[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 125 (Wednesday, June 28, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39852-39853]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-16312]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 99-073-2]


Papaya Mealybug; Availability of a Supplement to an Environmental 
Assessment

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have prepared a supplement 
to an October 1999 environmental assessment that was prepared by the 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service relative to the suppression 
of the papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus Williams (Homoptera: 
Pseudococcidae). The supplement examines the environmental release of 
nonindigenous wasps of the genus Pseudaphycus for use as biological 
control agents to suppress the papaya mealybug. The supplement has been 
prepared to provide the public with documentation of APHIS' review and 
analysis of the environmental impact and plant pest risk associated 
with releasing these biological control agents into the environment.

DATES: We invite you to comment on this docket. We will consider all 
comments that we receive by July 28, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Please send your comment and three copies to: Docket No. 99-
073-2, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03, 
4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.
    Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. 99-073-2.
    You may read any comment that we receive on this docket and review 
copies of the original environmental assessment and the supplement 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) 690-2817 before coming.
    APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related 
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who 
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Dale E. Meyerdirk, Supervisory 
Agriculturist, Pink Hibiscus Mealybug Program, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 
Road Unit 135, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-5667. For copies of 
the supplement and the October 1999 environmental assessment, write to 
Dr. Meyerdirk at the same address. Please refer to the title of the 
environmental assessment when ordering copies.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus 
Williams (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae), can cause serious damage to 
numerous agricultural products, including papayas, hibiscus, citrus, 
cotton, and avocados, which can result in significant economic losses. 
Papaya mealybug exists in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, has 
recently been found in a few locations in Florida, and has been 
intercepted in Texas and California. From Florida, papaya mealybug 
could spread rapidly through the Gulf States and eventually on to Texas 
and California. The limits of its spread northward cannot be accurately 
predicted, but certain greenhouse crops would be at risk, even in cold 
regions.
    On October 19, 1999, we published in the Federal Register (64 FR 
56305-56306, Docket No. 99-073-1) a notice announcing the availability 
of an environmental assessment titled ``Control of Papaya Mealybug, 
Paracoccus marginatus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae)'' (October 1999). In 
that environmental assessment, we discussed our review and analysis of 
the environmental impact and plant pest risk associated with the 
release into the environment of three genera of nonindigenous wasps 
(Anagyrus, Apoanagyrus, and Acerophagus) as part

[[Page 39853]]

of a biological control project to suppress papaya mealybug.
    Since the publication of our October 1999 notice, a fourth genus of 
nonindigenous wasp--Pseudaphycus (Hymenoptera: Encrytidae)--that 
attacks the papaya mealybug has been identified. Research conducted in 
quarantine has shown Pseudaphycus spp. wasps to be a primary parasite 
of papaya mealybug, and this genus is only known to attack species of 
mealybug. Thus, a request has been made to the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service (APHIS) for the release of Pseudaphycus spp. wasps 
into the environment for the suppression of papaya mealybug 
infestations throughout the United States.
    The Pseudaphycus spp. wasps will be imported from Mexico into U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA)-certified insect quarantine facilities 
at the Beneficial Insects Introduction Research Laboratory (BIIRL) in 
Newark, DE. At BIIRL, species identifications would be confirmed by 
USDA and State taxonomists, and undesirable organisms, such as 
hyperparasites, would be screened out and properly eliminated. 
Laboratory colonies would be established by APHIS and State 
cooperators. The wasps would then be released by APHIS and State 
cooperators in areas invaded by the papaya mealybug. Such areas include 
the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Florida, where the papaya 
mealybug is now present. The papaya mealybug may also spread to other 
States due to the presence of hosts and favorable habitats. These areas 
include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, 
Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New 
Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and 
Virginia. If the papaya mealybug does spread to these areas, APHIS and 
State cooperators will release the wasps in the affected areas also.
    We expect that these stingless wasps would become established and 
reproduce naturally without further human intervention.
    If APHIS does release Pseudaphycus spp. wasps, the release of these 
wasps will complement our previous releases of Anagyrus, Apoanagyrus, 
and Acerophagus spp. wasps, which were the first exotic biological 
control agents approved for release against papaya mealybug in the 
United States.
    To document APHIS' review and analysis of the environmental impact 
and plant pest risk associated with releasing Pseudaphycus spp. wasps 
into the environment as biological control agents, we have prepared a 
supplement to our October 1999 environmental assessment that examined 
the release into the environment of Anagyrus, Apoanagyrus, and 
Acerophagus spp. wasps. We are making the supplement to that 
environmental assessment available to the public for review and 
comment.
    The supplement to our October 1999 environmental assessment has 
been 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).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 22nd day of June 2000.
Bobby R. Acord,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 00-16312 Filed 6-27-00; 8:45 am]
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