This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

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section.

Notices Federal Register

45217

Vol. 62, No. 165

Tuesday, August 26, 1997

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

[Docket No. 97–072–1]

Supplemental Environmental Impact

Statement for the Importation of Logs,

Lumber, and Other Unmanufactured

Wood Articles

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: We are advising the public

that the Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service will prepare a

supplement to the environmental

impact statement, issued in July 1994,

for the rulemaking proceeding entitled

‘‘Importation of Logs, Lumber, and

Other Unmanufactured Wood Articles.’’

Supplementation of the impact

statement is in response to a Federal

district court’s finding that the final

environmental impact statement does

not completely satisfy applicable

requirements of the National

Environmental Policy Act and the

Council on Environmental Quality’s

implementing regulations. Comments

on the proposed scope of the

supplement are welcome.

DATES: Consideration will be given only

to comments received on or before

September 25, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Please send an original and

three copies of your comments to

Docket No. 97–072–1, Regulatory

Analysis and Development, PPD,

APHIS, suite 3C03, 4700 River Road

Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–1238.

Please state that your comments refer to

Docket No. 97–072–1. 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.

Richard Orr, Entomologist, Risk

Analysis Systems, PPD, APHIS, 4700

River Road Unit 117, Riverdale, MD

20737–1238; (301) 734–8939.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a final

rule published in the Federal Register

on May 25, 1995 (60 FR 27665–27682,

Docket No. 91–074–6) and effective

August 23, 1995, the Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

established comprehensive regulations

concerning imported unmanufactured

wood articles. That final rule was

supported, in part, by a final

environmental impact statement (FEIS)

issued in July 1994 that addressed the

potential impacts on the human

environment, including possible risks to

human health, impacts on forestry

resources, impacts on biodiversity,

impacts from the use of methyl bromide,

and impacts on global climate change,

cultural resources, and endangered and

threatened species. A Federal court has

found (Oregon Natural Resources

Council v. Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, Nos. C 95–4066 CW

and C 96–1541 CW [N.D. Cal. Feb. 27,

1997]) that the FEIS, which examined

alternative means of protecting domestic

forests from pests or disease that could

accompany imported logs, lumber, and

other unmanufactured wood articles, is

deficient in three areas.

First, the court found that the FEIS

‘‘assumes without examination that

individually ineffective control

measures [to minimize pest risks

associated with the importation of logs,

lumber, and unmanufactured wood

articles] will be effective collectively.’’

The impact statement, according to the

court, should highlight ‘‘the

considerable uncertainty about the

effectiveness of different mitigation

measures’’ when used in combination.

Second, the court found that the FEIS

‘‘omits significant information

concerning uncertainties expressed in

the [pest] risk assessments, concerning

compliance [with certification

requirements] by exporting countries,

and concerning the health consequences

of measures to mitigate infestations that

may occur.’’ The impact statement, the

court observed, must discuss ‘‘in a

significant manner the uncertainties

about the risks of infestation and the

adequacy of control measures.’’ With

this change, the FEIS will provide a less

biased portrayal of the risks associated

with the preferred alternative—i.e., to

allow the importation of logs, lumber,

and unmanufactured wood articles

under the conditions set forth in the

May 1995 final rule—and improve its

usefulness to the public and the

decisionmaker. The court also found

that the FEIS must more thoroughly

consider the issue of ‘‘how compliance

problems abroad may limit the

effectiveness of the preferred

alternative.’’ Furthermore, the range of

human health consequences associated

with pesticide applications that might

be required to eradicate any pests that

control measures fail to exclude must be

included in the supplement to the FEIS.

Third, the court found that the FEIS

‘‘fails to discuss adequately the different

environmental impacts of the various

alternatives.’’ The court stated that

‘‘[r]ather than sharply defining the

issues and providing a clear basis for

choice among the alternatives, the

[F]EIS obscures the differences by

labeling them all a matter of degree.’’

The court called for a clear comparison

of the issues and environmental effects

among the alternatives.

The supplement will address the

three areas which the court found that

APHIS failed to adequately address in

the FEIS. Comments regarding the

proposed scope of the supplement to the

FEIS are welcome and will be fully

considered. When the draft of the

supplement is completed, a notice

announcing its availability and an

invitation to comment on it will be

published in the Federal Register.

Done in Washington, DC, this 20th day of

August 1997.

Terry L. Medley,

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 97–22644 Filed 8–25–97; 8:45 am]

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