Department of the Interior September 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This order partially revokes a Public Land Order insofar as if affects 40.16 acres of public land withdrawn for use by the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now New Mexico State University, for research purposes in connection with Federal programs.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (as amended), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) has made available for public review and comment a DEIS for the renewal of Long- Term Water Service Contracts for the San Luis Unit of the Central Valley Project (CVP). The DEIS describes and presents the environmental effects of three altern atives, including no action, for implementing the renewal of the Long-Term Water Service Contracts. A 45-day public comment period will be allowed to receive comments from individuals and organizations on the DEIS. Reclamation issued a previous version of the DEIS on December 9, 2004 (69 FR 71424). Due to information received during the comment period on the previous DEIS, Reclamation has prepared and is issuing a new DEIS.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), give notice that we are suspending import of and foreign commerce in beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) caviar and meat originating in the Caspian Sea littoral states of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, and Turkmenistan effective immediately. This suspension includes shipments that have been exported directly from these countries, re-exported through an intermediary country, or transported as personal or household effects, and it prohibits foreign commerce in the course of a commercial activity. We are taking this action under the special rule that was promulgated to control the trade of threatened beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) (70 FR 10493; March 4, 2005). Interstate commerce in beluga sturgeon caviar or meat from the Caspian Sea basin that was legally imported into the United States before the trade suspension is not prohibited.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) management policies, the Ring of Fire Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (RMP/ EIS) has been prepared for public lands and resources administered by the Bureau of Land Management's Anchorage Field Office The Ring of Fire Draft RMP/EIS will provide the management guidance for resource decisions on 1.3 million acres of fragmented BLM-administered lands spread from below the Dixon Entrance in southeast Alaska to Attu Island at the end of the Aleutian Chain. The Ring of Fire RMP/EIS will revise management direction for approximately 10 percent of the lands covered by the Southcentral Management Framework Plan of 1980, and will provide management for approximately 90 percent of the lands not previously addressed in a management plan.

MMS is delaying until January 1, 2006, the effective date of a rule that regulates plans and information that lessees and operators must submit in connection with oil and gas exploration, development and production on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This delay is necessary because of damage in the New Orleans area caused by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding. This temporary delay will provide relief to the government and the oil and gas industry as they recover from this disaster.

In accordance with Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., the NIGC, in cooperation with the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria (the ``Graton Rancheria''), intends to gather information necessary for preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed casino and hotel project to be located in Sonoma, California. This notice supplements the Notice of Intent (NOI) which appeared in the Federal Register on February 12, 2004 (69 FR 7022 (Feb. 12, 2004)) and advises the public that the NIGC and BIA intends to gather further information necessary to prepare an EIS for a proposed casino and hotel project to be located in Sonoma County, California. The purpose of the proposed action is to help address the socio-economic needs of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. The proposed action is very similar to that proposed in the February 12, 2004, NOI, with the exception that the casino and hotel would be constructed adjacent to and on the east side of the previously proposed site. The shift of the proposed construction site is being considered to avoid environmental constraints discovered on the original site, particularly, to avoid wetlands identified on the original site. Additional details of the new proposed action and location are provided below in the Supplemental Information section. The supplemental scoping process will include notification of and opportunity for the general public and Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies to comment on the new proposed action. The purpose of scoping is to identify public and agency concerns on environmental issues, and alternatives to be considered in the EIS. All the information and comments gathered in response to the earlier NOI remain in the record, and there is no need to repeat information submitted at that time.

Section 368 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (the Act), Public Law 109-58 (H.R. 6), enacted August 8, 2005, directs the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, and the Interior (the Agencies) to designate under their respective authorities corridors on Federal land in the 11 Western States for oil, gas and hydrogen pipelines and electricity transmission and distribution facilities (energy corridors). The Agencies have determined that designating corridors as required by Section 368 of the Act constitutes a major Federal action which may have a significant impact upon the environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). For this reason, the Agencies intend to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) entitled, ``Designation of Energy Corridors on Federal Land in the 11 Western States'' (DOE/EIS-0386) to address the environmental impacts from the proposed action and the range of reasonable alternatives. DOE and BLM will be co-lead agencies for this effort, with the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service (FS) participating as a cooperating agency. The purpose of this Notice of Intent is to inform the public about the proposed action, announce plans to conduct 11 public scoping meetings, invite public participation in the scoping process, and solicit public comments for consideration in establishing the scope and content of the PEIS. Because the proposed action may involve actions in a floodplain or wetland, the draft PEIS will include a floodplain and wetlands assessment and the final PEIS or Record of Decision will include a floodplain statement of findings. The Agencies will prepare the PEIS in accordance with NEPA, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations, 40 CFR 1500-1508, DOE's regulations developed pursuant to NEPA, 10 CFR 1021, BLM's planning regulations 43 CFR 1600 and applicable FS planning regulations to amend land use plans.

