7122 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 28 / Friday, February 10, 2012 / Notices 

1To view the notice and the PRA, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS– 

2011–0087. 

We are asking the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) to 

approve our use of these information 

collection activities for an additional 3 

years. 

The purpose of this notice is to solicit 

comments from the public (as well as 

affected agencies) concerning our 

information collection. These comments 

will help us: 

(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 our 

estimate of the burden of the collection 

of information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

(4) Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, through use, as 

appropriate, of automated, electronic, 

mechanical, and other collection 

technologies; e.g., permitting electronic 

submission of responses. 

Estimate of burden: The public 

reporting burden for this collection of 

information is estimated to average 

0.266666667 hours per response. 

Respondents: Contractors and/or 

pilots of aircraft. 

Estimated annual number of 

respondents: 15. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses per respondent: 1. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses: 15. 

Estimated total annual burden on 

respondents: 4 hours. (Due to averaging, 

the total annual burden hours may not 

equal the product of the annual number 

of responses multiplied by the reporting 

burden per response.) 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. All comments will 

also become a matter of public record. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 6th day of 

February 2012. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–3188 Filed 2–9–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2011–0087] 

Notice of Decision To Authorize the 

Importation of Pomegranate From 

India Into the Continental United States 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public of 

our decision to authorize the 

importation into the continental United 

States of fresh pomegranate fruit from 

India. Based on the findings of a pest 

risk analysis, which we made available 

to the public for review and comment 

through a previous notice, we believe 

that the application of one or more 

designated phytosanitary measures will 

be sufficient to mitigate the risks of 

introducing or disseminating plant pests 

or noxious weeds via the importation of 

fresh pomegranate fruit from India. 

DATES: Effective date: February 10, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Donna L. West, Senior Import 

Specialist, RPM, PHP, PPQ, APHIS, 

4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, 

MD 20737; (301) 734–0627. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under the regulations in ‘‘Subpart— 

Fruits and Vegetables’’ (7 CFR 319.56– 

1 through 319.56–54, referred to below 

as the regulations), the Animal and 

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

of the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

prohibits or restricts the importation of 

fruits and vegetables into the United 

States from certain parts of the world to 

prevent plant pests from being 

introduced into and spread within the 

United States. 

Section 319.56–4 contains a 

performance-based process for 

approving the importation of 

commodities that, based on the findings 

of a pest risk analysis (PRA), can be 

safely imported subject to one or more 

of the designated phytosanitary 

measures listed in paragraph (b) of that 

section. Under that process, APHIS 

publishes a notice in the Federal 

Register announcing the availability of 

the PRA that evaluates the risks 

associated with the importation of a 

particular fruit or vegetable. Following 

the close of the 60-day comment period, 

APHIS may authorize the importation of 

the fruit or vegetable subject to the 

identified designated measures if: (1) No 

comments were received on the PRA; (2) 

the comments on the PRA revealed that 

no changes to the PRA were necessary; 

or (3) changes to the PRA were made in 

response to public comments, but the 

changes did not affect the overall 

conclusions of the analysis and the 

Administrator’s determination of risk. 

In accordance with that process, we 

published a notice 1 in the Federal 

Register on September 29, 2011 (76 FR 

60450, Docket No. APHIS–2011–0087), 

in which we announced the availability, 

for review and comment, of a PRA that 

evaluates the risks associated with the 

importation into the continental United 

States of fresh pomegranate fruit 

(Punica granatum L.) from India. We 

solicited comments on the notice for 60 

days ending on November 28, 2011. We 

did not receive any comments by that 

date. Therefore, in accordance with the 

regulations in § 319.56–4(c)(2)(ii), we 

are announcing our decision to 

authorize the importation into the 

continental United States of fresh 

pomegranate fruit from India subject to 

the following phytosanitary measures: 

• The fresh pomegranate fruit may be 

imported into the continental United 

States in commercial consignments 

only; 

• The fresh pomegranate fruit must be 

irradiated in accordance with 7 CFR 

part 305 with a minimum absorbed dose 

of 400 Gy; 

• If the irradiation treatment is 

applied outside the United States, each 

consignment of fresh pomegranate fruit 

must be jointly inspected by APHIS and 

the national plant protection 

organization (NPPO) of India and 

accompanied by a phytosanitary 

certificate attesting that the fruit 

received the required irradiation 

treatment and was inspected and found 

free of the mite Tenuipalpus granati, the 

false spider mite Tenuipalpus punicae, 

and the bacterium Xanthomonas 

axonopodis pv. punicae; 

• If irradiation is applied upon arrival 

in the United States, each consignment 

of fresh pomegranate fruit must be 

inspected by the NPPO of India prior to 

departure and accompanied by a 

phytosanitary certificate with an 

additional declaration that the fruit was 

inspected and found free of the mite 

Tenuipalpus granati, the false spider 

mite Tenuipalpus punicae, and the 

bacterium Xanthomonas axonopodis 

pv. punicae; and 

• The fresh pomegranate fruit is 

subject to inspection upon arrival at the 

U.S. port of entry. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 28 / Friday, February 10, 2012 / Notices 7123 

These conditions will be listed in the 

Fruits and Vegetables Import 

Requirements database (available at 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/favir). In 

addition to these specific measures, 

fresh pomegranate fruit from India will 

be subject to the general requirements 

listed in § 319.56–3 that are applicable 

to the importation of all fruits and 

vegetables. Further, for fruits and 

vegetables requiring treatment as a 

condition of entry, the phytosanitary 

treatments regulations in 7 CFR part 305 

contain administrative and procedural 

requirements that must be observed in 

connection with the application and 

certification of specific treatments. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701–7772, and 

7781–7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 

2.22, 2.80, and 371.3. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 6th day of 

February 2012. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–3191 Filed 2–9–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2011–0130] 

ArborGen, LLC; Availability of an 

Environmental Assessment for 

Controlled Release of a Genetically 

Engineered Eucalyptus Hybrid 

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 

proposed controlled field release of a 

genetically engineered clone of a 

Eucalyptus hybrid. The purpose of the 

field release is to assess the 

effectiveness of gene constructs 

intended to confer cold tolerance, to test 

the efficacy of genes introduced to alter 

lignin biosynthesis, to test the efficacy 

of genes designed to alter growth, and 

to test the efficacy of genes designed to 

alter flowering. 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 March 12, 

2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0130- 

0001. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2011–0130, Regulatory Analysis 

and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 

3A–03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

Supporting documents and any 

comments we receive on this docket 

may be viewed at http://www.

regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;

D=APHIS-2011-0130 or in our reading 

room, which 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Evan Chestnut, Policy Analyst, 

Biotechnology Regulatory Services, 

APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 147, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1236; (301) 734– 

0942. To obtain copies of the 

environmental assessment, contact Ms. 

Cynthia Eck at (301) 734–0667; email: 

cynthia.a.eck@aphis.usda.gov. 

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. The 

regulations set forth the permit 

application requirements and the 

notification procedures for the 

importation, interstate movement, or 

release in the environment of a 

regulated article. 

On February 21, 2011, the Animal and 

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

received a permit application (APHIS 

No. 11–052–101rm) from ArborGen, 

LLC, in Summerville, SC, for a 

controlled field release of genetically 

engineered Eucalyptus hybrids in six 

locations encompassing a total of 14.7 

acres in the States of Alabama, Florida, 

Mississippi, and South Carolina. Five of 

these locations currently have active 

APHIS permits (08–011–106rm, 08– 

014–101rm, 09–070–10rm, 10–112– 

101r, and 11–041–101rm) for 

environmental release of genetically 

engineered Eucalyptus hybrids in 

Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and 

South Carolina. The sixth site in South 

Carolina has been listed as a holding 

site for genetically engineered trees in 

previous APHIS permits and 

notifications and is a new location for 

the release of genetically engineered 

Eucalyptus. ArborGen is requesting that 

trees be allowed to flower at four 

locations in Alabama, Florida and 

Mississippi. At two locations in South 

Carolina, ArborGen has requested to 

release trees in containers and have 

indicated they will not allow these trees 

to flower at these locations. 

Permit application 11–052–101rm 

describes Eucalyptus trees derived from 

a hybrid of Eucalyptus grandis × 

Eucalyptus urophylla. The purpose of 

the field tests is to assess the 

effectiveness of gene constructs 

intended to confer cold tolerance; to test 

the efficacy of genes introduced to alter 

lignin biosynthesis; to test the efficacy 

of genes designed to alter growth; and 

to test the efficacy of genes designed to 

alter flowering. In addition, the trees 

have been engineered with a selectable 

marker that confers resistance to the 

antibiotic kanamycin. These DNA 

sequences were introduced into 

Eucalyptus trees using disarmed 

Agrobacterium tumefaciens. 

The subject Eucalyptus trees are 

considered regulated articles under 7 

CFR part 340 because they were created 

using donor sequences from plant pests. 

To provide the public with 

documentation of APHIS’ review and 

analysis of any potential environmental 

impacts and plant pest risks associated 

with the proposed release under permit 

of these genetically engineered 

Eucalyptus trees, APHIS has prepared 

an environmental assessment (EA). 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). 

The EA may be viewed on the 

Regulations.gov Web site or in our 

reading room. (Instructions for accessing 

Regulations.gov and information on the 

location and hours of the reading room 

are provided under the heading 

ADDRESSES at the beginning of this 

notice.) In addition, copies may be 

obtained by calling or writing to the 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES