Department of the Interior August 2, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice is published in exercise of authority delegated by the Secretary of the Interior to the Principal Deputy Assistant SecretaryIndian Affairs by 209 DM 8. The regulations implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act provide that Indian tribes may designate an agent other than the tribal chairman for service of notice proceedings under the Act, 25 CFR 23.12. The Secretary of the Interior shall publish in the Federal Register on an annual basis the names and addresses of the designated agents. This is the current list of Designated Tribal Agents for service of notice, and includes the listings of designated tribal agents received by the Secretary of the Interior prior to the date of this publication.

Notice is hereby given that the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Colorado State Office, will offer certain coal resources in the Wadge seam in Routt County, Colorado, hereinafter described as Federal coal lease application (LBA) COC 67514 for competitive lease by sealed bid in accordance with the provisions for competitive lease sales in 43 CFR 3422.2(a), and the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended and supplemented (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.).

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) inadvertently published an incorrect version of this notice in the Federal Register on July 20, 2006 [71 FR 41234]. The BLM is republishing the revised version of this notice. In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Jack Morrow Hills Coordinated Activity Plan (JMH CAP) and Green River Resource Management Plan (GRRMP) Amendment. The ROD documents the BLM's decision to approve a land use plan amendment that addresses approximately 574,800 acres of public land located in Sweetwater, Sublette, and Fremont counties in southwestern Wyoming. The JMH CAP/ GRRMP Amendment contains land use plan decisions that supersede previous land use planning decisions made in the GRRMP and completes decisions deferred in the GRRMP. The JMH CAP/ROD went into effect on the date the Wyoming State Director signed the ROD.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) (Applicant) has applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an enhancement of survival permit pursuant to Section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act (Act), as amended. The requested permit, which is for a period of 50 years, would authorize incidental take of the threatened Chiricahua leopard frog (Rana chiricahuensis) as a result of conservation actions, on-going livestock operations, recreation, land treatments, and other existing land-use activities. The Applicant would issue certificates of inclusion under a Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA) to private landowners who would voluntarily agree to implement appropriate conservation measures for the species. We invite the public to review and comment on the permit application and the associated draft SHA.

The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has developed regulations that would authorize the nonlethal, incidental, unintentional take of small numbers of polar bears and Pacific walrus during year-round oil and gas industry (Industry) exploration, development, and production operations in the Beaufort Sea and adjacent northern coast of Alaska. Industry operations for the covered period are similar to, and include all activities covered by the previous 16- month Beaufort Sea incidental take regulations that were effective from November 28, 2003, through March 28, 2005 (68 FR 66744, November 28, 2003). This rule is effective for 5 years from date of issuance. We find that the total expected takings of polar bear and Pacific walrus during oil and gas industry exploration, development, and production activities will have a negligible impact on these species and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of these species for subsistence use by Alaska Natives. We base this finding on the results of 12 years of data on the encounters and interactions between polar bears, Pacific walrus, and Industry; recent studies of potential effects of Industry on these species; and oil spill risk assessments using oil spill trajectory models, polar bear density models, potential and documented Industry impacts on these species, and models to determine the likelihood of impacts to polar bears should an accidental oil release occur.