[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 205 (Tuesday, October 24, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 62240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-17773]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2006-0152]


Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Importation of 
Solid Wood Packing Material

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that a supplemental environmental 
impact statement will be prepared by the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service to analyze methyl bromide usage associated with 
regulatory requirements for importing solid wood packing material into 
the United States. That document will serve as a supplement to the 
Importation of Solid Wood Packing Material Final Environmental Impact 
Statement, August 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David A. Bergsten, APHIS 
Interagency NEPA Contact, Environmental Services, PPD, APHIS, 4700 
River Road, Unit 149, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238; (301) 734-6103.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) intends to prepare a supplemental environmental impact 
statement (SEIS) for the Importation of Solid Wood Packing Material 
Final Environmental Impact Statement, August 2003 (FEIS). The purpose 
of the SEIS is to reevaluate and refine the estimates of methyl bromide 
usage associated with the alternatives considered in the FEIS.
    APHIS published in the Federal Register on September 16, 2004 (69 
FR 55719-55733, Docket No. 02-032-3), a final rule amending the 
regulations for the importation of unmanufactured wood articles to 
adopt an international standard entitled ``Guidelines for Regulating 
Wood Packaging Material in International Trade.'' The FEIS was prepared 
with regard to that final rule in compliance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.), and its implementing regulations.
    APHIS will base the SEIS on recently obtained, reliable data 
regarding how various countries have complied with the final rule and 
with the International Plant Protection Convention Guidelines (IPPC 
Guidelines) on which the final rule was based. These data include 
reports from different countries on whether cargo is routinely 
fumigated along with wood packaging material (WPM), which would result 
in more methyl bromide usage, or whether WPM is fumigated separately 
from cargo, which would result in less methyl bromide usage. We also 
have new data on the extent to which various countries have chosen to 
comply with the IPPC Guidelines by heat treating WPM rather than 
fumigating it.
    The SEIS will be prepared in accordance with: (1) NEPA, (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).
    When APHIS has completed a draft SEIS, a notice announcing its 
availability and an invitation to comment on it will be published in 
the Federal Register.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 18th day of October 2006.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
 [FR Doc. E6-17773 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am]
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