4824 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices

Central East constraint

Generation

Seams Issues (RTOs)—Impact of

NYISO practices and procedures on

regional transactions

Balancing Market Evaluation (BME)

performance and improvements

Virtual bidding, trading hubs and

other proposals enhancing liquidity

VI. Next Steps—11⁄2 hours

This session will be used to finalize

a list of priorities for projects in the

energy and NSR markets and to

establish deadlines for their completion.

This session will also be used to

establish any further procedures

required, including setting dates for

initial and reply comments.

[FR Doc. 01–1418 Filed 1–17–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6934–2]

Science Advisory Board; Notification

of Public Advisory Committee Meeting

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory

Committee Act, Public Law 92–463,

notice is hereby given that the Science

Advisory Board’s (SAB’s) Executive

Committee will meet on the dates and

times noted below. All times noted are

Eastern Time. The meetings are open to

the public, however, seating is limited

and available on a first come basis.

1. Executive Committee—

Teleconference Meeting—February 1,

2001

The U.S. EPA’s Science Advisory

Board (SAB) will conduct a public

teleconference meeting on Thursday,

February 1, 2001 between the hours of

1 and 3 p.m. Eastern Time. The meeting

will be coordinated through a

conference call connection in Room

6013 in the U.S. EPA, Ariel Rios

Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue,

NW., Washington, DC 20460. The public

is encouraged to attend the meeting in

the conference room noted above.

However, the public may also attend

through a telephonic link, to the extent

that lines are available. Additional

instructions about how to participate in

the conference call can be obtained by

calling Ms. Diana Pozun no earlier than

one week prior to the meeting

(beginning on January 25) at (202) 564–

4544, or via e-mail at

pozun.diana@epa.gov.

Purpose of the Meeting: In this

meeting, the Executive Committee plans

to review reports from some of its

Committees/Subcommittee, most likely

including the following:

(a) Natural Attenuation Research

Subcommittee of the Environmental

Engineering Committee (EEC) ‘‘Review

of EPA’s Natural Attenuation Research

Program’’ (see 65 FR 60189, dated

October 10, 2000 for details).

(b) Radiation Advisory Committee

(RAC): ‘‘An SAB Advisory: A Review of

ORIA’s Use and Adaptation of GENII

Environmental Radiation Dosimetry

System, GENII Version 2 (v.2)’’ (see 65

FR 18095, dated April 6, 2000 for

details).

Availability of Review Materials:

Drafts of the reports that will be

reviewed at the meeting will be

available to the public on the SAB

website (http://www.epa.gov/sab) by

close-of-business on January 16, 2001.

For Further Information: Any member

of the public wishing further

information concerning this meeting or

wishing to submit brief oral comments

must contact Dr. Donald Barnes,

Designated Federal Officer, Science

Advisory Board (1400A), U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20460; telephone (202)

564–4533; FAX (202) 501–0323; or via

e-mail at barnes.don@epa.gov. Requests

for oral comments must be in writing (email preferred) and received by Dr.

Barnes no later than noon Eastern Time

on January 25, 2001.

2. Executive Committee—February 5–6,

2001

The U.S. EPA Science Advisory

Board’s (SAB’s) Executive Committee

will conduct a public meeting on

Monday and Tuesday, February 5–6,

2001. The meeting will convene each

day at 8:30 a.m. in Room 6013, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, Ariel

Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania

Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460.

The meeting will adjourn no later than

5 p.m. each day.

Purpose of the Meeting: At this

meeting, the Executive Committee will

receive updates from its committees and

subcommittees concerning their recent

and planned activities. As part of these

updates, some committees will present

draft reports for Executive Committee

review and approval. We anticipate that

the following report will be completed

by the SAB Subcommittee involved and

be ready for Executive Committee

review at this meeting, however, to

determine if this, or any other reports

are under consideration at this meeting,

please contact Ms. Diana Pozun at (202)

564–4544 or pozun.diana@epa.gov.

Draft report(s) will appear on the

Science Advisory Board website

(www.epa.gov/sab) approximately two

weeks prior to the meeting.

