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[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80872-80873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33009]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2010-0103]

Dow AgroScience LLC; Availability of Petition, Plant Pest Risk 
Assessment, and Environmental Assessment for Determination of 
Nonregulated Status of Corn Genetically Engineered for Herbicide 
Tolerance

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service has received a petition from Dow AgroScience LLC 
seeking a determination of nonregulated status of corn designated as 
DAS-40278-9, which has been genetically engineered for increased 
resistance to broadleaf herbicides in the phenoxy auxin group (such as 
the herbicide 2,4-D) and resistance to grass herbicides in the 
aryloxyphenoxypropionate acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase inhibitor group 
(such as quizalofop herbicides). The petition has been submitted in 
accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain 
genetically engineered organisms and products. We are soliciting 
comments on whether this genetically engineered corn is likely to pose 
a plant pest risk. We are making available for public comment the Dow 
AgroScience LLC petition, our plant pest risk assessment, and our draft 
environmental assessment for the proposed determination of nonregulated 
status.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
February 27, 2012.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2010-0103-0001.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2010-0103, 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-2010-
0103 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) 690-2817 before coming.
    The petition, draft environmental assessment, and plant pest risk 
assessment are also available on the APHIS Web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/09_23301p.pdf, http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/09_23301p _dea.pdf, and http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/09_23301p _dpra.pdf.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Evan Chestnut, Policy Analyst, 
Biotechnology Regulatory Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 147, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-0942, email: 
evan.a.chestnut@aphis.usda.gov. To obtain copies of the petition, draft 
environmental assessment, or plant pest risk assessment, contact Ms. 
Cindy Eck at (301) 734-0667, email: cynthia.a.eck@aphis.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Under the authority of the plant pest provisions of the Plant 
Protection Act (7

[[Page 80873]]

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 organisms and products are 
considered ``regulated articles.''
    The regulations in Sec.  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 Sec.  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 09-233-01p) 
from Dow AgroScience LLC (Dow) of Indianapolis, IN, seeking a 
determination of nonregulated status of corn (Zea mays) designated as 
event DAS-40278-9, which has been genetically engineered for increased 
resistance to broadleaf herbicides in the phenoxy auxin group (such as 
the herbicide 2,4-D) and resistance to grass herbicides in the 
aryloxyphenoxypropionate acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase inhibitor group 
(such as quizalofop herbicides), stating that this corn is unlikely to 
pose a plant pest risk and, therefore, should not be a regulated 
article under APHIS' regulations in 7 CFR part 340.
    As described in the petition, corn event DAS-40278-9 has been 
genetically engineered to express the aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase 
protein AAD-1. Corn event DAS-40278-9 is currently regulated under 7 
CFR part 340. Interstate movements and field tests of corn event DAS-
40278-9 have been conducted under permits issued or notifications 
acknowledged 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 
test. 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.
    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 prepared a plant pest risk assessment to determine 
if corn event DAS-40278-9 is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk.
    APHIS has also prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) in 
which it presents two alternatives based on its analyses of data 
submitted by Dow, a review of other scientific data, and field tests 
conducted under APHIS oversight. APHIS is considering the following 
alternatives: (1) Take no action, i.e., APHIS would not change the 
regulatory status of corn event DAS-40278-9 and it would continue to be 
a regulated article, or (2) make a determination of nonregulated status 
of corn event DAS-40278-9.
    The draft EA has been prepared to provide the APHIS decisionmaker 
with a review and analysis of any potential environmental impacts 
associated with the proposed determination of nonregulated status of 
corn event DAS-40278-9. The draft 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).
    In accordance with Sec.  340.6(d) of the regulations, 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. We are also soliciting written 
comments from interested or affected persons on the plant pest risk 
assessment and the draft EA prepared to examine any potential 
environmental impacts of the proposed determination for the 
deregulation of the subject corn line. The petition, draft EA, and 
plant pest risk assessment are available for public review, and copies 
of the petition, draft EA, and plant pest risk assessment 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. All comments received regarding the petition, draft EA, 
and plant pest risk assessment will be available for public review. 
After reviewing and evaluating the comments on the petition, the draft 
EA, plant pest risk assessment, and other data, 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 corn event DAS-40278-9 and the availability of 
APHIS' written environmental decision and 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 19th day of December 2011.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-33009 Filed 12-22-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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