78232 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 242 / Friday, December 16, 2011 / Notices 

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

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS2010-0023. 

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 of the regulations 

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 August 11, 2011 (76 FR 

49726, Docket No. APHIS–2010–0023), 

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 Cape gooseberry fruit 

(Physalis peruviana L.) with husks from 

Chile. We solicited comments on the 

notice for 60 days ending on October 11, 

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 Cape 

gooseberry fruit from Chile subject to 

the following phytosanitary measures: 

• Cape gooseberry fruit will be 

subject to inspection upon arrival in the 

United States. 

• Each consignment of Cape 

gooseberry fruit must be accompanied 

by a phytosanitary certificate issued by 

NPPO of Chile stating: ‘‘The Cape 

gooseberry in the consignment has been 

inspected and is free of pests.’’ 

• Cape gooseberry fruit must be 

imported into the United States in 

commercial consignments only. 

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 Cape gooseberry fruit from Chile 

will be subject to the general 

requirements listed in § 319.56–3 that 

are applicable to the importation of all 

fruits and vegetables. 

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 12th day of 

December 2011. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–32317 Filed 12–15–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2011–0046] 

Monsanto Co.; Determination of 

Nonregulated Status for Soybean 

Genetically Engineered To Have a 

Modified Fatty Acid Profile and for 

Tolerance to the Herbicide Glyphosate 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public of 

our determination that a soybean line 

developed by the Monsanto Co., 

designated as event MON 87705, which 

has been genetically engineered to have 

a modified fatty acid profile and for 

tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate, is 

no longer considered a regulated article 

under our regulations governing the 

introduction of certain genetically 

engineered organisms. Our 

determination is based on our 

evaluation of data submitted by the 

Monsanto Company in its petition for a 

determination of nonregulated status, 

our analysis of available scientific data, 

and comments received from the public 

in response to our previous notice 

announcing the availability of the 

petition for nonregulated status and its 

associated environmental assessment 

and plant pest risk assessment. This 

notice also announces the availability of 

our written determination and finding 

of no significant impact. 

DATES: Effective Date: December 16, 

2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may read the 

documents referenced in this notice and 

the comments we received in our 

reading room. The reading room 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) 6902817 before coming. 

Those documents are also available on 

the Internet at http:// 

www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/ 

not_reg.html and are posted with the 

previous notice and the comments we 

received on the Regulations.gov Web 

site at http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0046. 

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, email: 

evan.a.chestnut@aphis.usda.gov. To 

obtain copies of the documents 

referenced in this notice, contact Ms. 

Cindy Eck at (301) 734–0667, email: 

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

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.’’ 

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 received a petition (APHIS 

Petition Number 09–201–01p) from the 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 242 / Friday, December 16, 2011 / Notices 78233 

1To view the notice, petition, draft EA, the PPRA, 

and the comments we received, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS2011-0046. 

Monsanto Company (Monsanto) of St. 

Louis, MO, seeking a determination of 

nonregulated status for soybean (Glycine 

max) designated as event MON 87705, 

which has been genetically engineered 

to have a modified fatty acid profile and 

for tolerance to the herbicide 

glyphosate, stating that this soybean is 

unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and, 

therefore, should not be a regulated 

article under APHIS’ regulations in 7 

CFR part 340. 

In a notice 1 published in the Federal 

Register on June 28, 2011 (76 FR 37771– 

37772, Docket No. APHIS–2011–0046), 

APHIS announced the availability of the 

Monsanto petition, a plant pest risk 

assessment (PPRA), and a draft 

environmental assessment (EA) for 

public comment. APHIS solicited 

comments on the petition, whether the 

subject soybeans are likely to pose a 

plant pest risk, the draft EA, and the 

PPRA for 60 days ending on August 29, 

2011. 

APHIS received 36 comments during 

the comment period, with 29 

commenters expressing support of the 

EA’s preferred alternative to make a 

determination of nonregulated status 

and the remaining 7 commenters 

expressing opposition. Issues raised 

during the comment period include 

liability following adverse incidents, 

trade implications, effects of genetically 

engineered crops on honey bee 

populations, scientific peer review of 

safety tests, and health effects of 

genetically modified organisms and 

glyphosate. APHIS has addressed the 

issues raised during the comment 

period and has provided responses to 

these comments as an attachment to the 

finding of no significant impact. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

To provide the public with 

documentation of APHIS’ review and 

analysis of any potential environmental 

impacts associated with the 

determination of nonregulated status for 

Monsanto’s soybean event MON 87705, 

an EA has been prepared. 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). Based on our EA, the response to 

public comments, and other pertinent 

scientific data, APHIS has reached a 

finding of no significant impact with 

regard to the preferred alternative 

identified in the EA. 

Determination 

Based on APHIS’ analysis of field and 

laboratory data submitted by Monsanto, 

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 Monsanto’s 

soybean event MON 87705 is unlikely to 

pose a plant pest risk and therefore is no 

longer subject to our regulations 

governing the introduction of certain 

genetically engineered organisms. 

Copies of the signed determination 

document, as well as copies of the 

petition, PPRA, EA, finding of no 

significant impact, and response to 

comments 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 

December 2011. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–32323 Filed 12–15–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request—WIC 

Breastfeeding Policy Inventory 

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service 

(FNS), USDA 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 

notice invites the general public and 

other public agencies to comment on 

this proposed collection. This is a new 

collection for the contract WIC Local 

Agency Breastfeeding Policy and 

Practices Inventory. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received by February 14, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Comments are invited on (a) 

whether the proposed data collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden of the proposed collection 

of information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions that 

were used; (c) ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (d) 

ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

Comments may be sent to: Steven 

Carlson, Director, Office of Research and 

Analysis, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, 

3101 Park Center Drive, Room 1014, 

Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments may 

also be submitted via fax to the attention 

of Steven Carlson at (703) 305–2576 or 

via email to 

Steve.Carlson@ fns.usda.gov. Comments 

will also be accepted through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the online instruction for submitting 

comments electronically. 

All written comments will be open for 

public inspection at the office of the 

Food and Nutrition Service during 

regular business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday) at Room 

1014, 3101 Park Center Drive, 

Alexandria, Virginia 22302. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for Office of Management and Budget 

approval. All comments will also be a 

matter of public record. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information 

should be directed to Steven Carlson at 

(703) 305–2017. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: WIC Breastfeeding Policy 

Inventory. 

OMB Number: 0584–NEW 

Expiration Date: Not yet determined. 

Type of Request: New information 

collection. 

Abstract: The Special Supplemental 

Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, 

and Children (WIC) provides 

supplemental foods, health care 

referrals, and nutrition education to 

nutritionally at-risk, low-income 

pregnant women, new mothers, their 

infants, and children up to age five. The 

Program is administered through 90 

State, territorial, and Indian tribal 

organization (ITO) agencies. These 

agencies oversee approximately 2,000 

local WIC agencies, which in turn 

operate about 10,000 clinic sites. WIC 


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