(a) Dioxin Reassessment Review

Committee (DRRC) of the Science

Advisory Board (SAB) ‘‘Review of EPA’s

Draft Exposure and Human Health

Reassessment of 2,3,7,8-

Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin (TCDD)

and Related Compounds’’ (see 65 FR

60190, dated October 10, 2000 for

details).

As part of this two day meeting, the

Executive Committee will also: (a) Meet

with various Agency officials to discuss

matters of mutual interest; (b) receive

briefings from Agency staff on various

topics; and (c) discuss future business of

the Board including projects for

FY2001.

Availability of Materials: The draft

meeting agenda and drafts of any reports

that will be reviewed at the meeting will

be available to the public on the SAB

website (http://www.epa.gov/sab) by

close-of-business on January 22, 2001.

For Further Information: Any member

of the public wishing further

information concerning this meeting

should contact Dr. Donald G. Barnes,

Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the

Executive Committee at U.S. EPA

Science Advisory Board (1400A), 1200

Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington,

DC 20460; phone (202) 564–4533; fax

(202) 501–0323; or via e-mail at

<barnes.don@epa.gov>. Those wishing

to submit brief oral comments should

contact Dr. Barnes, in writing, no later

than close of business January 29, 2001.

Providing Oral or Written Comments at

SAB Meetings

It is the policy of the Science

Advisory Board to accept written public

comments of any length, and to

accommodate oral public comments

whenever possible. The Science

Advisory Board expects that public

statements presented at its meetings will

not be repetitive of previously

submitted oral or written statements.

Oral Comments: In general, each

individual or group requesting an oral

presentation at a face-to-face meeting

will be limited to a total time of ten

minutes. For teleconference meetings,

opportunities for oral comment will

usually be limited to no more than three

minutes per speaker and no more than

fifteen minutes total. Deadlines for

getting on the public speaker list for a

meeting are given above. Speakers

should bring at least 35 copies of their

comments and presentation slides for

distribution to the reviewers and public

at the meeting. Written Comments:

Although the SAB accepts written

comments until the date of the meeting

(unless otherwise stated), written

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices 4825

comments should be received in the

SAB Staff Office at least one week prior

to the meeting date so that the

comments may be made available to the

committee for their consideration.

Comments should be supplied to the

appropriate DFO at the address/contact

information noted above in the

following formats: one hard copy with

original signature, and one electronic

copy via e-mail (acceptable file format:

WordPerfect, Word, or Rich Text files

(in IBM–PC/Windows 95/98 format).

Those providing written comments and

who attend the meeting are also asked

to bring 25 copies of their comments for

public distribution.

General Information: Additional

information concerning the Science

Advisory Board, its structure, function,

and composition, may be found on the

SAB website (http://www.epa.gov/sab)

and in The FY2000 Annual Report of

the Staff Director which is available

from the SAB Publications Staff at (202)

564–4533 or via fax at (202) 501–0256.

Committee rosters, draft Agendas and

meeting calendars are also located on

our website.

Meeting Access: Individuals requiring

special accommodation at this meeting,

including wheelchair access to the

conference room, should contact Dr.

Barnes at least five business days prior

to the meeting so that appropriate

arrangements can be made.

Dated: January 11, 2001.

Donald G. Barnes,

Staff Director, Science Advisory Board.

[FR Doc. 01–1520 Filed 1–17–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[0PP–60059; FRL–6762–9]

Notice of Receipt of Request for

Cancellation of Registration of Bacillus

thuringiensis (B.t.) subspecies

tolworthi Cry9C and the Genetic

Material Necessary for its Production

in Corn

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA)

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In accordance with section

6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide,

Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act

(FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a

notice of receipt of a request by Aventis

CropScience USA LP the sole U.S.

registrant, to cancel their registration of

Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) subspecies

tolworthi Cry9C and the genetic

material necessary for its production in

corn.

