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

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has officially filed the plats of survey of the lands described below in the BLM Idaho State Office, Boise, Idaho, effective 9:00 a.m., on the dates specified.

This order extends the duration of the withdrawal created by Public Land Order No. 7177 for an additional 20-year period, which would otherwise expire on December 20, 2015. The extension is necessary for continued protection of the investment of Federal funds in the United States Forest Service Glacier Loop Administrative Site near Juneau, Alaska.

The National Park Service is soliciting comments on the significance of properties nominated before November 28, 2015, for listing or related actions in the National Register of Historic Places.

This notice informs the public that the Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs proclaimed approximately 292.77 acres, more or less, an addition to the reservation of the Tonto Apache Indian Tribe of Arizona on December 21, 2015.

The National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Department of the Interior, proposes to appoint new members to the Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park Advisory Commission (Commission). The NPS is requesting nominations for qualified persons to serve as members of the Commission.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), Office of the Secretary, Department of the Interior announces the proposed extension of a public information collection and seeks public comments on the provisions thereof.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce a public meeting of the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council (Council). The Council provides advice about wildlife and habitat conservation endeavors that benefit wildlife resources; encourage partnership among the public, the sporting conservation organizations, the States, Native American tribes, and the Federal Government; and benefit recreational hunting.

We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Service) 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 April 30, 2016. We may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

This order transfers administrative jurisdiction of 501.43 acres of public lands from the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of Navy for the realignment of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range boundary in Riverside County, California. This transfer of administrative jurisdiction is directed by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs Eastern Oklahoma Region has prepared a draft environmental impact statement for the management of oil and gas resources owned by the United States in trust for the Osage in Osage County, Oklahoma. This notice amends the notice of availability published in the Federal Register on Friday, November 6, 2015 (80 FR 68867), and extends the public comment period through January 15, 2016, to accommodate requests for more time.

We (National Park Service) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve an information collection (IC) concerning a national household survey that will be used to help determine the perceptions of the American public regarding the national park system. The collection will include no more than 40 cognitive interviews to refine survey questions and a final survey instrument based on the findings from those interviews. 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. We may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB Control Number.

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, and by 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. This CNOR summarizes the status and threats that we evaluated in order to determine that species qualify as candidates, to assign a listing priority number (LPN) to each species, and to determine whether a 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. This CNOR changes the LPN for two candidates and removes two 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 60. 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, 2014, through September 30, 2015. Moreover, we request any additional status information that may be available for the candidate species identified in this CNOR.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has submitted an information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to continue the collection of information pertaining to Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing, and Drainage Protection (43 CFR parts 3100, 3120, and 3150, and Subpart 3162). The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) previously approved this information collection activity, and assigned it control number 1004-0185.

Mount Rainier National Park is initiating process to prepare a Wilderness Stewardship Plan (WSP) for the Mount Rainier Wilderness, a 228,480-acre area surrounding and including Mount Rainier, as designated by the Washington Parks Wilderness Act of 1988. Through this process, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be prepared to analyze a range of alternatives for achieving wilderness stewardship objectives, which include providing appropriate types and levels of access for visitors and authorized users, protecting cultural and natural resources, and adhering to legally-mandated management and preservation requirements. Ninety-seven percent of Mount Rainier National Park is designated as wilderness. The Wilderness Act of 1964 (Wilderness Act) directs federal land management agencies to protect and manage wilderness so that it ``generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable,'' and so that it ``has outstanding opportunities for solitude, or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation.''

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

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), withdraw the proposed rule to reclassify the arroyo toad (Anaxyrus californicus) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This withdrawal is based on our conclusion that the types of threats to the arroyo toad remain the same as at the time of listing and are ongoing, and new threats have been identified. Some conservation efforts are ongoing in most populations to help manage and reduce impacts to arroyo toads from many ongoing threats; however, the species has not yet responded to an extent that would allow a change in listing status. The intent of the reclassification criteria in the recovery plan (Service 1999) has not been met. We have therefore determined that reclassification of this species is not appropriate at this time.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has filed the plats of survey of the lands described below in the BLM Wyoming State Office, Cheyenne, Wyoming, on the dates indicated.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) is announcing its intention to request approval to continue the collection of information for its regulations regarding the standards for certification of blasters. This information collection activity was previously approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and assigned control number 1029-0080.

Under the Endangered Species Act, as amended (Act), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on an incidental take permit application for take of the federally listed American burying beetle resulting from activities associated with the geophysical exploration (seismic) and construction, maintenance, operation, repair, and decommissioning of oil and gas well field infrastructure within Oklahoma. If approved, the permit would be issued under the approved Oil and Gas Industry Conservation Plan Associated with Issuance of Endangered Species Act Section 10(a)(1)(B) Permits for the American Burying Beetle in Oklahoma (ICP).

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the Miami tiger beetle (Cicindelidia floridana) as an endangered species throughout its range under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would extend the Act's protections to this species. This document also serves as the 90-day and 12-month findings on a petition to list the species as an endangered or threatened species.

Pursuant to applicable provisions of the Federal Recreation Enhancement Act (REA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Bishop Field Office proposes to change the fee structure at all five of its developed campgrounds in Inyo and Mono counties, California, and by this notice is announcing the opening of the comment period. The fee proposal results from analysis and planning direction provided by the Bishop Campground Business Plan, which outlines operational goals of the area and the purpose of the fee program.

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) for the Whittlesey Creek National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge, NWR). In this final CCP, we describe how we intend to manage the refuge for the next 15 years.

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.

In this notice, the Office of Self-Governance (OSG) establishes a deadline of March 1, 2016, for Indian tribes/consortia to submit completed applications to begin participation in the tribal self-governance program in Fiscal Year 2017 or Calendar Year 2017.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), make available the final environmental impact statement (EIS) and draft record of decision (ROD) analyzing the impacts of the issuance of an incidental take permit for implementation of the final Southern Edwards Plateau Habitat Conservation Plan (SEP HCP). Our decision is to issue a 30-year incidental take permit for implementation of the SEP HCP preferred alternative (described below), which authorizes incidental take of animal species listed pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. As part of the SEP HCP, measures will be implemented to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to offset impacts to the affected species.