[Federal Register: May 17, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 96)]
[Notices]
[Page 27489]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17my01-23]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 01-009-2]
Wildlife Services; Availability of Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment for oral
rabies vaccination programs in several States. The environmental
assessment analyzes the potential environmental effects of a proposal
to continue and expand the Agency's involvement in programs to stop the
spread of certain wildlife-borne rabies strains in the States of New
York, Ohio, Texas, Vermont, and West Virginia, and examines similar
efforts that may be conducted in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Florida,
Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and Alabama. We are
making this environmental assessment available to the public for review
and comment prior to an Agency decision.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive by June 18, 2001.
ADDRESSES: Please send four copies of your comment (an original and
three copies) to: Docket No. 01-009-2, Regulatory Analysis and
Development, PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03, 4700 River Road Unit 118,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comment refers to
Docket No. 01-009-2.
To obtain a copy of the environmental assessment, contact Elizabeth
Harris, Operational Support Staff, Wildlife Services, APHIS, 4700 River
Road Unit 87, Riverdale, MD 20737-1234; phone (301) 734-7921, fax
(301)734-5157, or e-mail: elizabeth.harris@aphis.usda.gov. You may also
read the environmental assessment and any comments we receive on this
notice of availability 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.
APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Slate, Rabies Program
Coordinator, Wildlife Services, APHIS, 59 Chennell Drive, Suite 7,
Concord, NH 03301-8548; phone (603) 223-6832.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Wildlife Services (WS) program in the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) cooperates with Federal agencies, State and
local governments, and private individuals to research and implement
the best methods of managing conflicts between wildlife and human
health and safety, agriculture, property, and natural resources.
Wildlife-borne diseases that can affect domestic animals and humans are
among the types of conflicts that APHIS-WS addresses. Wildlife is the
dominant reservoir of rabies in the United States.
On December 7, 2000, a notice was published in the Federal Register
(65 FR 76606-76607, Docket No. 00-045-1) in which the Secretary of
Agriculture declared an emergency and transferred funds from the
Commodity Credit Corporation to APHIS-WS for the continuation and
expansion of oral rabies vaccination (ORV) programs to address rabies
in the States of Ohio, New York, Vermont, Texas, and West Virginia.
On March 7, 2001, we published a notice in the Federal Register (66
FR 13697-13700, Docket No. 01-009-1) to solicit public involvement in
the planning of a proposed cooperative program to stop the spread of
rabies in the States of New York, Ohio, Texas, Vermont, and West
Virginia. The notice also stated that a small portion of northeastern
New Hampshire and the western counties in Pennsylvania that border Ohio
could also be included in these control efforts, and discussed the
possibility of APHIS-WS cooperating in smaller-scale ORV projects in
the States of Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia,
and Alabama. The March 2001 notice contained detailed information about
the history of the problems with raccoon rabies in eastern States and
with gray fox and coyote rabies in Texas, along with information about
previous and ongoing efforts using ORV baits in programs to prevent the
spread of the rabies strains of concern.
To provide the public with documentation of APHIS' review and
analysis of the environmental impacts associated with the proposed
rabies control programs discussed in the March 2001 notice, we have
prepared an environmental assessment (EA). The EA was 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 1b), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing
Procedures (7 CFR part 372).
This EA reflects our review and consideration of the comments
received in response to the March 2001 notice, as well as a number of
issues and alternatives identified during the preparation of previous
EA's covering ORV use in earlier, State-level ORV programs. The EA is
now available for public review and comment prior to an Agency
decision.
Done in Washington, DC, this 11th day of May 2001.
Richard L. Dunkle,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 01-12430 Filed 5-16-01; 8:45 am]
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