USDA’s Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) announced last week that the 60-day comment period on the agency’s draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on Roundup Ready (RR) alfalfa opened December 18.
The draft EIS was prepared to comply with a February 2007 court order issued by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. “The court did not overturn APHIS’ 2005 conclusions regarding the safety of RR alfalfa for food and feed purposes, but rather concluded that APHIS had not documented potential, or lack of potential, environmental impacts,” says an APHIS news release.
The comment period on the draft EIS ends February 16, 2010. APHIS is also scheduling four public meetings early 2010 to obtain public comments. For more background on the EIS, click here.
Monsanto has also created Roundup Ready alfalfa site that provides more information and walks you through the comment process.
