Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment for the Southeastern Oregon Resource Management Plan, Vale District, Oregon, 14090-14091 [2024-03766]

Download as PDF 14090 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices May 24, 1977; and CEQ regulations (40 CFR 1500–1508)). Stephen G. Tryon, Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance. [FR Doc. 2024–03846 Filed 2–23–24; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4331–27–P DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [BLM_OR_FRN_MO4500177642] Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment for the Southeastern Oregon Resource Management Plan, Vale District, Oregon Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Notice of availability. AGENCY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Approved Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment for the Southeastern Oregon RMP, located in the BLM’s Vale District. The State Director, Oregon/Washington signed the ROD on February 16, 2024, which constitutes the decision of the BLM and makes the Approved RMP Amendment effective immediately. DATES: The State Director, Oregon/ Washington signed the ROD/Approved RMP Amendment on February 16, 2024. ADDRESSES: The ROD/Approved RMP Amendment is available online at the BLM National NEPA Register at https:// eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/ project/87435/510. Printed copies of the ROD/Approved RMP Amendment are available for public inspection at the BLM Vale District Office, 100 Oregon Street, Vale, Oregon 97918, telephone: (541) 473–3144. A copy of the Protest Resolution Report is available at: https:// www.blm.gov/programs/planning-andnepa/public-participation/protestresolution-reports. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caryn Burri, Planning and Environmental Coordinator, Vale District Office; telephone: (541) 473– 3144; email: cburri@blm.gov. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services for contacting Ms. Burri. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services offered within their khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:23 Feb 23, 2024 Jkt 262001 country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States. The Approved RMP Amendment amends the existing 2002 Southeastern Oregon RMP. The Southeastern Oregon planning area covers approximately 4.6 million acres of public lands in Malheur, Grant, Harney, and Baker Counties. The Approved RMP Amendment provides management direction for lands with wilderness characteristics; makes planning-areawide travel and transportation/offhighway vehicle (OHV) allocations of open, limited, and closed; and provides management direction for livestock grazing in areas that fail to meet the BLM’s Standards for Rangeland Health and for processing voluntary livestock grazing permit relinquishments. The Approved RMP Amendment prioritizes the protection of 33 of the 76 areas the BLM identifies as having wilderness characteristics. The 33 protected areas will be managed as: Visual Resource Management Class II public lands, which only allows for low levels of change to the landscapes’ visual character; Land Tenure Zone 1, where the BLM retains the lands in public ownership for the life of the RMP; OHV limited; and exclusion areas for major rights-of-way and commercial renewable energy projects. No surface occupancy for the development and extraction of leasable and saleable minerals, including new mineral material sites, within the protected areas is allowed. Where roads form the boundary of a protected wilderness characteristic unit, a 250-foot management setback is established. The setback areas total 9,247 acres. Under the Approved RMP Amendment, two areas totaling 40,368 acres near the city of Vale, Oregon, will be managed as open to OHV use; 319,501 acres currently classified as open will be designated as limited to existing routes, resulting in a total 4.5 million acres of limited OHV classification in the planning area; and 15,829 acres closed to OHV use will remain closed. The Approved RMP Amendment: (1) requires the BLM to consider taking action in areas that are not meeting Standards for Rangeland Health even if existing livestock grazing is not a causal factor for non-attainment of the standard; (2) clarifies that the BLM will not permit increases to animal unit months if analysis finds that doing so could cause negative impacts to other resources in an area where there is either no rangeland health assessment SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 and evaluation or if the evaluation no longer represents the existing resource conditions; and (3) requires the BLM to review the suitability and compatibility