[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 169 (Thursday, August 30, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45835-45836]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-21928]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 01-009-3]


Wildlife Services; Availability of an 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 an environmental assessment 
and finding of no significant impact have been prepared by the Animal 
and Plant Health Inspection Service relative to oral rabies vaccination 
programs in several States. The environmental assessment analyzes the 
potential environmental effects of the continuation and expansion of 
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. The environmental 
assessment provides a basis for our conclusion that the implementation 
of these oral rabies vaccination programs will not have a significant 
impact on the quality of the human environment. Based on its finding of 
no significant impact, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
has determined that an environmental impact statement need not be 
prepared.

ADDRESSES: To obtain copies of the environmental assessment and finding 
of no significant impact, 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: 
[email protected].
    You may also read the environmental assessment and finding of no 
significant impact 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martin Mendoza, Jr., Director, 
Operational Support Staff, Wildlife Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road 
Unit 87, Riverdale, MD 20737-1234; phone (301) 734-7921.

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

[[Page 45836]]

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.
    Subsequently, on May 17, 2001, we published in the Federal Register 
(66 FR 27489, Docket No. 01-009-2) a notice in which we announced the 
availability, for public review and comment, of an environmental 
assessment (EA) that examined the potential environmental effects of 
the ORV programs described in our March 2001 notice. We solicited 
comments on the EA for 30 days ending on June 18, 2001. We received one 
comment by that date. The comment was from an animal protection 
organization and supported APHIS' efforts toward limiting or 
eradicating rabies in wildlife populations. The commenter did not, 
however, support the use of lethal monitoring methods or local 
depopulation as part of an ORV program.
    In this document, we are advising the public of APHIS' record of 
decision and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) regarding the use 
of oral vaccination to control specific rabies virus variants in 
raccoons, gray foxes, and coyotes in the United States. This decision 
will allow APHIS-WS to purchase and distribute ORV baits, monitor the 
effectiveness of the ORV programs, and participate in implementing 
contingency plans that may involve the reduction of a limited number of 
local target species populations through lethal means (i.e., the 
preferred alternative identified in the EA). The decision is based upon 
the final EA, which reflects our review and consideration of the 
comments received from the public in response to our March 2001 and May 
2001 notices and information gathered during planning/scoping meetings 
with State health departments, other State and local agencies, the 
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.
    The EA and FONSI have been 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 1); and (4) 
APHIS' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 24th day of August 2001.
Craig A. Reed,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 01-21928 Filed 8-29-01; 8:45 am]
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