Department of the Interior January 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we are notifying the public that we have submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an Information Collection Request (ICR) to renew approval of the paperwork requirements in the regulations under 30 CFR part 1218. This notice also provides the public a second opportunity to comment on the paperwork burden of these regulatory requirements.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has prepared a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for proposed oil and gas Central Planning Area (CPA) Lease Sales 241 and 247 and Eastern Planning Area (EPA) Lease Sale 226 in the Gulf of Mexico (CPA 241/247/EPA 226 Draft Supplemental EIS). Proposed CPA Lease Sale 241 and EPA Lease Sale 226 are tentatively scheduled to be held in March 2016, and proposed CPA Lease Sale 247 is tentatively scheduled to be held in March 2017. The CPA 241/247/EPA 226 Draft Supplemental EIS updates the environmental and socioeconomic analyses in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2012-2017; Western Planning Area Lease Sales 229, 233, 238, 246, and 248; Central Planning Area Lease Sales 227, 231, 235, 241, and 247, Final Environmental Impact Statement (2012-2017 WPA/CPA Multisale EIS) (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2012-019); Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2014 and 2016; Eastern Planning Area Lease Sales 225 and 226, Final Environmental Impact Statement (EPA 225/226 EIS) (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2013-200); Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2013-2014; Western Planning Area Lease Sale 233; Central Planning Area Lease Sale 231, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (WPA 233/CPA 231 Supplemental EIS) (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2013- 0118); Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2014-2016; and Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2015-2017; Central Planning Area Lease Sales 235, 241, and 247, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (CPA 235/241/247 Supplemental EIS) (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2014- 655).

Consistent with the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), BOEM is announcing its intent to prepare an EIS to inform the decisions that will be taken during the preparation and implementation of the 2017-2022 Oil and Gas Leasing Program (2017-2022 Program). Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) requires the development of an OCS oil and gas leasing program every five years. The 2017-2022 Program must address the size, timing and location of the lease sales to be held under it. Section 18 also requires a multi-step process of consultation and analysis that must be completed before the Secretary of the Interior may approve a new Program. BOEM initiated the 2017-2022 Program process by issuing a request for information and comments (RFI) in June 2014. The remaining process required by section 18 of the OCS Lands Act includes development of a Draft Proposed Program (DPP), a Proposed Program, a Proposed Final Program (PFP), and Secretarial approval of the 2017-2022 Program. The EIS is developed in concert with the 2017-2022 Program documents. The EIS will analyze the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of possible OCS oil and gas activities that could result from lease sales contemplated under the 2017-2022 Program. The scope of the EIS will be based on the DPP after consideration of public input received during the scoping period for the EIS. The DPP includes potential lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico (Western, Central, and a small portion of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Areas not subject to Congressional moratorium), Atlantic (Mid and South Atlantic Planning Areas), and Alaska (Cook Inlet, Chukchi, and Beaufort Planning Areas) (for details, see the DPP at https://www.boem.gov/Five-Year-Program/). This notice starts the formal scoping process for the EIS under 40 CFR 1501.7 of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations and solicits input from the public regarding alternatives to the proposed action, impacting factors, environmental resources and issues of concern in the DPP area, and possible mitigating measures that should be evaluated in the EIS. The purpose of scoping is to determine the appropriate content for a focused and balanced programmatic environmental analysis by (a) ensuring significant issues are identified early and properly studied during development of the Programmatic EIS; (b) identifying alternatives, mitigation measures, and analytic tools; and (c) identifying insignificant issues and narrowing the scope of the EIS.

Congaree National Park in South Carolina plans to collect expanded amenity recreation fees at the Longleaf Campground and Bluff Campground beginning in early 2015. Revenue will be used to cover the cost of collections at the campground and for deferred maintenance in the park.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, correct a typographical error in a recently published notice that announced our receipt of applications. Due to the inadvertent typographical error, the prior notice mischaracterized the area of translocation for a species for which the applicant seeks a permit. The error is not in the application materials, but only in one section of our previous Federal Register notice. If you requested documents for review, you need not request them again.