of livestock grazing use with other existing resources in the permitted area when a voluntary permit relinquishment is received. If livestock grazing is found to be unsuitable and/ or incompatible, the area will become unavailable to grazing and the forage allocation will be made to another resource. If grazing is found to be suitable and/or compatible, then the allocation of forage to livestock grazing use would remain in place. The BLM could authorize grazing use for the area under a grazing permit or designate the area as a reserve common allotment. The BLM provided the Proposed RMP Amendment/Final Environmental Impact Statement (PRMPA/FEIS) for a 30-day public protest period starting on June 16, 2023, and received two valid protests. The BLM Assistant Director for Resources and Planning resolved both protests. Responses to protest issues were compiled and documented in a Protest Resolution Report (see ADDRESSES). Minor clarifications to the language in the Approved RMP Amendment related to the way BLM manages Wilderness Study Areas that are released from consideration for Wilderness designation by Congress were made in response to an issue raised on this topic in one of the protests received. The BLM provided the PRMPA/FEIS to the Governor of Oregon for a 60-day Governor’s consistency review on June 16, 2023. The Governor’s Office identified some concerns and potential inconsistencies between the PRMPA and State and local plans, policies, and programs. The BLM discussed the concerns with the Governor’s Office and, in response, made minor clarifications in the Approved RMP Amendment regarding how lands with wilderness characteristics that are not prioritized for protection will be managed and the way in which BLM manages Wilderness Study Areas that are released from consideration for Wilderness designation by Congress. The clarifications made to the Approved RMP Amendment in response to both the issues raised in one of the protests received and the Oregon Governor’s consistency review were minor and did not represent a change requiring the BLM to provide the public with an opportunity to comment as discussed in 43 CFR 1610.2(f)(5) and 1610.5–1. E:\FR\FM\26FEN1.SGM 26FEN1 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices (Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6; 43 CFR 1610.5– 1) Barry R. Bushue, State Director. [FR Doc. 2024–03766 Filed 2–23–24; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4331–24–P DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Indian Gaming Commission Agency Information Collection Activities; New Collection: Information Management Standard Assessment Questionnaires National Indian Gaming Commission, Interior. ACTION: Second Notice of New Information Collection; request for comments. AGENCY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC or Commission) is providing notice that it is requesting, concurrently with the publication of this notice or soon thereafter, for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review and approve a new information collection. DATES: The OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove information collection requests, but may respond after 30 days. Therefore, public comments should be submitted to OMB by no later than March 27, 2024, in order to be assured of consideration. ADDRESSES: Submit comments directly to OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: Policy Analyst/ Desk Officer for the National Indian Gaming Commission. Comments can also be emailed to <OIRA_Submission@ omb.eop.gov>, include reference to ‘‘NIGC PRA New Collection’’ in the subject line. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, including copies of the proposed collections of information and supporting documentation, contact Tim Osumi by email at tim.osumi@ nigc.gov, or by telephone at (771) 220– 3592; or by fax at (202) 632–7066 (not toll-free numbers). You may also review these information collection requests by going to <https://www.reginfo.gov> (Information Collection Review, Currently Under Review, Agency: National Indian Gaming Commission). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: I. Background The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), Public Law 100–497, 25 U.S.C. 2701, et seq., was signed into law on VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:23 Feb 23, 2024 Jkt 262001 October 17, 1988. The IGRA established the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) and outlined a comprehensive framework for the regulation of gaming on Indian lands. Among the IGRA’s requirements is that persons who apply for a ‘‘key employee’’ (KE) or ‘‘primary management official’’ (PMO) position at a tribal gaming operation must undergo a background investigation ((§ 2710(b)(2)(F)(i)). Similarly, the IGRA requires that persons who have direct or indirect financial interest in, or management responsibility for, a tribal gaming management contract, must undergo a background investigation and be evaluated for suitability as part of the NIGC’s management contract review process ((§ 2711(a), (e)(1)(D)). In keeping with these background investigative statutory requirements, NIGC regulations 25 CFR 522.2(g), 25 CFR 556.4(a)(14), and 25 CFR 537.1(b)(2) stipulate that prospective KEs/PMOs and management contractors must submit their fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and undergo a criminal history record information (CHRI) check. Although CHRI checks are integral to the tribal KE/PMO applicant licensing process, tribes do not possess the necessary statutory authority to directly access FBI CHRI for this purpose. The NIGC, as a Federal agency empowered under the IGRA to access CHRI (§§ 2706(b)(3) & (7), 2708), accepts tribal fingerprint submissions and transmits them to the FBI for this purpose. In return, the FBI provides CHRI check results to the NIGC and the NIGC shares these results with the requesting tribe. In this process, the NIGC assumes the role of a CJIS (Criminal Justice Information Services) Systems Agency (CSA), a duly authorized agency on the CJIS network that provides service to criminal justice users with respect to the criminal justice information (from the various systems managed by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) CJIS Division. The roles and responsibilities under which the NIGC, FBI, and tribes process CHRI checks are memorialized in Memoranda of Understanding between the FBI and the NIGC and between the NIGC and each requesting tribe. One such responsibility is to monitor the dissemination of CHRI to ensure FBIcompliant privacy and security standards are followed. This responsibility is detailed in FBI CJIS Security Policy, Policy Area 11 (CJISSECPOL 5.11.2) which specifies that the NIGC, as a CSA, is required to establish a process to periodically audit tribes that receive CHRI to ensure PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 9990 14091 compliance with applicable statutes, regulations and policies. To fulfill this obligation, the NIGC has established a CJIS Audit Unit (CAU), which is tasked with coordinating with tribal authorities to ensure that NIGC-disseminated CHRI is handled and managed in accordance with applicable statutes, regulations, and policies. In performing its oversight duties, the CAU will deploy questionnaires to gather information. This information will be used to assess and document tribal compliance with privacy and security standards and will enable the CAU to identify information management risk factors that may require remediation. Responding to this information collection is voluntary, however, failure to collect this information may impair the NIGC’s ability to fulfill its obligations under its MOUs with the FBI and its tribal partners. Indeed, this information collection is a vital tool for the NIGC CAU to perform its function and helps to ensure that the NIGC can continue to support the successful tribal operation of tribal gaming under the IGRA. II. Data Title: Information Management Standard Assessment Questionnaires. OMB Control Number: 3141–xxxx. Brief Description of Collection: The collection involves questions that seek information about tribal security and privacy protections governing the processing, handling, and storing of NIGC-disseminated CHRI. The questions closely track the FBI’s standard CJIS compliance questionnaires but have been streamlined and adapted to tribal specific standards. The information collected is related to information policies, procedures, and system configurations and includes some type and amount of measurable evidence that confirms their proper implementation. Respondents: Indian tribal gaming operations. Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 140. Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 140. Estimated Time per Response: 37.5 minutes. Frequency of Responses: Annually. Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours on Respondents: 87.5. Estimated Total Non-hour Cost Burden: $0. Edward Simermeyer, Chairman. [FR Doc. 2024–03773 Filed 2–23–24; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7565–01–P E:\FR\FM\26FEN1.SGM 26FEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 38 (Monday, February 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14090-14091]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03766]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_OR_FRN_MO4500177642]