In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Central Montana Resource Advisory Council (RAC) will meet as indicated below.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (we) announces the availability of the Recovery Plan for Blackburn's Sphinx Moth (Manduca blackburni) (sphinx moth). This insect taxon is endemic to the main Hawaiian Islands.

This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), in cooperation with the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), intends to gather information necessary for preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for drilling additional coalbed natural gas wells and conventional gas wells in the Riverton Dome Field, Wind River Indian Reservation, Fremont County, Wyoming. The purpose of the proposed action is to meet the Tribes' need to maximize their economic benefit from this trust resource. This notice also announces a public scoping meeting to identify potential issues and alternatives to be considered in the EIS.

The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Advisory Council (Council) was established by the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-320) (Act) to receive reports and advise federal agencies on implementing the Act. In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Bureau of Reclamation announces that the Council will meet as detailed below. Dates and Location: The Council will conduct its annual meeting at the following time and location: Tuesday, October 25, 2005Riverside, CaliforniaThe meeting will be held in the Mission Inn located at 3649 Mission Inn Avenue. The meeting will begin at 8 a.m., recess at approximately 1 p.m., and reconvene briefly the following day at 1 p.m.

The Fish and Wildlife Service published a document in the Federal Register on September 13, 2005 (70 FR 54146), amending 50 CFR part 32. This document related to the addition of refuges and wetland management districts to the list of areas open for hunting and/or sport fishing programs and increased the activities available at other refuges. We also developed pertinent refuge-specific regulations for those activities and amended certain regulations on other refuges that pertain to migratory game bird hunting, upland game hunting, big game hunting, and sport fishing for the 2005-2006 season. This document corrects the final regulations.

MMS is delaying until January 1, 2006, the effective date of a rule that will implement fees to offset MMS's costs of providing certain services related to its mineral programs. This delay is necessary because of damage caused in the New Orleans area by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding. The delay will provide relief to the government and the oil and gas industry as they recover from this disaster.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to amend the Caliente Resource Management Plan (RMP) to cover newly transferred lands at NPR-2 and prepare an environmental assessment to analyze the effects of that action. The lands addressed by this amendment were formerly under the jurisdiction of the Department of Energy. However, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) transferred management responsibility from the DOE to the BLM effective August 8, 2005. As directed in the Act, ``the principal purpose of the lands subject to transfer * * * is the production of hydrocarbon resources, and the Secretary of the Interior shall manage the lands in a fashion consistent with this purpose.'' Accordingly, this plan amendment will specify management prescriptions at NPR-2 for oil and gas related operations and specific realty actions covered under 43 CFR part 2000 by extending existing management prescriptions from the current Caliente RMP. The proposed action identifies the suitability of the newly transferred lands for leasing for oil and gas exploration and development and any constraints thereon, in addition to addressing both ongoing and new oil and gas related activities on lands that are already leased. The amendment will also identify guidance for specific realty program actions, including any constraints on repositioning land through exchange, sale or acquisition. The land affected comprises only the federal portion of NPR-2. Total acreage is approximately 10,451 acres, located in Townships 31 South, Ranges 23-24 East; and 32 South, Ranges 23-25 East, MDBM. Approximately 7,919 acres, 76% of the transferred land, already contain ongoing oil and gas operations and little change is expected in those areas. Approximately 2,532 acres, or 24% of the transferred land, is unleased.

This notice informs the public that Hurricane Katrina disrupted the Minerals Management Service's Internet-based public commenting system, which is hosted on computers in New Orleans, Louisiana. It advises the public of alternate methods they may use to comment on documents.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate critical habitat for the Klamath River, Columbia River, Jarbidge River, Coastal-Puget Sound, and Saint Mary-Belly River populations of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in the coterminous United States pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This final designation totals approximately 3,828 miles (mi) (6,161 kilometers (km) of streams, 143,218 acres (ac) (57,958 hectares (ha) of lakes in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, and 985 mi (1,585 km) of shoreline paralleling marine habitat in Washington. We solicited data and comments from the public on all aspects of the proposed rules, including data on economic and other impacts of the designations.

This rule prescribes the hunting seasons, hours, areas, and daily bag and possession limits for general waterfowl seasons and those early seasons for which States previously deferred selection. Taking of migratory birds is prohibited unless specifically provided for by annual regulations. This rule permits the taking of designated species during the 2005-06 season.

The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or we) prescribes final late-season frameworks from which States may select season dates, limits, and other options for the 2005-06 migratory bird hunting seasons. These late seasons include most waterfowl seasons, the earliest of which commences on September 24, 2005. The effect of this final rule is to facilitate the States' selection of hunting seasons and to further the annual establishment of the late-season migratory bird hunting regulations.

In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (1976) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (1972), the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Pinedale Anticline Working Group (PAWG) will meet in Pinedale, Wyoming, for a business meeting. Group meetings are open to the public.