Department of the Interior November 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice extends the period for comments on the proposed definition for electronic or electromechanical facsimile (72 FR 60482), Class II game classification standards (72 FR 60483), Class II technical standards (72 FR 60495), and Class II minimum internal control standards (72 FR 60508) published in the Federal Register on October 24, 2007.

DOE and BLM of the DOI as co-lead agencies, and the U.S. Forest Service (FS) of the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) of the DOI as cooperating Federal Agencies (the Agencies) announce the availability of the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Designation of Energy Corridors in the 11 Western States (Draft PEIS) (DOE/EIS0386) and the dates and locations for the public hearings to receive comments on the Draft PEIS. The Coeur d'Alene Tribe, the California Energy Commission (CEC), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the State of Wyoming, and the Lincoln, Sweetwater, and Uinta counties and conservation districts in Wyoming are also cooperating agencies. The Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) are consulting agencies. The Agencies prepared the Draft PEIS pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., the Council on Environmental Quality NEPA regulations, 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508, the DOE NEPA regulations, 10 CFR part 1021, and 10 CFR part 1022, Compliance with Floodplain and Wetland Environmental Review Requirements, the BLM planning regulations, 43 CFR part 1600, and applicable FS planning regulations. Section 368 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), Public Law 109-58, directs the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with FERC, States, tribal or local units of governments, as appropriate, affected utility industries, and other interested persons, to designate, under their respective authorities, corridors for oil, gas, and hydrogen pipelines and electricity transmission and distribution facilities on Federal land in the 11 contiguous Western States (as defined in section 103(o) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(o)), perform any environmental reviews that may be required to complete the designation of such corridors, and incorporate the designated corridors into relevant agency land use and resource management plans or equivalent plans. The 11 Western States are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

The Fish and Wildlife Service announces that a Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, is available for distribution. The CCP was prepared pursuant to the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, and in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and describes how the refuge will be managed for the next 15 years. The compatibility determinations for hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and photography, environmental education and interpretation, bicycling, trapping of selected furbearers, forest management, and mosquito management are also available within the CCP.

To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), MMS is inviting comments on a collection of information that we will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The information collection request (ICR) concerns the paperwork requirements in the regulations under 30 CFR 250, Subpart B, Plans and Information.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are designating critical habitat for the endangered fat threeridge (Amblema neislerii), shinyrayed pocketbook (Lampsilis subangulata), Gulf moccasinshell (Medionidus penicillatus), Ochlockonee moccasinshell (Medionidus simpsonianus), and oval pigtoe (Pleurobema pyriforme), and the threatened Chipola slabshell (Elliptio chipolaensis) and purple bankclimber (Elliptoideus sloatianus) (collectively referred to as the seven mussels) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The total length of streams designated is approximately 1,185.9 river miles (river mi) (1,908.5 river kilometers (river km)). The critical habitat is located in Houston and Russell counties, Alabama; in Alachua, Bay, Bradford, Calhoun, Columbia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson, Leon, Liberty, Union, Wakulla, and Washington counties, Florida; and in Baker, Calhoun, Coweta, Crawford, Crisp, Decatur, Dooly, Dougherty, Early, Fayette, Grady, Lee, Macon, Marion, Meriwether, Miller, Mitchell, Peach, Pike, Schley, Spalding, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor, Terrell, Thomas, Upson, Webster, and Worth counties, Georgia.

Pursuant to the authority vested in the Director of the Minerals Management Service by the joint bidding provisions of 30 CFR 256.41, each entity within one of the following groups shall be restricted from bidding with any entity in any other of the following groups at Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas lease sales to be held during the bidding period November 1, 2007, through April 30, 2008. The List of Restricted Joint Bidders published in the Federal Register on April 17, 2007, covered the period May 1, 2007, through October 31, 2007.

