[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 8, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 30035]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-12607]
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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.
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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 128 / Tuesday, July 8, 2025 /
Notices
[[Page 30035]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2025-0021]
Bayer CropScience: Availability of a Petition for a Determination
of Nonregulated Status and Draft Plant Pest Risk Assessment for MON
95275 Maize (Corn)
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 received a petition from Bayer CropScience
seeking a determination of nonregulated status for MON 95275 maize
(corn) which has been developed using genetic engineering to produce
two insecticidal proteins and a double-stranded RNA transcript to
provide protection from feeding damage caused by targeted coleopteran
(corn rootworm) insect pests. We are making the petition and draft
plant pest risk assessment available for public review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
September 8, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov.
Enter APHIS-2025-0021 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-2025-0021, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705.
The petition, draft plant pest risk assessment, and any comments we
receive on this docket may be viewed at www.regulations.gov, or in our
reading room, which is located in 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.
The petition and draft plant pest risk assessment are also
available on the APHIS website at: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/legacy-petition-process/petitions. Search for APHIS
petition 25-083-01p.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Alan Pearson, Biotechnology
Regulatory Services, APHIS, USDA, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, AP100-3-1151,
Beltsville, MD 20705; (301) 851-3944; 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 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 25-083-01p)
from Bayer CropScience seeking a determination of nonregulated status
for MON 95275 maize (corn) which has been developed using genetic
engineering for resistance to feeding damage caused by targeted
coleopteran (corn rootworm) insect pests. The petition states that the
information provided indicates that MON 95275 corn is unlikely to pose
a plant pest risk and therefore should not be regulated under APHIS'
regulations in 7 CFR part 340.
As part of our decision-making process regarding the organism's
regulatory status, APHIS prepared a draft plant pest risk assessment
(PPRA) to assess the plant pest risk of the organism. APHIS' draft PPRA
compared the pest risk posed by the MON 95275 corn with that of the
unmodified variety from which it was derived. The draft PPRA concluded
that MON 95275 corn is unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk
compared to the unmodified corn.
Paragraph (d) of Sec. 340.6 provides that APHIS will publish a
notice in the Federal Register providing 60 days for public comment on
petitions for a determination of nonregulated status. In accordance
with Sec. 340.6(d), we are publishing this notice to inform the public
that APHIS will accept written comments regarding the petition and
draft PPRA from interested or affected persons for a period of 60 days
from the date of this notice. The petition and draft PPRA are available
for public review and comment, and copies are available as indicated
under ADDRESSES and from the individual listed under the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice. We are particularly
interested in receiving comments regarding biological or ecological
issues, and we encourage the submission of scientific data, studies, or
research to support your comments.
After the comment period closes, APHIS will review and evaluate any
information received during the comment period and any other relevant
information. Based upon available information, APHIS will respond to
the petitioner either approving or denying the petition. APHIS will
post its regulatory determination on its website and publish a notice
of availability in the Federal Register.
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 2nd day of July 2025.
Michael Watson,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-12607 Filed 7-7-25; 8:45 am]
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