[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 165 (Tuesday, August 26, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 45217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-22644]


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 Notices
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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 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 165 / Tuesday, August 26, 1997 / 
Notices  

[[Page 45217]]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 97-072-1]


Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Importation 
of Logs, Lumber, and Other Unmanufactured Wood Articles

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 will prepare a supplement to the environmental 
impact statement, issued in July 1994, for the rulemaking proceeding 
entitled ``Importation of Logs, Lumber, and Other Unmanufactured Wood 
Articles.'' Supplementation of the impact statement is in response to a 
Federal district court's finding that the final environmental impact 
statement does not completely satisfy applicable requirements of the 
National Environmental Policy Act and the Council on Environmental 
Quality's implementing regulations. Comments on the proposed scope of 
the supplement are welcome.

DATES: Consideration will be given only to comments received on or 
before September 25, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to 
Docket No. 97-072-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, 
suite 3C03, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please 
state that your comments refer to Docket No. 97-072-1. 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. Richard Orr, Entomologist, Risk 
Analysis Systems, PPD, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 117, Riverdale, MD 
20737-1238; (301) 734-8939.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a final rule published in the Federal 
Register on May 25, 1995 (60 FR 27665-27682, Docket No. 91-074-6) and 
effective August 23, 1995, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) established comprehensive regulations concerning 
imported unmanufactured wood articles. That final rule was supported, 
in part, by a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) issued in 
July 1994 that addressed the potential impacts on the human 
environment, including possible risks to human health, impacts on 
forestry resources, impacts on biodiversity, impacts from the use of 
methyl bromide, and impacts on global climate change, cultural 
resources, and endangered and threatened species. A Federal court has 
found (Oregon Natural Resources Council v. Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service, Nos. C 95-4066 CW and C 96-1541 CW [N.D. Cal. Feb. 
27, 1997]) that the FEIS, which examined alternative means of 
protecting domestic forests from pests or disease that could accompany 
imported logs, lumber, and other unmanufactured wood articles, is 
deficient in three areas.
    First, the court found that the FEIS ``assumes without examination 
that individually ineffective control measures [to minimize pest risks 
associated with the importation of logs, lumber, and unmanufactured 
wood articles] will be effective collectively.'' The impact statement, 
according to the court, should highlight ``the considerable uncertainty 
about the effectiveness of different mitigation measures'' when used in 
combination.
    Second, the court found that the FEIS ``omits significant 
information concerning uncertainties expressed in the [pest] risk 
assessments, concerning compliance [with certification requirements] by 
exporting countries, and concerning the health consequences of measures 
to mitigate infestations that may occur.'' The impact statement, the 
court observed, must discuss ``in a significant manner the 
uncertainties about the risks of infestation and the adequacy of 
control measures.'' With this change, the FEIS will provide a less 
biased portrayal of the risks associated with the preferred 
alternative--i.e., to allow the importation of logs, lumber, and 
unmanufactured wood articles under the conditions set forth in the May 
1995 final rule--and improve its usefulness to the public and the 
decisionmaker. The court also found that the FEIS must more thoroughly 
consider the issue of ``how compliance problems abroad may limit the 
effectiveness of the preferred alternative.'' Furthermore, the range of 
human health consequences associated with pesticide applications that 
might be required to eradicate any pests that control measures fail to 
exclude must be included in the supplement to the FEIS.
    Third, the court found that the FEIS ``fails to discuss adequately 
the different environmental impacts of the various alternatives.'' The 
court stated that ``[r]ather than sharply defining the issues and 
providing a clear basis for choice among the alternatives, the [F]EIS 
obscures the differences by labeling them all a matter of degree.'' The 
court called for a clear comparison of the issues and environmental 
effects among the alternatives.
    The supplement will address the three areas which the court found 
that APHIS failed to adequately address in the FEIS. Comments regarding 
the proposed scope of the supplement to the FEIS are welcome and will 
be fully considered. When the draft of the supplement is completed, a 
notice announcing its availability and an invitation to comment on it 
will be published in the Federal Register.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 20th day of August 1997.
Terry L. Medley,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 97-22644 Filed 8-25-97; 8:45 am]
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