29742 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 123 / Tuesday, June 26, 2018 / Notices 

Summary of Collection: The Rural 

Housing Service is authorized by 

Section 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm 

and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

1926), as amended, to make grants to 

public agencies, nonprofit corporations, 

and Indian tribes to develop essential 

community facilities and services for 

public use in rural areas. These facilities 

include schools, libraries, childcare, 

hospitals, clinics, assisted-living 

facilities, fire and rescuer stations, 

police stations, community centers, 

public buildings, and transportation. 

The Department of Agriculture through 

its Community Programs strives to 

ensure that facilities are available to all 

rural communities. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

Rural Development field offices will 

collect information from applicant/ 

borrowers and consultants. This 

information is used to determine 

eligibility, project feasibility, and to 

ensure borrowers operate on a sound 

basis and use loan and grant funds for 

authorized purposes. Failure to collect 

the information could result in 

improper determinations of eligibility, 

improper use of funds, and or unsound 

loans. 

Description of Respondents: Not-forprofit institutions. 

Number of Respondents: 1,272. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

On occasion. 

Total Burden Hours: 16,462. 

Rural Housing Service 

Title: Rural Rental Housing Program, 

7 CFR part 3560. 

OMB Control Number: 0575–0189. 

Summary of Collection: The purpose 

of the Rural Rental Housing Program is 

to provide adequate, affordable, decent, 

safe, and sanitary rental units for very 

low-, low-, and moderate-income 

households in rural areas. The Rural 

Housing Service (RHS) is authorized to 

collect the information needed to 

administer these various programs 

under Title V of the Housing Act of 

1949, Section 515 Rural Rental Housing, 

Sections 514 and 516 Farm Labor 

Housing loans and grants, and Section 

521 Rental Assistance. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

Information is completed by developers 

and potential borrowers seeking 

approval of rural rental housing loans 

with assistance of professional such as 

attorneys, architects, and contractors 

and the operation and management of 

MFH properties in an affordable, decent, 

safe, and sanitary manner. The forms 

and information provide the basis for 

making determinations of eligibility and 

the need and feasibility of the proposed 

housing. The information collected by 

RHS is used to plan, manage, evaluate, 

and account for Government resources. 

The reports are required to ensure the 

proper and judicious use of public 

funds. 

Description of Respondents: Business 

or other for profit: Individual or 

households; Not-for-profit institutions; 

State, Local, or Tribal Government. 

Number of Respondents: 507,200. 

Frequency of Responses: 

Recordkeeping; Reporting: Quarterly; 

Monthly, Annually. 

Total Burden Hours: 1,113,828. 

Ruth Brown, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2018–13697 Filed 6–25–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–XV–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2017–0096] 

Nuseed Americas Inc.; Availability of a 

Draft Plant Pest Risk Assessment and 

Draft Environmental Assessment for 

Canola Genetically Engineered for 

Altered Oil Profile 

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 a draft plant pest 

risk assessment (PPRA) and draft 

environmental assessment (EA) for 

canola designated as event B0050–027, 

which has been genetically engineered 

to accumulate the long chain omega-3 

fatty acid known as docosahexaenoic 

acid in seed. We are making the draft 

PPRA and draft EA available for public 

review and comment. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before July 26, 

2018. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/#!docket

Detail;D=APHIS-2017-0096. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2017–0096, Regulatory Analysis 

and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 

3A–03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

Supporting documents for this 

petition and any comments we receive 

on this docket may be viewed at http:// 

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=

APHIS-2017-0096 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 for this 

petition are also available on the APHIS 

website at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ 

biotechnology/petitions_table_

pending.shtml under APHIS Petition 

Number 17–236–01p. 

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.’’ 

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 received a petition (APHIS 

Petition Number 17–236–01p) from 

Nuseed Americas Inc. (Nuseed) of 

Breckenridge, MN, seeking a 

determination of nonregulated status of 

canola (Brassica spp.) designated as 

event B0050–027, which has been 

genetically engineered to accumulate 

the long chain omega-3 fatty acid known 

as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in seed. 

The Nuseed petition states that 

information collected during field trials 

and laboratory analyses indicates that 

B0050–027 canola is not likely to be a 

plant pest and therefore should not be 

a regulated article under APHIS’ 

regulations in 7 CFR part 340. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 123 / Tuesday, June 26, 2018 / Notices 29743 

1On March 6, 2012, APHIS published in the 

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

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=APHIS2017-0096. 

According to our process 1 for 

soliciting public comment when 

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 December 11, 

2017 (82 FR 58167–58168, Docket No. 

APHIS–2017–0096), APHIS announced 

the availability of the Nuseed petition 

for public comment. APHIS solicited 

comments on the petition for 60 days 

ending on February 9, 2018, in order to 

help identify potential environmental 

and interrelated economic issues and 

impacts that APHIS may determine 

should be considered in our evaluation 

of the petition. APHIS received four 

comments on the petition. Two of the 

comments were from individuals and 

two were from the canola industry. 

APHIS has evaluated the issues raised 

during the comment period and, where 

appropriate, has provided a discussion 

of these 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 review 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 draft EA, 

preliminary finding of no significant 

impact (FONSI), and its draft 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. 

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 substantive new 

issues, APHIS will follow Approach 2. 

Under Approach 2, APHIS first solicits 

written comments from the public on a 

draft EA and draft 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 draft 

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. 

As part of our decisionmaking process 

regarding a GE organism’s regulatory 

status, APHIS prepares a PPRA to assess 

the plant pest risk of the article. APHIS 

also prepares the appropriate 

environmental documentation—either 

an EA or an environmental impact 

statement—in accordance with NEPA, 

to provide the Agency and the public 

with a review and analysis of any 

potential environmental impacts that 

may result if the petition request is 

approved. 

APHIS has prepared a draft PPRA and 

has concluded that canola designated as 

event B0050–027, which has been 

genetically engineered to accumulate 

the long chain omega-3 fatty acid known 

as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in seed, 

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 

Nuseed, 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 canola designated as 

event B0050–027, or (2) make a 

determination of nonregulated status of 

canola designated as event B0050–027. 

The draft 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) U.S. Department 

of Agriculture 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 draft 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 draft PPRA, as well as the 

previously published petition, are 

available as indicated under ADDRESSES

and FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

above. 

After the 30-day comment period 

closes, APHIS will review and evaluate 

any information received during the 

comment period and any other relevant 

information. After reviewing and 

evaluating the comments on the draft 

EA and the draft 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 20th day of 

June 2018. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–13589 Filed 6–25–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES