67100 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 217 / Friday, November 8, 2013 / Notices 

1On March 6, 2012, APHIS published in the 

Federal Register (77 FR 13258–13260, Docket No. 

APHIS–2011–0129) a notice describing our public 

review process for soliciting public comments and 

information when considering petitions for 

determinations of nonregulated status for GE 

organisms. To view the notice, go to http://

www.regulations.gov/# !docketDetail;D=APHIS2011-0129. 

2To view the notice, the petition, and the 

comments we received, go to http://

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Title: USDA Food Connect Web site. 

OMB Control Number: 0581–0224. 

Summary of Collection: The USDA 

Food Connect Web site (previously 

known as the USDA Food and 

Commodity Connection Web site) 

operates pursuant to the authority of 

Section 32 of Public Law 320, Section 

8 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 

U.S.C. 1777) and the National School 

Lunch Program, 7 CFR part 210. It was 

developed to assist the institutional 

food service community across the 

United States. The Web site focuses on 

providing information to institutional 

food service professions, as well as 

providing a platform for processors and 

brokers to post information about their 

processed USDA supplied commodities 

and other commercial food products 

available for institutional food service 

purchase. The USDA Food Connect Web 

site provides food related associations a 

location to provide information on 

services and materials available from 

the organization. The Web site is a 

public Web site and the information 

provided is considered as public 

information. 

Need and Use of the Information: The 

USDA Food Connect Web site will 

collect all information electronically at 

one time upon registration. Each new 

user must create their individual login 

and password. There are four primary 

types of users; institutional food service 

professionals, processors, brokers and 

food related associations. The Food 

Connect Web site is designed as a 

central location in which institutional 

food service professionals, who provide 

meals in institutional settings, can 

locate processors who manufacture 

foods utilizing USDA provided 

commodities, brokers who represent the 

processors, and food related 

associations. No information is collected 

from a user when they access the Web 

site as a guest. 

Description of Respondents: Business 

or other for-profit; Farms; State, Local & 

Tribal governments. 

Number of Respondents: 1,215. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

Other (One Time). 

Total Burden Hours: 297. 

Charlene Parker, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2013–26793 Filed 11–7–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2012–0025] 

Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Inc.; 

Availability of Plant Pest Risk 

Assessment and Environmental 

Assessment for Determination of 

Nonregulated Status of Apples 

Genetically Engineered to Resist 

Browning 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service is making available 

for public comment our plant pest risk 

assessment and our draft environmental 

assessment regarding a request from 

Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Inc., seeking 

a determination of nonregulated status 

of apple events designated as events 

GD743 and GS784, which have been 

genetically engineered to resist 

browning. We are soliciting comments 

on whether these genetically engineered 

apples are likely to pose a plant pest 

risk. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before December 

9, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/

# !documentDetail;D=APHIS-2012-0025. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2012–0025, 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-2012-0025 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) 799–7039 

before coming. 

Supporting documents are also 

available on the APHIS Web site at 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/

biotechnology/petitions_table_

pending.shtml under APHIS Petition 

Number 10–161–01p. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Rebecca Stankiewicz Gabel, Chief, 

Biotechnology Environmental Analysis 

Branch, Environmental Risk Analysis 

Programs, Biotechnology Regulatory 

Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 

147, Riverdale, MD 20737–1236; (301) 

851–3927, email: rebecca.l.stankiewiczgabel@aphis.usda.gov. To obtain copies 

of the supporting documents for this 

petition, contact Ms. Cindy Eck at (301) 

851–3892, email: cynthia.a.eck@

aphis.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under the authority of the plant pest 

provisions of the Plant Protection Act (7 

U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), 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 (GE) 

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. 

APHIS has received a petition (APHIS 

Petition Number 10–161–01p) from 

Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Inc., 

(Okanagan) of British Columbia, 

Canada, seeking a determination of 

nonregulated status of apples (Malus x 

domestica) designated as events GD743 

and GS784, which have been genetically 

engineered to resist browning. The 

petition stated that these apples are 

unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and, 

therefore, should not be a regulated 

article under APHIS’ regulations in 7 

CFR Part 340. 

According to our process 1 for 

soliciting public comment when 

considering petitions for determinations 

of nonregulated status of GE organisms, 

APHIS accepts written comments 

regarding a petition once APHIS deems 

it complete. In a notice 2 published in 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 217 / Friday, November 8, 2013 / Notices 67101 

www.regulations.gov/# !docketDetail;D=APHIS2012-0025. 

the Federal Register on July 13, 2012, 

(77 FR 41362–41363, Docket No. 

APHIS–2012–0025), APHIS announced 

the availability of the Okanagan petition 

for public comment. APHIS solicited 

comments on the petition for 60 days 

ending on September 11, 2012, in order 

to help identify potential environmental 

and interrelated economic issues and 

impacts that APHIS may determine 

should be considered in our evaluation 

of the petition. 

APHIS received 1,939 comments on 

the petition. Several of these comments 

included electronic attachments 

consisting of a consolidated document 

of many identical or nearly identical 

letters, for a total of 72,745 comments. 

