[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 13 (Friday, January 21, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3183-3184]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-1202]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 03-080-5]
RIN 0579-AB73


Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy; Minimal Risk Regions and 
Importation of Commodities; Availability of an Environmental Assessment 
With Corrections and Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability and extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service is making available a corrected version of an 
environmental assessment relative to a final rule that was published in 
the January 4, 2005, issue of the Federal Register. We are making the 
corrected version of the environmental assessment available to the 
public for review and comment through February 17, 2005.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
February 17, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     EDOCKET: Go to http://www.epa.gov/feddocket to submit or 
view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the 
official public docket, and to access those documents in the public 
docket that are available electronically. Once you have entered 
EDOCKET, click on the ``View Open APHIS Dockets'' link to locate this 
document.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send four copies 
of your comment (an original and three copies) to Docket No. 03-080-5, 
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,

[[Page 3184]]

APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238. Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. 03-080-5.
     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. 03-080-5'' on the subject 
line.
    Reading Room: You may read any comments that we receive on the 
environmental assessment 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.
    Other Information: You may view APHIS documents published in the 
Federal Register and related information, including the names of groups 
and individuals who have commented on APHIS dockets, on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Karen James-Preston, Director, 
Technical Trade Services, National Center for Import and Export, VS, 
APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 38, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-
4356.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On January 4, 2005, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS) published in the Federal Register (70 FR 460-553, Docket No. 
03-080-3) a final rule to amend the regulations regarding the 
importation of animals and animal products to recognize a category of 
regions that present a minimal risk of introducing bovine spongiform 
encephalopathy (BSE) into the United States via live ruminants and 
ruminant products, and to add Canada to this category. The final rule 
also provides for the importation of certain live ruminants and 
ruminant products and byproducts from such regions under certain 
conditions.
    Also in the January 4, 2005, issue of the Federal Register, we 
published a notice (70 FR 554, Docket No. 03-080-4) announcing the 
availability of, and requesting comments on, a final environmental 
assessment (EA) regarding the potential impact on the quality of the 
human environment due to the importation of ruminants and ruminant 
products and byproducts from Canada under the conditions specified in 
the final rule. APHIS' review and analysis of the potential 
environmental impacts associated with those importations were 
documented in the EA, titled ``Rulemaking to Establish Criteria for the 
Importation of Designated Ruminants and Ruminant Products from Canada 
into the United States, Final Environmental Assessment (December 
2004).'' We announced that the EA would be available to the public for 
review and comment until February 3, 2005.
    We have become aware, however, that the version of the EA that was 
made available on January 4, 2005, contained some transcription errors 
that resulted in the omission of several references to an updated APHIS 
risk analysis regarding the final rule, as well as the incorrect 
formatting of several source citations. We have corrected those errors.
    We are giving notice that the corrected version of the EA is 
available to the public for review and comment, and we are extending 
the comment period on the EA until February 17, 2005.
    The EA may be viewed on the EDOCKET Web site (see ADDRESSES above 
for instructions for accessing EDOCKET) or on the APHIS Web site at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/bse.html. You may request 
paper copies of the EA by calling or writing to the person listed under 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the title of the EA 
when requesting copies. The EA is also available for review in our 
reading room (information on the location and hours of the reading room 
is provided under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this 
notice).
    The EA has 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 18th day of January 2005.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 05-1202 Filed 1-19-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P