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

The Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Windy Gap Firming Project is available for public review. The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) has evaluated comments and has identified Alternative 2 as the Preferred Alternative. The Preferred Alternative includes construction of Chimney Hollow Reservoir, pre-positioning of Colorado-Big Thompson (C-BT) water in the new reservoir, and a new pipeline to convey water to the reservoir from existing C-BT facilities.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, have received an application, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), from Kaheawa Wind Power I, LLC, for an amendment to incidental take permit (ITP) number TE118901-0 and the associated Kaheawa Pastures Wind Energy Generation Facility Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). If approved, the ITP amendment would reduce the level of authorized incidental take of the endangered Hawaiian petrel (uau) and the threatened Newell's shearwater (ao) in the course of operating the Kaheawa Pastures Wind Energy Generation Facility (KWPI wind farm) for generating electricity on the island of Maui, Hawaii. We invite public comment on the proposed amendment of the ITP, HCP, and associated documents.

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) Rio Grande Natural Area Commission will meet as indicated below.

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 Kuitsarak, Inc. The decision approves the surface estate in the lands described below for conveyance pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). The subsurface estate in these lands will be conveyed to Calista Corporation when the surface estate is conveyed to Kuitsarak, Inc. The lands are in the vicinity of Goodnews Bay, Alaska, and are located in:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Bureau of Indian Affairs is submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for renewal for the collection of information titled ``Tribal Probate Codes.'' The information collection is currently authorized by OMB Control Number 1076-0168, which expires November 30, 2011.

The Water Resources Planning Act of 1965 and the Water Resources Development Act of 1974 require an annual determination of a discount rate for Federal water resources planning. The discount rate for Federal water resources planning for fiscal year 2012 is 4 percent. Discounting is to be used to convert future monetary values to present values.

The University of Michigan 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 any present-day Indian tribe. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains may contact the University of Michigan Office of the Vice President for Research. Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional requestors come forward.

The Washington State University, Museum of Anthropology (WSU), in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, has determined that the cultural items meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and repatriation to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional claimants come forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the cultural items may contact WSU.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the University of Tennessee McClung Museum (McClung Museum), in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, have determined that the cultural items in this notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects, and repatriation to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional claimants come forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the cultural items may contact the TVA and McClung Museum.

The Paul H. Karshner Memorial Museum has completed an inventory of human remains in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the remains and any present-day Indian tribe. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains may contact the Paul H. Karshner Memorial Museum, Puyallup, WA. Disposition of the human remains to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional requestors come forward.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is proposing to revise the regulations addressing non-agricultural leasing of Indian land. This rule would add new subparts to address residential leases, business leases, wind resource evaluation and development leases, and solar resource development leases on Indian land, and would therefore remove the existing subpart for non-agricultural leases.

The plats of survey and supplemental plats of lands described below are scheduled to be officially filed in the Bureau of Land Management California State Office, Sacramento, California, thirty (30) calendar days from the date of this publication.

The purpose of this notice is to request public nominations to fill one position on the Utah Resource Advisory Council (RAC) in category three (representatives of state, county, or local elected office; employees of a state agency responsible for management of natural resources; representatives of Indian tribes within or adjacent to the area for which the council is organized; representatives of academia who are employed in natural sciences; or the public-at-large).

The Secretary of the Interior is publishing this notice as required by section 10(a) of the Soboba Band of Luise[ntilde]o Indians Settlement Act of 2008, Public Law 110-297, 122 Stat. 2975, 2983 (Settlement Act). The publication of this notice causes certain waivers and releases of claims to become effective as required by the Settlement Act.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have issued the following permits to conduct certain activities with endangered species, marine mammals, or both. We issue these permits under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Baker Resource Area of the BLM Vale District and, by this notice, is announcing the opening of the comment period.

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

The National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) for Protecting and Restoring Native Ecosystems by Managing Non-Native Ungulates, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii. The park's current management plan for non-native ungulate control was developed nearly 40 years ago. The new plan will provide a park-wide framework to systematically guide non- native ungulate management activities over the next 15-20 years. The Draft EIS presents five alternatives for managing non-native ungulates in a manner that supports long-term ecosystem protection, supports natural ecosystem recovery and provides desirable conditions for active ecosystem restoration, and supports protection and preservation of cultural resources.

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to 16 U.S.C. 460l- 9(c)(1), the boundary of Colorado National Monument is modified to include an additional two and forty-five hundredths (2.45) acres of land identified as Tract 01-140, tax parcel number 2697-343-04-009. The land is located in Mesa County, Colorado, immediately adjacent to the current eastern boundary of Colorado National Monument. The boundary revision is depicted on Map No. 119/106,532 dated January 2011. The map is available for inspection at the following locations: National Park Service, Intermountain Land Resources Program Center, 12795 W. Alameda Parkway, Lakewood, CO 80225-0287 and National Park Service, Department of the Interior, Washington, DC 20240.

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 Arviq Incorporated. The decision approves only the surface estate in the lands described below for conveyance pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601, et seq). The subsurface estate of these lands will be conveyed to Calista Corporation when the surface estate is conveyed to Arviq Incorporated. The lands are in the vicinity of Platinum, Alaska, and located in:

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

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is contemplating awarding an exclusive license to: Geosyntec Consultants, 1255 Roberts Boulevard NW., Suite 200, Kennesaw, GA 30144, on U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 12/133,666, and a divisional patent application to be filed shortly at the Patent and Trademark Office, both entitled ``Anaerobic Microbial Composition and Methods of Using Same.'' Inquiries: If other parties are interested in similar activities, or have comments related to the prospective awards, please contact Neil Mark, USGS, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 201, Reston, Virginia 20192, voice (703) 648-4344, fax (703) 648-7219, or email nmark@usgs.gov.

To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is inviting comments on an information collection request (ICR) that we have sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR concerns the paperwork requirements for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, Cooperative Agreements Program (NSDI CAP) and describes the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost. 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 ICR. This Information Collection is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2012. To submit a proposal for the NSDI CAP, three standard OMB forms and project narrative must be completed and submitted via Grants.gov.

As authorized by Section 7001 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, Public Law 111-11 (codified at 16 U.S.C. 410lll), the National Park Service announces that the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) has established, in the State of New Jersey, Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park as a unit of the National Park System.

The States of Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wyoming have requested that we delegate permitting for falconry to the State, as provided under our regulations. We have reviewed regulations and supporting materials provided by these States, and have concluded that their regulations comply with the Federal regulations. We change the falconry regulations accordingly. This rule also makes certain nonsubstantive editorial changes to correct minor errors and to clarify the regulations.