Department of the Interior September 2, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of the Navy (DON) has filed an application to extend the current withdrawal of public lands from all forms of appropriation under the public land laws, including the mining laws, the mineral leasing laws, and the geothermal leasing laws, subject to valid existing rights, for military use of the Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon, Fallon Range Training Complex (FRTC) in Churchill County, Nevada (withdrawal extension). The DON has also requested the withdrawal of approximately 604,789 additional acres of public lands from all forms of appropriation under the public land laws, including the mining laws, the mineral leasing laws, and the geothermal leasing laws, subject to valid existing rights (withdrawal expansion). This notice temporarily segregates the 604,789 acres from all forms of appropriation under the public land laws, including the mining laws, the mineral leasing laws, and the geothermal leasing laws, for 2 years; gives the public an opportunity to comment on the proposed withdrawal extension and withdrawal expansion; and announces the date, time, and location of public meetings on both the extension and the expansion.

The National Park Service announces the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Moose-Wilson Corridor Comprehensive Management Plan, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. The FEIS analyzes four alternatives for future management of the corridor. Alternative C has been identified as the NPS preferred alternative.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have issued the following permits to conduct activities with endangered and threatened species under the authority of the Endangered Species Act (Act), as amended. With some exceptions, the Act prohibits activities involving listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activity. We provide this list for the convenience of the public as a summary of our permit issuances for the first half of calendar year 2016.

The National Park Service is soliciting comments on the significance of properties nominated before August 6, 2016, for listing or related actions in the National Register of Historic Places.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce the draft Endangered Species Act (ESA) Compensatory Mitigation Policy. The draft new policy is needed to implement recent Executive Office and Department of the Interior mitigation policies that necessitate a shift from project-by-project to landscape-scale approaches to planning and implementing compensatory mitigation. The draft new policy is also needed to improve consistency in the use of compensatory mitigation as recommended or required under the ESA. The draft ESA Compensatory Mitigation Policy, if adopted, would cover permittee-responsible mitigation, conservation banking, in-lieu fee programs, and other third-party mitigation mechanisms, and would stress the need to hold all compensatory mitigation mechanisms to equivalent and effective standards. We request comments, information, and recommendations on the draft new policy from all interested parties.