[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 225 (Tuesday, November 24, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61319-61321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-28142]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2009-0087]


Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment for Oral Rabies 
Vaccine Program

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 we have prepared a proposed 
environmental assessment relative to oral rabies vaccination programs 
in several States. Since the publication of our original environmental 
assessment and decision/finding of no significant impact in 2001, we 
have prepared, and made available to the public for comment, several 
supplemental environmental assessments and decisions/findings of no 
significant impact in order to reflect changes in the program. The new 
environmental assessment made available by this notice analyzes the 
further expansion the oral rabies vaccination program to include the 
States of New Mexico and Arizona, which is necessary to effectively 
combat the gray fox variant of the rabies virus. The new environmental 
assessment is intended to facilitate planning and interagency 
coordination in the event of rabies outbreaks, help streamline program 
management, and clearly communicate to the public the actions involved 
in the oral rabies vaccination program.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
December 24, 2009.

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-2009-0087) 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-2009-0087, 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-2009-0087.
    Reading Room: You may read any comments that we receive on this 
docket 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: Dr. Dennis Slate, Rabies Program 
Coordinator, Wildlife Services, APHIS, 59 Chenell Drive, Suite 7, 
Concord, NH 03301; (603) 223-9623. To obtain copies of the documents 
discussed in this notice, contact Mr. Kevin Williams, Operational 
Support Staff, WS, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 87, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1234; phone (301) 734-4937, fax (301) 734-5157, or email: 
([email protected]). This notice and the proposed 
environmental assessment are also posted on the APHIS Web site at 
(http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/ws/ws_nepa_environmental_documents.shtml).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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)

[[Page 61320]]

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 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 variants or ``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.
    On August 30, 2001, we published a notice in the Federal Register 
(66 FR 45835-45836, Docket No. 01-009-3) in which we advised the public 
of APHIS' decision and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) 
regarding the use of oral vaccination to control specific rabies virus 
strains in raccoons, gray foxes, and coyotes in the United States. That 
decision allows 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 was based 
upon the final EA, which reflected 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.
    Following the August 2001 publication of our original decision/
FONSI, we determined there was a need to expand the ORV programs to 
include the States of Kentucky and Tennessee to effectively stop the 
westward spread of raccoon rabies. Accordingly, we prepared a 
supplemental decision/FONSI to document the potential effects of 
expanding the programs. We published a notice announcing the 
availability of the supplemental decision/FONSI in the Federal Register 
on July 5, 2002 (67 FR 44797-44798, Docket No. 01-009-4).
    Following the publication of the supplemental decision/FONSI in 
July 2002, we determined the need to further expand the ORV program to 
include the States of Georgia and Maine to effectively prevent the 
westward and northward spread of the rabies virus across the United 
States and into Canada. To facilitate planning, interagency 
coordination, and program management and to provide the public with our 
analysis of potential individual and cumulative impacts of the expanded 
ORV programs, we prepared a supplemental EA that addresses the 
inclusion of Georgia and Maine, as well as the 2002 inclusion of 
Kentucky and Tennessee, in the ORV program. In addition, we prepared a 
new decision/FONSI based on the supplemental EA that was published in 
the Federal Register on June 30, 2003 (68 FR 38669-38670, Docket No. 
01-009-5).
    Following publication of the 2003 supplemental EA and decision/
FONSI, we determined the need to further expand the ORV program to 
include portions of National Forest System lands, excluding Wilderness 
Areas, within several eastern States. The National Forest System lands 
where APHIS-WS involvement could be expanded included the States of 
Maine, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, 
West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Maryland, and New Jersey. 
Cooperative rabies surveillance activities and/or baiting programs were 
already being conducted on various land classes, with the exception of 
National Forest System lands, in many of the aforementioned States. The 
programs' primary goals were to stop the spread of a specific raccoon 
rabies variant or ``strain'' of the rabies virus. If not stopped, this 
strain could potentially spread to much broader areas of the United 
States and Canada and cause substantial increases in public and 
domestic animal health costs because of increased rabies exposures. As 
numerous National Forest System lands are located within current and 
potential ORV barrier zones, it became increasingly important to bait 
these large land masses to effectively combat this strain of the rabies 
virus. In addition, we prepared a new decision/FONSI based on the 
supplemental EA that was published in the Federal Register on February 
20, 2004 (69 FR 7904-7905, Docket No. 01-009-6).
    Following the 2004 supplemental EA and decision/FONSI for expansion 
of the ORV program to include portions of National Forest System lands, 
we determined the need to further expand the ORV program to include 25 
eastern States (Maine, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, 
Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Maryland, 
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, 
Louisiana and New Jersey), the District of Columbia, and Texas to 
effectively prevent the westward and northward spread of the rabies 
virus across the United States and into Canada. In addition, we 
prepared a new decision/FONSI based on the supplemental EA that was 
published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2004 (69 FR 56992-
56993, Docket No. 01-009-7).
    Following the 2004 supplemental EA and decision/FONSI, we 
determined the need to expand the ORV program to include portions of 
National Forest System lands, excluding Wilderness Areas, within the 
same 25 eastern States and the District of Columbia. As numerous 
National Forest System lands are located within current and potential 
ORV barrier zones, it had become increasingly important to bait these 
large land masses to effectively combat this strain of the rabies 
virus. Accordingly, we prepared a supplemental EA and decision/FONSI 
that served to update program needs and evaluate current data. Those 
documents were made available through

