15096 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 2014 / Notices 

response to the petitioner, either 

approving or denying the petition. 

APHIS also publishes 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. 

In a notice (see footnote 2) published 

in the Federal Register on November 7, 

2013, (78 FR 66892–66893, Docket No. 

APHIS–2012–0028), APHIS announced 

the availability of a PPRA and a draft EA 

for public comment. APHIS solicited 

comments on the draft EA, the PPRA, 

and whether the subject soybeans are 

likely to pose a plant pest risk for 30 

days ending on December 9, 2013. 

APHIS received 10 comments during 

the comment period. All comments 

submitted to the docket were carefully 

analyzed by APHIS. A number of these 

comments were generally opposed to GE 

organisms or the use of herbicideresistant crops. Others had concerns 

about potential impacts associated with 

the herbicides used on GE crops. In 

general, commenters expressed their 

opposition to our determination of 

nonregulatory status but did not identify 

elements in the PPRA or EA that they 

perceived to be inadequate or provide 

any specific supporting evidence for 

their opposition. APHIS has addressed 

the issues raised during the comment 

period and has provided responses to 

these comments as an attachment to the 

FONSI. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

After reviewing and evaluating the 

comments received during the comment 

period on the draft EA and PPRA and 

other information, APHIS has prepared 

a final EA. The EA has been prepared 

to provide the public with 

documentation of APHIS’ review and 

analysis of any potential environmental 

impacts associated with the 

determination of nonregulated status of 

BASF’s CV127 soybean. 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). Based on our EA, the response to 

public comments, and other pertinent 

scientific data, APHIS has reached a 

FONSI with regard to the preferred 

alternative identified in the EA (to make 

a determination of nonregulated status 

of BASF’s CV127 soybean). 

Determination 

Based on APHIS’ analysis of field and 

laboratory data submitted by BASF, 

references provided in the petition, 

peer-reviewed publications, information 

analyzed in the EA, the PPRA, 

comments provided by the public, and 

information provided in APHIS’ 

response to those public comments, 

APHIS has determined that BASF’s 

CV127 soybean is unlikely to pose a 

plant pest risk and therefore is no longer 

subject to our regulations governing the 

introduction of certain GE organisms. 

Copies of the signed determination 

document, PPRA, final EA, FONSI, and 

response to comments, as well as the 

previously published petition and 

supporting documents, are available as 

indicated in the ADDRESSES and FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT sections 

of this notice. 

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 12th day of 

March 2014. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–06016 Filed 3–17–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2013–0113] 

Dow AgroSciences LLC; Availability of 

Petition for Determination of 

Nonregulated Status of Cotton 

Genetically Engineered for Resistance 

to 2,4–D and Glufosinate 

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 received a 

petition from Dow AgroSciences LLC 

(DAS) seeking a determination of 

nonregulated status of cotton designated 

as DAS–8191;-7, which has been 

genetically engineered for resistance to 

the herbicides 2,4–D and glufosinate. 

The petition has been submitted in 

accordance with our regulations 

concerning the introduction of certain 

genetically engineered organisms and 

products. We are making the DAS 

petition available for review and 

comment to help us identify potential 

environmental and interrelated 

economic issues and impacts that the 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service may determine should be 

considered in our evaluation of the 

petition. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before May 19, 

2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/

#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0113- 

0001. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2013–0113, 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-2013-0113 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://

www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/

petitions_table_pending.shtml under 

APHIS petition number 13–262–01p. 

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: 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.’’ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 2014 / Notices 15097 

1The roles of the Federal agencies responsible for 

regulating the safe use of GE organisms is described 

in a notice published in the Federal Register on 

June 26, 1986 (51 FR 23302). The notice may be 

viewed at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/

fedregister/coordinated_framework.pdf. 

2To view the notice, go to http://

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

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 13–262–01p) from Dow 

AgroSciences LLC (DAS) of 

Indianapolis, IN, seeking a 

determination of nonregulated status of 

cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) designated 

as DAS–8191;–7, which has been 

genetically engineered for resistance to 

certain broadleaf herbicides in the 

phenoxy auxin group (particularly the 

herbicide 2,4–D) and resistance to the 

herbicide glufosinate. The DAS petition 

states that information collected during 

field trials and laboratory analyses 

indicates that DAS–8191;–7 cotton is 

not likely to be a plant pest or result in 

weediness potential and therefore 

should not be a regulated article under 

APHIS’ regulations in 7 CFR part 340. 

As described in the petition, DAS 

developed DAS–8191;–7 cotton using 

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation 

to incorporate the aad–12 gene from 

Delftia acidovorans and the pat gene 

from Streptomyces viridochromogenes 

into cotton. The aad–12 gene encodes 

the enzyme aryloxyalkanoate 

dioxygenase-12 (AAD–12) which, when 

expressed in plants, degrades 2,4–D to 

herbicidally-inactive 2,4- 

dichlorophenol. The pat gene encodes 

the enzyme phosphinothricin 

acetyltransferase that inactivates 

glufosinate. 

DAS has submitted information on 

the use of 2,4–D on DAS–8191;–7 

cotton to the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA), which is 

responsible for evaluating and 

approving the use of any herbicides or 

pesticides on plants, including GE 

plants.1

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 tests. 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 2 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 

comment, 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 cotton 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 2) 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 12th day of 

March 2014. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–06013 Filed 3–17–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Bureau of the Census 

Census Scientific Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Bureau of the Census, 

Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of the Census 

(U.S. Census Bureau) is giving notice of 

a meeting of the Census Scientific 

Advisory Committee (C–SAC). The C– 

SAC will meet in a plenary session on 

April 10–11, 2014. The Committee will 

address policy, research, and technical 

issues relating to a full range of Census 

Bureau programs and activities, 

including communications, decennial, 

demographic, economic, field 

operations, geographic, information 

technology, and statistics. Last minute 

changes to the agenda are possible, 

which could prevent giving advance 

public notice of schedule adjustments. 

DATES: April 10 and April 11, 2014. On 

April 10, the C–SAC meeting will begin 

at approximately 8:30 a.m. and adjourn 

at approximately 4 p.m. On April 11, 

the meeting will begin at approximately 

8:30 a.m. and adjourn at approximately 

1:30 p.m. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES