[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 19, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2845-2846]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-944]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2006-0172]


Interstate Movement of Garbage from Hawaii; Availability of an 
Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service has prepared an environmental assessment relative to 
a request to allow the interstate movement of garbage from Hawaii to a 
landfill in the State of Washington. The environmental assessment 
documents our review and analysis of the environmental impacts 
associated with, and alternatives to, the movement of palletized or 
containerized baled municipal solid waste to three existing ports on 
the Columbia River via barge and the transfer and transportation of the 
waste via truck or rail to the landfill. We are making the assessment 
available to the public for review and comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
February 18, 2010.

[[Page 2846]]


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-2006-0172) 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-2006-0172, 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-2006-0172.
    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: 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 (referred to below as the regulations) in order 
to protect against the introduction into and dissemination within the 
United States of plant and animal pests and diseases.
    In November 2009, APHIS received a revised petition from Hawaiian 
Waste Systems, LLC, to transport 150,000 tons of municipal solid waste 
(MSW) annually in plastic airtight bales that are either palletized or 
containerized in 20- and 40-foot shipping containers from the State of 
Hawaii to Roosevelt Regional Landfill in Washington State by any of 
three methods:
     Barge to Teevin Brother Terminal in Rainier, WA, followed 
by truck or rail transportation;
     Barge to the Port of Longview, WA, followed by truck or 
rail transportation; or
     Barge to the Port of Portland, OR, followed by truck or 
rail transportation.
    APHIS had previously prepared a regional programmatic environmental 
assessment (REA) titled ``Regional Movement of Plastic-baled Municipal 
Solid Waste from Hawaii to Washington, Oregon, and Idaho: Environmental 
Assessment'' (February 2008).\1\ The REA evaluated the environmental 
effects of transporting baled MSW by tug boat and barge across the 
Pacific Ocean and up the Columbia River. The REA included a general 
analysis of landfills that could accept MSW in the various States as 
well as an analysis of environmental effects of transportation via rail 
or truck from a port on the Columbia River to a MSW landfill. A finding 
of no significant impact for the February 2008 REA was issued by APHIS 
in June 2008.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ To view the REA and finding of no significant impact, go to 
(http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2007-0070).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The environmental assessment that we are making available through 
this notice, titled ``Site Specific Environmental Assessment for 
Hawaiian Waste Management Systems, LLC to Transport Municipal Solid 
Waste from Hawaii to Roosevelt Regional Landfill'' (December 2009), is 
tiered to the REA and analyzes the site-specific environmental effects 
of Hawaiian Waste Systems' revised petition.
    We are making the environmental assessment available to the public 
for review and comment. We will consider all comments that we receive 
during the comment period (see DATES at the beginning of this notice). 
The environmental 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 
when requesting copies.
    The environmental assessment 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 1b), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR 
part 372).
    Done in Washington, DC, this 13\th\ day of January 2010.

Kevin Shea
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-944 Filed 1-15-10; 1:08 pm]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-S