83 FR 31117 - Oral Rabies Vaccine Trial; Availability of a Supplemental Environmental Assessment

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 128 (July 3, 2018)

We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared a supplemental environmental assessment (EA) relative to an oral rabies vaccination field trial in New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Vermont, and West Virginia. The supplemental EA analyzes expanding the field trial for an experimental oral rabies vaccine for wildlife to additional areas in Ohio and West Virginia. The proposed field trial is necessary to evaluate whether the wildlife rabies vaccine will produce sufficient levels of population immunity against raccoon rabies. We are making the supplemental EA available to the public for review and comment.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 3, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31117-31118]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14307]


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 128 / Tuesday, July 3, 2018 / 
Notices

[[Page 31117]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2018-0033]


Oral Rabies Vaccine Trial; Availability of a Supplemental 
Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service has prepared a supplemental environmental assessment 
(EA) relative to an oral rabies vaccination field trial in New 
Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Vermont, and West Virginia. The supplemental 
EA analyzes expanding the field trial for an experimental oral rabies 
vaccine for wildlife to additional areas in Ohio and West Virginia. The 
proposed field trial is necessary to evaluate whether the wildlife 
rabies vaccine will produce sufficient levels of population immunity 
against raccoon rabies. We are making the supplemental EA available to 
the public for review and comment.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before 
August 2, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2018-0033.
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to 
Docket No. APHIS-2018-0033, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, 
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-
1238.
    The supplemental environmental assessment and any comments we 
receive may be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2018-0033 or in our reading room, which 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) 799-7039 before coming.
    This notice and the supplemental environmental assessment are also 
posted on the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service website at 
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/ws/ws_nepa_environmental_documents.shtml.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Richard Chipman, Rabies Program 
Coordinator, Wildlife Services, APHIS, 59 Chennell Drive, Suite 7, 
Concord, NH 03301; (603) 223-9623, email: 
[email protected]. To obtain copies of the supplemental 
environmental assessment, contact Ms. Beth Kabert, Staff Wildlife 
Biologist, Wildlife Services, 140-C Locust Grove Road, Pittstown, NJ 
08867; (908) 735-5654, fax (908) 735-0821; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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.
    APHIS-WS conducts an oral rabies vaccination (ORV) program to 
control the spread of rabies. The ORV program has utilized a vaccinia-
rabies glycoprotein (V-RG) vaccine. APHIS-WS' use of the V-RG vaccine 
has resulted in several notable accomplishments, including the 
elimination of canine rabies from sources in Mexico, the successful 
control of gray fox rabies virus variant in western Texas, and the 
prevention of any appreciable spread of raccoon rabies in the eastern 
United States. While the prevention of any appreciable spread of 
raccoon rabies in the eastern United States represents a major 
accomplishment in rabies management, the V-RG vaccine has not been 
effective in eliminating raccoon rabies from high-risk spread 
corridors. This fact prompted APHIS-WS to evaluate rabies vaccines 
capable of producing higher levels of population immunity against 
raccoon rabies to better control the spread of this disease.
    Since 2011, APHIS-WS has been conducting field trials to study the 
immunogenicity and safety of an experimental oral rabies vaccine, a 
human adenovirus type 5 rabies glycoprotein recombinant vaccine called 
ONRAB (produced by Artemis Technologies Inc., Guelph, Ontario, Canada). 
The field trials began in portions of West Virginia, including U.S. 
Department of Agriculture Forest Service National Forest System lands.
    Beginning in 2012, APHIS-WS has expanded the field trials into 
portions of New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Vermont, and new areas of 
West Virginia, including National Forest System lands, in order to 
further assess the immunogenicity of ONRAB in raccoons and skunks for 
raccoon rabies virus variant.
    APHIS-WS is now proposing to add Belmont and Monroe Counties in 
Ohio, and Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, and Ohio Counties in West Virginia 
to the field trial bait zone. Based on favorable results from previous 
U.S. ONRAB field trials and pressure from rabies cases in Pennsylvania 
and the West Virginia panhandle, we determined the need to use ONRAB 
vaccine baits in the remaining areas of the Ohio and West Virginia 
where rabies cases may still persist.
    APHIS-WS has prepared a supplemental environmental assessment (EA) 
in which we analyze expanding the area of the field trial zone in Ohio 
and West Virginia. We are making the supplemental EA available to the 
public for review and comment. We will consider all comments that we 
receive on or before the date listed under the heading DATES at the 
beginning of this notice.
    The supplemental EA may be viewed on the Regulations.gov website or 
in our reading room (see ADDRESSES above for instructions for accessing 
Regulations.gov and information on the location and hours of the 
reading room). In addition, paper copies may be obtained by calling or 
writing to the

[[Page 31118]]

individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    The EA has 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 1b), and (4) 
APHIS' NEPA Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part 372).

    Done in Washington, DC, this 27th day of June 2018.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-14307 Filed 7-2-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-P