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

Federal Acknowledgment of American Indian Tribes
Document Number: 2015-16193
Type: Rule
Date: 2015-07-01
Agency: Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs
This rule revises regulations governing the process and criteria by which the Secretary acknowledges an Indian tribe. The revisions seek to make the process and criteria more transparent, promote consistent implementation, and increase timeliness and efficiency, while maintaining the integrity and substantive rigor of the process. For decades, the current process has been criticized as ``broken'' and in need of reform. Specifically, the process has been criticized as too slow (a petition can take decades to be decided), expensive, burdensome, inefficient, intrusive, less than transparent and unpredictable. This rule reforms the process by, among other things, institutionalizing a phased review that allows for faster decisions; reducing the documentary burden while maintaining the existing rigor of the process; allowing for a hearing on a negative proposed finding to promote transparency and integrity; enhancing notice to tribes and local governments and enhancing transparency by posting all publicly available petition documents on the Department's Web site; establishing the Assistant Secretary's final determination as final for the Department to promote efficiency; and codifying and improving upon past Departmental implementation of standards, where appropriate, to ensure consistency, transparency, predictability and fairness.
National Register of Historic Places; Notification of Pending Nominations and Related Actions
Document Number: 2015-16162
Type: Notice
Date: 2015-07-01
Agency: Department of the Interior, National Park Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments
Document Number: 2015-16126
Type: Notice
Date: 2015-07-01
Agency: Department of the Interior, U.s. Geological Survey
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 38 forms. As part of the requested extension we will make a revision to the number of the associated collection instruments. This revision includes deleting USGS Form 9-4002-A and USGS Form 9-4019-A. 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 November 30, 2015.
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument Advisory Council
Document Number: 2015-16109
Type: Notice
Date: 2015-07-01
Agency: Department of the Interior, National Park Service
The National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, is establishing the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument Advisory Council (Council). The purpose of the Council is to provide the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) and National Park Service (NPS) guidance for the management of the Monument.
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee: Notice of Nomination Solicitation
Document Number: 2015-16103
Type: Notice
Date: 2015-07-01
Agency: Department of the Interior, National Park Service
The National Park Service is seeking nominations for one member of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee (Review Committee). The Secretary of the Interior will appoint the member from nominations submitted by Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and traditional Native American religious leaders. The nominee need not be a traditional Indian religious leader.
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Findings on 31 Petitions
Document Number: 2015-16001
Type: Proposed Rule
Date: 2015-07-01
Agency: Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce 90- day findings on various petitions to list 30 species and one petition that describes itself as a petition to reclassify one species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Based on our review, we find that eight petitions do not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted, we find that one petition does not present substantial information that the petitioned entity may be a listable entity under the Act, and we find that one petition does not present substantial information that the petitioned entity may be a listable entity under the Act and does not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted, and we are not initiating status reviews in response to these petitions. We refer to these as ``not-substantial petition findings.'' Based on our review, we find that 21 petitions present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this document, we are initiating a review of the status of each of these species to determine if the petitioned actions are warranted. To ensure that these status reviews are comprehensive, we are requesting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding these species. Based on the status reviews, we will issue 12-month findings on the petitions, which will address whether the petitioned action is warranted, as provided in section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act.
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