A major snowstorm’s to blame for the extended March 3 deadline to comment on the Roundup Ready alfalfa draft environmental impact statement (EIS), says Mike Pina, spokesperson for USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
Bad weather prevented the last of four public hearings from being held last Tuesday, Feb. 9. The majority of people who spoke at the first three hearings, held earlier this month at ag-related conferences in Nevada and Nebraska, were for deregulation of the transgenic crop, Pina says.
The purpose of the hearings: To discuss whether APHIS has correctly surmised that Roundup Ready alfalfa would cause “no significant impact on the human environment.”
Since the comment period opened Dec. 18, more than 1,700 comments from growers, industry representatives and others in the general public have been recorded on the online comment docket.
For more information, see Roundup Ready EIS Comment Deadline Is Extended and More About Roundup Ready Alfalfa. Or review the draft EIS and, if you haven’t already, submit a comment.