Department of the Interior March 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the remains and associated funerary objects and any present-day Indian tribe. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary objects may contact the museum. Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional requestors come forward.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine that the listing of the flat-tailed horned lizard (Phrynosoma mcallii) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), is not warranted, and we therefore withdraw our November 29, 1993, proposed rule to list it under the Act. We made this determination in this withdrawal because threats to the species as identified in the 1993 proposed rule are not as significant as earlier believed, and available data do not indicate that the threats to the species and its habitat, as analyzed under the five listing factors described in section 4(a)(1) of the Act, are likely to endanger the species in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has filed the plats of survey of the lands described below in the BLM Wyoming State Office, Cheyenne, Wyoming, on the dates indicated.

We (the U.S. Geological Survey) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) for the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP). As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC. This IC is scheduled to expire on July 31, 2011.

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 Ahtna, Incorporated, Successor in Interest to Gakona Corporation. The decision approves the conveyance of surface estate in the lands described below pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The subsurface estate in these lands will be conveyed to Ahtna, Incorporated when the surface estate is conveyed to Ahtna, Incorporated, Successor in Interest to Gakona Corporation. The lands are in the vicinity of Gakona, Alaska, and are located in:

Final regulations for valuing gas produced from Indian leases, published August 10, 1999, require the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) to determine major portion prices and notify industry by publishing the prices in the Federal Register. The regulations also require ONRR to publish a due date for industry to pay additional royalties based on the major portion prices. This notice provides major portion prices for the 12 months of calendar year 2009.

Under the provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) received a petition for reinstatement from O'Brien Energy Resources Corporation for competitive oil and gas lease WYW160470 for land in Niobrara 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.

The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposes regulations that would authorize the nonlethal, incidental, unintentional take of small numbers of polar bears and Pacific walruses during year-round oil and gas industry (Industry) exploration, development, and production operations in the Beaufort Sea and adjacent northern coast of Alaska. Industry operations for the covered period are similar to, and include all activities covered by the previous 5-year Beaufort Sea incidental take regulations that were effective from August 2, 2006, through August 2, 2011. We propose a finding that the total expected takings of polar bears and Pacific walruses during oil and gas industry exploration, development, and production activities will have a negligible impact on these species and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of these species for subsistence use by Alaska Natives. We base this finding on the results of 17 years of data on the encounters and interactions between polar bears, Pacific walruses, and Industry; recent studies of potential effects of Industry on these species; oil spill risk assessments; potential and documented Industry impacts on these species; and current information regarding the natural history and status of polar bears and Pacific walruses. We are proposing that this rule be effective for 5 years from date of issuance.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of our final comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the environmental assessment for Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). In the final CCP, we describe how we will manage this refuge for the next 15 years.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement published a notice in the Federal Register on February 9, 2011, entitled: ``List of Restricted Joint Bidders'' that contained an error. We are correcting the name of an oil company listed under Group VIII in that notice.

We are announcing receipt of a request to remove a required amendment to the Pennsylvania regulatory program (the ``Pennsylvania program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). In response to a required program amendment codified in the Federal regulations, Pennsylvania has submitted rationale that it believes supports its position that current program provisions are sufficient to render its program no less effective than the Federal requirements and, therefore, no amendment is necessary. The required amendment pertains to regulatory exemptions for coal extraction incidental to the extraction of other minerals. This document gives the times and locations that the Pennsylvania program and this submittal are available for your inspection, the comment period during which you may submit written comments, and the procedures that we will follow for the public hearing, if one is requested.

We are approving an amendment to the Montana regulatory program (the ``Montana program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (``SMCRA'' or ``the Act''). Montana proposed revisions to the Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM) at Chapter 17.24.1109 (BONDING: LETTERS OF CREDIT). Montana is revising its program to incorporate the additional flexibility afforded by the revised Federal regulations and SMCRA, as amended, and to improve operational efficiency.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are approving an amendment to the Louisiana regulatory program and abandoned mine land reclamation plan under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. Louisiana proposed revisions to its regulations regarding: Definitions; lands eligible for remining; general provisions for review of permit application information and entry of information into Applicant Violator System (AVS); review of applicant, operator, and ownership and control information; review of permit history; review of compliance history; permit eligibility determination; unanticipated events or conditions at remining sites; eligibility for provisionally issued permits; written findings for permit application approval; initial review and finding requirements for improvidently issued permits; suspension or rescission requirements for improvidently issued permits; who may challenge ownership or control listings and findings; how to challenge an ownership or control listing or finding; burden of proof for ownership or control challenges; written agency decision on challenges to ownership or control listings or findings; post-permit issuance requirements for regulatory authorities and other actions based on ownership, control, and violation information; post-permit issuance information requirements for permittees; transfer, assignment, or sale of permit rights; certifying and updating existing permit application information; providing applicant and operator information; providing permit history information; providing violation information; backfilling and grading: previously mined areas; cessation orders; and contractor eligibility. Louisiana revised its regulatory program to be no less effective than the corresponding Federal regulations, and its abandoned mine land reclamation plan to be consistent with the Federal regulations.

A Notice was published in the Federal Register on August 3, 2010, temporarily segregating approximately 28,953 acres of public land within the Clear Creek Management Area (CCMA) from location and entry under the United States mining laws for up to 2 years, while various studies and analyses are made to support a final decision on the withdrawal application. The Secretary of the Interior proposes to withdraw for a period of 20 years these lands located in San Benito and Fresno Counties, on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to limit impacts to public safety and human health from naturally occurring asbestos and past mining activities. In addition, approximately 3,763 acres of non-Federal lands are located inside of the proposed withdrawal area, and if those lands should be acquired by or returned to the United States by any means, they would also be included in the proposed withdrawal. Notice is hereby given, that a public meeting will be held in accordance with the regulations set forth in 43 CFR 2310.3-1. At this meeting, the focus will be on explaining the process of withdrawing public land from location and entry under the United States mining laws.