^®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week

APHIS Seeks Letters of Interest to Participate in NEPA Pilot Projects for GE Organisms
On April 7, 2011, the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service published a Federal Register notice soliciting letters of interest from its regulated public to participate in National Environmental Policy Act Pilot Projects. In particular, APHIS asks for letters of interest from entities subject to the regulations governing the introduction of genetically engineered organisms in 7 CFR part 340.

As noted in a prior CRE Regweek, the NEPA Pilot Project will test new approaches to developing environmental analyses and documents required under NEPA to determine the extent to which these approaches improve the quality, timeliness, and cost effectiveness of such analyses and documents. The pilot project will focus only on NEPA analyses and documents associated with petitions for nonregulated status for GE organisms.

CRE commends APHIS for this initiative, and recommends that other agencies also solicit public participation in NEPA pilot projects.