[Federal Register: January 21, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 13)]
[Notices]
[Page 3183-3184]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21ja05-20]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 03-080-5]
RIN 0579-AB73
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy; Minimal Risk Regions and
Importation of Commodities; Availability of an Environmental Assessment
With Corrections and Extension of Comment Period
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability and extension of comment period.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service is making available a corrected version of an
environmental assessment relative to a final rule that was published in
the January 4, 2005, issue of the Federal Register. We are making the
corrected version of the environmental assessment available to the
public for review and comment through February 17, 2005.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before
February 17, 2005.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
EDOCKET: Go to http://www.epa.gov/feddocket to submit or
view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the
official public docket, and to access those documents in the public
docket that are available electronically. Once you have entered
EDOCKET, click on the ``View Open APHIS Dockets'' link to locate this
document.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send four copies
of your comment (an original and three copies) to Docket No. 03-080-5,
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
[[Page 3184]]
APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238. Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. 03-080-5.
E-mail: Address your comment to
regulations@aphis.usda.gov. Your comment must be contained in the body
of your message; do not send attached files. Please include your name
and address in your message and ``Docket No. 03-080-5'' on the subject
line.
Reading Room: You may read any comments that we receive on the
environmental assessment in our reading room. The reading room is
located in room 1141 of the USDA South Building, 14th Street and
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC. Normal reading room hours are
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. To be sure
someone is there to help you, please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.
Other Information: You may view APHIS documents published in the
Federal Register and related information, including the names of groups
and individuals who have commented on APHIS dockets, on the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Karen James-Preston, Director,
Technical Trade Services, National Center for Import and Export, VS,
APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-
4356.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On January 4, 2005, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) published in the Federal Register (70 FR 460-553, Docket No.
03-080-3) a final rule to amend the regulations regarding the
importation of animals and animal products to recognize a category of
regions that present a minimal risk of introducing bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE) into the United States via live ruminants and
ruminant products, and to add Canada to this category. The final rule
also provides for the importation of certain live ruminants and
ruminant products and byproducts from such regions under certain
conditions.
Also in the January 4, 2005, issue of the Federal Register, we
published a notice (70 FR 554, Docket No. 03-080-4) announcing the
availability of, and requesting comments on, a final environmental
assessment (EA) regarding the potential impact on the quality of the
human environment due to the importation of ruminants and ruminant
products and byproducts from Canada under the conditions specified in
the final rule. APHIS' review and analysis of the potential
environmental impacts associated with those importations were
documented in the EA, titled ``Rulemaking to Establish Criteria for the
Importation of Designated Ruminants and Ruminant Products from Canada
into the United States, Final Environmental Assessment (December
2004).'' We announced that the EA would be available to the public for
review and comment until February 3, 2005.
We have become aware, however, that the version of the EA that was
made available on January 4, 2005, contained some transcription errors
that resulted in the omission of several references to an updated APHIS
risk analysis regarding the final rule, as well as the incorrect
formatting of several source citations. We have corrected those errors.
We are giving notice that the corrected version of the EA is
available to the public for review and comment, and we are extending
the comment period on the EA until February 17, 2005.
The EA may be viewed on the EDOCKET Web site (see ADDRESSES above
for instructions for accessing EDOCKET) or on the APHIS Web site at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/bse.html. You may request
paper copies of the EA by calling or writing to the person listed under
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the title of the EA
when requesting copies. The EA is also available for review in our
reading room (information on the location and hours of the reading room
is provided under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this
notice).
The EA has been prepared in accordance with: (1) The National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.), (2) regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality for
implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-
1508), (3) USDA regulations implementing NEPA (7 CFR part 1), and (4)
APHIS' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372).
Done in Washington, DC, this 18th day of January 2005.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 05-1202 Filed 1-19-05; 8:45 am]
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