APHIS Issues Draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment for the Spotted Lanternfly Program

Washington, D.C. – August 20, 2021. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has completed a draft supplemental environmental assessment (EA) required under the National Environmental Policy Act for its spotted lanternfly program. The previous EA for the spotted lanternfly program was finalized in June 2020 and included control and monitoring activities in the mid-Atlantic Region, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Ohio. This draft supplemental EA covers the same activities addressed in the June 2020 EA and adds ground-based mist blower treatments at intermodal facilities and along railroad right of ways. Mist blower treatments are proposed at these sites, statewide in Pennsylvania, and select counties in Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The spotted lanternfly may occur on a variety of plant species, including tree-of-heaven, grapevine, stone fruits (apricot, cherry, nectarine, peach, and plum), and other tree species (apple, oak, pine, poplar, and walnut). If allowed to spread, this pest may be harmful to grape, apple, peach, stone fruit, and logging industries.

APHIS is posting a notice of availability for the draft supplemental EA in newspapers in states that have a spotted lanternfly control program. APHIS is publishing the draft supplemental EA at https://www.regulations.gov/ and on the APHIS website at USDA APHIS | Spotted Lanternfly for a 30-day public comment period.