[Federal Register: May 2, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 85)]
[Notices]
[Page 22038]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 02-034-1]
Availability of a Supplemental Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We are advising the public that a supplemental environmental
assessment has been prepared by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service relative to the control of pink hibiscus mealybug,
Maconellicoccus hirsutus. The supplemental environmental assessment
considers the effects of, and alternatives to, the release of
nonindigenous organisms into the environment for use as biological
control agents to suppress pink hibiscus mealybug 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. 02-034-1, 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. 02-034-1. 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.
02-034-1'' on the subject line.
You may read any comments that we receive on the supplemental
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
Allotropa (Hymenoptera: Platygasteridae) in the continental United
States and U.S. territories in the Caribbean to control pink hibiscus
mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus.
Pink hibiscus mealybug (PHM) is a foreign plant pest that attacks a
wide variety of agricultural and ornamental plant hosts. It has invaded
areas in Guam, Hawaii, California, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto
Rico, and it is expected that PHM will invade the southern regions of
the United States. The purpose of the proposed release is to suppress
PHM infestations.
APHIS' current PHM control program involves the release of three
other varieties of parasitic wasps. On June 24, 1997, we published a
notice in the Federal Register (62 FR 34043-34044, Docket No. 97-054-1)
in which we announced the availability of an environmental assessment
describing the impact and plant pest risk associated with releasing
exotic species of parasitic wasps in the genera Anagyrus and
Gyranusoidea (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) into the environment to control
PHM. Similarly, on November 12, 1997, we published a notice in the
Federal Register (62 FR 60683, Docket No. 97-106-1) in which we
announced the availability of an environmental assessment describing
the environmental impact and plant pest risk associated with releasing
exotic species of parasitic wasps in the genus Leptomastix
(Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) into the environment to control PHM.
APHIS has completed a supplemental environmental assessment that
considers the effects of, and alternatives to, releasing parasitic
wasps in a fourth genus, Allotropa (Hymenoptera: Platygasteridae), into
the environment. Mealybugs are the only known hosts of the species of
Allotropa (except for a suspect report a century ago) that are
candidates for introduction in the United States. There is no evidence
that the release of this biological control agent will adversely affect
threatened and endangered species or their habitat. The biological
characteristics of wasps in the genus Allotropa preclude any
possibility of harmful effects on human health.
APHIS' review and analysis of the potential environmental impacts
associated with releasing this biological control agent into the
environment are documented in detail in a supplemental environmental
assessment entitled ``Control of Pink Hibiscus Mealybug,
Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae)'' (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 supplemental environmental assessment
by calling or writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the title of the supplemental
environmental assessment when requesting copies. The supplemental
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 supplemental 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. 02-10883 Filed 5-1-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 2002/05/02 EST