Washington, DC
June 25, 2004
[Federal Register: June 25, 2004
(Volume 69, Number 122)]
[Notices]
[Page 35573-35574]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25jn04-45]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 04-041-1]
Availability of Environmental Assessment for Field Test of
Genetically Engineered Organisms
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental
assessment for a confined field of corn plants genetically
engineered to express the protein trypsinogen. This
environmental assessment is available for public review and
comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments we receive on or
before July 26, 2004.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the
following methods:
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send four copies of your
comment (an original and three copies) to Docket No. 04-041-1,
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71,
4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state
that your comment refers to Docket No. 04-041-1.
E-mail: Address your comment to
regulations@aphis.usda.gov. Your comment must be contained
in the body
of your message; do not send attached files. Please include your
name and address in your message and "Docket No. 04-041-1'' on
the subject line.
Agency Web site: Go to
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/cominst.html for a form
you can use to submit an e-mail comment through the APHIS Web
site.
Reading Room: You may read the environmental assessment and any
comments that we receive 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) 690-2817 before coming.
Other Information: You may view APHIS documents published in the
Federal Register and related information, including the names of
groups and individuals who have commented on APHIS dockets, on
the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Michael Wach, BRS,
APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301)
734-0485. To obtain a copy of the environmental assessment,
contact Ms. Kay Peterson
at (301) 734-4885; e-mail:
Kay.Peterson@aphis.usda.gov. The environmental assessment is
also available on the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/04_11402r_ea.pdf.
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 organisms and products are considered
``regulated articles.'' A permit must be obtained or a
notification acknowledged before a regulated article may be
introduced into the United States. The regulations set forth the
permit application requirements and the notification procedures
for the importation, interstate movement, and release into the
environment of a regulated article.
On April 23, 2004, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) received a permit application (APHIS No.
04-114-02r) from ProdiGene, Inc., College Station, TX, for a
permit for a confined field test of corn (Zea mays L.) plants
genetically engineered to express a gene coding for the enzyme
trypsinogen. The field test is to be conducted in Frio County,
TX. The subject corn plants have been genetically engineered to
express a trypsinogen amino acid sequence that is identical to
bovine (Bos taurus L.) trypsin precursor. The subject corn
plants also express the pat gene from Streptomyces
viridochromogenes, a common soil bacterium. The pat gene
expresses a phosphinothricin acetyltransferase enzyme, which
confers tolerance to the herbicide glufosinate, and is useful as
a marker gene. The experimental genes were transferred into corn
plants through use of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens
transformation system, and expression of the added genes is
controlled in part by the plant pathogen cauliflower mosaic
virus. The genetically engineered corn plants are considered
regulated articles under the regulations in 7 CFR part 340
because they contain gene sequences from plant pathogens.
The purpose of the proposed field trial is threefold: (1) Grain
production; (2) hybrid seed production; and (3) line development
in a nursery. The tests will be conducted through use of a
combination of biological and physical containment measures. In
addition, the experimental protocols and field plot design, as
well as the procedures
for termination of the field tests, are designed to ensure that
none of the subject corn plants persist in the environment
beyond the termination of the experiments.
To provide the public with documentation of APHIS'' review and
analysis of any potential environmental impacts and plant pest
risk associated with the proposed confined field test of the
subject corn plants, an environment assessment (EA) has been
prepared. The EA was 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).
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1622n and 7701-7772; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR
2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.
Done in Washington, DC, this 21st day of June 2004.Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service.
[FR Doc. 04-14431 Filed 6-24-04; 8:45 am]
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