Department of the Interior 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following application to conduct certain activities with endangered or threatened species. The Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), prohibits activities with endangered and threatened species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The Act also requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

This notice announces the availability of the draft Mendocino Redwood Company Habitat Conservation Plan and Natural Community Conservation Plan (Proposed Plan), draft Implementing Agreement, and draft Environmental Impact Statement/Program Timberland Environmental Impact Report (EIS/PTEIR) for public review and comment. In response to receipt of an application from The Mendocino Redwood Company (MRC; Applicant), the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Services) are considering the proposed action of issuing an 80-year incidental take permit for nine federally listed species and two currently unlisted species. The proposed permit would authorize take of individual members of species listed under section 10 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544, 87 Stat. 884), as amended. The permit is needed because take of species could occur during timber harvest, forest management, and related activities within the 213,244-acre Proposed Plan Area in western Mendocino County, CA.

The U.S. Department of the Interior published a notice announcing the establishment of the Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science (Committee), and inviting nominations for membership on the Committee. The closing date for nominations was November 19, 2012. This Federal Register Notice reopens the nomination and comment period for 30 days. If you have already submitted information to be considered for appointment to the Committee you do not have to resubmit it.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is announcing that the information collection request for the Petition process for designation of Federal lands as unsuitable for all or certain types of surface coal mining operations and for termination of previous designations, has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The information collection request describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden and cost. This information collection activity was previously approved by OMB and assigned clearance number 1029-0098.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan Amendment and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the Stateline Solar Farm Project (Stateline) and by this notice is announcing the opening of the comment period.

This notice informs the public that the North Slope Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council (Council) will hold a public meeting by teleconference on December 7, 2013. The public is invited to participate and to provide oral testimony. The purpose of the Council is to provide recommendations and information to the Federal Subsistence Board, to review policies and management plans, and to provide a public forum for subsistence issues.

Notice of Filing of Plat of Survey; Alaska. Survey Desriptions: The plat representing the survey of U.S. Survey No. 14200, Alaska, located on Baranof Island, situated within unsurveyed T. 60 S., R. 65 E., Copper River Meridian, Alaska.

In this Candidate Notice of Review (CNOR), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), present an updated list of plant and animal species native to the United States that we regard as candidates for or have proposed for addition to the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. Identification of candidate species can assist environmental planning efforts by providing advance notice of potential listings, allowing landowners and resource managers to alleviate threats and thereby possibly remove the need to list species as endangered or threatened. Even if we subsequently list a candidate species, the early notice provided here could result in more options for species management and recovery by prompting candidate conservation measures to alleviate threats to the species. The CNOR summarizes the status and threats that we evaluated in order to determine that species qualify as candidates and to assign a listing priority number (LPN) to each species or to determine that species should be removed from candidate status. Additional material that we relied on is available in the Species Assessment and Listing Priority Assignment Forms (species assessment forms) for each candidate species. Overall, this CNOR recognizes two new candidates, changes the LPN for nine candidates, and removes three species from candidate status. Combined with other decisions for individual species that were published separately from this CNOR in the past year, the current number of species that are candidates for listing is 192. This document also includes our findings on resubmitted petitions and describes our progress in revising the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants (Lists) during the period October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2012. We request additional status information that may be available for the 192 candidate species identified in this CNOR.

The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Museum of New Mexico, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribe, has determined that the cultural items meet the definition of unassociated funerary 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 cultural items may contact the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian tribes. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary objects may contact the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional claimants come forward.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian tribes. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary objects may contact the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional claimants come forward.

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 (ESA) prohibits activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is acquired that allows such activities.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Proposed Sun Valley to Morgan 500/230-kilovolt (kV) Transmission Line Project (Project) and Draft Bradshaw-Harquahala Resource Management Plan (RMP) amendment for the BLM Hassayampa Field Office, and by this notice is announcing the opening of the comment period.

We (National Park Service, NPS) 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 May 31, 2013. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.

The plats of survey of the following described lands are scheduled to be officially filed in the Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Office, Portland, Oregon, 30 days from the date of this publication.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA); the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended; and the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 (CEQA); the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Bishop Field Office, Bishop, California; the United States Forest Service (USFS) Inyo National Forest; and the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District (GBUAPCD) (a California state agency) have prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed Casa Diablo IV Geothermal Development Project near the Town of Mammoth Lakes in Mono County, California. This notice announces the opening of the public comment period.

This action corrects the ZIP code referenced in the ADDRESSES section and the spelling of the name in the signature block in a notice published in the Federal Register on Thursday, October 18, 2012 (77 FR 64124). On page 64124, column 2, line 14 of the notice, which reads ``District Office at 3894 Development'' is hereby corrected to read, ``District Office at 3948 Development.'' On page 64124, column 2, line 15 of the notice, which reads ``Ave., Boise, ID 38705'' is hereby corrected to read, ``Ave., Boise, ID 83705.'' On page 64124, column 2, line 20 of the notice, which reads ``3339; address: 3894 Development Ave.,'' is hereby corrected to read ``3339; address: 3948 Development Ave.'' On page 64124, column 2, line 21 of the notice, which reads ``Boise, ID 38705; email:'' is hereby corrected to read Boise, ID 83705; email:.'' On page 64125, column 2, line 9 of the notice, which reads ``Allen Sieglitz'' is hereby corrected to read, ``Aden Seidlitz''.

BOEM has prepared a ROD for oil and gas WPA Lease Sale 229 scheduled for November 28, 2012. WPA Lease Sale 229 is the first WPA lease sale in the 2012-2017 OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The proposed lease sale is in the Gulf of Mexico's WPA off the States of Texas and Louisiana. In making its decision, BOEM considered alternatives to the proposed action and the potential impacts as presented in the Multisale FEIS and all comments received throughout the NEPA process. The Multisale FEIS evaluated the environmental and socioeconomic impacts for WPA Lease Sale 229.

The National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) will meet on December 3, 2012, from 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST. The meeting will be held via web conference and teleconference. The NGAC, which is composed of representatives from governmental, private sector, non-profit, and academic organizations, has been established to advise the Chair of the Federal Geographic Data Committee on management of Federal geospatial programs, the development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, and the implementation of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-16. Topics to be addressed at the meeting include:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following application for a permit to conduct activities with the purpose of enhancing the survival of endangered species. The Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), prohibits certain activities with respect to endangered species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The Act also requires that we invite public comment before issuing such permits.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a record of decision (ROD) for the final comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and final environmental impact statement (EIS) for Charles M. Russell and UL Bend National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs, Refuges).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list the Heller Cave springtail as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act) and to designate critical habitat. Based on our review, we find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing this species may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a review of the status of the species to determine if listing the Heller Cave springtail is warranted. To ensure that this status review is comprehensive, we are requesting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding this species. Based on the status review, we will issue a 12-month finding on the petition, which will address whether the petitioned action is warranted, as provided in section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act.

The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation proposes to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed 20- year extension (March 1, 2015 through February 28, 2034) of the existing 2005 Mendota Pool 10-year Exchange Agreements. The Mendota Pool 10-year Exchange Agreements that are currently in place span the years 2005 to 2014, and an extension of the agreements is necessary for Mendota Pool Group farmers to continue this exchange after 2014. The proposed extension would allow Mendota Pool Group farmers in the Mendota Pool area to continue to pump up to 26,250 acre-feet per year of groundwater of suitable quality into the Mendota Pool for exchange of up to 25,000 acre-feet per year Central Valley Project water delivered to the San Luis Canal for use by Mendota Pool Group farmers in the San Luis Canal service area of San Luis Water District and Westlands Water District when the existing agreements expire.

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 is cancelled.