[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 218 (Monday, November 14, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-28048]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: November 14, 1994]


                                                   VOL. 59, NO. 218

                                          Monday, November 14, 1994

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 94-119-1]

 

Public Meeting; Implementation of Boll Weevil Control Program

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: We are announcing that a public meeting will be held to 
provide a forum for community input on health and environmental issues 
associated with implementation of a program to control boll weevils in 
the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Basic information regarding the 
proposed program will be dismissed at the meeting and an opportunity 
for oral presentations will be provided.

PLACE, DATE, AND TIME OF MEETING: The meeting will be held on November 
29, 1994, at the Best Western Palm Air Motor Inn, 415 South 
International Boulevard (Highway 1015), Weslaco, TX 78596; and will 
begin at 7 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Deborah Miller, Environmental Analysis and Documentation, BBEP, APHIS, 
USDA, room 828, Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 
20782, (301) 436-8565; or Joe Davidson, Plant Protection and 
Quarantine, APHIS, USDA, suite 321, 3505 Boca Chica Boulevard, 
Brownsville, TX 78521-4065, (210) 504-4154.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) is planning to cooperate in a boll weevil eradication 
program in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, including the counties 
of Brooks, Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Webb, and Willacy. The eradication 
program relies, in part, on the use of chemicals (predominantly 
malathion) which are applied to the cotton crop. Consistent with the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), APHIS is undertaking the 
environmental assessment process as a first step, in the Lower Rio 
Grande Valley, in determining the effects of program actions and 
alternatives on the quality of the human environment.
    We are aware that a number of minority and low-income farmworkers 
reside in proximity to the cotton fields that may require treatment. A 
number of household gardens are planted by area farmworkers and their 
families (many of whom are Spanish speaking) near their residences. We 
are also aware that produce from those gardens, as well as fish caught 
by farmworker family members in nearby streams, may be consumed by 
those family members, and also sold in the marketplace to supplement 
family incomes.
    Executive Order No. 12898 of February 11, 1994, ``Federal Actions 
to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income 
Populations,'' directs each agency of the Federal Government to 
identify and address disproportionately high and adverse human health 
or environmental effects of agency programs, policies, and activities 
on minority populations and low-income populations. The executive order 
is intended, in part, ``to provide minority communities and low-income 
communities access to public information on, and an opportunity for 
public participation in, matters relating to human health or the 
environment.'' To this end, the President has directed that ``[e]ach 
Federal agency shall provide opportunities for community input in the 
NEPA process, including identifying potential effects and mitigation 
measures in consultation with affected communities and improving the 
accessibility of meetings, crucial documents, and notices.''
    The public meeting announced in this notice is intended to promote 
the objectives of NEPA and Executive Order No. 12898. Information 
concerning the program and issues that will be examined will be 
provided (in English and Spanish) to everyone in attendance at the 
meeting and anyone else who requests it. Any individual who wishes to 
will be able to make an oral presentation to agency officials. Sign-up 
sheets for that purpose will be available at the meeting place. To 
avoid repetition and to provide an opportunity for all views to be 
aired at the meeting, individuals or groups with similar interests 
should designate a single spokesperson to represent them in any oral 
presentation. The substance of this notice will also be published in 
newspapers (English and Spanish) serving the Lower Rio Grande Valley of 
Texas.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 7th day of November, 1994.
Lonnie J. King,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 94-28048 Filed 11-10-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-M