Department of the Interior November 7, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 1004-0201, which pertains to management of oil shale on public lands.

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 29 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 6-8, 2011 in Washington, DC and will focus primarily invasive species as it relates to commerce. The purpose of the meeting is to convene the full ISAC and consider strategies and methodologies for implementing performance elements outlined in the 2008-2012 Invasive Species National Management Plan. The meeting is open to the public. An orientation session will be held on Monday, December 5, 2011, for the six new ISAC members appointed by Secretary Ken Salazar on September 16, 2011. There will be no ISAC business conducted during the orientation session, which is closed to the public.

To implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES or the Convention), the Parties to the Convention meet periodically to review what species in international trade should be regulated and other aspects of the implementation of CITES. The sixteenth regular meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP16) is tentatively scheduled to be held in March 2013 in Thailand. This is our second in a series of Federal Register notices that, together with an announced public meeting, provide you with an opportunity to participate in the development of the U.S. negotiating positions for CoP16. We published our first CoP16-related Federal Register notice on June 14, 2011, in which we requested information and recommendations on species proposals for the United States to consider submitting for consideration at CoP16. Further input from the public on species proposals will be sought in a future notice. With this notice we are soliciting and invite you to provide us with information and recommendations on resolutions, decisions, and agenda items that the United States might consider submitting for discussion at CoP16. In addition, with this notice we provide preliminary information on how to request approved observer status for nongovernmental organizations that wish to attend the meeting.

This notice opens lands for selection by the State of Alaska (State), subject to Section 24 of the Federal Power Act (FPA). The lands include approximately 1,355 acres of National Forest System lands withdrawn for Power Site Classification No. 221 by the Secretarial Order dated May 14, 1929, and approximately 948 acres of public land withdrawn for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Power Project No. 13234. This action will permit conveyance of the land to the State, if such land is otherwise available, and retain the power rights to the United States. Any land described herein that is not conveyed to the State will remain subject to the terms and conditions of the Tongass National Forest reservation and any other withdrawal of record.

The purpose of this notice is to request public nominations to fill three positions for the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Wyoming's 10-member Resource Advisory Council (RAC). The RAC provides advice and recommendations to the BLM on land use planning and management of the National System of Public Lands within the State of Wyoming.