Department of the Interior 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Assessment (RMPA/EA) for the Buffalo Field Office (BFO) and by this notice is announcing the opening of the comment period. The RMPA/EA will amend the 1985 Buffalo Resource Management Plan. The BLM also announces the availability of information regarding a proposed Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) considered in the Draft RMPA/EA.

This order extends the duration of two withdrawals created by Public Land Order Nos. 6801 and 6812 for an additional 20-year period. The extensions are necessary to continue to protect valuable facilities and improvements associated with the Smithsonian Institution's Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and Base Camp site.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the availability of a draft revised recovery plan for the Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens). This species is federally listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The Service solicits review and comment from the public on this draft revised plan.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is advising the public of the availability of the final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) associated with an application received from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) for an incidental take permit (permit) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). We also announce the availability of the OPRD Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) as required by section 10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA. OPRD submitted the HCP, as well as a proposed Implementing Agreement (IA), as part of its incidental take permit application. If issued, the permit would authorize incidental take of the federally listed as threatened western snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus) caused by the OPRD and private landowners that engage in activities related to public use and recreation, beach management, and resource management activities along Oregon's coastal shores. The OPRD is requesting a 25-year permit term. We request comments from the public on the permit application, the HCP, the IA, and the FEIS, all of which are available for review. The Service is furnishing this notice to allow other agencies and the public an opportunity to review and comment on these documents. All comments received will become part of the public record and will be available for review pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA. For locations to review the documents, please see the Availability of Documents section below.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are reviewing a petition to list, under the Lacey Act, all live amphibians or their eggs in trade as injurious unless certified as free of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (chytrid fungus). The importation and introduction of live amphibians infected with chytrid fungus into the natural ecosystems of the United States may pose a threat to interests of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, or to wildlife or the wildlife resources of the United States. An injurious wildlife listing would prohibit the importation of live amphibians or their eggs infected with chytrid fungus into, or transportation between, States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or possession of the United States by any means, without a permit. We may issue permits for scientific, medical, educational, or zoological purposes. This document seeks information from the public to aid in determining if a proposed rule is warranted.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of our draft comprehensive conservation plan and environmental assessment (Draft CCP/EA) for the Pearl Harbor National Wildlife Refuge (refuge) for public review and comment. The Draft CCP/ EA describes our proposal for managing the refuge for the next 15 years.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a draft comprehensive conservation plan and environmental assessment (Draft CCP/EA) for the Savannah Coastal Refuges' Complex (Complex) for public review and comment. In this Draft CCP/EA, we describe the alternative we propose to use to manage this Complex for the 15 years following approval of the final CCP. The Complex consists of the following refuges: Pinckney Island; Savannah; Tybee; Wassaw; Harris Neck; Blackbeard Island; and Wolf Island. A separate CCP was prepared for the Wolf Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Under the provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) received a petition for reinstatement from Chesapeake Exploration LLC and Khody Land & Minerals Company for competitive oil and gas lease WYW149955 for land in Converse County, Wyoming. The petition was filed on time and was accompanied by all the rentals due since the date the lease terminated under the law.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of the Draft Revised Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), a northwestern U.S. species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (Act). The Act requires the development of recovery plans for listed species, unless such a plan would not promote the conservation of a particular species. Recovery plans help guide conservation efforts by describing actions considered necessary for the recovery of the species, establishing criteria for downlisting or delisting listed species, and estimating time and cost for implementing the measures needed for recovery. We invite public review and comment on the Draft Revised Recovery Plan.

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 renewals and mineral patent adjudications. This rule also moves the oil shale cost recovery fee amounts from the rule text to the general cost recovery fee table so that mineral cost recovery fees can be found in one location.

The Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management proposes to withdraw, on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), approximately 507 acres of reserved Federal minerals from the United States mining laws including the mineral and geothermal leasing and mineral materials laws, and 332,421 acres of Federal lands from settlement, sale, location, and entry under the public land laws, including the United States mining laws, and the mineral and geothermal and mineral materials laws for a period of 5 years. The withdrawal would protect the lands and preserve the status quo of the lands and mineral estate included in the proposed training land acquisition/ airspace establishment project of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC), Twenty-nine Palms, California, pending the processing of an application for withdrawal for military purposes under the Engle Act. The application also includes 43,315 acres of non-Federal lands located within the proposed boundaries of the proposed withdrawal areas, and in the event that they return to Federal ownership in the future, the lands would be subject to the terms and conditions described below. The Federal and non-Federal lands are located in San Bernardino County.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the revised taxonomy of Lesquerella filiformis (Missouri bladderpod), Sedum integrifolium ssp. leedyi (Leedy's roseroot), and Mimulus glabratus var. michiganensis (Michigan monkey-flower) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We are revising the List of Endangered and Threatened Plants to reflect the current scientifically accepted taxonomy and nomenclature of these species. We revise the scientific names of these species as follows: Physaria filiformis (=Lesquerella f.), Rhodiola integrifolia ssp. leedyi (=Sedum integrifolium ssp. l.), and Mimulus michiganensis (=M. glabratus var. michiganensis), respectively.

This notice publishes an extension of Gaming between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the State of South Dakota.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is announcing its intention to request approval for the collection of information for 30 CFR part 764State Processes for Designating Areas Unsuitable for Surface Coal Mining Operations. 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 Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management proposes to extend the duration of Public Land Order (PLO) No. 6861 for an additional 20-year term. PLO No. 6861 withdrew 20 acres of public land from settlement, sale, location, or entry under the general land laws, including the United States mining laws (30 U.S.C. Ch. 2), to protect the educational and scientific values of the Rattler Gulch Limestone Cliffs Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). This notice also gives an opportunity to comment on the proposed action and to request a public meeting.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), intend to prepare a revised comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and environmental assessment (EA) for Little River National Wildlife Refuge, located in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. We provide this notice in compliance with our CCP policy to advise other Federal and State agencies, Tribes, and the public of our intentions, and to obtain suggestions and information on the scope of issues to consider in the planning process.

Notice is hereby given, in accordance with Public Laws 92-463 and 94-579, that the California Desert District Advisory Council to the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, will participate in a field tour of BLM-administered public lands on Friday, October 1, 2010, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will meet in formal session on Saturday, October 2, 2010, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the BLM Needles Field Office, 1303 S Highway 95, Needles, CA 92363. Agenda topics will include updates by Council members and reports from the BLM District Manager and five field office managers. Final agenda items, including details of the field tour, will be posted on the BLM California state Web site at https://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/ rac/dac.html.

The National Indian Gaming Commission (``NIGC'') announces the extension of the effective date on the final rule for Minimum Internal Control Standards for Class II Gaming. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on October 10, 2008 (73 FR 60492). The Commission is changing the effective date for the amendments to Sec. Sec. 542.7 and 542.16 (and their renumbering as Sec. Sec. 543.7 and 543.16), as well as the date for operations to implement tribal internal controls found in Sec. 543.3(c)(3) to October 13, 2011, in order to extend the transition time, allow the new Commission time to thoroughly review the rule, and to receive comment on whether the rule should be amended in whole or in part.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to offer, by modified competitive sealed bid sale, one parcel of land totaling approximately 160 acres in Lindrith, New Mexico. The sale parcel will be subject to the applicable provisions of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. The land is not needed for any Federal purpose and would be sold for not less than Fair Market Value (FMV), currently appraised to be $96,000.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service has filed an application with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) requesting that the Secretary of the Interior withdraw 50 acres of National Forest System land from mining to protect the recreational uses and improvements within this portion of the Steamboat Rock Picnic Grounds. This notice also gives an opportunity to comment on the proposed action and to request a public meeting.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD)/Approved Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Socorro Field Office located in Socorro and Catron Counties, New Mexico. The State Director signed the ROD on August 20, 2010, which constitutes the final decision of the BLM and makes the Approved RMP effective immediately.

On Friday, July 9, 2010, there was published in the Federal Register, Volume 75, Number 131, on page 39579 a notice entitled ``Eastern States: Filing of Plats of Survey''. In said notice was a plat depicting the dependent resurvey of a portion of the South and West boundaries, a portion of the subdivisional lines, and the subdivision of Sections 28-33, and the survey of a tract of land in Section 31 and adjusted record meanders in Sections 31 and 32, in Township 114 North, Range 15 West, of the Fifth Principal Meridian, in the State of Minnesota. These were accepted June 22, 2010. The official filing of the plat is hereby stayed, pending consideration of all protests.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will file the plat of survey of the lands described below in the BLM-Eastern States office in Springfield, Virginia, 30 calendar days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.

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 (ESA) prohibits activities with listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activities. The ESA laws require that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.