The Secretaries propose to revise the regulations governing the rural determination process for the Federal Subsistence Program in Alaska. Under current regulations, the Federal Subsistence Board (Board) defines which community or area of Alaska is rural using guidelines and characteristics defined by the Secretaries. This new process will enable the Board to be more flexible in making decisions and take into account the regional differences found throughout the State.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is extending the public scoping period for the Aiya Solar Project on the Moapa River Indian Reservation.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a revised comprehensive conservation plan (plan/CCP) and final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (refuge, NWR) for a 30-day public review. In this revised plan and final EIS, we describe how we propose to manage the refuge for the next 15 years.

Final regulations that ONRR published May 13, 1999 (64 FR 26240, RIN 1010-AC21), govern the appeal of orders from Minerals Management Service's Royalty Management Program (now ONRR). To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), ONRR is notifying the public that we have submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an information collection request (ICR) to renew approval of the paperwork requirements in the regulations under 30 CFR part 1243. This notice provides the public a second opportunity to comment on the burden of these regulatory requirements.

We (the U.S. Geological Survey) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) described below. The collection will consist of 27 forms. As part of the requested extension we will make several revisions to the number of the associated collection instruments. These revisions include: (1) Deleting USGS Form 9-4053-A, USGS Form 9-4073-A, and USGS Form 9-4097- A; (2) changing USGS Form 9-4094-A and USGS Form 9-4095-A from monthly and annual to annual-only reporting forms; (3) changing USGS Form 9- 4057-A and USGS Form 9-4060-A from quarterly and annual to annual-only reporting forms; and (4) decreasing the average burden time for USGS Form 9-4074-A from 2 hours to 1 hour. 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 August 31, 2015.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), in accordance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), are amending the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife (List) by adding five species of sawfish: Narrow sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata), dwarf sawfish (Pristis clavata), largetooth sawfish (collectively Pristis pristis; formerly Pristis pristis, Pristis microdon, and Pristis perotteti), green sawfish (Pristis zijsron), and the non-U.S. distinct population segment (DPS) of smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata). These amendments are based on previously published determinations by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce, which has jurisdiction for these species.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for approval for the collection of information for the Sovereignty in Indian Education Grant Program. The information collection is currently authorized by OMB Control Number 1076-0182, which expires January 31, 2015.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Colorado is finalizing supplementary rules for public lands addressed in the Gunnison Basin Federal Lands Travel Management Plan (TMP), approved on June 28, 2010. These final supplementary rules apply to public lands administered by the BLM Gunnison Field Office in Gunnison, Montrose, Hinsdale, and Saguache counties, Colorado. The final rules implement decisions found in the TMP relating to the use of motorized and non-motorized vehicles.

In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Arizona Resource Advisory Council (RAC) will meet in Phoenix, Arizona, as indicated below.

We, the U.S. Department of the Interior, announce a public meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force and a request for written comments. This meeting, the 33rd biannual meeting of the task force, provides a forum for coordinated planning and action among Federal agencies, State and territorial governments, and nongovernmental partners.

Notice is hereby given that effective with this publication, certain NAD 27-based Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Official Protraction Diagrams (OPDs) and two Lease Maps depicting geographic areas located in the Gulf of Mexico with revision dates as indicated are now available. BOEM, in accordance with its authority and responsibility under the OCS Lands Act, is updating the maps used for the description of renewable energy, mineral, and oil and gas lease sales in the geographic areas they represent. BOEM produces and maintains the official marine cadastre for the OCS areas of the United States. The marine cadastre is a comprehensive spatial data infrastructure whereby rights, restrictions and responsibilities in the marine environment can be assessed, administered and managed. The marine cadastre includes the block grids and official boundaries, which provide the base for nearly all of the BOEM offshore maps and leasing processes. It also gives BOEM the means to define, describe, analyze, and account for every acre/hectare of federal offshore submerged lands. Pursuant to the ``Agreement between the United Mexican States and the United States of America Concerning Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico,'' which went into effect on July 18, 2014, certain activities carried out within three (3) statute miles of the U.S.-Mexico maritime boundary in the Gulf of Mexico trigger obligations for the United States related to such activities within its jurisdiction. The following OPDs and Lease Maps (dated October 1, 2014) have been revised to reflect this ``Transboundary Three Statute Mile Line.''

