Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 67 / Thursday, April 7, 2011 / Notices 19309 

1To learn more about the President’s Performance 

Agenda, visit http://www.performance.gov/. 

2APHIS will continue to conduct 

environmenanalyses and prepare environmental 

documents for regulated entities that are unable or 

choose not to participate in the pilot project. 

impact on privacy of individuals, they are 

either necessary for carrying out the agency 

mission and minimizing waste, fraud, and 

abuse, are required by law, or benefit the 

subjects of the records. On balance, the needs 

of the agency and the benefits to the 

individuals of these disclosures justify the 

minimal impact on privacy. 

All hard copy records are maintained in 

secured locked file cabinets in agency offices 

which are locked during non-duty hours. All 

electronic information is maintained in a 

web-based database and stored and backedup on secured servers. Computer access to 

information on individuals in the system is 

limited to the individual, contractor, and the 

system manager. The review of records 

retrieved is limited to the individual, 

supervisor, approved contractors, and system 

manager. 

A copy of the form, used to collect the 

information from individuals, is attached to 

this report. The system of records is not 

exempt from any provisions of the Privacy 

Act. 

[FR Doc. 2011–7722 Filed 4–6–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2010–0117] 

Solicitation of Letters of Interest To 

Participate in National Environmental 

Policy Act Pilot Project 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service is soliciting letters of 

interest from entities subject to the 

regulations governing the introduction 

of genetically engineered (GE) 

organisms in 7 CFR part 340 to 

participate in a National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) Pilot Project. The 

NEPA Pilot Project will test new 

approaches to developing 

environmental analyses and documents 

required under NEPA to determine the 

extent to which these approaches 

improve the quality, timeliness, and 

cost effectiveness of such analyses and 

documents. The pilot project will focus 

only on NEPA analyses and documents 

associated with petitions for 

nonregulated status for GE organisms. 

DATES: Letters of interest may be 

submitted through April 8, 2013 to the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

David Reinhold, Assistant Director, 

Environmental Risk Analysis Programs, 

BRS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 146, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238; (301) 734– 

0660; e-mail: 

david.reinhold@aphis.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

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.’’ The regulations in § 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, also 

referred to as a request to grant 

nonregulated status or to deregulate an 

article. 

Before APHIS determines whether an 

article can be deregulated, APHIS 

prepares a plant pest risk assessment 

(PPRA) to assess the plant pest risk of 

the article. In accordance with The 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 

4321 et seq.), APHIS also prepares an 

environmental assessment (EA) or an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) to 

examine potential environmental 

impacts that may result from an Agency 

determination of nonregulated status. 

The regulations in § 340.6(c)(1) 

through (c)(5) require the petitioner to 

submit specific information to meet 

regulatory requirements and inform 

APHIS’ evaluation of the petition. While 

petitioners may submit much of the 

necessary information, APHIS retains 

primary responsibility for researching 

and analyzing all the data necessary to 

prepare the environmental documents. 

APHIS also evaluates all comments 

received on the environmental 

documents. APHIS has, on occasion, 

used consultants and contractors to 

perform some of these functions under 

APHIS guidance and oversight. In 

APHIS’ experience, the cost of a draft 

EA generally ranges from $60,000– 

$80,000, and the cost of a complete EIS 

can exceed $1,000,000. 

To explore ways to enhance APHIS’ 

NEPA compliance, APHIS is 

implementing a NEPA Pilot Project that 

will involve working with petitioners 

and outside experts to develop highquality environmental analyses and 

documents in a timelier manner. This 

pilot project is part of a larger effort to 

improve the petition evaluation process 

and is one of the strategies identified in 

USDA’s High Priority Performance Goal 

for biotechnology regulation in the 

President’s Performance Agenda.1

The pilot project will explore two 

voluntary mechanisms: (1) A petitionersubmitted environmental report based 

upon which APHIS would develop an 

EA or an EIS; and (2) an EA or EIS 

prepared by a contractor, funded by a 

cooperative services agreement between 

the petitioner and APHIS.2 This project 

is consistent with the Council on 

Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) 

regulations for implementing NEPA (40 

CFR parts 1500–1508), which allow 

Federal agencies to obtain relevant 

information from applicants for the 

purpose of conducting a NEPA analysis 

and to contract for services by an 

independent contractor (chosen and 

directed by the Agency) to prepare 

environmental analyses and documents 

that are paid for by the petitioners. 

The petitioner-submitted 

environmental reports should contain 

information necessary to develop a draft 

EA or EIS, including, for example, a 

description of the geographic area that 

will be affected and potential impacts 

on the environment, such as effects on 

water quality and sensitive wildlife 

species. 

Under the contractor-prepared EA or 

EIS alternative, petitioners will provide 

funds for the environmental analyses 

and documents, while APHIS will select 

and direct the contractor. In addition, 

with this alternative, analyses and 

documents may be prepared for the 

entire NEPA process or only part of the 

process, i.e., for the draft EA or EIS, for 

the evaluation of comments, and/or for 

the final EA or EIS. 

APHIS will independently evaluate 

all information and references in the 

environmental documents, supplement 

the information and analysis in the 

environmental reports as necessary, and 

make its own evaluation of the 

environmental issues and the adequacy 

of the analyses of those issues to ensure 

that the scope and content of the 

environmental analyses meet all 

requirements of CEQ’s regulations and 

APHIS’ NEPA implementing regulations 

(7 CFR part 372). 

NEPA compliance is an important 

Agency responsibility, and the pilot 

project is designed and intended to 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES

19310 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 67 / Thursday, April 7, 2011 / Notices 

assist APHIS in developing more 

effective methods for the NEPA process. 

APHIS intends to create mechanisms for 

early and frequent interactions between 

APHIS’ Biotechnology Regulatory 

Services program staff and participants 

in the pilot project to identify and 

thoroughly evaluate the potential 

environmental impacts pertinent to the 

Agency’s NEPA analysis. This pilot will 

also include mechanisms to identify 

NEPA-related issues early in the process 

involving both the petitioners and 

interested partners. APHIS also intends 

to use the pilot project to develop 

guidance for all petitioners that clearly 

identifies the information needed to 

initiate and complete the required 

NEPA analysis. 

APHIS will evaluate the overall 

results of the pilot project, including the 

effectiveness of using environmental 

analyses and documents prepared by 

petitioners (environmental reports) as 

compared to environmental analyses 

and documents prepared using an 

independent contractor (EAs and EISs), 

and a cost analysis of the two 

approaches in relationship to the quality 

and timeliness of the final product. 

APHIS is soliciting letters of interest 

from regulated entities interested in 

participating in the NEPA Pilot Project; 

no limit has been set on the number of 

participants. APHIS anticipates that the 

pilot project will run for 2 years. 

However, APHIS is interested in 

advancing the pilot project in the next 

few months and therefore encourages 

interested entities to submit letters of 

interest as soon as possible. Interested 

entities may submit letters of interest by 

mail or e-mail through April 8, 2013 to 

the person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. APHIS will 

promptly contact all entities that submit 

letters of interest to discuss their 

participation in the NEPA Pilot Project. 

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 1st day of 

April 2011. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–8329 Filed 4–6–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Farm Service Agency 

Information Collection; Certified State 

Mediation Program 

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Farm Service Agency (FSA) is seeking 

comments from all interested 

individuals and organizations on an 

extension of a currently approved 

information collection that supports the 

Certified State Mediation Program. The 

information collection is necessary to 

ensure the grant program is being 

administered properly. The collection of 

information by mail, phone, fax, in 

person, and by the internet is utilized by 

FSA initially to determine whether the 

State meets the eligibility criteria to be 

a recipient of grant funds. Lack of 

adequate information to make these 

determinations could result in the 

improper administration and 

appropriation of Federal grant funds. 

DATES: We will consider comments that 

we receive by June 6, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit 

comments on this notice. In your 

comments, include date, volume, and 

page number of this issue of the Federal 

Register. You may submit comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• Mail: Carol Wagner, Certified State 

Mediation Program Manager, USDA, 

FSA, Appeals and Litigation Staff, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., Ag Stop 

0570, Washington, DC 20250–0570. 

• E-mail: 

Carol.Wagner@wdc.usda.gov. 

• Fax: (202) 690–3003. 

You may also send comments to the 

Desk Officer for Agriculture, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, 

Washington, DC 20503. Copies of the 

information collection may be requested 

by contacting Carol Wagner at the above 

addresses. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carol Wagner, FSA, Appeals and 

Litigation Staff, telephone (202) 720– 

4966. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Certified State Mediation 

Program. 

OMB Control Number: 0560–0165. 

Expiration Date of Approval: August 

31, 2011. 

Type of Request: Extension. 

Abstract: This information is needed 

for FSA to effectively administer the 

Certified State Mediation Program in 

accordance with Subtitles A and B of 

Title V of the Agricultural Credit Act of 

1987 (7 U.S.C. 5106). FSA requires some 

of the collected information to be 

reported in a standard manner. 

Although other institutions, public and 

private, generally require and collect 

information similar to that requested by 

FSA, there is a wide diversity in 

reporting practices. 

The information to be collected 

includes an application for certification, 

re-verification for subsequent annual 

approval, SF–424, SF–424A, and SF– 

424B Application for Federal 

Assistance, financial management 

systems and reporting requirements, 

and audit reports. The information 

collection request has not changed since 

the last OMB approval. 

The information requested is reported 

annually and is necessary for the FSA 

to determine eligibility and administer 

the mediation grant program in an 

equitable and cost-effective manner. 

Estimated of Annual Burden: The 

public reporting burden for this 

information collection is estimated to 

average 34 hours per respondent. 

Respondents: State Agencies. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

35. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 5. 

Estimated Total Annual of Reponses: 

175. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

hours: 1190 hours. 

We are requesting comments on all 

aspects of this information collection to 

help us to: 

(1) Evaluate whether the collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of burden including 

the validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; 

(3) Enhance the quality, utility and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; 

(4) Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including through the 

use of appropriate automated, 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

All comments in response to this 

notice, including names and addresses 

when provided, will be a matter of 

public record. Comments will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. 

Signed at Washington DC, on April 1, 

2011. 

Carolyn B. Cooksie, 

Acting Administrator, Farm Service Agency. 

[FR Doc. 2011–8320 Filed 4–6–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES