20560 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 75 / Tuesday, April 20, 2010 / Notices 

1To view the notice, petition, EA, risk 

assessment, and the comments we received, go to 

(http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/

component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS2009-0072). 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS-2009-0072] 

Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc.; 

Determination of Nonregulated Status 

for Corn Genetically Engineered for 

Insect Resistance 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public of 

our determination that a corn line 

developed by Syngenta Biotechnology, 

Inc., designated as transformation event 

MIR162, which has been genetically 

engineered for insect resistance, 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 

Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc., in its 

petition for a determination of 

nonregulated status, our analysis of 

other scientific data, and our response 

to comments received from the public 

on 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 of nonregulated status 

and finding of no significant impact. 

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 20, 2010. 

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) 690-2817 before 

coming. Those documents are also 

available on the Internet at (http:// 

www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/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/fdmspublic/

component/main?main=DocketDetail 

&d=APHIS-2009-0072). 

Other Information: Additional 

information about APHIS and its 

programs is available on the Internet at 

(http://www.aphis.usda.gov). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Subray Hegde, Biotechnology 

Regulatory Services, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737- 

1236; (301) 734-0810, email: 

(subray.hegde@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 may be 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. 

On September 10, 2007, APHIS 

received a petition seeking a 

determination of nonregulated status 

(APHIS Petition Number 07-253-01p) 

from Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc., of 

Research Triangle Park, NC (Syngenta), 

for corn (Zea mays L.) designated as 

transformation event MIR162, which 

has been genetically engineered for 

insect resistance, stating that corn line 

MIR162 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 notice1 published in the Federal 

Register on January 13, 2010 (75 FR 

1749-1751, Docket No. APHIS-2009- 

0072), APHIS announced the 

availability of Syngenta’s petition and 

the associated draft environmental 

assessment (EA) and plant pest risk 

assessment for public comment. APHIS 

solicited comments for 60 days ending 

on March 15, 2010, on whether the 

genetically engineered corn is or could 

be a plant pest and on the EA and the 

risk assessment. 

APHIS received 35 comments during 

the comment period. There were 19 

comments from groups or individuals 

who supported deregulation and 13 

from those who opposed deregulation. 

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 

Syngenta’s MIR162 corn, 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 that 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, i.e., that Syngenta’s 

MIR162 corn line and lines developed 

from it should not result in any 

significant impacts once they are 

granted nonregulated status and are no 

longer regulated articles under its 

regulations in 7 CFR part 340. 

Determination 

Based on APHIS’ analysis of field, 

greenhouse, and laboratory data 

submitted by Syngenta, references 

provided in the petition, information 

analyzed in the EA, the plant pest risk 

assessment, comments provided by the 

public, and information provided in 

APHIS’ response to those public 

comments, APHIS has determined that 

Syngenta’s MIR162 corn will not pose a 

plant pest risk and should be granted 

nonregulated status. 

Copies of the signed determination 

document, as well as copies of the 

petition, plant pest risk assessment, 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. 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 75 / Tuesday, April 20, 2010 / Notices 20561 

Done in Washington, DC, this 16th day 

of April 2010. 

Cindy J. Smith 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–9198 Filed 4–16–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

The Department of Commerce will 

submit to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for clearance the 

following proposal for collection of 

information under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35). 

Agency: National 

Telecommunications and Information 

Administration (NTIA). 

Title: State Broadband Data and 

Development Grant Program. 

OMB Control Number: 0660–0032. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Request: Regular submission 

(extension of a currently approved 

collection). 

Number of Respondents: 56 

respondents and 2,000 subrespondents. 

Average Hours per Response: 3,120 

hours for respondents and 50 hours for 

subrespondents. 

Burden Hours: 549,440. 

Needs and Uses: The State Broadband 

Data and Development (SBDD) Grant 

Program implements the joint goals of 

the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the 

Broadband Data Improvement Act by 

assisting, through grants, states or their 

designees in gathering and verifying 

state-specific data on the availability, 

speed, location, technology and 

infrastructure of broadband services. 

The data will be used to develop 

publicly available state-wide broadband 

maps and to help populate the 

comprehensive and searchable national 

broadband map that NTIA is required 

under the Recovery Act to create and 

make publicly available by February 17, 

2011. 

Affected Public: States, Territories 

and the District of Columbia, or their 

designees. Subrespondents include 

facilities-based providers of broadband 

connections, incumbent and 

competitive local exchange carriers, 

facilities-based mobile telephony 

service providers, and wireless Internet 

service providers. 

Frequency: Semi-annually. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Required to 

retain benefits. 

OMB Desk Officer: Nicholas Fraser, 

(202) 395–5887. 

Copies of the above information 

collection proposal can be obtained by 

calling or writing Diana Hynek, 

Departmental Paperwork Clearance 

Officer, (202) 482–0266, Department of 

Commerce, Room 6625, 14th and 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 

dHynek@doc.gov). 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to Nicholas Fraser, OMB Desk 

Officer, FAX number (202) 395–5806, or 

via the Internet at 

Nicholas_A._Fraser@omb.eop.gov. 

Dated: April 15, 2010. 

Gwellnar Banks, 

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2010–9058 Filed 4–19–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

Patent Term Extension 

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment 

request. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO), as part of its 

continuing effort to reduce paperwork 

and respondent burden, invites the 

general public and other Federal 

agencies to take this opportunity to 

comment on the continuing information 

collection, as required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104– 

13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted on or before June 21, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• E-mail: 

InformationCollection@uspto.gov. 

Include A0651–0020 comment@ in the 

subject line of the message. 

• Fax: 571–273–0112, marked to the 

attention of Susan Fawcett. 

• Mail: Susan K. Fawcett, Records 

Officer, Office of the Chief Information 

Officer, United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 

Alexandria, VA 22313–1450. 

• Federal Rulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information 

should be directed to Raul Tamayo, 

Legal Advisor, Office of Patent Legal 

Administration, United States Patent 

and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, 

Alexandria, VA 22313–1450; by 

telephone at 571–272–7728; or by e-mail 

to Raul.Tamayo@uspto.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

Act at 35 U.S.C. 156 permits the United 

States Patent and Trademark Office 

(USPTO) to restore the patent term lost 

due to certain types of regulatory review 

by the Federal Food and Drug 

Administration or the Department of 

Agriculture. Only patents for drug 

products, medical devices, food 

additives, and color additives are 

eligible for extension. The maximum 

length that a patent may be extended in 

order to restore the lost portion of the 

patent term is five years. 

The USPTO may in some cases extend 

the term of an original patent due to 

certain delays in the prosecution of the 

patent application, including delays 

caused by interference proceedings, 

secrecy orders, or appellate review by 

the Board of Patent Appeals and 

Interferences or a Federal court in 

which the patent is issued pursuant to 

a decision reversing an adverse 

determination of patentability. The 

patent term provisions of 35 U.S.C. 

154(b), as amended by Title IV, Subtitle 

D of the Intellectual Property and 

Communications Omnibus Reform Act 

of 1999, require the USPTO to notify the 

applicant of the patent term adjustment 

in the notice of allowance and give the 

applicant an opportunity to request 

reconsideration of the USPTO’s patent 

term adjustment determination. 

The USPTO may also reduce the 

amount of patent term adjustment 

granted if delays were caused by an 

applicant’s failure to make a reasonable 

effort to respond within three months of 

the mailing date of a communication 

from the USPTO. Applicants may 

petition for reinstatement of a reduction 

in patent term adjustment with a 

showing that, in spite of all due care, 

the applicant was unable to respond to 

a communication from the USPTO 

within the three month period. 

The USPTO administers 35 U.S.C. 154 

and 156 through 37 CFR 1.701–1.791. 

These rules permit the public to submit 

applications to the USPTO to extend the 

term of a patent past its original 

expiration date, to request interim 

extensions and review of final eligibility 

decisions, and to withdraw an 

application requesting a patent term 

extension after it is submitted. Under 35 

U.S.C. 156(d), an application for patent 

term extension must identify the 

approved product, the patent to be 

extended, and the claims included in 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES