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Scoping Comment Deadline for on the USDA-APHIS Programatic EIS on Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket Suppression Program –

July 20 @ 9:30 pm - 9:59 pm
Comment deadline for scoping on the USDA-APHIS Programatic EIS – Notice was published in the Federal Register on June 18, 2026 (Vol. 91, No. 117). This aligns with the July 20th comment deadline. It is a Notice of Intent (NOI) by USDA-APHIS to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for its Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket Suppression Program.
Key details of the notice:
  • Agency: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
  • Comment Deadline: Through midnight on July 20, 2026
  • Docket Number: APHIS-2026-0628 []
Public comments can be submitted electronically using the Regulations.gov Portal (ensure you search for APHIS-2026-0628). []
You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Enter APHIS–2026–0628 in the Search field. Select the Documents tab, then select the Comment button in the list of documents.
• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send a single copy of your comment to this address: Docket No. APHIS–2026– 0628, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, #AP760, Beltsville, MD 20705. Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. APHIS– 2026–0628.
We assume the time-of-day for the deadline,  is midnight Eastern Time, as the authors are in Maryland.
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Take Action
Lots of groups are upset about this, so if you search in your browser, you likely can find an alert,
 Xerces Society has a petition to sign. – https://win.newmode.net/xerces-aphis-july-2026
Here is a quote from their alert:

“The U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) oversees a program to kill grasshoppers and Mormon crickets across 17 western states. In a typical year, APHIS sprays insecticides to kill grasshoppers or crickets on hundreds of thousands and sometimes even millions of acres of western lands each year. 

Special areas on our public lands are not exempt – in fact APHIS has treated National Wildlife Refuges, Wilderness Study Areas, Important Bird Areas and other sensitive lands routinely, even in recent years. Because single treatment blocks can and often do measure hundreds of square miles, pollinators and other native wildlife have no way of escaping the sprays.

The APHIS pesticide-centered approach poses risks to native pollinators, water quality and broader biodiversity, and ignores Congressional direction to incorporate prevention practices that can reduce grasshopper severity.

The Xerces Society invites you to sign [their] petition asking for a better way.

APHIS must:

  • End spraying on sensitive public lands
  • Support prevention-based activities that reduce grasshopper severity
  • Impose comprehensive protections for western rivers and streams 
  • Increase transparency, notification, and engagement”

Details

  • Date: July 20
  • Time:
    9:30 pm - 9:59 pm