[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 239 (Thursday, December 16, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 71417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27254]


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 Notices
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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 
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 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 239 / Thursday, December 16, 2021 / 
Notices  

[[Page 71417]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2021-0049]


Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment for Release 
of Lophodiplosis indentata for Biological Control of Melaleuca 
quinquenervia (Myrtaceae) in the Contiguous United States

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 Lophodiplosis indentata (Diptera: 
Cecidomyiidae) for the biological control of Melaleuca quinquenervia 
(Myrtaceae) in the contiguous United States. Based on the EA and other 
relevant data, we have reached a preliminary determination that the 
release of this control agent within the contiguous 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 
January 18, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov. 
Enter APHIS-2021-0049 in the Search field. Select the Documents tab, 
then select the Comment button in the list of documents.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2021-0049, 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 www.regulations.gov 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; (301) 851-2327; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) is proposing to issue permits for the release of the 
fly, Lophodiplosis indentata (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), into the 
contiguous United States for use as a biological control agent of 
Melaleuca quinquenervia (Myrtaceae) (hereinafter referred to as 
melaleuca).
    Melaleuca, a large tree native to Australia, New Caledonia, and 
Papua New Guinea, was imported into Florida in the late 19th century. 
It was planted extensively in Palm Beach, Broward, Collier, and Miami-
Dade Counties. Unsuccessful treatment campaigns during the 1970s and 
1980s culminated in Federal and State listing of melaleuca as a noxious 
weed. By the 1990s, melaleuca covered more than 200,000 hectares of 
wetlands in south Florida. It dramatically disrupted normal water 
cycles, fire cycles, disturbance recovery cycles, nutrient cycling, 
light availability, and tree canopy. Despite gains in controlling 
melaleuca using three other biological control insects (Oxyops vitiosa, 
Boreioglycaspis melaleucae, and Lophodiplosis trifida), aerial 
herbicides, and other control efforts, many localized areas in Florida 
are still overwhelmed by melaleuca.
    The fly, Lophodiplosis indentata, is a gall-forming melaleuca 
specialist that lays eggs on new foliage of the tree. When the eggs 
hatch, the emerging larvae bore into leaf tissue, instigating a gall 
(an abnormal growth) to form around them. These galls distort young 
foliage and result in reduced sapling height.
    A permit application has been submitted to APHIS for the purpose of 
releasing L. indentata into the contiguous United States for use as a 
biological control agent to add to the impact of the three previously 
released biological control agents in reducing the severity of 
melaleuca infestations.
    APHIS' review and analysis of the proposed action are documented in 
detail in an environmental assessment (EA), titled ``Field Release of 
Lophodiplosis indentata (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), for classical 
biological control of Melaleuca quinquenervia (Myrtaceae), in the 
contiguous United States'' (March 2021). 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 a link to Regulations.gov and 
information on the location and hours of the reading room). You may 
also 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 13th day of December 2021.
Mark Davidson,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-27254 Filed 12-15-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P