[[Page 61321]]

a notice published in the Federal Register on December 8, 2005 (70 FR 
72977-72978, Docket No. 01-009-8).
    In 2007, we prepared a new decision/FONSI to update and replace the 
previous decision/FONSI of September 9, 2004, for the 2004 supplemental 
EA. The purpose of the new 2007 decision/FONSI was to clarify the term 
``contingency actions,'' which is used in the 2004 supplemental EA, and 
to analyze a type of contingency action called trap-vaccinate-release 
(TVR) that was not analyzed as part of the proposed action in the 2004 
supplemental EA. The 2007 decision/FONSI was made available through a 
notice published in the Federal Register on April 27, 2007 (72 FR 
20984-20986, Docket No. 01-009-9).
    As a result of a recent outbreak of gray fox variant rabies in 
coyotes west of the original gray fox ORV zone in Texas toward the New 
Mexico border, and an ongoing outbreak of gray fox variant rabies in 
western New Mexico and eastern Arizona, APHIS-WS has determined there 
is a need to further expand the ORV program to include the States of 
New Mexico and Arizona to effectively combat the gray fox variant of 
the rabies virus. In addition, the State of Arizona recently released a 
draft management plan for invasive species that included the rabies 
virus on its list of invasive species that should be controlled and 
managed. The purpose of the new 2009 EA that we are making available 
through this notice is to facilitate planning and interagency 
coordination, help streamline program management, and to clearly 
communicate with the public the analysis of individual and cumulative 
impacts of an expanded APHIS-WS ORV program. The States where APHIS-WS 
involvement would be continued or expanded include the 26 States noted 
previously plus New Mexico and Arizona. The program's primary goals are 
to stop the spread of specific raccoon (eastern States), coyote 
(Texas), and gray fox (Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona) rabies variants 
to new areas. The EA analyzes the proposed action and several 
alternatives with respect to a number of environmental and other issues 
raised by involved operating agencies and the public. Analysis of those 
areas and information not included in the EA, the 2004 supplemental EA, 
and the associated decisions/FONSIs are being presented in the new 2009 
EA and have been incorporated into the decisionmaking process.
    The proposed EA that is the subject of this notice, as well as the 
documents cited above that preceded it, 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 1b), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing 
Procedures (7 CFR part 372).
    The EA may be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web site or in our 
reading room. (Instructions for accessing Regulations.gov and 
information on the location and hours of the reading room are provided 
under the heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this notice.) In 
addition, copies may be obtained by calling or writing to the 
individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.


    Done in Washington, DC, this 18th day of November 2009.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E9-28142 Filed 11-23-09: 11:41 am]
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