OMAHA (DTN) -- Responding to a federal court decision last month rejecting the deregulation of Roundup Ready sugar beets, USDA announced some steps to comply with the court, including continued work on an environmental impact statement for the genetically engineered crop.

USDA said it intends to "expedite" that EIS, but that it could take at least two years to do so.

A federal judge ruled in mid-August that USDA had improperly deregulated Roundup Ready sugar beets by not properly conducting an environmental impact statement before approving the crop, a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. Nonetheless, while a lawsuit brought by environmentalists went through the court system, USDA allowed continued expansion of Roundup Ready sugar beet planting, which this year accounted for 95 percent of the 1.185 million acres of sugar beets planted nationally.

A second step announced Wednesday is that APHIS is evaluating a request to partially deregulate Roundup Ready sugar beets. The agency is working on an environmental analysis of allowing "future seed and root crop plantings under a combination of permits, administrative orders, or other regulatory measures," USDA stated.

The department added that regulatory measures taken would include mitigating restrictions consistent with those proposed by the federal court as interim measures while APHIS completes the environmental impact statement.

APHIS

"USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service must chart a course for compliance with its statutory authorities and environmental statutes, such as NEPA, while USDA works to create the environment where all types of producers can and do produce all types of crops," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "The steps we have outlined today not only respond to the concerns of producers while complying with the court's ruling, but also further USDA's continuing efforts to enable coexistence among conventional, organic, and biotechnology production systems."

Sugar beets account for basically half of the nation's overall sugar production, so USDA is searching for an option that will not put a significant dent in production or affect the 2011 planting season for roughly 10,000 or so sugar beet growers nationally.

Given the court battles over Roundup Ready sugar beets and Roundup Ready alfalfa, industry groups are concerned about the regulatory demands that could be placed on any future biotech trait such as requiring more extensive environmental impact statements. Vilsack wrote the Biotechnology Industry Organization in May stating he understands the concerns.

"We recognized that whenever the potential impacts of the environment require preparation of an EIS rather than an (environmental assessment), the regulatory process becomes more costly and difficult to navigate for all parties concerned," Vilsack stated in the letter to BIO. "In addition, any plan to automatically require the development of an EIS in response to every petition for nonregulated status would be inconsistent with the sustainable policies and principles established under NEPA. Accordingly, please be assured that APHIS officials will continue to prepare the appropriate level of NEPA analysis for each regulatory action on a case-by-case basis."

APHIS officials anticipate making decisions on appropriate interim regulatory measures by the end of the year. There will be an opportunity for public comment on any environmental analyses developed, USDA stated.

While the federal court ruling vacated the original deregulation order, the decision did not harm the ability for farmers to harvest sugar beets or for processors to convert those beets to sugar and sell the product. The court's ruling also does not prevent APHIS from considering a partial-deregulation order that would allow 2011 production under restricted conditions.

Chris Clayton can be reached at chris.clayton@telventdtn.com

(GH/AG)

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