United States Department of Agri culture

Marketing and Regulatory Programs

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Wildlife Services

Washington, DC Dear Interested Party :
For more than 15 years, U

. S

. D epartment of A griculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) ha ve provided feral swine management and support at the state and local level. While these efforts have helped alleviat e localized damage, the overall feral swine population has continued to increase rapidly , and the problems they cause have become national in scope. To more effectively address the damage and disease risks associated with this invasive species, APHIS is c onsidering implementing a nationally coordinated feral swine damage management program in partnership with States and Tribes.

We are issuing this notice to advise you that APHIS intends to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to evaluate the env ironmental impacts of the proposal and to engage the public in the process. The EIS will respond to a need f or a feral swine damage management program to protect agriculture, natural resources, property, and human health and safety throughout the United S tates, and Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the other U.S. territories

. More information about the proposal can be found on the APHIS feral swine web page by visiting http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/feral_swine/index.shtml and clicking on the feral swine EIS link.

We are soliciting public comments to help us determine the scope of alternatives and environmental impacts and issues to be evaluated in the EIS. The scoping comment period will be open for 30 days after publication of the Notice of Intent and Scoping in the Federal Register

. We anticipate that the Federal Register notice will be posted in mid May 2013. Once the Notice of Intent and Scoping is published in the Federal Register, APHIS will also post the closing date of the comment period on its feral swine web page

. All comments received by the due date will be considered in developing the draft EIS.

As part of our scoping process, we will a lso hold a public meeting to present information about the proposal and to take comments related to issues and alternatives that should be considered in the EIS. The meeting will be on Thursday, May 23, 2013 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the USDA Center at Riverside, 1st floor, Conference Centers A

- D, 4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737. Advanced registration is required for this meeting. Anyone who is unable to attend in person can join the meeting via a live Webcast. Please visit the APHIS feral swi ne web page to register and learn more. It is not necessary to attend the meeting to engage in the EIS process and provide comments.

Safeguarding American Agriculture

APHIS is an agency of USDA’s Marketing and Regulatory Programs An Equal Opportunity Provider and EmployerInterested Party 2

We will accept comments on the proposal by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS

- 2013

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• 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, 1 st floor, Conference Cente rs A

- D, 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.

More detailed information about the EIS i ncluding notices, updates and public participation opportunities will be available on the APHIS feral swine web page as it becomes available. Once again, the internet address is: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/feral_swine/index.shtml

For further information, please contact Dr. Kimberly Wagner, Staff Wildlife Biologist, Wildlife Services, APHIS, 732 Lois Drive, Sun Prairie, WI 53590; (608) 837

- 2727.

Thank you for yo ur interest.

Sincerely,

William H. Clay Deputy Administrator