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision and Approved 
Resource Management Plan Amendment for the Southeastern Oregon Resource 
Management Plan, Vale District, Oregon

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Approved Resource Management 
Plan (RMP) Amendment for the Southeastern Oregon RMP, located in the 
BLM's Vale District. The State Director, Oregon/Washington signed the 
ROD on February 16, 2024, which constitutes the decision of the BLM and 
makes the Approved RMP Amendment effective immediately.

DATES: The State Director, Oregon/Washington signed the ROD/Approved 
RMP Amendment on February 16, 2024.

ADDRESSES: The ROD/Approved RMP Amendment is available online at the 
BLM National NEPA Register at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/87435/510. Printed copies of the ROD/Approved RMP Amendment are 
available for public inspection at the BLM Vale District Office, 100 
Oregon Street, Vale, Oregon 97918, telephone: (541) 473-3144.
    A copy of the Protest Resolution Report is available at: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caryn Burri, Planning and 
Environmental Coordinator, Vale District Office; telephone: (541) 473-
3144; email: [email protected]. Individuals in the United States who are 
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay 
services for contacting Ms. Burri. Individuals outside the United 
States should use the relay services offered within their country to 
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Approved RMP Amendment amends the 
existing 2002 Southeastern Oregon RMP. The Southeastern Oregon planning 
area covers approximately 4.6 million acres of public lands in Malheur, 
Grant, Harney, and Baker Counties. The Approved RMP Amendment provides 
management direction for lands with wilderness characteristics; makes 
planning-area-wide travel and transportation/off-highway vehicle (OHV) 
allocations of open, limited, and closed; and provides management 
direction for livestock grazing in areas that fail to meet the BLM's 
Standards for Rangeland Health and for processing voluntary livestock 
grazing permit relinquishments.
    The Approved RMP Amendment prioritizes the protection of 33 of the 
76 areas the BLM identifies as having wilderness characteristics. The 
33 protected areas will be managed as: Visual Resource Management Class 
II public lands, which only allows for low levels of change to the 
landscapes' visual character; Land Tenure Zone 1, where the BLM retains 
the lands in public ownership for the life of the RMP; OHV limited; and 
exclusion areas for major rights-of-way and commercial renewable energy 
projects. No surface occupancy for the development and extraction of 
leasable and saleable minerals, including new mineral material sites, 
within the protected areas is allowed. Where roads form the boundary of 
a protected wilderness characteristic unit, a 250-foot management 
setback is established. The setback areas total 9,247 acres.
    Under the Approved RMP Amendment, two areas totaling 40,368 acres 
near the city of Vale, Oregon, will be managed as open to OHV use; 
319,501 acres currently classified as open will be designated as 
limited to existing routes, resulting in a total 4.5 million acres of 
limited OHV classification in the planning area; and 15,829 acres 
closed to OHV use will remain closed.
    The Approved RMP Amendment: (1) requires the BLM to consider taking 
action in areas that are not meeting Standards for Rangeland Health 
even if existing livestock grazing is not a causal factor for non-
attainment of the standard; (2) clarifies that the BLM will not permit 
increases to animal unit months if analysis finds that doing so could 
cause negative impacts to other resources in an area where there is 
either no rangeland health assessment and evaluation or if the 
evaluation no longer represents the existing resource conditions; and 
(3) requires the BLM to review the suitability and compatibility of 
livestock grazing use with other existing resources in the permitted 
area when a voluntary permit relinquishment is received. If livestock 
grazing is found to be unsuitable and/or incompatible, the area will 
become unavailable to grazing and the forage allocation will be made to 
another resource. If grazing is found to be suitable and/or compatible, 
then the allocation of forage to livestock grazing use would remain in 
place. The BLM could authorize grazing use for the area under a grazing 
permit or designate the area as a reserve common allotment.
    The BLM provided the Proposed RMP Amendment/Final Environmental 
Impact Statement (PRMPA/FEIS) for a 30-day public protest period 
starting on June 16, 2023, and received two valid protests. The BLM 
Assistant Director for Resources and Planning resolved both protests. 
Responses to protest issues were compiled and documented in a Protest 
Resolution Report (see ADDRESSES). Minor clarifications to the language 
in the Approved RMP Amendment related to the way BLM manages Wilderness 
Study Areas that are released from consideration for Wilderness 
designation by Congress were made in response to an issue raised on 
this topic in one of the protests received.
    The BLM provided the PRMPA/FEIS to the Governor of Oregon for a 60-
day Governor's consistency review on June 16, 2023. The Governor's 
Office identified some concerns and potential inconsistencies between 
the PRMPA and State and local plans, policies, and programs. The BLM 
discussed the concerns with the Governor's Office and, in response, 
made minor clarifications in the Approved RMP Amendment regarding how 
lands with wilderness characteristics that are not prioritized for 
protection will be managed and the way in which BLM manages Wilderness 
Study Areas that are released from consideration for Wilderness 
designation by Congress. The clarifications made to the Approved RMP 
Amendment in response to both the issues raised in one of the protests 
received and the Oregon Governor's consistency review were minor and 
did not represent a change requiring the BLM to provide the public with 
an opportunity to comment as discussed in 43 CFR 1610.2(f)(5) and 
1610.5-1.


[[Page 14091]]


(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6; 43 CFR 1610.5-1)

Barry R. Bushue,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-03766 Filed 2-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-24-P

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.