Department of the Interior December 11, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), as amended, the National Park Service (NPS) is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the General Management Plan (GMP) for the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site (NHS) in Kinderhook, New York. This effort will result in a comprehensive general management plan that encompasses preservation of natural and cultural resources, visitor use and interpretation, park carrying capacity and any necessary facilities. The planning area includes Martin Van Buren's home from 1839-62, Lindenwald, various out buildings and roads and the 39 acres that comprise the entire National Historic Site established by Congress in 1974. Attention will also be given to resources outside the boundaries that may affect the integrity of the site. The GMP/EIS will be prepared by planners in the NPS Northeast Region and park staff with assistance from advisors and consultants, and will propose a long-term approach to managing the Martin Van Buren NHS. Consistent with the site's mission, NPS policy, and other laws and regulations, alternatives will be developed to guide the management of the Martin Van Buren NHS over the next 15 to 20 years. The GMP/EIS will address a range of management alternatives for natural and cultural resource protection, visitor use and interpretation, park carrying capacity, facilities development and operations. A `no-action' alternative will also be considered and an agency preferred management alternative selected. The EIS will assess the impacts of the alternatives presented in the GMP. Meeting Notices: Public scoping meetings will be scheduled and consist of a discussion of the GMP/EIS process including ways that the public can be involved in providing and receiving information, and reviewing and commenting upon the draft GMP/EIS. The purpose of the meetings will be to solicit public input prior to formally undertaking the GMP/EIS. The place and time of public scoping meetings will be announced by the National Park Service (NPS) and noticed in local newspapers serving the area. Scoping and other periodic public meeting notices and information regarding the GMP/EIS will also be placed on the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at https://parkplanning.gov for continuing public review and comment.

The following permits were issued.

Pursuant to National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), the National Park Service announces the availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Elk and Vegetation Management Plan, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. This Final Plan analyzes five alternatives, including a no action alternative, to manage elk and vegetation within the Park. Alternative 3, the preferred alternative, would use a variety of conservation tools including fencing, redistribution of elk, vegetation restoration and lethal reduction of elk (culling). The number of elk removed would vary each year based on annual population surveys and hunter success outside the park.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to amend its right-of-way regulations to update the linear right-of-way rent schedule in 43 CFR parts 2800 and 2880. The rent schedule covers most linear rights-of-way granted under Title V of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), and Section 28 of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended (MLA). Those laws require the holder of a right-of-way grant to pay annually, in advance, the fair market value to occupy, use, or traverse public lands for facilities such as power lines, fiber optic lines, pipelines, roads, and ditches. Section 367 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (the Act) directs the Secretary of the Interior to update the per acre rent schedule found in 43 CFR 2806.20. The Act requires that the BLM revise the per acre rental fee zone value schedule by state, county, and type of linear right-of-way use to reflect current land values in each zone. The Act also requires the Secretary of Agriculture (Forest Service) to make the same revisions for rights-of-way on National Forest System (NFS) lands.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the comment period on the proposed designation of critical habitat for Helianthus paradoxus (Pecos sunflower) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We also announce a revision to proposed critical habitat Unit 4 and clarification of Unit 5, the availability of a draft economic analysis and draft environmental assessment, and an amended required determinations section of the proposal. The draft economic analysis estimates costs associated with conservation activities for H. paradoxus to be approximately $3.9 to $4.4 million in undiscounted dollars over the next 20 years ($193,000 to $221,000 annualized). We are reopening the comment period to allow all interested parties to comment simultaneously on the proposed rule, our revisions to the proposed rule, the associated draft economic analysis and environmental assessment, and the amended required determinations section. You do not have to resend comments sent earlier. We will incorporate them into the public record as part of this comment period, and we will fully consider them when preparing our final determination.