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, propose to designate critical habitat for Consolea corallicola (Florida semaphore cactus) and Harrisia aboriginum (aboriginal prickly-apple) under the Endangered Species Act (Act). In total, approximately 4,411 acres (1,785 hectares) for Consolea corallicola in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties, Florida; and 3,444 acres (1,394 hectares) for Harrisia aboriginum in Manatee, Charlotte, Sarasota, and Lee Counties, Florida, fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designations. We also announce the availability of a draft economic analysis of the proposed designation for these species.

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 a Federal permit is issued that allows such activities. The ESA requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

The Advisory Group for the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) grants program (Advisory Group) will meet via telephone to follow up on agenda items from the December 10, 2014, meeting and to discuss strategic direction of the NMBCA program and Advisory Group. This teleconference is open to the public, and interested persons may present oral or written statements.

The plats of survey described below are scheduled to be officially filed in the New Mexico State Office, Bureau of Land Management, Santa Fe, New Mexico, thirty (30) calendar days from the date of this publication.

We (the U.S. Geological Survey) are notifying the public that we have submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the information collection request (ICR) described below. To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) 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.

Notice is hereby given of contractual actions that have been proposed to the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and are new, discontinued, or completed since the last publication of this notice. This notice is one of a variety of means used to inform the public about proposed contractual actions for capital recovery and management of project resources and facilities consistent with section 9(f) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939. Additional announcements of individual contract actions may be published in the Federal Register and in newspapers of general circulation in the areas determined by Reclamation to be affected by the proposed action.

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) Dakotas Resource Advisory Council (RAC) will meet as indicated below.

As required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. Appendix 1-16), the National Park Service (NPS) is hereby giving notice that the Aniakchak National Monument Subsistence Resource Commission (SRC), the Kobuk Valley National Park SRC, and the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park SRC will hold meetings to develop and continue work on NPS subsistence program recommendations and other related regulatory proposals and resource management issues. The NPS SRC program is authorized under Section 808 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3118), Title VIII. Aniakchak National Monument SRC Meeting Date and Location: The Aniakchak National Monument SRC will meet from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. or until business is completed on Tuesday, February 3, 2015, at the Community Center in Port Heiden, AK. For more detailed information regarding the Aniakchak National Monument SRC meeting, or if you are interested in applying for SRC membership, contact Designated Federal Official Diane Chung, Superintendent, at (907) 246-3305, or via email diane_chung@nps.gov, or Clarence Summers, Subsistence Manager, at (907) 644-3603, or via email clarence_summers@nps.gov. Kobuk Valley National Park Src Meeting/Teleconference Dates and Location: The Kobuk Valley National Park SRC will meet/teleconference from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or until business is completed on Wednesday, February 11, 2015, at the Northwest Arctic Heritage Center in Kotzebue, AK. The teleconference will be open to the public. Teleconference participants must call Kobuk Valley National Park office at (907) 442-3890 by Tuesday, February 10, 2015, prior to the meeting to receive teleconference passcode information. For more detailed information regarding the Kobuk Valley National Park SRC meetings, or if you are interested in applying for SRC membership, contact Designated Federal Official Frank Hays, Superintendent, at (907) 442- 3890, or via email frank_hays@nps.gov, or Clarence Summers, Subsistence Manager, at (907) 644-3603, or via email clarence_summers@nps.gov. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park SRC Meeting/Teleconference Dates and Location: The Wrangell-St. Elias National Park SRC will meet/ teleconference from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or until business is completed on Thursday, February 26, 2015, and Friday, February 27, 2015, at the Buster Gene Memorial Facility in Gakona, AK. If the work of the SRC is completed on Thursday, February 26, 2015, the SRC will not meet on Friday, February 27, 2015. Teleconference participants must call the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park office at (907) 822-7236 or (907) 822-5234, by Friday, February 20, 2015, prior to the meeting to receive teleconference passcode information. For more detailed information regarding the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park SRC meeting/ teleconference, or if you are interested in applying for SRC membership, contact Designated Federal Official Rick Obernesser, Superintendent, at (907) 822-3182, or via email rick_obernesser@nps.gov, or Barbara Cellarius, Subsistence Manager, at (907) 822-7236, or via email barbara_cellarius@nps.gov, or Clarence Summers, Subsistence Manager, at (907) 644-3603, or via email clarence_summers@nps.gov. Proposed Meeting Agenda: The agenda may change to accommodate SRC business. The proposed meeting agenda for each meeting includes the following: