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.

Notices Federal Register

73879 

Vol. 79, No. 239 

Friday, December 12, 2014 

1To view the notice, the comments we received, 

the EA, or the FONSI, go to http://www.regulations.

gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-0078. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2014–0078] 

Availability of an Environmental 

Assessment and Finding of No 

Significant Impact for a Biological 

Control Agent for Asian Citrus Psyllid 

in the Contiguous United States 

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 and finding 

of no significant impact relative to the 

release of Diaphorencyrtus aligarhensis 

for the biological control of the Asian 

citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri, in the 

contiguous United States. Based on this 

finding of no significant impact, the 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service has determined that an 

environmental impact statement need 

not be prepared. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Shirley A Wager-Page ́, Assistant 

Director, Pest Permitting Branch, 

Registration, Identification, Permitting, 

and Plant Safeguarding, PPQ, APHIS, 

4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, 

MD 20737–1236; (301) 851–2323. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Asian 

citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri; ACP), 

can cause economic damage to citrus in 

groves and nurseries by direct feeding. 

Both adults and nymphs feed on young 

foliage, depleting the sap and causing 

galling or curling of leaves. High 

populations feeding on a citrus shoot 

can kill the growing tip. 

ACP’s primary threat to citrus, 

however, is not as a direct plant pest, 

but as an efficient vector of the bacterial 

pathogen that causes citrus greening. 

Also known as Huanglongbing (HLB), 

citrus greening is considered to be one 

of the most serious citrus diseases in the 

world. HLB is a bacterial disease, 

caused by strains of the bacterial 

pathogen ‘‘Candidatus Liberibacter 

asiaticus,’’ that attacks the vascular 

system of host plants. The pathogen is 

phloem-limited, inhabiting the foodconducting tissue of the host plant, and 

causes yellow shoots, blotchy mottling 

and chlorosis, reduced foliage, and tip 

dieback of citrus plants. HLB greatly 

reduces production, destroys the 

economic value of the fruit, and can kill 

trees. Once infected, there is no cure for 

a tree with HLB. In areas of the world 

where the disease is endemic, citrus 

trees decline and die within a few years 

and may never produce usable fruit. 

ACP is currently present in Alabama, 

American Samoa, Florida, Georgia, 

Guam, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, 

the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto 

Rico, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 

portions of Arizona, California, and 

South Carolina. 

The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) is proposing 

to issue permits for the field release of 

a parasitic wasp, Diaphorencyrtus 

aligarhensis, to reduce the severity of 

infestations of ACP in the United States 

and retard the spread of HLB. 

On September 18, 2014, we published 

in the Federal Register (79 FR 56050, 

Docket No. APHIS–2014–0078) a 

notice 1 in which we announced the 

availability, for public review and 

comment, of an environmental 

assessment (EA) that examined the 

potential environmental impacts 

associated with the proposed release of 

this biological control agent into the 

contiguous United States. 

We solicited comments on the EA for 

30 days ending October 20, 2014. We 

received 16 comments by that date. 

They were from an organization 

representing State departments of 

agriculture, an agricultural commission, 

an organization engaged in citrus 

research, an advocacy group for organic 

farming, citrus producers, pesticide 

applicators, and private citizens. 

One commenter stated her opposition 

to the proposed release of D. 

aligarhensis, but did not provide any 

substantive information or specific 

concerns. 

Another commenter stated that the EA 

had failed to take into consideration the 

possibility that D. aligarhensis will 

parasitize non-target insects. However, 

as another commenter pointed out, the 

EA did in fact analyze such possible 

parasitization. 

The remaining commenters supported 

the proposed release. 

In this document, we are advising the 

public of our finding of no significant 

impact (FONSI) regarding the release of 

D. aligarhensis into the contiguous 

United States for use as a biological 

control agent for ACP. The finding, 

which is based on the EA, reflects our 

determination that release of this 

biological control agent will not have a 

significant impact on the quality of the 

human environment. 

The EA and FONSI may be viewed on 

the Regulations.gov Web site (see 

footnote 1). Copies of the EA and FONSI 

are also available for public inspection 

at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 

14th Street and Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. 

and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except holidays. Persons wishing to 

inspect copies are requested to call 

ahead to (202) 799–7039 to facilitate 

entry into the reading room. In addition, 

copies may be obtained by calling or 

writing to the individual listed under 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 

The EA and FONSI have 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 1b); and (4) APHIS’ NEPA 

Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 

372). 

Done in Washington, DC, this 5th day of 

December 2014. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–29113 Filed 12–11–14; 8:45 am] 

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