Department of the Interior February 5, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Effective with publication of this public notice, the National Park Service (NPS) has rescinded a policy concerning management of cruise ships in Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve which was originally published in the Federal Register on May 31, 1990 (FR, Vol. 55, No. 105, page 22108, 5/31/1990, FR Doc. 9012551). In summary, the policy was intended to increase opportunities for competitive award of cruise ship use days into Glacier Bay and to enhance visitor opportunities to select from a wider variety of cruise ship operations. These objectives were to be accomplished under the 1990 policy primarily by limiting the transferability of concession permits for cruise ship tours in Glacier Bay, limiting the scope of a preference in renewal of concessions permits that would otherwise apply, and granting additional renewal preferences. However, in 1998, the Congress revised and reconfirmed the management of NPS concession contract authorizations through the NPS Concessions Management Improvement Act of 1998, Public Law 105-391, November 13, 1998. This law does not permit the continued implementation of most of the operative provisions of the 1990 policy such that the policy can no longer be implemented to achieve its objectives. Accordingly, the NPS has rescinded the 1990 policy. However, NPS does intend to continue to encourage the award of multiple concession contracts to different operators for Glacier Bay cruise operations so as to enhance visitor choices in visiting Glacier Bay by cruise ship. This will be accomplished primarily by limiting the number of cruise ship use days permitted under applicable cruise ship concessions contracts, thereby increasing the number of concession contracts available for award.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (as amended) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks) as lead agencies have made available for public review and comment a joint Draft EIS/EIR for the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area and Folsom Power House State Historic Park General Plan/ Resource Management Plan (GP/RMP). The Draft EIS/EIR describes and presents the environmental effects of four alternatives, including no action, for future use of the project area for recreation and resource protection and management. The purpose of the public meeting is to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on environmental issues addressed in the Draft EIS/EIR. Written comments will be accepted from individuals and organizations on the Draft EIS/EIR.

Pursuant to section 2(b) of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, by section 4 of the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1976, Stat. 1083, 30 U.S.C. 201(b), and to the regulations adopted as 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), part 3410, all interested parties are hereby invited to participate with Bowie Resources, LLC, on a pro rata cost sharing basis in a program for the exploration of unleased coal deposits owned by the United States of America in Delta County, Colorado:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the public comment period on the proposed designation of critical habitat for the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis californiana) and proposed taxonomic revision under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We also announce the availability of the draft economic analysis (DEA) of the proposed critical habitat designation, and an amended required determinations section of the proposal. The DEA provides information about the pre- designation costs and forecasts post-designation costs associated with conservation efforts for Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep. The DEA estimates potential future costs due to conservation efforts (baseline costs) to be approximately $26.7 million and costs associated solely with the designation of critical habitat (incremental costs) to be approximately $135,000 in undiscounted dollars over a 20-year period in areas proposed as critical habitat. The amended required determinations section provides our determination concerning compliance with applicable statutes and Executive Orders that we have deferred until the information from the DEA of the proposal was available. We are reopening the comment period to allow all interested parties an opportunity to comment simultaneously on the proposed rule, the associated DEA, and the amended required determinations section. Comments submitted during the initial comment period from July 25 to September 24, 2007, on the proposed rule (72 FR 40956), or from October 9 to November 23, 2007, during the reopened comment period on the proposed rule (72 FR 57276) have been incorporated into the supporting for this rulemaking and need not be resubmitted. We will incorporate all comments into the supporting record as part of this comment period, and we will fully consider them when preparing our final determination.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is announcing its intention to request renewed approval for the collection of information in 30 CFR 877Rights of Entry.