[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 5 (Friday, January 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1477-1478]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00063]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2019-0068]


Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment for Release 
of Lilioceris egena for Biological Control of Air Potato

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) 
relative to permitting the release of an insect, Lilioceris egena, for 
the biological control of air potato (Dioscorea bulbifera). Based on 
the environmental assessment and other relevant data, we have reached a 
preliminary determination that the release of this control agent within 
the continental United States will not have a significant impact on the 
quality of the human environment. We are making the EA available to the 
public for review and comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
February 8, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2019-0068.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2019-0068, 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-2019-
0068 or in our reading room, which is located in room 1620 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Colin D. Stewart, Assistant 
Director, Pests, Pathogens, and Biocontrol Permits, Permitting and 
Compliance Coordination, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 133, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1237; (301) 851-2327; [email protected].

[[Page 1478]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is proposing 
to issue permits for the release of an insect, Lilioceris egena, into 
the continental United States for use as a biological control agent to 
reduce the severity of air potato (Dioscorea bulbifera) infestations.
    Air potato is an herbaceous, twining vine that can grow 65 feet 
long or more, capable of climbing and out-competing native vegetation. 
Since its introduction to Florida in 1905, air potato has aggressively 
spread throughout the State; this species is reportedly naturalized in 
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Hawaii. In 1999, 
the Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services added air 
potato to its list of noxious weeds in an attempt to protect the 
State's native plant species from being displaced or hybridized. 
Presently, the air potato is well established in Florida and probably 
throughout the Gulf States where it has the potential to severely 
disrupt entire ecosystems.
    Existing air potato management options, which include chemical and 
mechanical control methods, are ineffective, expensive, temporary, or 
have non-target impacts. Thus, a permit application has been submitted 
to APHIS for the purpose of releasing an insect, L. egena, into the 
continental United States for use as a biological control agent to 
reduce the severity of air potato infestations.
    APHIS' review and analysis of the proposed action are documented in 
detail in an environmental assessment (EA) titled ``Field Release of 
the Beetle Lilioceris egena (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) for Classical 
Biological Control of Air Potato, Dioscorea bulbifera (Dioscoreaceae), 
in the Continental United States'' (October 2019). We are making the EA 
available to the public for review and comment. We will consider all 
comments that we receive on or before the date listed under the heading 
DATES at the beginning of this notice.
    The EA may be viewed on the Regulations.gov website or in our 
reading room (see ADDRESSES above for instructions for accessing 
Regulations.gov and information on the location and hours of the 
reading room). You may request paper copies of the EA by calling or 
writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 
Please refer to the title of the EA when requesting copies.
    The EA has been 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).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 4th day of January 2021.
Michael Watson,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-00063 Filed 1-7-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P