Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 96 / Thursday, May 17, 2001 / Notices 27489

information is estimated to average

1.125 hours per response.

Respondents: Equine owners.

Estimated annual number of

respondents: 420.

Estimated annual number of

responses per respondent: 2.

Estimated annual number of

responses: 840.

Estimated total annual burden on

respondents: 945 hours.

All responses to this notice will be

summarized and included in the request

for OMB approval. All comments will

also become a matter of public record.

Done in Washington, DC, this 11th day of

May 2001.

Richard L. Dunkle,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 01–12429 Filed 5–16–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

[Docket No. 01–009–2]

Wildlife Services; Availability of

Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: We are advising the public

that the Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service has prepared an

environmental assessment for oral

rabies vaccination programs in several

States. The environmental assessment

analyzes the potential environmental

effects of a proposal to continue and

expand the Agency’s involvement in

programs to stop the spread of certain

wildlife-borne rabies strains in the

States of New York, Ohio, Texas,

Vermont, and West Virginia, and

examines similar efforts that may be

conducted in New Hampshire,

Pennsylvania, Florida, Massachusetts,

Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and

Alabama. We are making this

environmental assessment available to

the public for review and comment

prior to an Agency decision.

DATES: We will consider all comments

that we receive by June 18, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Please send four copies of

your comment (an original and three

copies) to: Docket No. 01–009–2,

Regulatory Analysis and Development,

PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03, 4700 River

Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737–

1238. Please state that your comment

refers to Docket No. 01–009–2.

To obtain a copy of the environmental

assessment, contact Elizabeth Harris,

Operational Support Staff, Wildlife

Services, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit

87, Riverdale, MD 20737–1234; phone

(301) 734–7921, fax (301)734–5157, or email: elizabeth.harris@aphis.usda.gov.

You may also read the environmental

assessment and any comments we

receive on this notice of availability 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:

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 strains of

concern.

To provide the public with

documentation of APHIS’ review and

analysis of the environmental impacts

associated with the proposed rabies

control programs discussed in the

March 2001 notice, we have prepared an

environmental assessment (EA). The EA

was 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 1b), and (4) APHIS’ NEPA

Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part

372).

This EA reflects our review and

consideration of the comments received

in response to the March 2001 notice, as

well as a number of issues and

alternatives identified during the

preparation of previous EA’s covering

ORV use in earlier, State-level ORV

programs. The EA is now available for

public review and comment prior to an

Agency decision.

Done in Washington, DC, this 11th day of

May 2001.

Richard L. Dunkle,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 01–12430 Filed 5–16–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P