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

The State of Alaska (State) has filed an application with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for a Recordable Disclaimer of Interest from the United States in those lands underlying Whitefish Lake and its outlet in southwestern Alaska. The State asserts that Whitefish Lake and its outlet were navigable and unreserved at the time of statehood; therefore, title to the submerged lands passed to the State at the time of statehood (1959). The lake and its outlet are partially within the exterior boundaries of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, created by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Public Law 96-487 of December 2, 1980, and administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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 Calista Corporation. The decision will approve the conveyance of the surface and subsurface estates in certain lands pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The lands are located south west of Sheldon Point, Alaska, and contain 20.55 acres. Notice of the decision will also be published four times in the Anchorage Daily News.

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 Columbia National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) for public review and comment. The Draft CCP/ EA describes our proposal and alternatives for managing the Refuge for the next 15 years.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) announce the availability of the Gateway West Transmission Line Project DEIS and prospective draft Land Use Plan (LUP) Amendments. The DEIS analyzes the consequences of granting a right-of-way (ROW) to Idaho Power and Rocky Mountain Power for locating a 1,103-mile-long electric transmission line from the proposed Windstar Substation near the Dave Johnston Power Plant at Glenrock, Wyoming, to the proposed Hemingway Substation near Melba, Idaho. The project is composed of 10 transmission line segments of 230 and 500 kilovolts (kV); each segment would carry up to 3,000 megawatts (MW). The requested ROW width would generally be 300 feet but could range from 125 to 350 feet, depending on the design variation and structure type. The proposed route generally follows existing transmission lines and West-wide Energy (WWE) corridors designated pursuant to Section 368 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Approximately 610 miles (55 percent) of the proposed route is located within or adjacent to designated corridors or existing transmission lines. Approximately 500 miles (46 percent) of the total proposed length traverses Federally administered land in Idaho and Wyoming. In Idaho, approximately 280 miles of the proposed transmission lines would cross public land administered by seven BLM Field Offices: Bruneau, Burley, Four Rivers, Jarbidge, Owyhee, Pocatello, and Shoshone. In Wyoming, approximately 220 miles of the proposed transmission lines would cross public land administered by four BLM Field Offices: Casper, Kemmerer, Rawlins, and Rock Springs. The proposed route crosses approximately 16 miles in two units of the National Forest System: 7 miles in the Douglas Ranger District of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest in Wyoming and 9 miles in the Montpelier Ranger District of the Caribou- Targhee National Forest in Idaho. In addition, the proposed route crosses approximately 5 miles of land administered by the Bureau of Reclamation. Alternative routes are proposed that would cross the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho, the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, and the acquisition area of the Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. One alternative route in Segment 7 extends 9.5 miles into Nevada with approximately 7 miles on public land administered by the Wells Field Office. This project includes prospective amendments of USFS Land and Resource Management Plans (Forest Plans) and BLM land use plans (Management Framework Plans and Resource Management Plans). By this notice, and the Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS filed in May 2008 (see below), BLM is complying with requirements in 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1610.2(c) and the USFS is complying with 36 CFR 219.8 to notify the public of potential amendments to land use plans. The BLM and USFS are integrating the land use planning process with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis process for this project. Your input is important and will be considered in the environmental analysis process. All comment submissions must include the commenter's name and street address. Comments including the names and addresses of the respondent will be available for public inspection at the locations listed below during their business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or any other personal identifying information in your comment, be advised that your entire comment, including your personal identifying information, may be publicly available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold from public review your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

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 Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Proposed Over the River Art Project (Over the River Final EIS) and by this notice is announcing its availability and the initiation of the 30-day availability period.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a proposed collection of information that will allow BIE to obtain information from individuals on their qualifications to serve on the Advisory Board for Exceptional Children under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. This notice is not requesting nominations; it is requesting comment on the information BIE may collect in the future for nominations by a separate Federal Register notice.

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.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will file the plat of survey of the lands described below in the BLM Montana State Office, Billings, Montana, on August 26, 2011.

The University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribe, has determined that the items meet the definition of sacred objects and repatriation to the Indian tribe stated below may occur if no additional claimants come forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the sacred objects may contact the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology.

Notice is hereby given of contractual actions that have been proposed to the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and were pending through December 31, 2010, and contract actions that have been completed or discontinued since the last publication of this notice on December 29, 2010. From the date of this publication, future notices during this calendar year will be limited to new, modified, discontinued, or completed contract actions. This annual notice should be used as a point of reference to identify changes in future notices. This notice is one of a variety of means used to inform the public about proposed contractual actions for capital recovery and management of project resources and facilities consistent with section 9(f) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939. Additional announcements of individual contract actions may be published in the Federal Register and in newspapers of general circulation in the areas determined by Reclamation to be affected by the proposed action.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine endangered status for Ipomopsis polyantha (Pagosa skyrocket), a plant species in Archuleta County, Colorado; threatened status for Penstemon debilis (Parachute beardtongue) in Garfield County, Colorado; and threatened status for Phacelia submutica (DeBeque phacelia) in Mesa and Garfield Counties, Colorado, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Designation of critical habitat for the three species is proposed concurrently in a separate rule in this edition of the Federal Register.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are initiating 5-year status reviews under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), of seven animal and plant species. 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 the public to send us any information that has become available since the most recent status reviews on each of these species. Based on review results, we will determine whether we should change the listing status of any of these species.

Notice is hereby given that the Big Willow closure to motorized vehicle use is in effect on public lands administered by the Four Rivers Field Office, Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Notice is hereby given in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770, 5 U.S.C. App 1, Section 10) of a meeting of the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission.

The Wrangell-St. Elias National Park SRC and the Denali National Park SRC will meet to develop and continue work on National Park Service (NPS) subsistence program recommendations and other related subsistence management issues. The NPS SRC program is authorized under Title VIII, Section 808 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Public Law 96-487, to operate in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register.

In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Arizona Resource Advisory Council (RAC) will meet in Phoenix, Arizona, as indicated below.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (hereinafter Service or we) is proposing to establish the 2011-12 early-season hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds. We annually prescribe frameworks, or outer limits, for dates and times when hunting may occur and the maximum number of birds that may be taken and possessed in early seasons. Early seasons may open as early as September 1, and include seasons in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These frameworks are necessary to allow State selections of specific final seasons and limits and to allow recreational harvest at levels compatible with population status and habitat conditions. This proposed rule also provides the final regulatory alternatives for the 2011-12 duck hunting seasons.

In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have issued

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to sell two

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has submitted an information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a 3-year renewal of OMB Control Number 1004-0103 under the Paperwork Reduction Act. This control number covers paperwork requirements pertaining to the purchase of mineral materials from public lands.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Department of the Interior is issuing a public notice of its intent to create the Department of the Interior system of records titled, Department of the Interior Social Networks. The system will assist the Department of the Interior by providing new ways to connect and share information, and solicit and receive feedback freely with the public. This newly established system will be included in the Department of the Interior's inventory of record systems.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Salt Wells Energy Projects and by this notice is announcing its availability.

To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we are notifying the public that we have submitted to OMB an information collection request (ICR) to renew approval of the paperwork requirements that address the BOEMRE's Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP), which is a grant program. This notice also provides the public a second opportunity to comment on the paperwork burden of these requirements.