[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 18, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5525-5526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01077]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2015-0096]


The Scotts Co. and Monsanto Co.; 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 of our determination that creeping 
bentgrass designated as event ASR368, which has been genetically 
engineered for resistance to the herbicide glyphosate by the Scotts 
Company and Monsanto Company 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 the Scotts Company and Monsanto Company 
in its petition for a determination of nonregulated status, our 
analysis of publically available scientific data, and comments received 
from the public on the petition for nonregulated status and its 
associated environmental impact statement and plant pest risk 
assessment. This notice also announces the availability of our written 
determination and record of decision.

DATES: Effective January 18, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may read the documents referenced in this notice and any 
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) 799-7039 before coming. Those 
documents are also available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/petitions_table_pending.shtml under 
APHIS Petition Number 15-300-01p and are posted with the comments we 
received on the Regulations.gov Web site at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2015-0096.

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 documents referenced in this notice, contact Ms. Cindy Eck at 
(301) 851-3892, email: [email protected].

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 (GE) organisms and 
products are considered ``regulated articles.''
    The regulations in Sec.  340.6(a) provide that any person may 
submit a petition to 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 received a petition 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

[[Page 5526]]

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.
    In a notice \1\ published in the Federal Register on January 8, 
2016 (81 FR 902-903, Docket No. APHIS-2015-0096), APHIS announced the 
availability of the Scotts/Monsanto petition for public comment. APHIS 
solicited comments on the petition for 60 days ending on March 8, 2016. 
The notice also announced that APHIS would prepare either an 
environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement (EIS) in 
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., NEPA) to provide the Agency with a 
review and analysis of any potential environmental impacts associated 
with the petition request.
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    \1\ To view the notice, the petition, the comments we received, 
and other supporting documents, go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2015-0096.
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    Following review of public comments, we published another notice 
\2\ in the Federal Register on August 3, 2016 (81 FR 51174-51176, 
Docket No. APHIS-2015-0096), advising the public of our intent to 
prepare an EIS for the potential determination of nonregulated status 
requested by the petition. APHIS decided to prepare an EIS in order to 
perform a comprehensive environmental analysis of the potential 
environmental impacts that may occur as a result of granting 
determinations of nonregulated status for this event.
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    \2\ To view the draft EIS, final EIS, supporting documents, and 
the comments we received, go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2015-0096.
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National Environmental Policy Act and Record of Decision

    To provide the public with documentation of APHIS' review and 
analysis of the potential environmental impacts associated with a 
determination of nonregulated status of ASR368 bentgrass, an EIS has 
been prepared in accordance with: (1) 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).
    A notice of availability regarding the draft EIS prepared by APHIS 
was published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the 
Federal Register on September 30, 2016 (81 FR 67348-67349, Docket No. 
ER-FRL-9029-3). Along with the draft EIS, APHIS also made available the 
plant pest risk assessment (PPRA) for the petition. APHIS reviewed and 
evaluated all of the public comments received on the draft EIS and 
prepared formal responses to them as part of the final EIS.
    A notice of availability regarding the final EIS prepared by APHIS 
was published by EPA in the Federal Register on December 9, 2016 (81 FR 
89095-89096, Docket No. ER-FRL-9030-6). The NEPA implementing 
regulations in 40 CFR 1506.10 require a minimum 30-day review period 
between the time the notice of availability of a final EIS is published 
and the time an agency makes a decision on an action covered by the 
EIS. APHIS has reviewed and evaluated the comments received during the 
30-day review period and has concluded that it has fully and 
appropriately analyzed the relevant environmental issues covered by the 
final EIS and those comments. Based on our final EIS, the response to 
public comments, and other pertinent scientific data, APHIS has 
prepared a record of decision for the final EIS.

Determination of Nonregulated Status

    Based on APHIS' analysis of field and laboratory data submitted by 
Scotts/Monsanto, references provided in the petitions, peer-reviewed 
publications, information analyzed in the EIS, the PPRA, comments 
provided by the public, and APHIS' evaluation of and response to those 
comments, APHIS has determined that is unlikely to pose a plant pest 
risk. Accordingly, the petition requesting a determination of 
nonregulated status is approved and ASR368 bentgrass is no longer 
subject to our regulations governing the introduction of certain 
genetically engineered organisms and to the plant pest provisions of 
the Plant Protection Act.
    Copies of the signed determination document and the signed record 
of decision, as well as copies of the final EIS and the PPRA 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 12th day of January 2017.
Michael C. Gregoire,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-01077 Filed 1-17-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-34-P