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

Final regulations for valuing gas produced from Indian leases, published August 10, 1999, require MMS to determine major portion prices and notify industry by publishing the prices in the Federal Register. The regulations also require MMS to publish a due date for industry to pay additional royalty based on the major portion prices. This notice provides the major portion prices for the 12 months of 2007.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the Amargosa toad (Bufo nelsoni) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing this species may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a status review to determine if listing the Amargosa toad is warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding this species.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list Cirsium wrightii (Wright's marsh thistle) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, and designate critical habitat. Following a review of the petition, we find the petition provides substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing this species may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a status review of the species to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we request scientific and commercial data regarding Cirsium wrightii. At the conclusion of this review, we will issue a 12- month finding to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. We will make a determination on critical habitat if and when we initiate a listing action for this species.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is announcing its intention to seek renewed authority to collect information for 30 CFR Part 740 which relates to surface coal mining and reclamation operations on Federal lands. This collection request has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The information collection request describes the nature of the information collection and the expected burden and cost.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the availability of the draft comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and draft environmental assessment (EA) for Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), located in Kent County, Maryland, with its office in Rock Hall, Maryland. The draft CCP/EA describes three alternatives, including our Service-preferred alternative B, for managing this refuge for the next 15 years. Also available for public review and comment are the draft compatibility determinations, which are included as appendix B in the draft CCP/EA.

The Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) are proposing to prepare a joint EIS/EIR, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), to evaluate effects of the proposed Reach 4B, Eastside Bypass and Mariposa Bypass Low Flow Channel and Structural Improvements Project (Proposed Action) under the San Joaquin River Restoration Program (SJRRP or Program). The Proposed Action includes the construction, operation, and maintenance of a low flow channel in Reach 4B of the San Joaquin River and in the Eastside and Mariposa bypasses and improvements to facilities in the Eastside and Mariposa bypasses to allow for fish passage. The purpose of the Proposed Action is to comply with the San Joaquin River Settlement by improving conveyance capacity in Reach 4B of the San Joaquin River to ensure conveyance of at least 475 cubic feet per second (cfs), modifying the Eastside and Mariposa bypass channels to establish a low flow channel, and modifying structures in the Eastside and Mariposa bypasses to provide for fish passage. The Proposed Action is a component of the San Joaquin River Settlement.

The purpose of the NOP is to gather information on oil and gas leasing, exploration, and development that might result from an OCS oil and gas lease sale tentatively scheduled for mid-2010.

As required by 43 CFR 2650.7(d), notice is hereby given that an appealable decision approving the conveyance of surface and subsurface estates for certain lands pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act will be issued to Ahtna, Incorporated for 773.78 acres located southwesterly of the Native village of Tazlina, Alaska. Notice of the decision will also be published four times in the Anchorage Daily News.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Colorado is proposing supplementary rules for the GGNCA and adjacent public lands included in the 2004 GGNCA Resource Management Plan (RMP) and managed by the GGNCA and Uncompahgre Field Offices in Montrose and Delta Counties, Colorado. The rules implement decisions found in the RMP and relate to the use of the lands, conduct, health and safety of public land users, and

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the eastern population of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) and designate critical habitat. Herein, the Service refers to the eastern population of the gopher tortoise as the gopher tortoise in the eastern portion of its range. Following a review of the petition, we find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the gopher tortoise in the eastern portion of its range may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a status review to determine if listing the gopher tortoise in the eastern portion of the range is warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding the status of and threats facing the gopher tortoise throughout all of its range.

Pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center Advisory Board will meet as indicated below:

The Fish and Wildlife Service implements pertinent refuge- specific regulations and amends other existing refuge-specific regulations that pertain to migratory game bird hunting, upland game hunting, big game hunting, and sport fishing for the 2008-2009 season.

Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)), the National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability of the Draft General Management Plan (GMP)/Wilderness Management Plan (WMP)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin.

