Department of the Interior August 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has examined and found suitable for classification and conveyance under the provisions of the Recreation and Public Purposes (R&PP) Act, as amended, 43.08 acres of land on Thunder Bay Island in Alpena Township, Michigan. Alpena Township proposes to acquire the lighthouse and surrounding land on Thunder Bay Island to use as a historic site.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing a non- competitive (direct) sale of 280 acres of public land in Carbon County, Utah, to Hunt Consolidated, Inc., under the provisions of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), as amended, at not less than the fair market value of $196,000.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, published a final rule in the Federal Register on August 12, 2014, that determined endangered species status under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), for the Florida leafwing (Anaea troglodyta floridalis) and Bartram's scrub-hairstreak (Strymon acis bartrami), two butterflies endemic to South Florida. In that rule, we made an error in our amendatory language. With this document, we correct our error.

BOEM is seeking comments and information regarding its effort to update its regulations and program oversight for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) financial assurance requirements. When BOEM's existing bonding regulations were originally drafted and first implemented, the principal risks associated with OCS leases were non-payment of rents and royalties, noncompliance with laws and regulations, and potential problems due to bankruptcy. While potentially significant, such risks were generally well-known and of limited complexity, size and scope. Due to increasingly complex business, functional, organizational and financial issues and vast differences in costs associated with expanded and varied offshore activities, BOEM has recognized the need to develop a comprehensive program to assist in identifying, prioritizing, and managing the risks associated with industry activities on the OCS. BOEM intends to design and implement a more robust and comprehensive risk management, financial assurance and loss prevention program to address these complex issues and cost differences associated with offshore operations. To do so, BOEM is seeking stakeholder comments regarding various risk management and monitoring activities pertaining to financial risks to taxpayers that may result from activities on the OCS. This notice specifically discusses the bonding and financial assurance program for BOEM's offshore oil and gas program. However, we also welcome the submission of comments on the analogous bonding and financial assurance program for BOEM's offshore renewable energy and hard minerals programs. BOEM currently requires lessees to provide performance bonds and/or one of various alternative forms of financial assurance to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of leases, Rights-of-Use and Easements (RUEs) and Pipeline Rights-of-Way (ROWs). BOEM is seeking comments on who is best suited to mitigate risks and whether the correct parties are providing guarantees and other forms of financial assurance, as well as whether, or to what extent, the current forms of financial assurance are adequate and appropriate. Because costs and damages associated with oil spill financial responsibility (OSFR) are covered separately in the regulations, which is the subject of other proposed rulemakings on BOEM's regulatory agenda, BOEM is not soliciting comments on those regulations and their associated risk mitigation measures at this time.

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

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), intend to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act regarding an application to amend the Endangered Species Act permit issued for the Multiple Species Conservation Program County of San Diego Subarea Plan (Subarea Plan). The EIS will evaluate the impacts of several alternatives related to the proposed issuance of an amended incidental take permit to the County of San Diego (applicant) for the quarry and landfill project in San Diego County, California. We request data, comments, new information, or suggestions from the public, other concerned governmental agencies, the scientific community, Tribes, industry, or any other interested party.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications to conduct certain activities with endangered species, marine mammals, or both. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) prohibit activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is acquired that allows such activities.

We (the U.S. Geological Survey) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) described below. 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 IC. This collection is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2015.

The purpose of this notice is to inform the public and interested State and local government officials of the filing of Plats of Survey in Nevada.

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.

The National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, proposes to appoint new members to the Na Hoa Pili O Kaloko-Honokohau (The Friends of Kaloko-Honokohau), an advisory commission for the park. The Superintendent, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, acting as administrative lead, is requesting nominations for qualified persons to serve as members of the Commission.

As required by 43 CFR 2650.7(d), notice is hereby given that an appealable decision will be issued by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to Chefarnrmute, Incorporated. 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 Chefarnrmute, Incorporated. The lands are in the vicinity of Chefornak, Alaska, and are located in:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a final comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the environmental assessment (EA) we prepared on the CCP for Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. The final CCP describes how we intend to manage the refuge for the next 15 years.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce a public meeting of the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG). The TAMWG is a Federal advisory committee that affords stakeholders the opportunity to give policy, management, and technical input concerning Trinity River (California) restoration efforts to the Trinity Management Council (TMC). The TMC interprets and recommends policy, coordinates and reviews management actions, and provides organizational budget oversight.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, withdraw the proposed rule to list the distinct population segment of the North American wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus) occurring in the contiguous United States as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This withdrawal is based on our conclusion that the factors affecting the DPS as identified in the proposed rule are not as significant as believed at the time of the proposed rule's publication (February 4, 2013). We base this conclusion on our analysis of current and future threat factors. Therefore, we withdraw our proposal to list the wolverine within the contiguous U.S. as a threatened species. As a result, we also withdraw our associated proposed rule under section 4(d) of the Act contained in the proposed listing rule and withdraw the proposed nonessential experimental population designation under section 10(j) of the Act for the southern Rocky Mountains, which published in a separate document on February 4, 2013.