We (Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. The ICR, which is summarized below, describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

Pursuant to Title 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Sec. 8364.1 and 43 CFR 8341.2(a), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Medford District Office is publishing these closures and restrictions for motorized vehicles on certain public lands in Jackson County Oregon. These lands are located within the Timber Mountain Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Area, under the jurisdiction of the BLM Medford District Office. The closures and restrictions are needed in order to protect the area's natural resources and provide for public health and safety and address ongoing resource damage, vehicles and off-road vehicles, and conduct.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, this notice announces the availability of the Final Recirculated Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Community Conservation Plan (MSHCP), Final Recirculated Environmental Impact Report/Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIR/EIS), and Implementing Agreement. The Coachella Valley Association of Governments, Coachella Valley Conservation Commission, County of Riverside, Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, Riverside County Parks and Open Space District, Riverside County Waste Management District, Coachella Valley Water District, Imperial Irrigation District, California Department of Transportation, California Department of Parks and Recreation, Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy, and the cities of Cathedral City, Coachella, Indian Wells, Indio, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, and Rancho Mirage (Applicants) applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an incidental take permit pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The permit is needed to authorize incidental take of listed animal species due to development and certain other activities in the approximately 1.1 million acre Plan Area in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, California. The Service is publishing this notice to inform the public of the proposed action and to make available for review the Final EIR/ EIS, which includes responses to public comments received on the March 2007, Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Final EIS. The MSHCP also incorporates a Public Use and Trails Plan, which includes proposals that address non-motorized recreation activities on Federal and non-Federal lands in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is a Cooperating Agency in this planning process and will use this Final EIR/EIS to make decisions on BLM-administered public lands pertaining to trail use in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains. The proposals constitute activity (implementation) level actions in furtherance of the California Desert Conservation Area Plan (1980), as amended, and the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Management Plan (2004). The BLM will issue a separate Record of Decision regarding non- motorized recreation activities on public lands.

The public is invited to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species.

As required by 43 CFR 2650.7(d), notice is hereby given that an appealable decision approving lands for conveyance pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act will be issued to The Kuskokwim Corporation, Successor in Interest to Aniak Limited. The lands are in the vicinity of Aniak, Alaska, and are located in:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Winnemucca Field Office, Nevada, and Surprise Field Office, California, are proposing supplementary rules for the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area (NCA), associated designated wilderness, and other contiguous lands as identified in the Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Record of Decision. The rules are needed in order to protect the area's natural and cultural resources and provide for public health and safety on public lands. These rules do not propose or implement any land use limitation or restrictions other than those limitations or restrictions included within the decisions in the RMP or allowed for by existing law or regulation.

The John Day/Snake Resource Advisory Council (JDSRAC) meeting is scheduled for December 4, 2007, in Pendleton, Oregon. The John Day/Snake Resource Advisory Council meeting is scheduled for December 4, 2007. The meeting will take place at the Red Lion Inn, 304 SE. Nye Avenue, Pendleton, OR from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The meeting may include such topics as Forest and Resource Management Planning, Salmon Recovery, Transportation Planning, and other matters as may reasonably come before the council. The meeting is open to the public. Public comment is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. (Pacific Time) December 4, 2007. For a copy of the information to be distributed to the Council members, please submit a written request to the Vale District Office 10 days prior to the meeting.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce our response to the May 24, 2004, order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, et al. v. Norton, et al. (Civil Action No. 98-0934 (RMU)), directing the Service, on remand, to determine whether Vancouver Island constitutes a significant portion of the range of the Queen Charlotte goshawk (Accipiter gentilis laingi) and whether the goshawk should be listed as threatened or endangered on Vancouver Island, in connection with our 1997 finding on a petition to list the Queen Charlotte Goshawk as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). After a thorough review of the best scientific and commercial data available, we conclude that Vancouver Island is a significant portion of the Queen Charlotte goshawk's range and that listing the subspecies on Vancouver Island is warranted. In addition to addressing the court's remand, we have assessed whether listing is warranted for the Queen Charlotte goshawk beyond Vancouver Island. Our review has indicated that the subspecies' populations in British Columbia and Alaska each constitute distinct population segments (DPSs) of the Queen Charlotte goshawk. Based on differences in forest management, with substantially greater existing and anticipated habitat loss in British Columbia than in Alaska, we find that we have sufficient information about biological vulnerability and threats to the goshawk to determine that the entire British Columbia DPS warrants listing as threatened or endangered. We find that the best available information on biological vulnerability and threats to the goshawk does not support listing the Alaska DPS as threatened or endangered at this time. Pursuant to section 4(b)(3)(B)(ii) we will promptly publish in the Federal Register a proposed rule to list the British Columbia DPS of the Queen Charlotte goshawk. In that proposed rule we will indicate whether the British Columbia DPS and the Vancouver Island portion of the range should be listed as either endangered or threatened.

The purpose of this notice is to extend the submission date to solicit nominations for the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board. The Federal Register notice for nominations published in the Federal Register on September 17, 2007 [72 FR 52906].

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) invites comments concerning the authorization of activities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) involving the installation of meteorological or marine data collection facilities to assess alternative energy resources (e.g., wind, wave, and ocean current) or to test alternative energy technology to produce or support production of alternative energy. The MMS intends to adopt an interim policy to authorize such facilities (e.g., meteorological towers or wave and current data collection instruments and wave or current generators or other developing technology) under subsection 8(p) of the OCS Lands Act, as amended by section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Parties wishing to obtain such authorizations should submit detailed and specific nomination and application information as described below.

Per 30 U.S.C. 188(d), Klabzuba Oil & Gas, Inc. timely filed a petition for reinstatement of oil and gas lease MTM 93133, Blaine County, Montana. The lessee paid the required rental accruing from the date of termination. No leases were issued that affect these lands. The lessee agrees to new lease terms for rentals and royalties of $10 per acre and 16\2/3\ percent or 4 percentages above the existing competitive royalty rate. The lessee paid the $500 administration fee for the reinstatement of the lease and $163 cost for publishing this Notice. The lessee met the requirements for reinstatement of the lease per Sec. 31(d) and (e) of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (30 U.S.C. 188). We are proposing to reinstate the lease, effective the date of termination subject to: The original terms and conditions of the lease; The increased rental of $10 per acre; The increased royalty of 16\2/3\ percent or 4 percentages above the existing competitive royalty rate; and The $163 cost of publishing this Notice.

In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), together with the California Energy Commission (CA EC), intend to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement/Final Staff Assessment (EIS/FSA), on the impacts of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (Ivanpah SEGS), consisting of three concentrating solar-powered steam/electricity generating plants and related facilities, and a proposed land use plan amendment to the 1980 California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan, as amended. The Ivanpah SEGS is proposed by Solar Partners I, LLC; Solar Partners, II, LLC; Solar Partners IV, LLC; Solar Partners VIII,LLC; collectively the Applicants. The Applicants have requested a right-of-way (ROW) for each of three solar power plants and a ROW for related shared facilities on approximately 3,400 contiguous acres of public lands in San Bernardino County, approximately 4.5 miles southwest of Primm, Nevada. The EIS will analyze the site-specific impacts to the environment from the proposed grant of the ROWs and amend the CDCA Plan to permit this site-specific use of the CDCA. The CA EC is the lead State of California agency for the licensing of thermal power plants over 50 MW and compliance with the requirements of CEQA.

The public is invited to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species.

The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is planning to reinstate the Home-living Programs and School Closure and Consolidation, OMB Control Number 1076-0164 as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. This collection expired during the renewal process because the 30-day notice was not published before the expiration date. The reinstatement will ensure we can continue to operate the residential program of the No Child Left Behind Act. This notice replaces the notice published Wednesday, October 3, 2007 (72 FR 56373).

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) has submitted an application to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an incidental take permit (permit) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). As required by section 10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA, OPRD has prepared a Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) that describes proposed actions and measures they will implement to minimize and mitigate take of the threatened western snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus). The permit application is related to public use and recreation, beach management, and resource management activities along Oregon's coast. The application includes the proposed Plan and a proposed Implementation Agreement (IA). The Service also announces the availability of a draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) that has been prepared in response to the permit application in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Service is considering issuing a 25-year permit to the OPRD. The requested permit would authorize OPRD to engage in activities related to public use and recreation, beach management, and resource management activities that may result in the incidental take of the western snowy plover. We request comments from the public on the permit application, the Plan, the IA, and the DEIS, all of which are available for review. The Service is furnishing this notice to allow other agencies and the public an opportunity to review and comment on these documents. All comments received will become part of the public record and will be available for review pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA. For locations to review the documents, please see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770, 5 U.S.C. App 1, 10), notice is hereby given of the first meeting of the Big Cypress National Preserve ORV Advisory Committee.

The following corrections are made: Comments should be sent to the Richfield Field Office. Comments and information submitted on the Richfield Field Office DRMP/DEIS, including names, e-mail addresses, and street addresses of respondents, will be available for public review and disclosure at the Richfield Field Office address listed below. Or, you may contact Cornell Christensen, RMP Project Manager, Richfield BLM Field Office, 150 East 900 North, Richfield, Utah 84701, phone 435-896-1561. All other information within the Notice of Availability (10/26/07) remains unchanged.

Under provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 CFR Part 1320, Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements, the National Park Service (NPS) invites public comments on a proposed new collection of information (OMB 1024-XXXX).