[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 198 (Friday, October 14, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-25422]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: October 14, 1994]
VOL. 59, NO. 198
Friday, October 14, 1994
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 94-078-1]
Rangeland Grasshopper Cooperative Management Program
Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service intends to prepare a programmatic environmental
impact statement for the Rangeland Grasshopper Cooperative Management
Program. The programmatic environmental impact statement will analyze
the potential environmental effects of programs to control grasshoppers
and Mormon crickets. We are requesting comments from the public,
including government agencies and private industry, concerning the
scope of issues that should be addressed in the programmatic
environmental impact statement. Our request for comments is the first
step in the development of a programmatic environmental impact
statement.
DATES: Consideration will be given only to comments received on or
before December 13, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Please send an original and three copies of your comments to
Mr. Robert E. Pizel, Environmental Analysis and Documentation, BBEP,
APHIS, USDA, room 828, Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road,
Hyattsville, MD 20782. Please state that your comments refer to Docket
No. 94-078-1. Comments received may be inspected at USDA, room 1141,
South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington,
DC, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
holidays. Persons wishing to inspect comments are requested to call
ahead on (202) 690-2817 to facilitate entry into the comment reading
room.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert Pizel or Mr. Charles Brown,
Environmental Analysis and Documentation, BBEP, APHIS, USDA, room 828,
Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782, (301) 436-
8565; or Mr. Charles Bare, Senior Operations Officer, Domestic and
Emergency Operations, Plant Protection and Quarantine, APHIS, USDA,
room 643, Federal Building, 6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782,
(301) 436-8247.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Grasshoppers and Mormon crickets are members of the Class Insecta
and the Order Orthoptera, which contains several hundred species,
although only about 35 species are perennial pests of plants.
Grasshoppers and Mormon crickets have the potential for sudden and
explosive population increases, which can be so extreme that all
vegetation is consumed in outbreak situations. These infestations are
often so extensive that individual land managers alone cannot control
the damage.
The migratory and widespread nature of grasshoppers and Mormon
crickets also makes coordination of management programs across multi-
jurisdictional boundaries essential. The purpose of the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS) Rangeland Grasshopper
Cooperative Management Program is to protect American agriculture and
natural resources from losses caused by economically significant
infestations of grasshoppers and Mormon crickets. APHIS fulfills the
need to coordinate and provide direct supervision for grasshopper and
Mormon cricket management programs in cooperation with other Federal
agencies, State agricultural agencies, and private individuals.
The geographic area affected by management programs consists of the
States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota,
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon,
South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the Delta Junction
region in Alaska.
Significant new information and management techniques indicate the
need for APHIS to develop a new programmatic environmental impact
statement (EIS). The following agencies have been asked to cooperate
with APHIS in preparing the EIS: Agricultural Research Service,
Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, and Forest
Service, United States Department of Agriculture; National Marine
Fisheries Service, U.S. Department of Commerce; U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, U.S. Department of Defense; Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau
of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park
Service, U.S. Department of Interior; and the Environmental Protection
Agency. The purpose of the programmatic EIS is to examine alternatives
for Federal grasshopper and Mormon cricket management efforts in the
United States. The EIS will incorporate information from the 1987
programmatic EIS for the Rangeland Grasshopper Cooperative Management
Program and will also present information that has been developed since
1987. The resulting EIS will be used for planning, decisionmaking, and
to inform the public regarding the environmental effects of grasshopper
and Mormon cricket management programs. The analysis and resulting EIS
will also provide the programmatic overview to which APHIS can tier
site-specific analyses and environmental assessments.
We are issuing this notice of intent to prepare an EIS in
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321
et seq.) and Sec. 1501.7 of the Council on Environmental Quality
regulations (40 CFR 1501.7).
Scoping Process
The initial step in the process of EIS development is scoping.
Scoping includes solicitation of public involvement in the form of
written comments, and evaluation of these comments. This process is
used for determining the scope of issues to be addressed. We are
therefore asking for written comments that identify significant
environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EIS. We invite
comments from the public, including private industry and Federal,
State, and local government agencies that have an interest in the
Rangeland Grasshopper Cooperative Management Program or related
programs, and from Federal and State agencies that have either
jurisdiction by law or special expertise regarding any national program
issue or environmental impact that should be discussed in the EIS.
Alternatives
We will consider all reasonable and realistic action alternatives
recommended in the comments we receive. The following alternatives have
already been identified for comprehensive analysis in the EIS:
(1) Chemical control (e.g. chemical pesticide sprays and baits);
(2) Biological control (e.g. pathogens and predators);
(3) Cultural control (e.g. range management practices);
(4) Integrated pest management (e.g., some combination of the above
methods); and
(5) No action.
Major Issues
The following are some of the major issues that will be discussed
in the EIS:
(1) The use of organisms exotic to the United States as biocontrol
agents. Pathogenic and parasitic organisms native to areas outside of
the United States have been proposed as biocontrol agents to control
native grasshoppers. The concern is the potential for effects on native
ecosystems.
(2) The effects of grasshopper and Mormon cricket management
programs on nontarget organisms. The need is to encapsulate and
summarize the considerable amount of information that has been
developed since 1987 regarding the effects of program treatments on
flora and fauna, including endangered and threatened species.
(3) Treatments on lands enrolled in the Federal Conservation
Reserve Program. The issue is the responsibility for grasshopper and
Mormon cricket management on lands that have been removed from
agricultural production and enrolled in the Conservation Reserve
Program.
(4) Public involvement in site-specific planning and
decisionmaking.
(5) Emerging technologies for grasshopper and Mormon cricket
management.
(6) Monitoring grasshopper and Mormon cricket management programs.
The need is to summarize and analyze monitoring data that has been
collected since 1987 and to guide future monitoring plans.
(7) The relationship of grazing practices to grasshopper and Mormon
cricket populations and outbreaks.
(8) The economics of grasshopper and Mormon cricket management.
Preparation of the EIS
Following the scoping, we will prepare an EIS for the Rangeland
Grasshopper Cooperative Management Program. A notice announcing that
the EIS is available for review will then be published in the Federal
Register. The notice will also request comments concerning the EIS.
Done in Washington, DC, this 6th day of October 1994.
Terry L. Medley,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 94-25422 Filed 10-13-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P