The plats of survey described below are scheduled to be officially filed in the New Mexico State Office, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Santa Fe, New Mexico, 30 calendar days from the date of this publication.

We are approving an amendment to the Utah regulatory program (the ``Utah program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (``SMCRA'' or ``the Act''). Utah proposed revisions to and additions of rules about the sealing of wells and boreholes, Division of Oil, Gas and Mining (``Division'' or ``DOGM'') responsibilities when requesting additional information during permit reviews, and the definition of intermittent stream. Utah is revising its program to be consistent with the corresponding Federal regulations, to achieve greater scientific accuracy, and to improve operational efficiency.

Notice is hereby given that a temporary closure to public access, use, or occupancy is in effect on public lands administered by the Billings Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in Carbon County, Montana, and Big Horn County, Wyoming.

To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we are notifying the public that we have submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an information collection request (ICR) to renew approval of the paperwork requirements in the regulations under title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) parts 210 and 212. This notice also provides the public a second opportunity to comment on the paperwork burden of these regulatory requirements. This ICR pertains to onshore and offshore royalty and production reporting on oil, gas, and geothermal leases on Federal and Indian lands.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the Sonoran desert tortoise (Gopherus agasizzii) as a distinct population segment (DPS) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, and designate critical habitat. On the basis of our review of the petition and information readily available in our files, we have determined that there is substantial information indicating that the Sonoran desert tortoise may meet the criteria of discreteness and significance as defined by our policy on distinct vertebrate population segments. Further, we find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the Sonoran population of the desert tortoise may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a status review of the Sonoran population of the desert tortoise to determine if listing the population is warranted. To ensure that the status review of the Sonoran population of the desert tortoise is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding this population. At the conclusion of this review, we will issue a 12-month finding to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. We will make a determination on critical habitat for the Sonoran population of the desert tortoise if we initiate a listing action.

This notice advises the public that the Department of Interior, 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, intend to file a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) with the EPA for the proposed Clean Fuels Refinery, and that the FEIS is now available for public review. The proposed Federal actions are: (1) The taking into trust of 469 acres of fee land by the BIA in support of the MHA Nation's proposal to construct and operate a clean fuels refinery and produce buffalo forage; and (2) the issuance by the EPA of a Clean Water Act, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Discharge (NPDES) permit for the discharge of treated wastewater from the proposed refinery.

This notice advises the public that the California Cattlemen's Association (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 of 1973, as amended (Act). The permit application includes a proposed Safe Harbor Agreement (Agreement) between the Applicant and the Service for the federally- endangered vernal pool tadpole shrimp (Lepidurus packardi), the threatened vernal pool fairy shrimp (Branchinecta lynchi), the endangered Conservancy fairy shrimp (Branchinecta conservatio), the threatened valley elderberry longhorn beetle (Desmocerus californicus dimorphus), the threatened giant garter snake (Thamnophis gigas), the threatened California red-legged frog (Rana aurora draytonii), the threatened Hoover's spurge (Chamaesyce hooveri), the endangered Butte County meadowfoam (Limnanthes floccosa ssp. californica), the endangered hairy Orcutt grass (Orcuttia pilosa), the threatened slender Orcutt grass (Orcuttia tenuis), and the endangered Greene's tuctoria (Tuctoria greenei) (collectively referred to as the Covered Species). The Agreement is available for public comment.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) published a document in the Federal Register of August 19, 2009, advising the public that the BIA as Lead Agency, in cooperation with the Spokane Tribe of Indians (Tribe), intends to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for a proposed mixed-use development and corresponding master plan for a 145-acre parcel of trust land adjacent to the City of Airway Heights, Spokane County, Washington. The DATES section of that notice contained incorrect dates; therefore, this notice republishes the content of the notice of August 19, 2009 with corrected dates.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces that the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board will conduct a meeting on matters pertaining to management and protection of wild, free-roaming horses and burros on the Nation's public lands.