[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 148 (Thursday, July 31, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44702-44703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-17589]


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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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  Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 148 / Thursday, July 31, 2008 / 
Notices  

[[Page 44702]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2008-0062]


Availability of Site-Specific Environmental Assessment and Pest 
Risk Assessment for the Interstate Movement of Garbage From Hawaii to 
Oregon

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 the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service has prepared a site-specific environmental 
assessment and pest risk assessment relative to a request to allow the 
interstate movement of garbage from Hawaii to a landfill in the State 
of Oregon. The environmental assessment has been prepared to determine 
whether the request is consistent with the environmental effects and 
impacts analyzed in our March 2008 regional programmatic environmental 
assessment as well as to evaluate potential site-specific environmental 
impacts of the proposed action. The pest risk assessment evaluates the 
risks associated with the interstate movement of garbage from Hawaii to 
Oregon. We are making these documents available to the public for 
review and comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
September 2, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2008-0062 to submit or view comments and 
to view supporting and related materials available electronically.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send two copies of 
your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2008-0062, Regulatory Analysis and 
Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comment refers to 
Docket No. APHIS-2008-0062.
    Reading Room: You may read any comments that we receive 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: Additional information about APHIS and its 
programs is available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Shannon Hamm, Associate Deputy 
Administrator, Policy and Program Development, APHIS, 4700 River Road 
Unit 20, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; (301) 734-4957.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The importation and interstate movement of garbage is regulated by 
the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under 7 CFR 
330.400 and 9 CFR 94.5 in order to protect against the introduction 
into and dissemination within the United States of plant and animal 
pests and diseases.
    On March 13, 2008, we published in the Federal Register (73 FR 
13525, Docket No. APHIS-2007-0070) a notice in which we announced the 
availability, for public review and comment, of a regional programmatic 
environmental assessment relative to the interstate movement of 
municipal solid waste from Hawaii to landfills in the States of Idaho, 
Oregon, and Washington. On June 18, 2008 (73 FR 34700-34701, Docket No. 
APHIS-2007-0070), we published a follow-up notice in which we announced 
the availability of our final regional programmatic environmental 
assessment and finding of no significant impact.
    In our March 2008 notice, we stated that as new requests to move 
municipal solid waste from Hawaii are received, a specific 
environmental analysis will be prepared relative to each request to 
determine whether the request is consistent with the environmental 
effects and impacts analyzed in our regional programmatic environmental 
assessment. We also stated that the specific environmental analyses 
prepared for each new request to move municipal solid waste will be 
made available for a 30-day public comment period, after which APHIS 
will announce its environmental and pest risk decision regarding the 
new municipal solid waste movement proposal.
    In accordance with the process described in our March 2008 notice, 
we have prepared a site-specific environmental assessment to ensure 
that the circumstances surrounding a new request we have received fit 
within the criteria evaluated in the regional programmatic 
environmental assessment as well as to evaluate potential site-specific 
environmental impacts of the proposed action. The site-specific 
assessment, titled ``Site Specific Environmental Assessment for Off 
Island Transfer Proposal to Transport Municipal Solid Waste from Hawaii 
to Columbia Ridge Landfill,'' is accompanied by a pest risk assessment.
    The pest risk assessment, titled ``The Risk of Introducing Pests to 
Gilliam County, Oregon via Hawaiian Plastic-Baled Municipal Solid 
Waste'' (June 2008), evaluates the plant pest risks associated with the 
interstate movement of garbage from Hawaii to the Columbia Ridge Solid 
Waste Landfill in Gilliam County, OR.
    We are making these documents available to the public for review 
and comment. We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
the date listed under the heading DATES at the beginning of this 
notice. The environmental assessment and pest risk assessment may be 
viewed on the Internet on the Regulations.gov Web site or in our 
reading room (see ADDRESSES above for instructions for accessing 
Regulations.gov and information on the location and hours of the 
reading room). You may request paper copies of the documents by calling 
or writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 
Please refer to the title of the document(s) you wish to receive when 
requesting copies.

[[Page 44703]]

    Following the conclusion of the comment period, we will announce 
our environmental and pest risk decision regarding the new municipal 
solid waste movement proposal.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701-7772, 7781-7786, and 8301-8317; 21 
U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 25th day of July 2008.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E8-17589 Filed 7-30-08; 8:45 am]
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