Wildlife Services; Availability of a Supplemental Environmental Assessment and Decision/Finding of No Significant Impact for Oral Rabies Vaccine Program on National Forest System Lands, 72977-72978 [E5-7064]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
• Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 235 (Thursday, December 8, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72977-72978]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-7064]


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Notices
                                                Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 235 / Thursday, December 8, 2005 / 
Notices

[[Page 72977]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 01-009-8]


Wildlife Services; Availability of a Supplemental Environmental 
Assessment and Decision/Finding of No Significant Impact for Oral 
Rabies Vaccine Program on National Forest System Lands

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA. Cooperating 
Agency: Forest 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 
supplemental environmental assessment (EA) and proposed decision/
finding of no significant impact (FONSI) relative to oral rabies 
vaccination programs on National Forest System lands in several States. 
Since the publication of our original EA and decision/FONSI (2001), a 
subsequent supplemental decision/FONSI (2002), a supplemental EA and 
decision/FONSI (2003), and a second supplemental EA and decision/FONSI 
(2004), we determined the need to further expand the oral rabies 
vaccination program to include National Forest System lands, excluding 
Wilderness Areas, to effectively stop the westward and northward spread 
of the rabies virus across the United States and into Canada. Thus, an 
EA and decision/FONSI was prepared in 2004 to facilitate planning, 
interagency coordination, and program management and to provide the 
public with our analysis of potential individual and cumulative impacts 
of an expanded oral rabies vaccine program. The supplemental EA and 
proposed decision/FONSI (2005) made available by this notice serves to 
update program needs and evaluate current data.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
January 9, 2006. Unless we determine that new substantial issues 
bearing on the effects of the proposed expansion of the oral rabies 
vaccine programs have been raised by public comments on this notice, 
the proposed decision/FONSI will become final and take effect upon the 
close of the comment period.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://
www.regulations.gov and, in the ``Search for Open Regulations'' box, 
select ``Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service'' from the agency 
drop-down menu, then click on ``Submit.'' In the Docket ID column, 
select APHIS-2005-0098 to submit or view public comments and to view 
supporting and related materials available electronically. After the 
close of the comment period, the docket can be viewed using the 
``Advanced Search'' function in Regulations.gov.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send four copies 
of your comment (an original and three copies) to Docket No. 01-009-8, 
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. 01-009-8.
    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 https://www.aphis.usda.gov. To 
obtain copies of any of the documents discussed in this notice, contact 
Tara Wilcox, Operational Support Staff, WS, APHIS, 4700 River Road, 
Unit 87, Riverdale, MD 20737-1234; phone (301) 734-7921, fax (301) 734-
5157, or e-mail: Tara.C.Wilcox@aphis.usda.gov. When requesting copies, 
please specify the document or documents you wish to receive.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Dennis Slate, Rabies Program 
Coordinator, Wildlife Services, APHIS, 59 Chenell Drive, Suite 7, 
Concord, NH 03301-8548; (603) 223-9623.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    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) 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.

[[Page 72978]]

    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.
    Finally, 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 also 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 has become increasingly important to bait these 
large land masses to effectively combat this strain of the rabies 
virus. The supplemental EA made available by this notice analyzes the 
proposed action and several alternatives with respect to a number of 
environmental and other issues raised by involved cooperating agencies 
and the public.
    The August 2001 EA and decision/FONSI, the July 2002 supplemental 
decision/FONSI, the June 2003 supplemental EA and decision/FONSI, the 
February 2004 EA and decision/FONSI for expanded ORV program activities 
on National Forest System lands, the September 2004 supplemental EA and 
decision/FONSI, and the supplemental EA and proposed decision/FONSI for 
further expansion of ORV program activities on National Forest System 
lands, that are the subject of this notice 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 1), and (4) APHIS' NEPA Implementing 
Procedures (7 CFR part 372).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of December, 2005.
Kevin Shea,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. E5-7064 Filed 12-7-05; 8:45 am]
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