Department of the Interior November 25, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The purpose of this notice is to request public nominations for six members to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Advisory Committee (MAC). The MAC provides advice and recommendations to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on science issues and the achievement of Monument Management Plan objectives. The Monument will receive public nominations for 30 days from the date this notice is posted.

The purpose of this notice is to reopen the request for public nominations for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Coeur d'Alene Resource Advisory Committee (RAC), which has member terms expiring this year. The RAC provides advice and recommendations to the BLM on land use planning and management of the National System of Public Lands within the respective geographic area. The BLM will accept public nominations for 30 days after the publication of this notice.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking nominations for the Central California District Resource Advisory Council (RAC). The RAC advises BLM officials from the Hollister, Mother Lode, Bakersfield, Ukiah and Bishop field offices. The Central California District will receive public nominations for 30 days from the date this notice is published.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of an incidental take permit (ITP) and a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). Verano Land Investment, LLC (applicant) requests ITP TE67461B-0 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The applicant anticipates taking about 4 acres of feeding, breeding, and sheltering habitat used by the sand skink (Neoseps reynoldsi) and blue-tailed mole skink (Eumeces egregius lividus) (skinks) incidental to land preparation and construction in Polk County, Florida. The applicant's HCP describes proposed minimization measures and mitigation measures to address the effects of development on the covered species.

In compliance 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) California Desert District, Moreno Valley, California, intends to prepare a Resource Management Plan (RMP) amendment with an associated Environmental Assessment (EA) for both the plan amendment and the Eagle Crest Pumped Storage Project in the California Desert Conservation Area. By this notice the BLM is announcing the beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and identify issues for both proposals.

BOEM invites the submission of nominations for commercial wind leases that would allow a lessee to propose the construction of a wind energy project on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore South Carolina, and to develop the project if approved after further environmental review. Although this announcement is not itself a leasing announcement, the Call Areas described herein, or portions thereof, may be available for future leasing. BOEM will use responses to this Call for Information and Nominations (Call) to gauge specific interest in acquiring commercial wind leases in some or all of the Call Areas, as required by 43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(3). Parties wishing to submit a nomination in response to this Call should submit detailed and specific information in response to the requirements described in the section entitled, ``Required Nomination Information.'' This announcement also requests comments and information from interested and affected parties about site conditions, resources, and multiple uses in close proximity to, or within, the Call Areas that would be relevant to BOEM's review of any nominations submitted and/or to BOEM's subsequent decision to offer all or part of the Call Areas for commercial wind leasing. The information that BOEM is requesting is described in the section of this Call entitled, ``Requested Information from Interested or Affected Parties.'' This Call is published pursuant to subsection 8(p)(3) of the OCS Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(3), which was added by section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), as well as the implementing regulations at 30 CFR part 585. The Call Areas described in this notice are located on the OCS offshore South Carolina and are delineated as Grand Strand, Cape Romain, Winyah, and Charleston. The four Call Areas include 110 whole OCS blocks and 84 partial blocks in total and comprise approximately 1,007.56 square nautical miles (nmi) (345,584 hectares). These Call Areas were established in consultation with the BOEM South Carolina Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force (Task Force). A detailed description of the areas and how they were developed is described in the section of this Call entitled, ``Description of the Area.''