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 September 11, 2014.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, determine endangered species status under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, for the Florida leafwing (Anaea troglodyta floridalis) and Bartram's scrub-hairstreak (Strymon acis bartrami), two butterflies endemic to South Florida. This final rule implements the protections provided by the Act for these species. This regulation will result in the addition of these species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) to amend the Right-of-Way (ROW) for the Blythe Solar Power Project (BSPP), Riverside County, California. The Assistant SecretaryLand and Minerals Management, approved the ROD on August 1, 2014, which constitutes the final decision of the Department of the Interior.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to offer 40 parcels of public land totaling 516.18 acres in the Las Vegas Valley by competitive sale, at not less than the appraised fair market values (FMV). The BLM is proposing to offer the parcels for sale pursuant to the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998 (SNPLMA), as amended. The sale will be subject to the applicable provisions of Section 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) and BLM land sale regulations.

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) Front Range Resource Advisory Council (RAC), will meet as indicated below.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), are approving an amendment to the Texas regulatory program (Texas program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Texas proposed revisions to its regulations regarding annual permit fees. Texas revised its program at its own initiative to raise revenues sufficient to cover its anticipated share of costs to administer the coal regulatory program and to encourage mining companies to more quickly reclaim lands and request bond release, thereby fulfilling SMCRA's purpose of assuring the reclamation of mined land as quickly as possible.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) is inviting you to provide comments on the GENWEST Systems, Inc., Effective Daily Recovery Capacity (EDRC) Study, National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Letter Report summarizing its peer review of the GENWEST Study, and comments provided by BSEE regarding each document. Background: EDRC is a calculation method established within BSEE's and the United States Coast Guard's (USCG) regulations to assign an oil recovery capability value to oil skimming equipment. Although the EDRC methodology was finalized in the early 1990's and has been an integral component of industry response planning and readiness for the past 20 years, the methodology came under heavy scrutiny in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This spurred an open debate and ongoing dialogue on how to best improve the EDRC planning standard. In late 2011, BSEE contracted with GENWEST Systems Inc. to evaluate the EDRC methodology and to develop recommendations for improving the planning standard for the mechanical recovery of oil on water. GENWEST's final report produced the concept of Estimated Recovery System Potential (ERSP), an oil encounter rate- based calculator that evaluates mechanical recovery equipment as a complete system as opposed to focusing on an individual component such as a skimmer or an intake pump. Shortly thereafter, BSEE contracted the National Research Council's Ocean Studies Board to conduct an independent, third party peer review of the ERSP methodology. The resulting National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Peer Review Letter Report validated the ERSP standard as a sound methodology and a significant improvement over EDRC. The peer review also identified a number of areas for further consideration where ERSP might be improved. BSEE is continuing to develop and refine the ERSP methodology, with the intent of evaluating ERSP as a potential revision to BSEE's oil spill response plan (OSRP) regulations. This notice provides a high level summary of some of the key elements of both documents, as well as BSEE comments regarding each document. It also includes BSEE's response to recommendations in the NAS Letter Report. While the development of a new planning standard for calculating the mechanical recovery of spills continues to undergo additional research and refinement, this notice provides an early opportunity for public viewing and comment on the GENWEST EDRC Study and NAS Letter Report documents which are available in the regulations.gov docket ID: BSEE-2014-0006 and on the BSEE Web site at https://www.bsee.gov/Research-and-Training/Oil-Spill-Response- Research/Projects/Project-673/, as well as an opportunity to comment on the BSEE's responses to the findings and recommendations contained in each document.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received applications from the City of Deltona and Adventist Health System/ Sunbelt, Inc. (applicants) for incidental take permits under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The City of Deltona has applied for modification of an ITP (ITP; modification TE28377B-1), and Adventist Health System/Sunbelt, Inc. has applied for a 10-year incidental take permit (ITP; TE41877B- 0). We request public comment on the permit applications and accompanying proposed habitat conservation plans (HCPs), as well as on our preliminary determination that the plan qualifies as low-effect under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). To make this determination, we used our environmental action statement and low- effect screening form, which are also available for review.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), invite the public to comment on the following applications we've received for permits to authorize take of federally listed species. Although the Endangered Species Act (Act) prohibits the take of species listed as endangered or threatened under the Act, the USFWS may issue permits authorizing the take of endangered or threatened species if certain conditions are met by the applicant, and when such take will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the survival and recovery of the species in the wild. The Act requires that we invite public comment before we issue these permits.