resistance to the herbicide glyphosate. The 
petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations 
concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms 
and products. We are making the Scotts Company and Monsanto Company 
petition available for review and comment to help us identify potential 
environmental and interrelated economic issues and impacts that the 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service may determine should be 
considered in our evaluation of the petition.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before March 
8, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2015-0096.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2015-0096, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, 
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
    Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may 
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2015-
0096 or in our reading room, which 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) 799-7039 before coming.
    The petition is also available on the APHIS Web site at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/petitions_table_pending.shtml under 
APHIS petition 15-300-01p.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. John Turner, Director, 
Environmental Risk Analysis Programs, Biotechnology Regulatory 
Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; 
(301) 851-3954, email: [email protected]. To obtain copies 
of the petition, contact Ms. Cindy Eck at (301) 851-3892, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of the plant pest 
provisions of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), 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 (GE) 
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.
    APHIS has received a petition (APHIS Petition Number 15-300-01p) 
from the Scotts Company of Marysville, OH, and Monsanto Company of St. 
Louis, MO (Scotts/Monsanto), seeking a determination of nonregulated 
status of creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) designated as 
event ASR368, which has been genetically engineered for resistance to 
the herbicide glyphosate. The Scotts/Monsanto petition states that 
information collected during field trials and laboratory analyses 
indicates that ASR368 bentgrass is not likely to be a plant pest and 
therefore should not be a regulated article under APHIS' regulations in 
7 CFR part 340.
    As described in the petition, ASR368 bentgrass contains the cp4 
epsps gene from Agrobacterium sp. strain CP4 that confers resistance to 
the herbicide glyphosate. ASR368 bentgrass is currently regulated under 
7 CFR part 340. Interstate movements and field tests of ASR368 
bentgrass have been conducted under notifications acknowledged by 
APHIS.
    Field tests conducted under APHIS oversight allowed for evaluation 
in a natural agricultural setting while imposing measures to minimize 
the risk of persistence in the environment after completion of the 
tests. Data are gathered on multiple parameters and used by the 
applicant to evaluate agronomic characteristics and product 
performance. These and other data are used by APHIS to determine if the 
new variety poses a plant pest risk.
    Paragraph (d) of Sec.  340.6 provides that APHIS will publish a 
notice in the Federal Register providing 60 days for public comment for 
petitions for a determination of nonregulated status. On March 6, 2012, 
we published in the Federal Register (77 FR 13258-13260, Docket No. 
APHIS-2011-0129) a notice \1\ describing our process for soliciting 
public comment when considering petitions for determinations of 
nonregulated status for GE organisms. In that notice we indicated that 
APHIS would accept written comments regarding a petition once APHIS 
deemed it complete.
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    \1\ To view the notice, go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0129.
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    In accordance with Sec.  340.6(d) of the regulations and our 
process for soliciting public input when considering petitions for 
determinations

[[Page 903]]

of nonregulated status for GE organisms, we are publishing this notice 
to inform the public that APHIS will accept written comments regarding 
the petition for a determination of nonregulated status from interested 
or affected persons for a period of 60 days from the date of this 
notice. The petition is available for public review and comment, and 
copies are available as indicated under ADDRESSES and FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT above. We are interested in receiving comments 
regarding potential environmental and interrelated economic issues and 
impacts that APHIS may determine should be considered in our evaluation 
of the petition. We are particularly interested in receiving comments 
regarding biological, cultural, or ecological issues, and we encourage 
the submission of scientific data, studies, or research to support your 
comments. We also request that, when possible, commenters provide 
relevant information regarding specific localities or regions as 
creeping bentgrass growth, crop management, and crop utilization may 
vary considerably by geographic region.
    After the comment period closes, APHIS will review all written 
comments received during the comment period and any other relevant 
information. Any substantive issues identified by APHIS based on our 
review of the petition and our evaluation and analysis of comments will 
be considered in the development of our decisionmaking documents. As 
part of our decisionmaking process regarding a GE organism's regulatory 
status, APHIS prepares a plant pest risk assessment to assess its plant 
pest risk and the appropriate environmental documentation--either an 
environmental assessment (EA) or an environmental impact statement 
(EIS)--in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 
to provide the Agency with a review and analysis of any potential 
environmental impacts associated with the petition request. For 
petitions for which APHIS prepares an EA, APHIS will follow our 
published process for soliciting public comment (see footnote 1) and 
publish a separate notice in the Federal Register announcing the 
availability of APHIS' EA and plant pest risk assessment.
    Should APHIS determine that an EIS is necessary, APHIS will 
complete the NEPA EIS process in accordance with Council on 
Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR part 1500-1508) and APHIS' 
NEPA implementing regulations (7 CFR part 372).

    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 4th day of January 2016.
Michael C. Gregoire,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-00160 Filed 1-7-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-34-P