[Federal Register: May 2, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 85)]
[Notices]
[Page 22037]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02my02-34]
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[[Page 22037]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 02-035-1]
Availability of an Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that an environmental assessment
has been prepared by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
relative to the control of cycad scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui. The
environmental assessment considers the effects of, and alternatives to,
the release of nonindigenous organisms into the environment for use as
biological control agents to reduce the severity of cycad scale
infestations. We are making this environmental assessment available to
the public for review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments we receive that are postmarked,
delivered, or e-mailed by June 3, 2002.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by postal mail/commercial delivery
or by e-mail. If you use postal mail/commercial delivery, please send
four copies of your comment (an original and three copies) to: Docket
No. 02-035-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station
3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state
that your comment refers to Docket No. 02-035-1. If you use e-mail,
address your comment to regulations@aphis.usda.gov. Your comment must
be contained in the body of your message; do not send attached files.
Please include your name and address in your message and ``Docket No.
02-035-1'' on the subject line.
You may read any comments that we receive on the environmental
assessment 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) 690-2817 before coming.
APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at
http://www.aphis,usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Dale Meyerdirk, Agriculturist,
PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 135, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301)
734-5220.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is proposing
to release nonindigenous species of parasitic wasps in the genus
Coccobius (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and Encarsia (Hymenoptera:
Aphelinidae), as well as the predaceous beetle Cybocephalus binotatus
(Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), in the continental United States and U.S.
territories in the Caribbean to reduce the severity of cycad scale
infestations.
Cycad scale (CS) is a devastating pest of cycads. Cycads are
horticulturally important and endangered plant species. CS damages all
cycads, both endemic and introduced species, as well as ornamental
cycads. Since its arrival, CS has damaged cycad ecosystems in Florida,
Georgia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. CS has also caused
significant economic losses to the cycad industry in Florida and it has
the potential to completely disrupt the horticultural trade in cycads.
APHIS has completed an environmental assessment that considers the
effects of, and alternatives to, releasing parasitic wasps of two
genera and a species of predaceous beetle into the environment. The
purpose of the proposed release is to reduce the severity of CS
infestations. There is no evidence that the release of these biological
control agents will adversely affect threatened and endangered species
or their habitat. Over a period of decades, several species of both
Coccobius and Encarsia have been successfully introduced into the
continental United States for effective control of other pest scales,
with no adverse impacts reported from these introductions. The
biological characteristics of wasps in the genus Coccobius and
Encarsia, and of the predaceous beetle Cybocephalus binotatus, preclude
any possibility of harmful effects on human health.
APHIS' review and analysis of the potential environmental impacts
associated with releasing these biological control agents into the
environment are documented in detail in an environmental assessment
entitled ``Control of Cycad Scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui (Homoptera:
Diaspididae)'' (February 2002). We are making this environmental
assessment available to the public for review and comment. We will
consider all comments that we receive by the date listed under the
heading DATES at the beginning of this notice.
You may request copies of the environmental assessment by calling
or writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Please refer to the title of the environmental assessment when
requesting copies. The environmental assessment is also available for
review in our reading room (information on the location and hours of
the reading room is listed under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning
of this notice.)
The environmental assessment has been 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 1), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part
372).
Done in Washington, DC, this 26th day of April, 2002.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 02-10884 Filed 5-1-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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