31082 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 104 / Friday, May 30, 2014 / Notices 

1On March 6, 2012, APHIS published in the 

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

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 

Simplot, 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 InnateTM potatoes 

and they would continue to be a 

regulated article, or (2) make a 

determination of nonregulated status of 

InnateTM potatoes. APHIS’ preferred 

alternative is to make a determination of 

nonregulated status of InnateTM

potatoes. 

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 draft EA and 

our PPRA 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 draft EA and the 

PPRA, as well as the previously 

published petition, are available as 

indicated under ADDRESSES and FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT above. 

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 the 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 23rd day of 

May 2014. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–12555 Filed 5–29–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2013–0013] 

Monsanto Company and Forage 

Genetics International; Availability of a 

Plant Pest Risk Assessment and 

Environmental Assessment for 

Determination of Nonregulated Status 

of Genetically Engineered Alfalfa 

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 the 

Monsanto Company and Forage 

Genetics International seeking a 

determination of nonregulated status of 

alfalfa designated as event KK179, 

which has been genetically engineered 

to express reduced levels of guaiacyl 

lignin. We are soliciting comments on 

whether this genetically engineered 

alfalfa is likely to pose a plant pest risk. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before June 30, 

2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0013. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2013–0013, 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-2013-0013 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 12–321–01p. 

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 supporting documents for 

this 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.’’ 

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 12–321–01p) from the 

Monsanto Company and Forage 

Genetics International seeking a 

determination of nonregulated status of 

alfalfa designated as event KK179, 

which has been genetically engineered 

to express reduced levels of guaiacyl 

lignin, a major subunit component of 

total lignin that slows the digestion of 

cellulose in livestock, as compared to 

conventional alfalfa at the same stage of 

growth. The petition states that this 

alfalfa event is 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 input when 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 104 / Friday, May 30, 2014 / Notices 31083 

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:// 

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS2013-0013. 

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 

the Federal Register on April 22, 2013, 

(78 FR 23738–23740, Docket No. 

APHIS–2013–0013), APHIS announced 

the availability of the Monsanto 

Company and Forage Genetics 

International petition for public 

comment. APHIS solicited comments on 

the petition for 60 days ending on June 

21, 2013, in order to help identify 

potential environmental and 

interrelated economic impacts that 

APHIS may determine should be 

considered in our evaluation of the 

petition. 

APHIS received 55 comments on the 

petition. Issues raised during the 

comment period included concerns 

regarding potential impacts on human 

and animal health and nontarget 

organisms, herbicide use changes, and 

herbicide-resistant weeds. APHIS has 

evaluated the issues raised during the 

comment period and, where 

appropriate, has provided a discussion 

of those issues in our draft 

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 

input 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 new crop-trait GE 

organism or 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 a 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 the 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 alfalfa event KK179 is 

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 the 

Monsanto Company and Forage 

Genetics International, 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 

alfalfa event KK179 and it would 

continue to be a regulated article, or (2) 

make a determination of nonregulated 

status of alfalfa event KK179. APHIS’ 

preferred alternative is to make a 

determination of nonregulatory status of 

alfalfa event KK179. 

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 of GE organisms, 

we are publishing this notice to inform 

the public that APHIS will accept 

written comments on our draft EA and 

our PPRA 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 draft EA and the 

PPRA, as well as the previously 

published petition, are available as 

indicated in the ADDRESSES and FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT sections 

of this notice. 

As indicated 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 the 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 23rd day of 

May 2014. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–12553 Filed 5–29–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Revision of the Land Management 

Plans for the Helena and Lewis and 

Clark National Forests 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of initiation of the 

assessment phase of the land 

management plan revision process for 

the Helena and Lewis and Clark 

National Forests. 

SUMMARY: The Helena and Lewis and 

Clark National Forests, located in 

Montana, are initiating the forest 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES