Notice2021-27254
Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment for Release of Lophodiplosis indentata for Biological Control of Melaleuca quinquenervia (Myrtaceae) in the Contiguous United States
Primary source
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Published
December 16, 2021
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentAnimal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Abstract
We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) relative to permitting the release of Lophodiplosis indentata (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) for the biological control of Melaleuca quinquenervia (Myrtaceae) in the contiguous United States. Based on the EA and other relevant data, we have reached a preliminary determination that the release of this control agent within the contiguous United States will not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment. We are making the EA available to the public for review and comment.
Full Text
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 239 (Thursday, December 16, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 71417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27254]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 239 / Thursday, December 16, 2021 /
Notices
[[Page 71417]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2021-0049]
Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment for Release
of Lophodiplosis indentata for Biological Control of Melaleuca
quinquenervia (Myrtaceae) in the Contiguous United States
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment (EA)
relative to permitting the release of Lophodiplosis indentata (Diptera:
Cecidomyiidae) for the biological control of Melaleuca quinquenervia
(Myrtaceae) in the contiguous United States. Based on the EA and other
relevant data, we have reached a preliminary determination that the
release of this control agent within the contiguous United States will
not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment.
We are making the EA available to the public for review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
January 18, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>.
Enter APHIS-2021-0049 in the Search field. Select the Documents tab,
then select the Comment button in the list of documents.
<bullet> Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to
Docket No. APHIS-2021-0049, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may
be viewed at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> or in our reading room, which is
located in room 1620 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) 799-7039 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Colin D. Stewart, Assistant
Director, Pests, Pathogens, and Biocontrol Permits, Permitting and
Compliance Coordination, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 133,
Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 851-2327; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#92d1fdfefbfcbcc1e6f7e5f3e0e6d2e7e1f6f3bcf5fde4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1754787b7e793944637260766563576264737639707861">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) is proposing to issue permits for the release of the
fly, Lophodiplosis indentata (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), into the
contiguous United States for use as a biological control agent of
Melaleuca quinquenervia (Myrtaceae) (hereinafter referred to as
melaleuca).
Melaleuca, a large tree native to Australia, New Caledonia, and
Papua New Guinea, was imported into Florida in the late 19th century.
It was planted extensively in Palm Beach, Broward, Collier, and Miami-
Dade Counties. Unsuccessful treatment campaigns during the 1970s and
1980s culminated in Federal and State listing of melaleuca as a noxious
weed. By the 1990s, melaleuca covered more than 200,000 hectares of
wetlands in south Florida. It dramatically disrupted normal water
cycles, fire cycles, disturbance recovery cycles, nutrient cycling,
light availability, and tree canopy. Despite gains in controlling
melaleuca using three other biological control insects (Oxyops vitiosa,
Boreioglycaspis melaleucae, and Lophodiplosis trifida), aerial
herbicides, and other control efforts, many localized areas in Florida
are still overwhelmed by melaleuca.
The fly, Lophodiplosis indentata, is a gall-forming melaleuca
specialist that lays eggs on new foliage of the tree. When the eggs
hatch, the emerging larvae bore into leaf tissue, instigating a gall
(an abnormal growth) to form around them. These galls distort young
foliage and result in reduced sapling height.
A permit application has been submitted to APHIS for the purpose of
releasing L. indentata into the contiguous United States for use as a
biological control agent to add to the impact of the three previously
released biological control agents in reducing the severity of
melaleuca infestations.
APHIS' review and analysis of the proposed action are documented in
detail in an environmental assessment (EA), titled ``Field Release of
Lophodiplosis indentata (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), for classical
biological control of Melaleuca quinquenervia (Myrtaceae), in the
contiguous United States'' (March 2021). 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.
The EA may be viewed on the <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> website or in our
reading room (see ADDRESSES above for a link to <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> and
information on the location and hours of the reading room). You may
also request paper copies of the 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 1b), and (4)
APHIS' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372).
Done in Washington, DC, this 13th day of December 2021.
Mark Davidson,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-27254 Filed 12-15-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
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