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

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) for the revision of the currently approved paperwork requirements for the Ferrous Metals Surveys. This collection consists of 17 forms. This notice provides the public and other Federal agencies an opportunity to comment on the nature of this collection which is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2011.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12- month finding on a petition to list the Puerto Rican harlequin butterfly (Atlantea tulita) as endangered and to designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. After reviewing all available scientific and commercial information, we find that the listing of the Puerto Rican harlequin butterfly is warranted. Currently, however, listing the Puerto Rican harlequin butterfly is precluded by higher priority actions to amend the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. Upon publication of this 12-month petition finding, we will add the Puerto Rican harlequin butterfly to our candidate species list. If an emergency situation develops with this species that warrants an emergency listing, we will act immediately to provide additional protection. We will develop a proposed rule to list the Puerto Rican harlequin butterfly as our priorities allow. We will make any determination on critical habitat during development of the proposed listing rule. During any interim period, we will address the status of the candidate taxon through our annual Candidate Notice of Review (CNOR).

The Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) requests comments and suggestions from affected parties and the interested public before proposing changes to the existing regulations governing the valuation of coal produced from Federal and Indian leases, for royalty purposes. The existing Federal and Indian coal valuation regulations have been in effect since March 1, 1989, with minor subsequent amendments relating primarily to the Federal Black Lung Excise Taxes, abandoned mine lands (AML) fees, state and local severance taxes, and washing and transportation allowances provisions. These existing coal valuation regulations also have not kept pace with significant changes that have occurred in the domestic coal market during the last 20-plus years. This notice is intended to solicit comments and suggestions on possible new methodologies to establish the royalty value of coal produced from Federal and Indian leases. The ONRR also plans to hold public workshops to discuss changes to the coal valuation regulations after the written comment period closes, and ONRR has had a reasonable time to review and analyze the comments. The ONRR will announce any public workshops in a future Federal Register notice. Getting feedback upfront and involving all affected stakeholders in the rulemaking process are the hallmarks of good government and smart business practice. The intention of this rulemaking process is to provide regulations that would offer greater simplicity, certainty, clarity, and consistency in production valuation for mineral lessees and mineral revenue recipients; be easy to understand; decrease industry's cost of compliance; and provide early certainty to industry and ONRR that companies have paid every dollar due. The ONRR intends that the final regulations will be revenue neutral.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is seeking comments on renewal of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the Certificate of Degree of Indian or Alaska Native Blood (CDIB) information collection. The information collection is currently authorized by OMB Control Number 1076-0153, which expires July 31, 2011.

In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), and the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Northwest California Resource Advisory Council 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 (Act) prohibits activities with endangered and threatened species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The Act requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

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) Southeast Oregon Resource Advisory Council (SEORAC) will meet as indicated below.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the availability of our draft recovery plan, first revision, for the Mount Graham Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This species is endemic to upper-elevation forests in the Pinale[ntilde]o Mountains in southeastern Arizona. We request review and comment on our plan from local, State, and Federal agencies, Tribes, and the public. We will also accept any new information on the species' status throughout its range.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Sigurd to Red Butte No. 2-345 Kilovolt (kV) Transmission Line Project (Project) and by this notice is announcing the opening of a 45 day public comment period.

BOEMRE announces the availability of a Revised Draft SEIS, OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193, Chukchi Sea, Alaska (OCS EIS/EA BOEMRE 2010-034) for public review and comment, as well as the date, location, and time for public hearings. BOEMRE prepared this Revised Draft SEIS pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations that implement the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and the July 21, 2010, remand order issued by the United States District Court for the District of Alaska. The Revised Draft SEIS augments the analysis of the Final EIS, Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193, Chukchi Sea Planning Area (OCS EIS/EA MMS 2007-026).

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

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, determine threatened status for the salmon-crested cockatoo (Cacatua moluccensis) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This final rule implements the Federal protections provided by the Act for this species. We are also publishing a special rule for the species.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species, marine mammals, or both. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) prohibits activities with listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activities. Both laws require that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is scheduled to file the plat of survey of the lands described below thirty (30) calendar days from the date of this publication in the BLM Wyoming State Office, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are initiating 5-year reviews for 53 species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We conduct these reviews to ensure that our classification of each species on the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants as threatened or endangered is accurate. A 5-year review assesses the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the review. We are requesting any information that has become available since our original listing of each of these species. Based on review results, we will determine whether we should change the listing status of any of these species. In this notice, we also announce 5-year reviews that were completed for 32 species in California and Nevada between April 1, 2010, and March 16, 2011.

