[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 92 (Monday, May 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27937-27939]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-11271]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2013-0031]
Environmental Impact Statement; Feral Swine Damage Management
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement
and notice of public meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service plans to prepare an environmental impact statement
(EIS) to address the need for a national feral swine damage management
program to protect agriculture, natural resources, property, and human
health and safety. This notice identifies potential issues and
alternatives that will be studied in the EIS, requests public comments
to further delineate the scope of the alternatives and environmental
impacts and issues, and provides notice of public meeting.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before June
12, 2013. We will also consider comments received at a public meeting
to be held on May 23, 2013, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the USDA Center at Riverside,
Oklahoma City Memorial Conference Center, 4700 River Road, Riverdale,
MD 20737.
You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0031-0002.
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send your comment
to Project Managers, Feral Swine EIS, USDA APHIS-WS, 732 Lois Drive,
Sun Prairie, WI 53590.
At the public meeting in person at the USDA Center at
Riverside, Oklahoma City Memorial Conference Center, 4700 River Road,
Riverdale, MD 20737.
By visiting http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/feral_swine/index.shtml for details on how to access the public
meeting via the Internet and to submit comments.
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this notice may
be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2013-
0031 or in our reading room, which 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) 799-7039 before coming.
Additional information about feral swine may be viewed by visiting
the APHIS feral swine Web page at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/feral_swine/index.shtml.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Kimberly Wagner, Staff Wildlife
Biologist, Wildlife Services, APHIS, 732 Lois Drive, Sun Prairie, WI
53590; (608) 837-2727.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Feral swine are a harmful and destructive invasive species. Their
geographic range is rapidly expanding and their populations are
increasing exponentially across the United States. Feral swine also
occur in Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana
Islands, and American Samoa. Feral swine can inflict significant damage
to numerous resources including physical damage to crops and property;
predation on livestock; disease transmission threats to livestock,
humans, and wildlife; and other threats to human health and safety.
Feral swine also damage natural resources including sensitive habitats
and endangered species. The Tribes, States, and Territories have legal
authority to manage feral swine. Executive Order 13112 directs Federal
agencies to use their programs and authorities to prevent the
introduction of invasive species, control populations of invasive
species, and minimize the economic or environmental harm, or harm to
human health caused by invasive species. The Animal Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) has been receiving increased numbers of
requests from local governments and private entities to assist with
feral swine damage management.
[[Page 27938]]
APHIS-Wildlife Services (APHIS-WS) has issued a number of local
environmental assessments (EAs) for proposed actions that incorporated
legally available methods to manage feral swine damage. These methods
currently include technical assistance in which APHIS-WS provides
information and recommendations on how to minimize feral swine damage
to the requesting public and resource management agencies, and direct
control services in which APHIS-WS uses one or more methods such as
live corral and cage traps, snares, dogs, and aerial and ground
shooting to remove feral swine. APHIS-WS EAs, which include feral swine
damage management, are available on the APHIS-WS Web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/ws/ws_nepa_environmental_documents.shtml#EAs.
Current efforts to manage problems associated with feral swine
damage have helped to alleviate localized damage, but the overall feral
swine population and associated damage and disease threats have
continued to expand at a much faster rate than local governments and
APHIS have been able to address them. We believe that a national,
coordinated effort would more effectively address the growing problems
associated with feral swine and would result in more efficient delivery
of damage management programs to Tribes, States, Territories,
individuals, and organizations that request assistance.
The APHIS-WS program is authorized by the Animal Damage Control Act
(7 U.S.C. 426) to work with other Federal agencies, Tribes, States,
Territories, local governments, and private individuals and
organizations to protect American resources from damage associated with
wildlife. The APHIS-Veterinary Services (VS) program will be
participating in the development of the environmental impact statement
(EIS). The APHIS-VS program works in a variety of ways to protect and
improve the health, quality, and marketability of U.S. animals, animal
products, and veterinary biologics by preventing, controlling, and/or
eliminating animal diseases and monitoring and promoting animal health
and productivity. The authority for the mission of VS is found in the
Animal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.).
Under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), Federal agencies must
examine the potential environmental impacts of proposed Federal actions
before actions are taken. In accordance with NEPA, the regulations of
the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) for implementing the
procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) regulations implementing NEPA (7 CFR part 1b),
and APHIS' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372), APHIS has
decided to prepare an EIS to review potential alternatives for a
national feral swine management strategy. APHIS will be the lead
Federal agency in the development of the EIS in cooperation with other
Federal, State, and Tribal entities that have jurisdiction by law and
expertise and share a common interest in reducing or eliminating
problems caused by feral swine.
