• Maintain a reliable way of meeting emergency pest 

 suppression funding needs. Work with the Department 

 of Agrictiktne, the Office of Management and Bud- 

 get (OMB), and the Congress to ensure that all 

 parties are kept informed abotit the administration 

 and stattis of suppression funding, including the 

 Emergency Pest Suppression Fund, and that a 

 reliable way of meeting suppression needs is main- 

 tained. 



• Increase research and development of pest suppres- 

 sion options. Prepare and implement a plan for in- 

 creased research and development of alternative 

 methods for pest suppression. 



Environmental Analysis 



GOAL 



Program-level National Environmental Policy Act 

 (NEPA) documents are available prior to major pest 

 outbreaks. 



RATIONALE 



Forest pest suppression activities require supporting environmen- 

 tal analyses. Conducting NEPA analyses on a planned basis avoids 

 the higher costs inciured when these analyses are done on an 

 emergency basis and would allow for rapid responses (suppres- 

 sion) against low-level, but increasing populations of a threaten- 

 ing pest. Preparation of program-level or broad-scale NEPA 

 documents also facilitates early communications with the public. 



ACTION 



The following actions should be taken to make program-level 

 NEPA documents available and keep them ciurent: 



• Prepare program-leiiel or broad-scale NEPA documenta- 

 tion in advance for potentially controversial pest manage- 

 ment activities. Prepare and update programmatic 

 environmental impact statements (EIS's) for major 

 multiregional pests, which can be used as a basis or 

 reference for preparation of site-specific EIS's, envi- 

 ronmental assessments, and forest plans. This activity 

 should include State and other Federal cooperators. 



28 Strategic Goals and Actions 



