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

The Department of the Interior (DOI) is removing its regulation implementing the government-wide common rule on drug-free workplace requirements for financial assistance and issuing a new regulation to adopt the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance. This regulatory action implements the OMB's initiative to streamline and consolidate into one title of the Code of Federal Regulations all Federal regulations on drug-free workplace requirements for financial assistance. These changes constitute an administrative simplification that will make no substantive change in DOI policy or procedures for drug-free workplace.

The Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization of the Department of the Interior is hosting a Vendor Outreach Workshop for women owned small businesses in the National Capitol region of the United States that are interested in doing business with the Department. This outreach workshop will review market contracting opportunities for the attendees. Business owners will be able to share their individual perspectives with Contracting Officers, Program Managers and Small Business Specialists from the Department.

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

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), intend to prepare a comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and environmental assessment (EA) for Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Harrison County, TX. 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.

This Notice of Inquiry and Notice of Consultation advises the public that the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) is conducting a comprehensive review of all regulations promulgated to implement the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), 25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq. The Commission is taking a fresh look at its rules in order to determine whether amendments are necessary to more effectively implement IGRA's policies of protecting Indian gaming as a means of generating Tribal revenue, ensuring that gaming is conducted fairly and honestly by both the operator and players, and ensuring that Tribes are the primary beneficiaries of gaming operations. The Commission's challenge is to adapt its rules to ensure that they promote these values into the future. This review is also being prepared in order to submit the NIGC's Semi-Annual Regulatory Review to the Federal Register in April 2011 as required by Executive Order 12866 entitled ``Regulatory Planning and Review'' and the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. In compliance with Executive Order 13,175 entitled ``Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments,'' the NIGC will hold eight consultations during January and February 2011. This Notice of Inquiry invites comments and information that will assist the NIGC in understanding the need for revising any or all of the regulations outlined below. The consultations and public comments requested in this Notice are intended to assist the NIGC with completion of the review and in establishing priorities. Following completion of the consultation and written comment period, the NIGC will review all comments received and create a comprehensive regulatory review agenda schedule. The public comment period ends February 12, 2011. The regulatory review agenda will be released in April 2011 and will include a summary explaining why the NIGC agreed or disagreed with the comments received and why the regulatory review agenda took its final form.

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 this ICR titled ``30 CFR Parts 1202, 1206, 1210, 1212, 1217, and 1218, Solid Minerals and Geothermal Resources.'' 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 availability of a record of decision (ROD) for the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on the South Dakota Prairie Winds Project issued by the Department of Energy's Western Area Power Administration (Western), and the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS). Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, and its implementing regulations, the Service participated as a cooperating agency in the preparation and release of the FEIS. The purpose of this ROD is to document the Service's decision to release and relinquish certain easement rights for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the proposed wind energy generation facilities on lands in Aurora County and Brule County, South Dakota, on which the Service holds an easement for waterfowl habitat protection. The action selected by the Service corresponds with the proposed alternative of the FEIS.

The following Water Management Plans are available for review: Orland-Artois Water District Kern Tulare Water District To meet the requirements of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act of 1992 (CVPIA) and the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982, the Bureau of Reclamation developed and published the Criteria for Evaluating Water Management Plans (Criteria). For the purpose of this announcement, Water Management Plans (Plans) are considered the same as Water Conservation Plans. The above entities have developed a Plan, which Reclamation has evaluated and preliminarily determined to meet the requirements of these Criteria. Reclamation is publishing this notice in order to allow the public to review the plans and comment on the preliminary determinations. Public comment on Reclamation's preliminary (i.e., draft) determination is invited at this time.

Notice is hereby given that a temporary closure prohibiting climbing of all types, overnight camping, and the construction of new trails is in effect on public lands within the Castle Rocks Inter- Agency Recreation Area that are administered by the Burley Field Office, Bureau of Land Management.

Pursuant to 36 CFR 51.23, public notice is hereby given that the National Park Service proposes to extend the following expiring concession contract for a period of three years through November 30, 2013.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, notice is hereby given of meetings of the Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC). Comprised of 30 nonfederal invasive species experts and stakeholders from across the nation, the purpose of the Advisory Committee is to provide advice to the National Invasive Species Council, as authorized by Executive Order 13112, on a broad array of issues related to preventing the introduction of invasive species and providing for their control and minimizing the economic, ecological, and human health impacts that invasive species cause. The Council is co-chaired by the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Commerce. The duty of the Council is to provide national leadership regarding invasive species issues. Purpose of Meeting: The meeting will be held on December 7-9, 2010 in Washington, DC, and will focus primarily on Early Detection and Rapid Response as it relates to invasive species. The full ISAC will also consider a white paper entitled, Invasive Species and Climate Change, as drafted by the ISAC Task Team on Climate Change.

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) John Day-Snake Resource Advisory Council (JDSRAC) will meet as indicated below.

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.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD)/Approved Amendment to the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan, the applicable Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the project site and the surrounding areas, located in the California Desert District. The Secretary of the Interior approved the ROD on November 4, 2010, which constitutes the final decision of the Department.

As required by 43 CFR 2650.7(d), notice is hereby given that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will issue an appealable decision to Doyon, Limited. The decision will approve the conveyance of the surface and subsurface estates in the lands described below pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The lands are in the vicinity of Eagle, Alaska, and are located in:

The National Park Service and the United States Secret Service are withdrawing the September 22, 2010, Federal Register notice (75 FR 57811) announcing their intent to prepare an Environmental Assessment and to conduct scoping in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 4321 (NEPA), to aid their consideration of certain proposed actions, including permanent roadway closures, the re- design of security elements, and the preservation of the historic landscape within President's Park South, to include the portion of E Street, NW., between 15th Street and 17th Street, in Washington, DC. The scoping process, public comment period, and public meeting referenced in that notice are now cancelled.

On January 16, 2009, then Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne designated the following National Natural Landmarks: Big Bone Lick, Boone County, Kentucky; Cave Without a Name, Kendall County, Texas; Chazy Fossil Reef, Grand Isle County, Vermont and Clinton County, New York; and Nottingham Park Serpentine Barrens, Chester County, PA

Under the provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) received a petition for reinstatement from Craig Settle for competitive oil and gas lease WYW160109 for land in Fremont 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.

In this Candidate Notice of Review (CNOR), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), present an updated list of plant and animal species native to the United States that we regard as candidates for or have proposed for addition to the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. Identification of candidate species can assist environmental planning efforts by providing advance notice of potential listings, allowing landowners and resource managers to alleviate threats and thereby possibly remove the need to list species as endangered or threatened. Even if we subsequently list a candidate species, the early notice provided here could result in more options for species management and recovery by prompting candidate conservation measures to alleviate threats to the species. The CNOR summarizes the status and threats that we evaluated in order to determine that species qualify as candidates and to assign a listing priority number (LPN) to each species or to determine that species should be removed from candidate status. Additional material that we relied on is available in the Species Assessment and Listing Priority Assignment Forms (species assessment forms, previously called candidate forms) for each candidate species. Overall, this CNOR recognizes five new candidates, changes the LPN for four candidates, and removes one species from candidate status. Combined with other decisions for individual species that were published separately from this CNOR in the past year, the current number of species that are candidates for listing is 251. This document also includes our findings on resubmitted petitions and describes our progress in revising the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants during the period October 1, 2009, through September 30, 2010. We request additional status information that may be available for the 251 candidate species identified in this CNOR.

Notice is hereby given that the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission (the Commission) plans to meet and discuss currently authorized and proposed memorials in the District of Columbia and its environs.