[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 20, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 6344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-3706]



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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
 statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 34 / Tuesday, February 20, 1996 / 
Notices  

[[Page 6344]]


DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 96-004-1]


Boll Weevil Control Program; Availability of Environmental 
Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

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 and a 
finding of no significant impact for a program to eradicate the boll 
weevil in the South Texas/Wintergarden area. The environmental 
assessment provides a basis for our conclusion that the methods 
employed to eradicate the pest will not have a significant impact on 
the quality of the human environment.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the environmental assessment and finding of no 
significant impact are available for public inspection 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 those documents are 
requested to call ahead on (202) 690-2817 to facilitate entry into the 
reading room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Vicki Wickheiser, Writer/Editor, 
Environmental Analysis and Documentation, BBEP, APHIS, 4700 River Road, 
Unit 149, Riverdale, MD 20737-1237, (301) 734-8565. Copies of the 
environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact may be 
obtained by contacting Ms. Wickheiser or by calling Plant Protection 
and Quarantine's Central Region Office at (210) 504-4154.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In accordance with 7 U.S.C. 147a, 148, and 450, the Secretary of 
Agriculture is authorized to cooperate with the States and certain 
other organizations and individuals to control and eradicate plant 
pests.
    The boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis Boheman) is a destructive pest 
of cotton which causes annual economic losses to the agricultural 
industry and consumers. Since its introduction in southern Texas in the 
late 1800's, the boll weevil has spread across the area of the United 
States known as the Cotton Belt. Since the early 1950's, the United 
States agricultural community has acknowledged the need for a beltwide 
strategy for controlling the boll weevil. Since the first pilot program 
in 1971, programs implemented in an incremental fashion have been 
successful in eradicating the boll weevil from over 3.5 million acres 
in major areas of the Cotton Belt.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in cooperation with the 
State of Texas, the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, Inc., and 
local cotton producers, has developed a program to eradicate boll 
weevil from cotton fields in the South Texas/Wintergarden area.
    The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), USDA, has 
prepared an environmental assessment to analyze the potential effects 
of this eradication program on the human environment. Based on the 
environmental assessment, APHIS has determined that the program to 
eradicate boll weevil in the South Texas/Wintergarden area will not 
significantly impact the quality of the human environment.
    The environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact 
have been prepared in accordance with: (1) The National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (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).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 13th day of February 1996.
Lonnie J. King,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 96-3706 Filed 2-16-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P