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

58662 

Vol. 70, No. 194 

Friday, October 7, 2005 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

October 3, 2005. 

The Department of Agriculture has 

submitted the following information 

collection requirement(s) to OMB for 

review and clearance under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13. Comments 

regarding (a) whether the collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of burden including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on those who are to respond, including 

through the use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology should be addressed to: Desk 

Officer for Agriculture, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), 

OIRA_Submission@OMB.EOP.GOV or 

fax (202) 395–5806 and to Departmental 

Clearance Office, USDA, OCIO, Mail 

Stop 7602, Washington, DC 20250– 

7602. Comments regarding these 

information collections are best assured 

of having their full effect if received 

within 30 days of this notification. 

Copies of the submission(s) may be 

obtained by calling (202) 720–8958. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor a collection of information 

unless the collection of information 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number and the agency informs 

potential persons who are to respond to 

the collection of information that such 

persons are not required to respond to 

the collection of information unless it 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number. 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Title: Dried Prunes Produced in 

California—Dried Prune Handler 

Compensation Survey. 

OMB Control Number: 0581–0208. 

Summary of Collection: Marketing 

Orders (Orders) and Agreements 

(Agreements) covering the respective 

commodities emanate from the 

Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act 

of 1937, Secs. 1–19, 48 Stat. 31, as 

amended; 7 U.S.C. 601–674. This 

regulation, hereinafter referred to as the 

Act, was designed to permit regulation 

of certain agricultural commodities for 

the purpose of providing orderly 

marketing conditions in interstate 

commerce and improving returns to 

producers. The Act provides in section 

608(d)(1) that information necessary to 

determine the extent to which an order 

has effectuated the declared policy of 

the Act shall be furnished at the request 

of the Secretary of Agriculture 

(Secretary). Under the Prune Marketing 

Order, handlers are compensated for 

such costs as inspection, receiving, 

storing, grading and fumigation of 

reserve prunes held for the account of 

the Prune Marketing Committee. A 

formula has been established in the 

administrative rules and regulations that 

allow the Committee to compute the 

level of handler payments that reflect 

current industry costs. The Committee 

will obtain current industry costs 

through surveys of dried prune 

handlers, and average costs will be 

computed based on the number of 

handlers participating in the survey and 

the compensation rate will be updated 

based on the survey. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

When volume regulations are in effect, 

the survey is filled out by handlers on 

a voluntary basis to inform the Prune 

Marketing Committee of their costs 

associated with inspection, receiving, 

storing, grading, handling and 

fumigation, as well as other costs. 

Description of Respondents: Business 

or other for-profit; farms. 

Number of Respondents: 22. 

Frequency of Responses: 

Recordkeeping; Reporting: On occasion; 

Annually. 

Total Burden Hours: 6. 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Title: Dried Prunes Produced in 

California—Prune Dehydrator Survey. 

OMB Control Number: 0581–0211. 

Summary of Collection: Marketing 

Orders (Orders) and Agreements. 

(Agreements) covering the respective 

commodities emanate from the 

Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act 

of 1937, Secs. 1–19, 48 Stat. 31, as 

amended; 7 U.S.C. 601–674. This 

regulation, hereinafter referred to as the 

Act, was designed to permit regulation 

of certain agricultural commodities for 

the purpose of providing orderly 

marketing conditions in interstate 

commerce and improving returns to 

producers. Under the Prune Marketing 

Order, prune producers may participate 

in a voluntary prune plum diversion 

program, when a reserve pool is 

implemented. Under this program, 

prune producers can elect to divert part 

of their prune plum crop from normal 

prune or prune product markets. 

Because dry-away ratios are the basis for 

computing the dried weight equivalent 

of diverted fresh prune plums, and 

those currently established are outdated, 

the Prune Marketing Committee will 

obtain current dry-away ratios through a 

voluntary survey submitted by 

commercial prune dehydrators, when 

the program is implemented. 

Need and Use of the Information: The 

commercial prune dehydrators inform 

the Committee of their annual dry-away 

ratios for the preceding five years by 

completing this survey. The Prune 

Marketing Committee will use the 

information to average those ratios and 

compute a five-year average dray-away 

ratio for each producing region, and 

apply that ratio to diverted prune plums 

in those regions. The information to be 

provided is on a voluntary basis and 

includes the most recent six years of 

dry-away ratios for each commercial 

prune dehydrator owned or operated, 

the dehydrator location, the county(ies) 

where the dehydrator receives prunes, 

and in cases of dehydrators receiving 

prunes from multiple counties, the 

estimated percentage of production each 

county supplies to the dehydrator. 

Description of Respondents: Business 

or other for-profit; farms. 

Number of Respondents: 17. 

Frequency of Responses: 

Recordkeeping; Reporting: On occasion; 

annually. 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 194 / Friday, October 7, 2005 / Notices 58663 

Total Burden Hours: 5. 

