Department of the Interior August 26, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) announces the availability of a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193, Chukchi Sea, Alaska (OCS EIS/EA BOEMRE 2011-041). BOEMRE prepared this Final SEIS pursuant to: (1) 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 (2) the July 21, 2010, remand order issued by the United States District Court for the District of Alaska. The Final SEIS augments the analysis of the Final EIS, Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193, Chukchi Sea Planning Area (OCS EIS/EA MMS 2007-026). BOEMRE will issue a NEPA Record of Decision after the 30-day period during which the Final SEIS is available. BOEMRE gives this notice of availability in accordance with Council on Environmental Quality regulations at 40 CFR 1506.6 (b).

Pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended by the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1976, and to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regulations, all interested parties are hereby invited to participate with the Peabody Natural Resources Company, on a pro rata cost-sharing basis, in a program for the exploration of coal deposits owned by the United States of America in lands located in McKinley County, New Mexico.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a revised recovery plan for the Mojave population of the desert tortoise under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This species is found in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts in southern California, southern Nevada, Arizona, and the southwestern tip of Utah in the United States, as well as in Sonora and northern Sinaloa in Mexico. The listed Mojave population of the desert tortoise includes those animals living north and west of the Colorado River in the Mojave Desert of California, Nevada, Arizona, and southwestern Utah, and in the Sonoran (Colorado) Desert in California.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, as amended by the National Forest Management Act of 1976, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) have prepared a Supplement to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and the Draft Land Management Plan (LMP) for the San Juan Public Lands that was published on December 14, 2007, and by this notice, are announcing the opening of the comment period. The San Juan Public Lands Center (SJPLC) is the joint USFS/BLM Service First Office responsible for the management of BLM and USFS lands covered in the Draft LMP.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to remove the regulations that govern the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) translocation program, including the establishment of an experimental population of southern sea otters, and all associated management actions. We are also proposing to amend the Authority citation for 50 CFR part 17 by removing the reference to Public Law 99- 625, the statute that authorized the Secretary to promulgate regulations establishing the southern sea otter translocation program. Removal of the regulations will terminate the program. We are proposing this action because we believe that the southern sea otter translocation program has failed to fulfill its purpose, as outlined in the southern sea otter translocation plan, and that our recovery and management goals for the species cannot be met by continuing the program. Our conclusion is based, in part, on an evaluation of the program against specific failure criteria established at the program's inception. This proposed action would terminate the designation of the experimental population of southern sea otters, abolish the southern sea otter translocation and management zones, and eliminate the current requirement to remove southern sea otters from San Nicolas Island and the management zone. This proposed rule would also eliminate future actions, required under the current regulations, to capture and relocate southern sea otters for the purpose of establishing an experimental population, and to remove southern sea otters in perpetuity from an ``otter-free'' management zone. As a result, it would allow southern sea otters to expand their range naturally into southern California waters. We have prepared a revised draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) and an initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA) to accompany this proposed rule.