The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is announcing to the public the intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to examine the potential environmental effects of the agency’s response activities to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks in commercial and backyard poultry operations in the United States.

APHIS is requesting public comment to further define the scope of the EIS and identify reasonable alternatives and potential issues, as well as relevant information, studies and/or analyses that APHIS should consider in the EIS.

HPAI is an extremely infectious disease that is mostly fatal to poultry and can rapidly spread within and between domestic poultry flocks and wild bird (especially waterfowl) populations.

Additional information on this action can be found at https://www.regulations.gov/document/APHIS-2022-0055-0001.

Source: USDA's APHIS