Department of the Interior March 11, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The City of Phoenix (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 Yuma clapper rail (Rallus longirostris yumanensis), southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus), bald eagle (Haliaeetus Leucocephalus), and brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) as a result of operation and maintenance activities associated with the Rio Salado Project. We invite the public to review and comment on the permit application and the associated draft Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA).

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

In accord with section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.), the National Park Service is undertaking a conservation planning and environmental impact analysis process for developing a General Management Plan (GMP) for Kalaupapa National Historical Park, Hawaii. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be prepared concurrently with the GMP. The GMP is intended to set forth the basic management philosophy for this unit of the National Park System and provide the strategies for addressing issues and achieving identified management objectives. Thus, the GMP serves as a ``blueprint'' to guide management of natural and cultural resources and visitor use during the next 15-20 years. Consistent with NPS Planning Program Standards, the updated GMP will: (1) Describe the National Historical Park's purpose, significance, and primary interpretive themes; (2) identify the fundamental resources and values of the park, its other important resources and values, and describe the condition of these resources; (3) describe desired conditions for cultural and natural resources and visitor experiences throughout the park; (4) develop management zoning to support these desired conditions; (5) develop alternative applications of these management zones to the Park's landscape (i.e., zoning alternatives); (6) address user capacity; (7) analyze potential boundary modifications; (8) ensure that management recommendations are developed in consultation with interested partners and the public and adopted by NPS leadership after an adequate analysis of the benefits, environmental impacts, and economic costs of alternative courses of action; (9) develop cost estimates implementing each of the alternatives; and (10) identify and prioritize subsequent detailed studies, plans and actions that may be needed to implement the updated GMP. Scoping Process: The park will undertake extensive scoping outreach efforts in order to elicit early public comment regarding issues and concerns, the nature and extent of potential environmental impacts (and as appropriate, mitigation measures), and alternatives which should be addressed in the GMP. Through the outreach activities planned in the scoping phase, the NPS welcomes information and suggestions from the public regarding resource protection, visitor use, and land management. This notice formally initiates the public scoping comment phase for the EIS process. All scoping comments must be postmarked or transmitted not later than July 15, 2009, and should be addressed to: General Management Plan, Attn: Steve Prokop, Superintendent, Kalaupapa National Historical Park, P.O. Box 2222, Kalaupapa, HI 96742 (or may also be transmitted electronically via https://parkplanning.nps.gov/kala). Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire commentincluding your personal identifying informationmay be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. At this time, it is expected that public workshops will take place on Molokai, Oahu, and Maui, and possibly Hawaii and Kauai in late April and early May 2009. Detailed information regarding these meetings will be posted on the GMP Web site (noted above) and announced through local and regional press media. All attendees will be given the opportunity to ask questions and provide comments to the planning team. The GMP Web site will provide the most up-to-date information regarding the project, including project description, planning process updates, meeting notices, reports and documents, and useful links associated with the project.

Under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the National Park Service (NPS) is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the General Management Plan (GMP) for Buffalo National River, Arkansas. The GMP/EIS will establish the overall direction for Buffalo National River by setting broad management goals for managing the area over the next 15 to 20 years.