DATES: Unless the request is withdrawn,

the Agency will approve these use

deletions and the deletions will become

effective on February 20, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: By

mail: Phil Hutton, Biopesticides and

Pollution Prevention Division, Office of

Pesticide Programs (7511C),

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200

Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington,

DC 20460; telephone number: (703)

308–8260; e-mail address:

hutton.phil@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

Section 6(f)(1) of FIFRA, provides that

a registrant of a pesticide product may

at any time request that any of its

pesticide registrations be canceled. The

Act further provides that, before acting

on the request, EPA must publish a

notice of receipt of any such request in

the Federal Register. Thereafter, the

Administrator may approve such a

request.

II. Background

On May 12, 1998, EPA issued a

registration to Plant Genetic Systems

(America) Inc. for StarLinkTM corn

(original EPA Registration No. 70218–1).

StarLinkTM contains the active

ingredient Bacillus thuringiensis subsp.

tolworthi Cry9C protein and the genetic

material necessary for its production in

corn. EPA issued the registration, but

restricted the use of the pesticide to

field corn used for feed, industrial nonfood uses, and seed increase because the

Agency could not find that there was a

reasonable certainty of no harm from its

use in human food, based on a concern

that the protein Cry9C could be

allergenic. The Agency’s assessment of

Cry9C revealed that it has particular

characteristics in common with known

allergens: it is relatively heat stable and

does not readily breakdown in

simulated digestive fluids. This raises

the possibility that it could be a human

allergen. However, EPA determined

that, notwithstanding its concern with

respect to human ingestion of Cry9C,

Cry9C was ‘‘safe’’ and when used as

animal feed, would not present

unreasonable risks to human health.

Because the protein does not transfer to

meat and poultry products, use in

animal feed would not result in human

dietary exposure to the protein/potential

allergen.

On October 29, 1998, the StarLinkTM

corn registration was conveyed from

Plant Genetic Systems (America) to

AgrEvo USA. AgrEvo USA and Rhone

Poulenc Ag Company subsequently

formed Aventis CropScience USA LP

(Aventis). As of February 22, 2000, the

StarLinkTM corn registration is now held

by Aventis under registration number

264–669.

Test data from several sources

demonstrate that StarLinkTM corn was

diverted into human food. Data from

Aventis, Kraft Corporation, and the

Food and Drug Administration

confirmed the presence of Aventis’

Cry9c DNA (the genetic material

necessary for the production of Cry9C)

in Taco Bell taco shells when tested

using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

primers. The PCR primers used are

unique to the Aventis cry9c gene.

III. Intent to Cancel Registration

This notice announces receipt by the

Agency of an application from Aventis,

to cancel the registration for StarLinkTM

corn (EPA Registration No. 264–669).

The active ingredient in this product is

Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tolworthi

Cry9C protein and the genetic material

necessary for its production in corn.

The 30–day comment period will

permit other interested members of the

public to comment prior to the Agency’s

approval of the deletions. Users of this

product who desire continued use

should contact both the EPA contact

person listed above, and the registrant at

the following address: Dr. Sally Van

Wert, Aventis CropScience, P.O. Box

12014, 2 T.W. Alexander Drive,

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709;

telephone: (919) 549–2379, to discuss

withdrawal of the application for

cancellation before February 20, 2001. It

should be noted however, that this

cancellation is being proposed because

Aventis has failed to ensure that

StarLinkTM corn will not be diverted to

human food, it is incumbent on any

proponent of further use to demonstrate

either: (1) That further use will not be

diverted to human food, or (2) that

StarLinkTM corn is safe for human

consumption because it will not present

an unreasonable allergenic risk.

IV. Existing Stocks Provision

For the purpose of this notice,

existing stocks are defined as those

stocks of Cry9C corn grain and corn

seed (EPA Registration No. 264–669)

that exist before the date on which the

registration of this product is canceled.

Under section 6(a)(1), the Administrator

may permit the continued sale or use of

existing stocks of a pesticide whose

registration has been canceled, if she

determines that such sale or use would

be consistent with the purposes of

FIFRA (7 U.S.C. 136d(a)(1)). Sales of

corn grain produced by farmers growing