Issues raised during the comment 

period include concerns regarding 

marketing and economic impacts; crosspollination; and health, nutrition, and 

food safety. APHIS has evaluated the 

issues raised during the comment 

period and, where appropriate, has 

provided a discussion of these issues in 

our environmental assessment (EA). 

After public comments are received 

on a completed petition, APHIS 

evaluates those comments and then 

provides a second opportunity for 

public involvement in our 

decisionmaking process. According to 

our public review process (see footnote 

1), the second opportunity for public 

involvement follows one of two 

approaches, as described below. 

If APHIS decides, based on its review 

of the petition and its evaluation and 

analysis of comments received during 

the 60-day public comment period on 

the petition, that the petition involves a 

GE organism that raises no substantive 

new issues, APHIS will follow 

Approach 1 for public involvement. 

Under Approach 1, APHIS announces in 

the Federal Register the availability of 

APHIS’ preliminary regulatory 

determination along with its EA, 

preliminary finding of no significant 

impact (FONSI), and its plant pest risk 

assessment (PPRA) for a 30-day public 

review period. APHIS will evaluate any 

information received related to the 

petition and its supporting documents 

during the 30-day public review period. 

Alternatively, if APHIS decides, based 

on its review of the petition and its 

evaluation and analysis of comments 

received during the 60-day public 

comment period on the petition, that the 

petition involves a GE organism that 

raises substantive new issues, APHIS 

will follow Approach 2. Under 

Approach 2, APHIS first solicits written 

comments from the public on a draft EA 

and PPRA for a 30-day comment period 

through the publication of a Federal 

Register notice. Then, after reviewing 

and evaluating the comments on the 

draft EA and PPRA and other 

information, APHIS will revise the 

PPRA as necessary and prepare a final 

EA and, based on the final EA, a 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) decision document (either a 

FONSI or a notice of intent to prepare 

an environmental impact statement). 

For this petition, we are using Approach 

2. 

APHIS has prepared a PPRA to 

determine if apple events GD743 and 

GS784 are unlikely to pose a plant pest 

risk. In section 403 of the Plant 

Protection Act, ‘‘plant pest’’ is defined 

as any living stage of any of the 

following that can directly or indirectly 

injure, cause damage to, or cause 

disease in any plant or plant product: A 

protozoan, a nonhuman animal, a 

parasitic plant, a bacterium, a fungus, a 

virus or viroid, an infectious agent or 

other pathogen, or any article similar to 

or allied with any of the foregoing. 

APHIS has also prepared a draft EA in 

which we present two alternatives based 

on our analysis of data submitted by 

Okanagan, a review of other scientific 

data, field tests conducted under APHIS 

oversight, and comments received on 

the petition. APHIS is considering the 

following alternatives: (1) Take no 

action, i.e., APHIS would not change the 

regulatory status of apple events GD743 

and GS784 and they would continue to 

be regulated articles, or (2) make a 

determination of nonregulated status of 

apple events GD743 and GS784. 

The EA was prepared in accordance 

with (1) 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). 

In accordance with our process for 

soliciting public input when 

considering petitions for determinations 

of nonregulated status for GE organisms, 

we are publishing this notice to inform 

the public that APHIS will accept 

written comments on our PPRA and 

draft EA regarding the petition for a 

determination of nonregulated status 

from interested or affected persons for a 

period of 30 days from the date of this 

notice. Copies of the PPRA and draft 

EA, as well as the previously published 

petition, are available as indicated in 

the ADDRESSES and FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT sections of this 

notice. 

As noted previously, after the 

comment period closes, APHIS will 

review all written comments received 

during the comment period and any 

other relevant information. After 

reviewing and evaluating the comments 

on the draft EA and PPRA and other 

information, APHIS will revise the 

PPRA as necessary and prepare a final 

EA. Based on the final EA, APHIS will 

prepare a NEPA decision document 

(either a FONSI or a notice of intent to 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement). 

If a FONSI is reached, APHIS will 

furnish a response to the petitioner, 

either approving or denying the 

petition. APHIS will also publish a 

notice in the Federal Register 

announcing the regulatory status of the 

GE organism and the availability of 

APHIS’ final EA, PPRA, FONSI, and our 

regulatory determination. 

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 4th day of 

November 2013. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–26792 Filed 11–7–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Housing Service 

Notice of Request for Extension of a 

Currently Approved Information 

Collection 

AGENCY: Rural Housing Service (RHS), 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed collection; Comments 

requested. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 

notice announces the Rural Housing 

Service’s intention to request an 

extension for a currently approved 

information collection in support of the 

Rural Community Development 

Initiative (RCDI) grant program. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by January 7, 2014 to be 

assured of consideration. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Susan Woolard, Loan Specialist, 

Community Programs Division, RHS, 

USDA, 1400 Independence Ave. SW., 

Mail Stop 0787, Washington, DC 20250– 

0787, Telephone (202) 720–1506, Email 

susan.woolard@wdc.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Notice of Funds Availability 

(NOFA) Inviting Applications for the 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES