APHIS Extends Comment Period on GM Alfalfa

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has extended until March 3, 2010, the comment period for a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for genetically modified (GM) alfalfa. APHIS made an EIS available on January 12, 2010, after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the agency violated the National Environmental Protection Act by failing to prepare an EIS in connection with its recommendation to deregulate the crop. See Federal Register, February 24, 2010.