The regulations implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act provide that Indian tribes may designate an agent other than the tribal chairman for service of notice of proceedings under the Act. This notice includes the current list of designated tribal agents for service of notice.

We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act 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 October 31, 2011. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The public is invited to comment on the following application for approval to conduct certain activities with birds that are protected in accordance with the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are approving an amendment to the Alabama regulatory program (Alabama program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Alabama revised its regulations regarding their license fees, annual license updates, and blaster certification fees. Alabama revised its program to improve operational efficiency.

This notice is being published as an initial step for the purpose of involving Federal agencies, states, tribes, local government, and the public in the leasing decision for an offshore technology testing facility located on the OCS, in accordance with the Department of the Interior and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). On November 6, 2007, the Minerals Management Service (MMS), now BOEMRE, announced an interim policy for authorizing the issuance of leases for the installation of offshore data collection and technology testing facilities on the OCS (72 FR 62673). A lease application has been submitted pursuant to the interim policy, initiating the need for an EA. On June 11, 2010 Florida Atlantic University's (FAU) Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center (SNMREC) submitted an application to lease three OCS blocks, approximately nine to 15 nautical miles offshore of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, under its original nomination submitted on November 8, 2007. These three blocks are located on the Atlantic OCS in the Official Protraction Diagram NG 17- 06 numbered 7003, 7053, and 7054. The proposed lease area ranges from a depth of 262 meters (m) in Block 7053 to 366 m in the southern half of Block 7054. This project application was amended on February 10, 2011, and describes data collection and technology testing activities to be conducted on the proposed lease. FAU SNMREC intends to deploy a single- anchor mooring, with a mooring and telemetry buoy (MTB) (similar to the Navy Oceanographic Meteorological Automatic Device (NOMAD) weather buoys) for the purpose of testing, for limited periods, equipment designed to use the Florida current to generate electricity on the proposed leasehold. The proposed MTB would act as both a sensor and measurement platform and mooring point for a platform or vessel which can deploy small-scale ocean current devices. The device(s) to be deployed would be limited to 100-kilowatt (kW) power extraction and seven-meter diameter rotor(s). Initially, it is proposed to deploy an experimental demonstration device with 20 kW maximum power and a three- meter rotor diameter from a vessel moored to the MTB. BOEMRE intends to prepare an EA for the purpose of considering the environmental consequences associated with issuing an interim policy lease to FAU SNMREC, which will include impacts that may result from the installation of an MTB, deployment of small-scale ocean current devices, and operations of a deployment vessel on the potential leasehold. The EA will consider multiple environmental issues, including impacts to benthic habitats, sea turtles, pelagic fishes, marine mammals, and existing human uses. At a minimum, the alternatives that will be considered are no action (i.e., no issuance of a lease), and the issuance of a lease and approval of certain technology testing activities within the lease area, such as deployment of technology demonstration devices, single anchor moorings, and an MTB. With this NOI, BOEMRE is requesting comments and input from Federal, state, and local government agencies, tribal governments, and other interested parties, which may assist BOEMRE in identifying the important environmental issues and any additional alternatives that should be considered in the EA. Input is also requested regarding measures (e.g., limitations on activities based on technology, siting, or timing) that would mitigate impacts to environmental resources and socioeconomic conditions that could result from leasing and the technology testing activities in the lease area. Consultation with other Federal agencies, tribal governments, and affected states will be carried out during the EA process and will be completed before a final decision is made on whether, or under what circumstances to issue a lease.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, Department of Commerce) and other Federal, State, and tribal partners, announce that we are seeking public comments and information necessary to prepare a draft National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy (Strategy). The Strategy will provide a unified approach reflecting shared principles and science-based practicesfor reducing the negative impacts of climate change on fish, wildlife, plants, habitats, and our natural resource heritage. It will serve as a valuable tool for Federal and State agencies, wildlife managers, tribes, and private landowners as they continue to manage their lands and natural resources in a changing environment.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce a public meeting of the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council (Council).

The Bureau of Reclamation (we, our, or us) has forwarded the following Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Individual Landholder's Certification and Reporting Forms for Acreage Limitation. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected cost and burden.

The Bureau of Reclamation (we, our, or us) has forwarded the following Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Forms to Determine Compliance by Certain Landholders. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected cost and burden.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to sell a parcel of public land totaling 7.45 acres in Jerome County, Idaho, to the owners of the adjacent private land, Todd and Bridget Buschhorn, for the appraised fair market value of $5,600.