Charlene Parker, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 05–20166 Filed 10–6–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. 04–113–2] 

Mycogen Seeds/Dow AgroSciences 

LLC and Pioneer Hi-Bred International 

Inc.; Availability of Determination of 

Nonregulated Status for Genetically 

Engineered Corn 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public of 

our determination that the Mycogen 

Seeds/Dow AgroSciences LLC and 

Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. corn 

designated as corn line DAS–59122–7, 

which has been genetically engineered 

for resistance to a corn rootworm 

complex and for tolerance to the 

herbicide glufosinate, 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 

Mycogen Seeds/Dow AgroSciences LLC 

and Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. 

in their petition for a determination of 

non-regulated status, our analysis of 

other scientific data, and comments 

received from the public in response to 

a previous notice announcing the 

availability of the petition for 

nonregulated status and an 

environmental assessment. This notice 

also announces the availability of our 

written determination and our finding 

of no significant impact. 

DATE: Effective September 23, 2005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Michael Watson, Biotechnology 

Regulatory Services, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road Unit 147, Riverdale, MD 20737–

1236; (301) 734–0486; e-mail: 

michael.t.watson@aphis.usda.gov. To 

obtain copies of the petition or, the 

determination, the environmental 

assessment (EA), or the finding of no 

significant impact (FONSI) contact Ms. 

Ingrid Berlanger at (301) 734–4885; email: ingrid.e.berlanger@aphis.usda.gov. 

The petition and the EA, including the 

FONSI and determination, are also 

available on the Internet at http:// 

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

03_35301p.pdf and http:// 

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

03_35301p_ea.pdf. 

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 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 December 19, 2003, APHIS 

received a petition (APHIS No. 03–353–

01p) from Mycogen Seeds/Dow 

AgroSciences LLC of Indianapolis, IN, 

and Pioneer Hi-Bred International of 

Johnston, IA (Dow AgroSciences/ 

Pioneer), requesting a determination of 

nonregulated status under 7 CFR part 

340 for corn (Zea mays) designated as 

corn line DAS–59122–7, which has been 

genetically engineered for resistance to 

corn rootworm and for tolerance to the 

herbicide glufosinate. The Dow 

AgroSciences/Pioneer petition states 

that the subject corn should not be 

regulated by APHIS because it does not 

present a plant pest risk. 

In a notice published in the Federal 

Register on July 1, 2005 (70 FR 38094–

38096, Docket No. 04–113–1), APHIS 

announced the availability of the Dow 

AgroSciences/Pioneer petition and an 

environmental assessment (EA). APHIS 

solicited comments on whether the 

subject corn would present a plant pest 

risk and on the environmental 

assessment. The notice also discussed 

the role of APHIS, the Environmental 

Protection Agency, and the Food and 

Drug Administration in regulating the 

subject corn and products developed 

from it. 

APHIS received two comments by the 

close of the comment period on August 

30, 2005. One comment was from a 

trade association, which supported the 

petition. The other comment was from 

a private individual who did not 

support the petition. The response to 

these comments can be found in an 

attachment to the finding of no 

significant impact (FONSI). 

APHIS has amended the section of the 

EA titled ‘‘Potential impacts on 

threatened and endangered arthropods.’’

The amended section includes a 

reference to a process for assessment of 

impacts on threatened and endangered 

species that has been mutually agreed 

upon by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service and APHIS. The change in 

language merely provides clarity to the 

reader; it is not substantive and did not 

change the analysis described in the EA. 

As described in the petition, corn line 

DAS–59122–7 has been genetically 

engineered to express a plant 

incorporated protectant (PIP) that 

controls certain corn rootworm. The PIP 

is an insecticidal crystal protein (ICP) 

from Bacillus thuringiensis strain 

PS149B1. The ICP is made of two 

proteins Cry34Ab1, approximately 14 

kDa, and Cry35Ab1, approximately 44 

kDa in molecular weight. Transcription 

of the Cry34Ab1 coding sequence is 

controlled by the maize ubiquitin 

promoter (UBI1ZM PRO). Transcription 

of Cry35Ab1 is controlled by a wheat 

(Triticum aestivum) peroxidase (TA 

Peroxidase) promoter. The termination 

sequences for these two genes were 

derived from the potato (Solanum 

tuberosum) proteinase inhibitor II 

(PINII). The PIP is expressed throughout 

the plant and confers resistance to 

northern corn rootworm (nCRW), 

western corn rootworm (wCRW), and 

Mexican corn rootworm (mCRW). 

Corn line DAS–59122–7 has also been 

genetically engineered to express the 

enzyme phosphinothricin 

acetyltransferase (PAT), which confers 

tolerance to the herbicide glufosinate. 

The expression of the pat gene, derived 

from the bacterium Streptomyces 

viridochromogenes, is under the control 

of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 

35S RNA promoter and a CaMV 

termination sequence (CaMV35S 

TERM). The DAS–59122–7 corn line 

was generated through Agrobacteriummediated transformation of the publicly 

available corn line Hi-II. 

Determination 

Based on its analysis of the data 

submitted by Dow AgroSciences/ 

Pioneer, a review of other scientific 

data, field tests of the subject corn, and 

the comments submitted by the public, 

APHIS has determined the following 

with respect to corn line DAS–59122–7: 

(1) It exhibits no plant pathogenic 

properties; although a plant pathogen 

was used in the development of this