This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

2674 

Vol. 80, No. 12 

Tuesday, January 20, 2015 

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

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS2011-0129. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2014–0097] 

Monsanto Co.; Availability of Petition 

for Determination of Nonregulated 

Status of Maize Genetically Engineered 

for Increased Ear Biomass 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) has received 

a petition from the Monsanto Company 

(Monsanto) seeking a determination of 

nonregulated status of maize designated 

as event MON 87403, which has been 

genetically engineered for increased ear 

biomass. The petition has been 

submitted in accordance with our 

regulations concerning the introduction 

of certain genetically engineered 

organisms and products. We are making 

the Monsanto petition available for 

review and comment to help us identify 

potential environmental and 

interrelated economic issues and 

impacts that APHIS may determine 

should be considered in our evaluation 

of the petition. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before March 23, 

2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-0097. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2014–0097, 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-2014-0097 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. 

The petition is also available on the 

APHIS Web site at http://

www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/14_

21301p.pdf. 

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. 

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 has received a petition (APHIS 

Petition Number 14–213–01p) from the 

Monsanto Company (Monsanto) of St. 

Louis, MO, seeking a determination of 

nonregulated status of maize (Zea mays) 

designated as event MON 87403, which 

has been genetically engineered for 

increased ear biomass. The petition 

states that information collected during 

field trials and laboratory analyses 

indicates MON 87403 maize is unlikely 

to pose a plant pest risk and, therefore, 

should not be a regulated article under 

APHIS’ regulations in 7 CFR part 340. 

MON 87403 maize is currently 

regulated under 7 CFR part 340. 

Interstate movements and field tests of 

MON 87403 maize have been authorized 

by APHIS. Field tests conducted under 

APHIS oversight allowed for evaluation 

in a natural agricultural setting while 

imposing measures to minimize the risk 

of persistence in the environment after 

completion of the tests. Data are 

gathered on multiple parameters and 

used by the applicant to evaluate 

agronomic characteristics and product 

performance. These and other data are 

used by APHIS to determine if the new 

variety poses a plant pest risk. 

Paragraph (d) of § 340.6 provides that 

APHIS will publish a notice in the 

Federal Register providing 60 days for 

public comment for petitions for a 

determination of nonregulated status. 

On March 6, 2012, we published in the 

Federal Register (77 FR 13258–13260, 

Docket No. APHIS–2011–0129) a 

notice 1 describing our process for 

soliciting public comment when 

considering petitions for determinations 

of nonregulated status for GE organisms. 

In that notice we indicated that APHIS 

would accept written comments 

regarding a petition once APHIS 

deemed it complete. 

In accordance with § 340.6(d) of the 

regulations and 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 regarding the petition 

for a determination of nonregulated 

status from interested or affected 

persons for a period of 60 days from the 

date of this notice. The petition is 

available for public review and 

comment, and copies are available as 

indicated under ADDRESSES and FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT above. 

We are interested in receiving 

comments regarding potential 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 20, 2015 / Notices 2675 

1 Docket No. APHIS–2012–0047 published on 

July 13, 2012, 77 FR 41356–41357; Docket No. 

APHIS–2012–0097 published on February 27, 2013, 

78 FR 13308–13309. The Federal Register notices 

for the petitions and supporting and related 

materials, including public comments, are available 

at http://www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2012-0047 and http://

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS2012-0097. 

environmental and interrelated 

economic issues and impacts that 

APHIS may determine should be 

considered in our evaluation of the 

petition. We are particularly interested 

in receiving comments regarding 

biological, cultural, or ecological issues, 

and we encourage the submission of 

scientific data, studies, or research to 

support your comments. We also 

request that, when possible, 

commenters provide relevant 

information regarding specific localities 

or regions as maize growth, crop 

management, and crop utilization may 

vary considerably by geographic region. 

After the comment period closes, 

APHIS will review all written comments 

received during the comment period 

and any other relevant information. Any 

substantive issues identified by APHIS 

based on our review of the petition and 

our evaluation and analysis of 

comments will be considered in the 

development of our decisionmaking 

documents. 

As part of our decisionmaking process 

regarding a GE organism’s regulatory 

status, APHIS prepares a plant pest risk 

assessment to assess its plant pest risk 

and the appropriate environmental 

documentation—either an 

environmental assessment (EA) or an 

environmental impact statement (EIS)— 

in accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to 

provide the Agency with a review and 

analysis of any potential environmental 

impacts associated with the petition 

request. For petitions for which APHIS 

prepares an EA, APHIS will follow our 

published process for soliciting public 

involvement (see footnote 1) and 

publish a separate notice in the Federal 

Register announcing the availability of 

APHIS’ EA and plant pest risk 

assessment. Should APHIS determine 

that an EIS is necessary, APHIS will 

complete the NEPA EIS process in 

accordance with Council on 

Environmental Quality regulations (40 

CFR parts 1500–1508) and APHIS’ 

NEPA implementing regulations (7 CFR 

part 372). 

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 14th day of 

January 2015. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00722 Filed 1–16–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2013–0043] 

Monsanto Co.; Determination of 

Nonregulated Status of Herbicide 

Resistant Soybean and Cotton 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public of 

our determination that soybean and 

cotton genetically engineered for 

herbicide resistance by the Monsanto 

Company are no longer considered 

regulated articles 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 two petitions 

for a determination of nonregulated 

status, our analysis of publically 

available scientific data, and comments 

received from the public on the petition 

for nonregulated status and its 

associated environmental impact 

statement and plant pest risk 

assessments. This notice also announces 

the availability of our written 

determination and record of decision. 

DATES: Effective Date: January 20, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may read the 

documents referenced in this notice and 

any 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) 799–7039 before 

coming. Those documents are also 

available on the Internet at http://

www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/

petitions_table_pending.shtml under 

APHIS Petition Numbers 10–188–01p 

(soybean) and 12–185–01p (cotton) and 

are posted with the comments we 

received on the Regulations.gov Web 

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

#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0043. 

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 documents referenced in 

this notice, contact Ms. Cindy Eck at 

(301) 851–3892, email: cynthia.a.eck@

aphis.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 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 two petitions 

(referred to below as ‘‘the petitions’’) 

from the Monsanto Company seeking 

determinations of nonregulated status 

for soybean and cotton cultivars 

genetically engineered to be resistant to 

herbicides. The first petition, APHIS 

Petition Number 10–188–01p, seeks a 

determination of nonregulated status of 

soybean (Glycine max) designated as 

event MON 87708, which has been 

genetically engineered for tolerance to 

the herbicide dicamba. The second 

petition, APHIS Petition Number 12– 

185–01p, seeks a determination of 

nonregulated status of cotton 

(Gossypium spp.) designated as event 

MON 88701, which has been genetically 

engineered for tolerance to the 

herbicides dicamba and glufosinate. The 

petitions state that these articles are 

unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and, 

therefore, should not be regulated 

articles under APHIS’ regulations in 7 

CFR part 340. 

Notices were published 1 in the 

Federal Register for each petition 

advising the public that APHIS had 

received the petition and was seeking 

public comments on the petition. The 

notices also announced that APHIS 

would prepare either an environmental 

assessment or an environmental impact 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES