Department of the Interior September 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a draft comprehensive conservation plan and environmental assessment (Draft CCP/EA) for Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge (Black Bayou Lake NWR) for public review and comment. In this Draft CCP/EA, we describe the alternative we propose to use to manage this refuge for the 15 years following approval of the final CCP.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are advising the public that we intend to gather information necessary to prepare an EIS, under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), on the proposed amendment of the Clark County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) and Incidental Take Permit (ITP). The proposed amendment is being prepared under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. The Permittees are proposing to increase the amount of species habitat disturbance that is authorized under the existing MSHCP and ITP, expand the conservation program to minimize and mitigate for the increased disturbance, reduce the number of covered species, and revise the permit term of the MSHCP Amendment to 50 years. We provide this notice to obtain suggestions, comments, and useful information from other agencies and the public on the scope of the document, including the significant issues deserving of study, the range of alternatives, and the range of impacts to be considered.

The Aniakchak National Monument Subsistence Resource Commission (ANIA SRC) will meet to develop and continue work on National Park Service (NPS) subsistence hunting program recommendations and other related subsistence management issues. This meeting is open to the public and will have time allocated for public testimony. The public is welcomed to present written or oral comments to the SRC. This meeting will be recorded and meeting minutes will be available upon request from the park superintendent for public inspection approximately six weeks after the meeting. The NPS SRC program is authorized under Title VIII, Section 808 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Public Law 96-487, to operate in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

This notice publishes the legislation passed by the Cherokee Nation amending Cherokee Nation Legislative Act 09-04 that regulates and controls the possession, sale, and consumption of liquor within the tribal lands. The tribal lands are located in Indian country and this enactment allows for possession and sale of alcoholic beverages within their boundaries. This law will increase the ability of the tribal government to control the community's liquor distribution and possession, and at the same time will provide an important source of revenue for the continued operation and strengthening of the tribal government and the delivery of tribal services.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the Federal lead agency, and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority (Authority), the State lead agency, have prepared a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and a Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the continuation of the Grassland Bypass Project until December 31, 2019 (Project). Reclamation proposes to enter a Use Agreement with the Authority for the continued use of a portion of the San Luis Drain after 2009 to convey subsurface agricultural irrigation water to Mud Slough (North). The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board would need to revise their Basin Plan Amendment to delay compliance with selenium objectives for 2010 and amend the existing Waste Discharge Requirements for the Project in order to allow for anticipated drainage discharge into Mud Slough, and the Authority and the California Department of Fish and Game will need to amend their existing Memorandum of Understanding for the portion of Mud Slough North in the State's China Island Wildlife Area. Reclamation and the Authority would need to remove existing and future sediments from the affected portion of the San Luis Drain.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce our 12-month finding on a petition to revise critical habitat for Eriogonum pelinophilum (clay-loving wild buckwheat) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). After a thorough review of all available scientific and commercial information, we find that revisions to critical habitat for E. pelinophilum are warranted but precluded by other priorities. Given this finding, we intend to initiate rulemaking when we complete the higher priorities and we have the necessary resources to do so.

This final rule amends the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) mineral resources regulations to update some fees that cover the BLM's cost of processing certain documents relating to its mineral programs and some filing fees for mineral-related documents. These updates include fees for actions such as lease applications, name changes, corporate mergers, and lease consolidations.

On August 28, 2009, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as co-lead agencies; and the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara (MHA) Nation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as cooperating agencies, published a Notice of Availability for a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed Clean Fuels Refinery (74 FR 44380). This notice announces an extension of the public comment period until October 28, 2009.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (Act) prohibits activities with endangered and threatened species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The Act also requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications for permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species. The Endangered Species Act requires that we invite public comment on these permit applications.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. 552a), the Office of the Secretary, National Business Center, Aviation Management Directorate (AMD) is issuing public notice of its intent to modify an existing Privacy Act system of records, INTERIOR OS-12, ``Official Pilot Folders,'' (previously also known as AAS-97, ``Pilot Flight Time Report'', and as OAS-1, ``Official Pilot Folder''). The revisions will reflect the reorganization of the previous Office of Aircraft Services, with changes in office names, locations, contact numbers, and will also standardize the name and number of the system of records.

This rule prescribes special late-season migratory bird hunting regulations for certain tribes on Federal Indian reservations, off-reservation trust lands, and ceded lands. This rule responds to tribal requests for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (hereinafter Service or we) recognition of their authority to regulate hunting under established guidelines. This rule allows the establishment of season bag limits and, thus, harvest at levels compatible with populations and habitat conditions.

This notice announces the availability of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) 2009 edition of the Manual of Surveying Instructions (Manual) to support implementation of the policy, responsibility, coordination, and procedures the BLM uses to conduct official surveys of Federal lands and ownership interests delineated on the ground and described in the official records of the United States.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announce the availability of our Revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge (Togiak Refuge). In this revised CCP, we describe how we will manage this refuge for the next 15 years.

The Bureau of Reclamation is reopening the comment period for the DEIS to Monday, October 5, 2009. The notice of availability of the DEIS was published in the Federal Register on July 24, 2009 (74 FR 36737). The public review period ended on September 14, 2009.

This order revokes a Bureau of Reclamation Order insofar as it affects 20 acres of National Forest System land withdrawn for reclamation purposes. This order also opens the land to exchange.

To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we are notifying the public that we have submitted to OMB an information collection request for approval of the paperwork requirements in the study being conducted in Alaska, Alaska Subsistence Study. This notice also provides the public a second opportunity to comment on the paperwork burden of these regulatory requirements.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the comment period on the proposed designation of critical habitat for the Oregon chub (Oregonichthys crameri) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We also announce the availability of a draft economic analysis (DEA) and an amended required determinations section of the proposal. We are reopening the comment period for an additional 30 days to allow all interested parties an opportunity to comment simultaneously on the proposed designation of critical habitat for the Oregon chub, the associated DEA, and the amended required determinations section. If you submitted comments previously, you do not need to resubmit them because we have already incorporated them into the public record and will fully consider them in preparation of the final rule. We also announce a public hearing; the public is invited to review and comment on any of the above actions associated with the proposed critical habitat designation at the public hearing or in writing.