[Federal Register: July 1, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 126)]
[Notices]
[Page 39894-39895]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01jy04-42]
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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 39894]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 04-040-1]
Availability of an Environmental Assessment for a Biological
Control Agent for Old World Climbing Fern
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 the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment relative to
the control of Old World climbing fern, Lygodium microphyllum. The
environmental assessment considers the effects of, and alternatives to,
the release of a nonindigenous moth, Cataclysta camptozonale, for the
biological control of Old World climbing fern in Florida. We are making
the environmental assessment available to the public for review and
comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
August 2, 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. 04-040-1,
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. 04-040-1.
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. 04-040-1'' 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 any comments that we receive on this
docket 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. Robert Flanders, Branch Chief,
Biological and Technical Services, Pest Permit Evaluations, Plant
Protection and Quarantine, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale,
MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-5930.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Old World climbing fern, Lygodium microphyllum (Cav.) R. Br.
(Lygodiaceae), is a climbing fern that has a large native range that
extends through much of the Old World tropics. It has become
established in central and southern peninsular Florida where it grows
in a number of wetland and mesic (having a moderate supply of moisture)
habitats including hammocks, cypress swamps, flatwoods, bayheads, and
disturbed sites.
The climbing fern is a highly invasive, exotic weed that climbs
over plants, including tall trees, to form massive walls of vegetation.
It also forms thick mats on the ground that smother native plants. New
infestations can arise great distances from existing populations
because the weed produces millions of spores that are spread by wind
and other physical carriers. A single spore is capable of starting a
new infestation.
In Florida, the potential distribution of this weed includes all
habitats from Lake Okeechobee south. It also has the potential to
invade the Gulf Coast of Mexico and southern Texas.
The Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) program of the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has received a permit
application for the release of a nonindigenous moth, Cataclysta
camptozonale (Hampson) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), for the biological
control (biocontrol) of Old World climbing fern in Florida. The purpose
of the proposed release is to reduce the severity of infestations of L.
microphyllum in Florida.
The proposed biocontrol agent, C. camptozonale, is a moth in the
insect family Crambidae and is native to Australia. The moth is self-
replicating. The adult moth lays eggs in small clusters on leaflets of
the target weed, L. microphyllum, and the eggs hatch in 6 to 7 days.
Larvae feed on the leaves of L. microphyllum for approximately 11 to 12
days. Older larvae spin a loose web of silk on leaves of the weed and
pupate. Pupae develop to adults in 7 to 9 days.
The moth is also host specific. Host specificity tests conducted in
Australia and Florida indicate that C. camptozonale is specific to a
few Lygodium species.
Therefore, APHIS is considering issuing a permit for the release of
C. camptozonale into the continental United States in order to reduce
the severity and extent of Old World climbing fern infestation. APHIS'
review and analysis of the proposed action and its alternatives are
documented in detail in an environmental assessment (EA) entitled,
``Field Release of Cataclysta camptozonale (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), an
Insect for Biological Control of Old World Climbing Fern (Lygodium
microphyllum), in the Continental United States'' (April 2004). 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 Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/.
In the middle of that page, click on ``Document/Forms Retrieval
System.'' At the next screen, click on the triangle beside ``Permits--
Environmental Assessments.'' A list of documents will appear; the EA
for Old World climbing fern is document number 0038. You may request
paper copies of the EA by calling or writing to the person listed
[[Page 39895]]
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the title of the
EA when requesting copies. The EA 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 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 1), and (4)
APHIS' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372).
Done in Washington, DC, this 25th day of June 2004.
Peter Fernandez,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 04-14981 Filed 6-30-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P