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6 March 2009
[Federal Register: March 6, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 43)]
[Notices]
[Page 9779-9780]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06mr09-13]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
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.
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[[Page 9779]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2008-0141]
Availability of an Environmental Assessment for a Biological
Control Agent for Arundo donax
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 the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment relative to
the control of Arundo donax (giant reed, Carrizo cane). The
environmental assessment considers the effects of, and alternatives to,
the release of a wasp, Tetramesa romana, into the continental United
States for use as a biological control agent to reduce the severity of
A. donax infestations. We are making the environmental assessment
available to the public for review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before April
6, 2009.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://
www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/
main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2008-0141 to submit or view comments and
to view supporting and related materials available electronically.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send two copies of
your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2008-0141, Regulatory Analysis and
Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comment refers to
Docket No. APHIS-2008-0141.
Reading Room: 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.
Other Information: Additional information about APHIS and its
programs is available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Carmen Soileau, Senior
Entomologist, Evaluation and Permitting of Regulated Organisms and
Soil, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1237;
(301) 734-5055.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is proposing
to issue permits for the release of a wasp, Tetramesa romana, into the
continental United States for use as a biological control agent to
reduce the severity of Arundo donax infestations.
A. donax is a highly invasive, bamboo-like weed that was introduced
to North America in the early 1500s for its fiber uses. It is among the
fastest growing plants in the continental United States, making it a
severe threat to riparian areas, where it causes erosion, damages
bridges, alters channel morphology, increases costs for chemical and
mechanical control along transportation corridors, and impedes law
enforcement activities along international borders. Additionally, A.
donax consumes excessive amounts of water, competing for water
resources in arid regions where these resources are critical to the
environment, agriculture, and municipal users.
Existing A. donax management options include herbicides, prescribed
fires, biomass removal, and other methods. However, these management
measures are ineffective, expensive, temporary, and have impacts on
species other than A. donax. Therefore, APHIS is proposing to issue
permits for the release of a wasp, T. romana, into the continental
United States in order to reduce the severity and extent of A. donax
infestations.
The proposed biological control agent, T. romana, is a wasp in the
insect family Eurytomidae. It has a widespread presence around the
Mediterranean basin, from Turkey to Spain and Morocco, and was also
found at one site in southern Africa and one site in China. Two
populations of T. romana have recently been discovered near Santa
Barbara, CA, and in Austin, TX. The establishment of T. romana in Texas
indicates that the wasp has a moderate level of cold hardiness and is
therefore expected to establish throughout the range of A. donax.
Female wasps lay their eggs inside the shoot cavity of the target
weed, A. donax. A few days after eggs are laid, an abnormal overgrowth
of plant tissue called gall tissue develops inside the A. donax shoot
cavity. The wasp larvae feed on the expanding gall tissue during their
26- to 48-day generation period, resulting in stunted stem growth and
sometimes death of the stem.
Field studies were conducted throughout Mediterranean Europe to
test the host specificity of T. romana using non-target species that
were morphologically similar to A. donax or native to the southern
United States. The development of T. romana was recorded only on A.
donax and A. formosana, an exotic ornamental plant native to Taiwan,
with greater reproduction and faster development time on A. donax.
Based on these studies, T. romana is determined to be host specific to
the Arundo genus.
T. romana may not be successful in reducing the A. donax population
in the continental United States, but its use is expected to be
effective in combination with other control methods or biological
control agents that may be released in the future.
APHIS' review and analysis of the proposed action are documented in
detail in an environmental assessment (EA) entitled ``Field Release of
the Arundo Wasp, Tetramesa romana (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae), an Insect
for Biological Control of Arundo donax (Poaceae), in the Continental
United States'' (October 2008). We are making the EA available to the
public for review and comment. We will consider all comments that we
receive on or before the date listed under the heading DATES at the
beginning of this notice.
[[Page 9780]]
The EA may be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web site or in our
reading room (see ADDRESSES above for instructions for accessing
Regulations.gov and information on the location and hours of the
reading room). You may request paper copies of the environmental EA by
calling or writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT. Please refer to the title of the EA when requesting copies.
The EA 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 3rd day of March 2009.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E9-4881 Filed 3-5-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P