[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 234 (Friday, December 5, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68020-68021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-30237]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 03-112-1]


Vaccination of Wild Bison; Availability of an Environmental 
Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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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 subcutaneous 
vaccination of wild, free-ranging bison in the Greater Yellowstone Area 
with Strain RB51 vaccine to help prevent the spread of brucellosis. The 
environmental assessment documents our review and analysis of 
environmental impacts associated with the vaccination and provides a 
basis for our conclusion that vaccination of the bison will not have a 
significant impact on the quality of the human environment. We are 
making the environmental assessment and finding of no significant 
impact available to the public for review and comment.

[[Page 68021]]


DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
January 5, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by postal mail/commercial delivery 
or by e-mail. If you use postal mail/commercial delivery, please send 
four copies of your comment (an original and three copies) to: Docket 
No. 03-112-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 
3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state 
that your comment refers to Docket No. 03-112-1. If you use e-mail, 
address your comment to [email protected]. Your comment must 
be contained in the body of your message; do not send attached files. 
Please include your name and address in your message and ``Docket No. 
03-112-1'' on the subject line.
    To obtain copies of the environmental assessment and finding of no 
significant impact, contact the National Center for Animal Health 
Programs, Veterinary Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 43, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-4923. The documents are also 
available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/es/vsdocs.html.
    You may also read the environmental assessment and finding of no 
significant impact, and any comments we receive on those documents, 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.
    APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related 
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who 
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Arnold Gertonson, Yellowstone 
Brucellosis Coordinator, National Center for Animal Health Programs, 
VS, APHIS, Building B MSC 3E13, 2150 Centre Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 
80526-8117; (970) 494-7363.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Brucellosis is a contagious disease caused by Brucella bacteria. It 
can infect cattle, bison, elk, other animals, and humans. In cattle, 
bison, and elk, the specific disease organism is Brucella abortus. In 
infected cattle and bison, the disease organism localizes in lymph 
nodes, reproductive organs, and/or the udder, causing abortion in 
females and systemic effects in both males and females. Brucellosis is 
transmitted through contaminated and untreated milk and milk products 
and through direct contact with an infected aborted fetus or calf, 
afterbirth, or other reproductive tract discharges.
    Brucellosis is considered one of the most serious diseases of 
livestock. While its hallmark symptom is abortion, brucellosis can also 
result in decreased milk production, weight loss in animals, 
infertility, and lameness. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) has worked for years to eliminate this disease from the 
United States.
    The only known reservoir of Brucella abortus in the United States 
occurs in wild, free-ranging populations of bison and elk in the 
Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA), which comprises areas of Idaho, 
Montana, and Wyoming. The significance of wildlife in the GYA as a 
reservoir of brucellosis and potential source of infection for cattle 
in the GYA has been widely recognized. Additionally, free-ranging bison 
herds in the GYA are a natural resource of great importance.
    To address the issue of brucellosis in the GYA, the U.S. Department 
of the Interior's National Park Service, the State of Montana, and 
their cooperators (including the U.S. Department of Agriculture) 
developed an Interagency Bison Management Plan for the bison herd in 
Yellowstone National Park (YNP). One of the disease management 
requirements of the plan is for eligible bison to be vaccinated against 
brucellosis.
    The Montana Department of Livestock (MDOL) has requested APHIS's 
assistance with the vaccination against brucellosis of wild, free-
ranging bison calves and non-pregnant yearlings that leave YNP and 
migrate onto State, private, or other Federal lands. The MDOL 
anticipates starting bison vaccination as early as this winter, using 
Strain RB51 vaccine, when bison begin to leave YNP in search of 
vegetation.
    APHIS has completed an environmental assessment (EA) that examines 
the potential environmental effects of APHIS's involvement in the 
vaccination described above. Our review and analysis are documented in 
detail in an EA entitled ``Subcutaneous Vaccination of Wild, Free-
Ranging Bison in the Greater Yellowstone Area; Environmental Assessment 
(November 2003).'' Based on that EA, APHIS has determined that 
subcutaneous vaccination of wild, free-ranging bison of the GYA with 
Strain RB51 vaccine will not significantly impact human health or the 
environment. That determination is set forth in a document titled 
``Finding of No Significant Impact for Subcutaneous Vaccination of 
Wild, Free-Ranging Bison in the Greater Yellowstone Area; Environmental 
Assessment (November 2003).''
    We are making the EA and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) 
available to the public for review and comment. (Instructions for 
obtaining copies of the EA and FONSI are included under the heading 
ADDRESSES at the beginning of this notice.) We will consider all 
comments on the EA and FONSI that we receive on or before the date 
listed under the heading DATES at the beginning of this notice. 
Following the close of the comment period, we will publish a notice in 
the Federal Register in which we will discuss any issues raised by 
commenters.
    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 2nd day of December, 2003.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 03-30237 Filed 12-4-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P