[Federal Register: July 5, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 129)]
[Notices]               
[Page 44797-44798]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05jy02-25]                         

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

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. 01-009-4]

 
Wildlife Services; Availability of a Supplemental Decision/
Finding of No Significant Impact for Oral Rabies Vaccine Program

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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

SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have prepared a supplement 
to an August 2001 decision/finding of no significant impact relative to 
oral rabies vaccination programs in several States. Since the 
publication of our original decision/finding of no significant impact, 
we have determined there is a need to expand the oral rabies vaccine 
program to include the States of Kentucky and Tennessee to effectively 
stop the westward spread of raccoon rabies. The purpose of the new 
decision/finding of no significant impact is 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.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive by August 5, 2002. 
Unless new substantial issues bearing on the effects of the proposed 
expansion of the oral rabies vaccine program are brought to our 
attention, the new decision/finding of no significant impact will take 
effect upon the close of the comment period.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by postal mail/commercial delivery 
or by e-mail. If you use postal mail/commercial delivery, please send 
four copies of your comment (an original and three copies) to: Docket 
No. 01-009-4, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 
3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state 
that your comment refers to Docket No. 01-009-4. If you use e-mail, 
address your comment to regulations@aphis.usda.gov. Your comment must 
be contained in the body of your message; do not send attached files. 
Please include your name and address in your message and ``Docket No. 
01-009-4'' on the subject line.
    To obtain copies of the environmental assessment, the original 
decision/finding of no significant impact, and the supplemental 
decision/finding of no significant impact, contact Tara Wilcox, 
Operational Support Staff, Wildlife Services, 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.
    You may also read the documents discussed in this notice, as well 
as 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.
    APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related 
information, including the names of organizations and individuals who 
have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Dennis Slate, Rabies Program 
Coordinator, Wildlife Services, APHIS, 59 Chennell Drive, Suite 7, 
Concord, NH 03301-8548; phone (603) 223-6832.

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.
    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,

[[Page 44798]]

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.
    Since the August 2001 publication of our original decision/FONSI, 
we have determined there is a need to expand the ORV programs to 
include the States of Kentucky and Tennessee to effectively stop the 
westward spread of raccoon rabies. The purpose of the new decision/
FONSI is 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.
    The States where APHIS-WS involvement would be continued or 
expanded include Kentucky, Tennessee, New York, Ohio, Texas, Vermont, 
Florida, Virginia, and West Virginia. A small portion of northwestern 
New Hampshire and the western counties in Pennsylvania that border Ohio 
could also be included in these control efforts. In addition, APHIS-WS 
may cooperate in smaller-scale ORV projects in the States of Florida, 
Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, and Alabama as part of the 
proposed action. As noted above, the primary goal of the ORV programs 
is to stop the spread of specific strains of the rabies virus, i.e., 
raccoon rabies in the eastern States and gray fox and coyote rabies in 
Texas. The EA analyzed the proposed action and several alternatives 
with respect to a number of environmental and other issues raised by 
involved cooperating agencies and the public. Analyses of the potential 
impacts of ORV programs in those specific geographic areas that were 
not examined in the EA are presented in the supplemental decision/FONSI 
and have been incorporated into the decisionmaking process.
    The EA, the August 2001 FONSI, and the supplemental FONSI that is 
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 28th day of June, 2002.
Bobby R. Acord,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 02-16823 Filed 7-3-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P