Several Federal agencies and national organizations have been
invited to formally cooperate in the development of the EIS. States and
Territories will also be contacted for input and all federally
recognized Tribes will be provided an opportunity for consultation and
participation. By preparing an EIS at this time, APHIS may provide
other Federal agencies with an opportunity to adopt all or part of the
EIS for future actions in accordance with the adoption provisions of
the CEQ's NEPA implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.3).
Proposed Action
APHIS is proposing to implement a nationally coordinated swine
damage management program in cooperation with Tribes, agencies, and
organizations at the State level to accommodate varying local laws and
management objectives for feral swine. Program activities would be
implemented in all or most States and Territories where feral swine
occur. In States where feral swine are an infrequent occurrence or
populations are low, APHIS proposes to cooperate with local and State
agencies and Tribes to implement strategies to eliminate feral swine.
In areas with established or high swine populations, APHIS would work
with Tribes, and State and local agencies and organizations to meet
local management objectives, which may include reducing statewide
populations or eliminating swine from specific locations. The proposed
action would incorporate an integrated approach to feral swine damage
management issues using the latest scientific research findings,
improvements in management methods and new techniques, and
communication and outreach tools to manage feral swine conflicts.
Methods that would be evaluated for potential use and/or recommendation
by APHIS may include, but are not limited to, fencing, frightening
devices, cage traps, corral traps, drop nets, telemetry to locate pigs,
hunting with dogs, shooting from ground or from aircraft, the toxicant
sodium nitrite, and public hunting.
Scoping
We are requesting public comments to further delineate the scope of
alternatives and environmental impacts and issues to be addressed in
the analysis. We will be hosting a public meeting to discuss the scope
of the EIS on May 23, 2013 (see DATES and ADDRESSES above). We are
particularly interested in receiving comments regarding biological,
cultural, or ecological issues that should be addressed in the analysis
(see ``Environmental Issues for Consideration'' below), and we
encourage the submission of scientific data, studies, or research to
support your comments.
Alternatives
The EIS will consider a range of reasonable alternatives that will
include the proposed action described above and a ``no action''
alternative, which can be defined as a continuation of current ongoing
management practices (40 CFR 1502.14(d)). Under the no action
alternative, current APHIS feral swine damage management actions, as
conducted in a number of States, would continue without expansion and
national coordination. We welcome additional recommendations for
management strategies to be addressed in the EIS.
Environmental Issues for Consideration
We have also identified the following potential environmental
issues for consideration in the EIS:
Potential effects on feral swine populations.
Potential direct or indirect impacts on protected and
sensitive species and on non-target animals.
Potential environmental effects of carcass disposal
methods.
Potential direct or indirect effects on tribal resources
and values.
Potential direct or indirect effects on hunters and others
who benefit from feral swine.
Potential direct or indirect economic effects.
Potential effects on social values such as ethical
perspectives and humaneness.
In considering reasonable alternatives, the EIS will study the
effects of the project on these environmental issues.
[[Page 27939]]
While the environmental issues evaluated at the local level have not
been significant, a decision to implement the proposed action would
expand the current program capabilities to a national scale and
encourage additional national and local level partnerships to address
feral swine conflicts. Comments that identify other issues or
alternatives that should be considered in the EIS would be extremely
helpful.
After the comment period closes, APHIS will review and consider all
comments received during the comment period and any other relevant
information in the development of the EIS. All comments received will
be available for public review. Upon completion of the draft EIS, a
notice announcing its availability and an opportunity to comment will
be published in the Federal Register.
Parking and Security Procedures for the Public Meeting
Persons attending the May 23, 2013, meeting in Riverdale, MD, are
required to register in advance at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/feral_swine/index.shtml or by contacting the person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Travel directions to the USDA Center at Riverside are available on
the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/general_info/directions_riverdale.shtml. Please note that a fee of $5 is required
to enter the parking lot at the USDA Center at Riverside. The machine
accepts bills and coins as well as credit and debit transactions. You
must display your daily parking receipt and have it visible in your
vehicle for parking attendants to recognize. Upon entering the
building, visitors should inform security personnel that they are
attending the feral swine damage management public meeting. Photo
identification is required to gain access to the building, and all bags
will be screened.
For individuals who are unable to attend the meeting in person, it
will be streamed on the Internet as a live Webcast. Information about
how to join the live Webcast and conference line will be made available
at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/feral_swine/index.shtml.
We recommend that you connect at least 5 minutes prior to the start of
the meeting.
Done in Washington, DC, this 8th day of May 2013.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-11271 Filed 5-10-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P