[Federal Register: November 29, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 230)]
[Notices]
[Page 71129-71130]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29no02-30]
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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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[[Page 71129]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 02-087-1]
Availability of an Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that an environmental assessment
has been prepared by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
relative to the control of Pacific mealybug, Planococcus minor
(Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). The environmental assessment considers the
effects of, and alternatives to, the release of nonindigenous organisms
into the environment for use as biological control agents to reduce the
severity of Pacific mealybug infestations. We are making this
environmental assessment available to the public for review and
comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
December 30, 2002.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by postal mail/commercial delivery
or by e-mail. If you use postal mail/commercial delivery, please send
four copies of your comment (an original and three copies) to: Docket
No. 02-087-1, 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. 02-087-1. If you use 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.
02-087-1'' on the subject line.
You may read any comments that we receive on the environmental
assessment 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.
APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Dale Meyerdirk, Agriculturalist,
National Biological Control Institute, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit
135, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-5220.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA), is proposing to release nonindigenous
species of parasitic wasps and predators in the continental United
States and U.S. territories in the Caribbean to control Pacific
mealybug, Planococcus minor (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). The following
organisms are being considered for release:
[sbull] Encyrtid wasps in the genera Aenasius, Anagyrus,
Gyranusoidea, Leptomastix, and Pseudaphycus;
[sbull] A pteromalid wasp, Patiana coccorum;
[sbull] Platygastrid wasps in the genus Allotropa;
[sbull] A lycaenid, Spalgis epius; and
[sbull] A coccinellid, Cryptolaemus affinus.
Pacific mealybug is a foreign plant pest that attacks over 240
different species of plants, including both agricultural and ornamental
plants. It has invaded areas in American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin
Islands, and Mexico. This pest could enter the eastern United States
from Mexico or from the Carribean or enter California from Mexico or
from the Pacific. The purpose of the proposed release of biological
control agents is to suppress Pacific mealybug infestations.
The preferred alternative, biological control, is proposed because
it is the best alternative to resolve the problems imposed by Pacific
mealybug on various hosts. APHIS will import these biological control
agents from different locations around the world into USDA-certified
insect quarantine facilities, where species identifications will be
confirmed by USDA and State taxonomists and undesirable organisms such
as hyperparasites will be screened out and properly eliminated.
Laboratory colonies reared on Pacific mealybug will be established by
USDA, State, and U.S. territory cooperators in areas invaded by the
Pacific mealybug.
It is expected that the biological control agents will be
introduced into areas where the Pacific mealybug occurs and reproduce
naturally without further human intervention, and that the stingless
wasps and predators will become established throughout the eventual
geographical distribution of Pacific mealybug in the United States. The
biological characteristics of the organisms under consideration
preclude any possibility of harmful effects on human health.
APHIS' review and analysis of the potential environmental impacts
associated with releasing nonindigenous organisms into the environment
are documented in detail in an environmental assessment entitled
``Control of Pacific Mealybug, Planococcus minor (Homoptera:
Pseudococcidae)'' (July 11, 2002). We are making this environmental
assessment available to the public for review and comment. We will
consider all comments that we receive by the date listed under the
heading DATES at the beginning of this notice.
You may request copies of the environmental assessment by calling
or writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Please refer to the title of the environmental assessment when
requesting copies. The environmental assessment is also available for
review in our reading room (information on the location and hours of
the reading room is listed under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning
of this notice).
The environmental assessment has been prepared in accordance with:
(1) The National Environmental Policy Act
[[Page 71130]]
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 1), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing
Procedures (7 CFR part 372).
Done in Washington, DC, this 22nd day of November 2002.
Ron DeHaven,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 02-30224 Filed 11-27-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P