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Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: December 5, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 234)]
[Notices]
[Page 63212]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05de01-28]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. 01-039-2]
Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that an environmental assessment
and finding of no significant impact have been prepared by the Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service relative to a demonstration project
to eradicate and prevent the spread of the aquatic weed giant salvinia
in the Toledo Bend Reservoir and surrounding areas in Louisiana and
eastern Texas. The environmental assessment provides a basis for our
conclusion that the implementation of the demonstration project will
not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment.
Based on its finding of no significant impact, the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service has determined that an environmental impact
statement need not be prepared.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the environmental assessment and finding of no
significant impact are available for public inspection 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 theses documents are
requested to call (202) 690-2817 before coming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Alan V. Tasker, National Weed
Program Coordinator, Invasive Species and Pest Management, PPQ, APHIS,
4700 River Road Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-5225.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta) is a free-floating aquatic fern,
native to South America, with a tremendous growth rate and the
potential to significantly affect water-reliant agricultural
industries, recreation, and the ecology of freshwater habitats
throughout much of the United States.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) listed giant
salvinia as a noxious weed in 1983. Under APHIS' regulations, no person
may move giant salvinia into or through the United States, or
interstate, unless he or she obtains a permit for the movement from
APHIS.
In the past several years, giant salvinia has been detected in the
United States, mostly in association with the nursery trade in aquatic
plants. Generally, detections have been in small, confined sites and
are currently contained or have been eradicated. Such detections have
occurred in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana,
Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and
Virginia. Of more serious and immediate concern is the current
infestation in the Toledo Bend Reservoir and the surrounding areas in
Louisiana and eastern Texas. The Toledo Bend Reservoir infestation is a
major one in a large body of water.
Because current efforts to eradicate giant salvinia in the Toledo
Bend Reservoir and the surrounding areas in Louisiana and eastern Texas
have been unsuccessful, APHIS has evaluated additional control methods
available to help eradicate this noxious weed. These control methods
include:
An integrated control approach utilizing herbicides and
mechanical, biological, and regulatory controls.
A biological control program that requires no herbicide
application.
On July 24, 2001, we published in the Federal Register (66 FR
38414-38415, Docket No. 01-039-1) a notice in which we announced the
availability, for public review and comment, of an environmental
assessment that examines the potential environmental effects of the
giant salvinia control methods described above on the Toledo Bend
Reservoir and surrounding areas in Louisiana and eastern Texas. We
solicited comments on the environmental assessment for 30 days ending
on August 23, 2001. We received no comments by that date.
In this document, we are advising the public of APHIS' record of
decision and finding of no significant impact regarding the use of the
methods described above to control giant salvinia in the Toledo Bend
Reservoir and surrounding areas in Louisiana and eastern Texas. This
decision, which is based on the findings of the environmental
assessment, will allow APHIS to begin giant salvinia control activities
in the Toledo Bend Reservoir and surrounding areas.
The environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact
may be viewed on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/es/
ppqdocs.html. 
You may request paper copies of the environmental
assessment and finding of no significant impact by calling or writing
to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please
refer to the title of the environmental assessment when requesting
copies. The environmental assessment and finding of no significant
impact are also available for review in our reading room (information
on the location and hours of the reading room is listed under the
heading ADDRESSES at the beginning of this notice).
The environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact
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 29th day of November 2001.
W. Ron DeHaven,
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 01-30106 Filed 12-4-01; 8:45 am]
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