[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 198 (Friday, October 14, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-25422]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: October 14, 1994]


                                                   VOL. 59, NO. 198

                                           Friday, October 14, 1994

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 94-078-1]

 

Rangeland Grasshopper Cooperative Management Program 
Environmental Impact Statement

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 intends to prepare a programmatic environmental 
impact statement for the Rangeland Grasshopper Cooperative Management 
Program. The programmatic environmental impact statement will analyze 
the potential environmental effects of programs to control grasshoppers 
and Mormon crickets. We are requesting comments from the public, 
including government agencies and private industry, concerning the 
scope of issues that should be addressed in the programmatic 
environmental impact statement. Our request for comments is the first 
step in the development of a programmatic environmental impact 
statement.

DATES: Consideration will be given only to comments received on or 
before December 13, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to 
Mr. Robert E. Pizel, Environmental Analysis and Documentation, BBEP, 
APHIS, USDA, room 828, Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, 
Hyattsville, MD 20782. Please state that your comments refer to Docket 
No. 94-078-1. Comments received may be inspected at USDA, room 1141, 
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, 
DC, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
holidays. Persons wishing to inspect comments are requested to call 
ahead on (202) 690-2817 to facilitate entry into the comment reading 
room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert Pizel or Mr. Charles Brown, 
Environmental Analysis and Documentation, BBEP, APHIS, USDA, room 828, 
Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782, (301) 436-
8565; or Mr. Charles Bare, Senior Operations Officer, Domestic and 
Emergency Operations, Plant Protection and Quarantine, APHIS, USDA, 
room 643, Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782, 
(301) 436-8247.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Grasshoppers and Mormon crickets are members of the Class Insecta 
and the Order Orthoptera, which contains several hundred species, 
although only about 35 species are perennial pests of plants. 
Grasshoppers and Mormon crickets have the potential for sudden and 
explosive population increases, which can be so extreme that all 
vegetation is consumed in outbreak situations. These infestations are 
often so extensive that individual land managers alone cannot control 
the damage.
    The migratory and widespread nature of grasshoppers and Mormon 
crickets also makes coordination of management programs across multi-
jurisdictional boundaries essential. The purpose of the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS) Rangeland Grasshopper 
Cooperative Management Program is to protect American agriculture and 
natural resources from losses caused by economically significant 
infestations of grasshoppers and Mormon crickets. APHIS fulfills the 
need to coordinate and provide direct supervision for grasshopper and 
Mormon cricket management programs in cooperation with other Federal 
agencies, State agricultural agencies, and private individuals.
    The geographic area affected by management programs consists of the 
States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, 
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, 
South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the Delta Junction 
region in Alaska.
    Significant new information and management techniques indicate the 
need for APHIS to develop a new programmatic environmental impact 
statement (EIS). The following agencies have been asked to cooperate 
with APHIS in preparing the EIS: Agricultural Research Service, 
Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, and Forest 
Service, United States Department of Agriculture; National Marine 
Fisheries Service, U.S. Department of Commerce; U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, U.S. Department of Defense; Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau 
of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park 
Service, U.S. Department of Interior; and the Environmental Protection 
Agency. The purpose of the programmatic EIS is to examine alternatives 
for Federal grasshopper and Mormon cricket management efforts in the 
United States. The EIS will incorporate information from the 1987 
programmatic EIS for the Rangeland Grasshopper Cooperative Management 
Program and will also present information that has been developed since 
1987. The resulting EIS will be used for planning, decisionmaking, and 
to inform the public regarding the environmental effects of grasshopper 
and Mormon cricket management programs. The analysis and resulting EIS 
will also provide the programmatic overview to which APHIS can tier 
site-specific analyses and environmental assessments.
    We are issuing this notice of intent to prepare an EIS in 
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 
et seq.) and Sec. 1501.7 of the Council on Environmental Quality 
regulations (40 CFR 1501.7).

Scoping Process

    The initial step in the process of EIS development is scoping. 
Scoping includes solicitation of public involvement in the form of 
written comments, and evaluation of these comments. This process is 
used for determining the scope of issues to be addressed. We are 
therefore asking for written comments that identify significant 
environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EIS. We invite 
comments from the public, including private industry and Federal, 
State, and local government agencies that have an interest in the 
Rangeland Grasshopper Cooperative Management Program or related 
programs, and from Federal and State agencies that have either 
jurisdiction by law or special expertise regarding any national program 
issue or environmental impact that should be discussed in the EIS.

Alternatives

    We will consider all reasonable and realistic action alternatives 
recommended in the comments we receive. The following alternatives have 
already been identified for comprehensive analysis in the EIS:

    (1) Chemical control (e.g. chemical pesticide sprays and baits);
    (2) Biological control (e.g. pathogens and predators);
    (3) Cultural control (e.g. range management practices);
    (4) Integrated pest management (e.g., some combination of the above 
methods); and
    (5) No action.

Major Issues

    The following are some of the major issues that will be discussed 
in the EIS:
    (1) The use of organisms exotic to the United States as biocontrol 
agents. Pathogenic and parasitic organisms native to areas outside of 
the United States have been proposed as biocontrol agents to control 
native grasshoppers. The concern is the potential for effects on native 
ecosystems.
    (2) The effects of grasshopper and Mormon cricket management 
programs on nontarget organisms. The need is to encapsulate and 
summarize the considerable amount of information that has been 
developed since 1987 regarding the effects of program treatments on 
flora and fauna, including endangered and threatened species.
    (3) Treatments on lands enrolled in the Federal Conservation 
Reserve Program. The issue is the responsibility for grasshopper and 
Mormon cricket management on lands that have been removed from 
agricultural production and enrolled in the Conservation Reserve 
Program.
    (4) Public involvement in site-specific planning and 
decisionmaking.
    (5) Emerging technologies for grasshopper and Mormon cricket 
management.
    (6) Monitoring grasshopper and Mormon cricket management programs. 
The need is to summarize and analyze monitoring data that has been 
collected since 1987 and to guide future monitoring plans.
    (7) The relationship of grazing practices to grasshopper and Mormon 
cricket populations and outbreaks.
    (8) The economics of grasshopper and Mormon cricket management.

Preparation of the EIS

    Following the scoping, we will prepare an EIS for the Rangeland 
Grasshopper Cooperative Management Program. A notice announcing that 
the EIS is available for review will then be published in the Federal 
Register. The notice will also request comments concerning the EIS.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 6th day of October 1994.
Terry L. Medley,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 94-25422 Filed 10-13-94; 8:45 am]
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