41362 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 135 / Friday, July 13, 2012 / Notices 

regarding a petition once APHIS 

deemed it complete. 

In accordance with § 340.6(d) of the 

regulations and 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 regarding the petition 

for a determination of nonregulated 

status from interested or affected 

persons for a period of 60 days from the 

date of this notice. The petition is 

available for public review, and copies 

are available as indicated under 

ADDRESSES and FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT above. 

We are interested in receiving 

comments regarding potential 

environmental and interrelated 

economic issues and impacts that 

APHIS may determine should be 

considered in our evaluation of the 

petition. We are particularly interested 

in receiving comments regarding 

biological, cultural, or ecological issues, 

and we encourage the submission of 

scientific data, studies, or research to 

support your comments. We also 

request that, when possible, 

commenters provide relevant 

information regarding specific localities 

or regions as soybean growth, crop 

management, and crop utilization may 

vary considerably by geographic region. 

After the comment period closes, 

APHIS will review all written comments 

received during the comment period 

and any other relevant information; any 

substantive issues identified by APHIS 

based on our review of the petition and 

our evaluation and analysis of 

comments will be considered in the 

development of our decisionmaking 

documents. 

As part of our decisionmaking process 

regarding a GE organism’s regulatory 

status, APHIS prepares a plant pest risk 

assessment to assess its plant pest risk 

and the appropriate environmental 

documentation—either an 

environmental assessment (EA) or an 

environmental impact statement (EIS)— 

in accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to 

provide the Agency with a review and 

analysis of any potential environmental 

impacts associated with the petition 

request. For petitions for which APHIS 

prepares an EA, APHIS will follow our 

published process for soliciting public 

comment (see footnote 1) and publish a 

separate notice in the Federal Register 

announcing the availability of APHIS’ 

EA and plant pest risk assessment. 

Should APHIS determine that an EIS is 

necessary, APHIS will complete the 

NEPA EIS process in accordance with 

Council on Environmental Quality 

regulations (40 CFR part 1500–1508) 

and APHIS’ NEPA implementing 

regulations (7 CFR part 372). 

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 9th day of 

July 2012. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–17134 Filed 7–12–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2012–0025] 

Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Inc.; 

Availability of Petition 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 (APHIS) has received 

a petition 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. The petition has 

been submitted in accordance with our 

regulations concerning the introduction 

of certain genetically engineered 

organisms and products. We are making 

the Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Inc., 

petition available for review and 

comment to help us identify potential 

environmental and interrelated 

economic issues and impacts that 

APHIS may determine should be 

considered in our evaluation of the 

petition. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before September 

11, 2012. 

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- 

0001. 

• 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) 7997039 

before coming. 

The petition is also available on the 

APHIS Web site at http:// 

www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/ 

10_16101p.pdf. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

John Turner, Director, Environmental 

Risk Analysis Programs, Biotechnology 

Regulatory Services, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737– 

1236; (301) 851–3954, email: 

john.t.turner@aphis.usda.gov. To obtain 

copies of the 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. 

Paragraphs (b) and (c) of § 340.6 

describe the form that a petition for a 

determination of nonregulated status 

must take and the information that must 

be included in the petition. 

APHIS has received a petition (APHIS 

Petition Number 10–161–01p) from 

Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Inc., 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 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 135 / Friday, July 13, 2012 / Notices 41363 

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

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

resist browning, stating 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. 

As described in the petition, apple 

events GD743 and GS784 have been 

genetically engineered to resist 

enzymatic browning through the 

insertion of a polyphenol oxidase 

suppression sequence derived from 

apple. Apple events GD743 and GS784 

are currently regulated under 7 CFR part 

340. Interstate movements and field 

tests of apple events GD743 and GS784 

have been conducted under permits 

issued or notifications acknowledged by 

APHIS. 

Field tests conducted under APHIS 

oversight allowed for evaluation in a 

natural agricultural setting while 

imposing measures to minimize the risk 

of persistence in the environment after 

completion of the test. Data are gathered 

on multiple parameters and used by the 

applicant to evaluate agronomic 

characteristics and product 

performance. These and other data are 

used by APHIS to determine if the new 

variety poses a plant pest risk. 

Paragraph (d) of § 340.6 provides that 

APHIS will publish a notice in the 

Federal Register providing 60 days for 

public comment for petitions for a 

determination of nonregulated status. 

On March 6, 2012, we published in the 

Federal Register (77 FR 13258–13260, 

Docket No. APHIS–2011–0129) a 

notice 1 describing our process for 

soliciting public comment when 

considering petitions for determinations 

of nonregulated status for GE organisms. 

In that notice we indicated that APHIS 

would accept written comments 

regarding a petition once APHIS 

deemed it complete. 

In accordance with § 340.6(d) of the 

regulations and 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 regarding the petition 

for a determination of nonregulated 

status from interested or affected 

persons for a period of 60 days from the 

date of this notice. The petition is 

available for public review, and copies 

are available as indicated under 

ADDRESSES and FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT above. 

We are interested in receiving 

comments regarding potential 

environmental and interrelated 

economic issues and impacts that 

APHIS may determine should be 

considered in our evaluation of the 

petition. We are particularly interested 

in receiving comments regarding 

biological, cultural, or ecological issues, 

and we encourage the submission of 

scientific data, studies, or research to 

support your comments. We also 

request that, when possible, 

commenters provide relevant 

information regarding specific localities 

or regions as apple growth, crop 

management, and crop utilization may 

vary considerably by geographic region. 

After the comment period closes, 

APHIS will review all written comments 

received during the comment period 

and any other relevant information; any 

substantive issues identified by APHIS 

based on our review of the petition and 

our evaluation and analysis of 

comments will be considered in the 

development of our decisionmaking 

documents. 

As part of our decisionmaking process 

regarding a GE organism’s regulatory 

status, APHIS prepares a plant pest risk 

assessment to assess its plant pest risk 

and the appropriate environmental 

documentation—either an 

environmental assessment (EA) or an 

environmental impact statement (EIS)— 

in accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to 

provide the Agency with a review and 

analysis of any potential environmental 

impacts associated with the petition 

request. For petitions for which APHIS 

prepares an EA, APHIS will follow our 

published process for soliciting public 

comment (see footnote 1) and publish a 

separate notice in the Federal Register 

announcing the availability of APHIS’ 

EA and plant pest risk assessment. 

Should APHIS determine that an EIS is 

necessary, APHIS will complete the 

NEPA EIS process in accordance with 

Council on Environmental Quality 

regulations (40 CFR part 1500–1508) 

and APHIS’ NEPA implementing 

regulations (7 CFR part 372). 

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 9th day of 

July 2012. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–17144 Filed 7–12–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2012–0028] 

BASF Plant Science, LP; Availability of 

Petition for Determination of 

Nonregulated Status of Soybean 

Genetically Engineered for Herbicide 

Tolerance 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) has received 

a petition from BASF Plant Science LP 

(BASF) seeking a determination of 

nonregulated status of soybean 

designated as event BPS–CV127–9, 

which has been genetically engineered 

for tolerance to herbicides in the 

imidazolinone family. The petition has 

been submitted in accordance with our 

regulations concerning the introduction 

of certain genetically engineered 

organisms and products. We are making 

the BASF petition available for review 

and comment to help us identify 

potential environmental and 

interrelated economic issues and 

impacts that APHIS may determine 

should be considered in our evaluation 

of the petition. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before September 

11, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#!documentDetail;D=APHIS–2012– 

0028–0001. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2012–0028, 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-2012-0028 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. 

The petition is also available on the 

APHIS Web site at http:// 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES