Department of the Interior November 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife 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 January 31, 2017. 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.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) currently charges a fee for 31 different services (hereafter ``cost recovery fees'') it provides to non-Federal recipients. The services were identified by BSEE's predecessor agency, the Minerals Management Service (MMS). This proposed rule would revise and clarify the existing fees; add new fees for certain services; revise and codify the existing conditions for refunding fees; and clarify the acceptable methods of fee payment. This proposed rule would enable BSEE to recover its full costs associated with providing these services to recipients of special benefits beyond those accruing to the general public.

This final rule replaces Onshore Oil and Gas Order No. 3, Site Security (Order 3), with new regulations codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The final rule establishes minimum standards for oil and gas facility site security, and includes provisions to ensure that oil and gas produced from Federal and Indian (except Osage Tribe) oil and gas leases are properly and securely handled, so as to ensure accurate measurement, production accountability, and royalty payments, and to prevent theft and loss. The BLM developed this rule based on the proposed rule that was published in the Federal Register on July 13, 2015, and tribal and public comments the BLM received on the proposed rule. This rule strengthens the BLM's policies governing production verification and accountability by updating and replacing the existing requirements of Order 3 to address changes in technology and industry practices that have occurred in the 25 years since Order 3 was issued, and to respond to recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) with respect to the BLM's production verification efforts. Like the proposed rule, the final rule addresses Facility Measurement Points (FMPs), site facility diagrams, the use of seals, bypasses around meters, documentation, recordkeeping, commingling, off- lease measurement, the reporting of incidents of unauthorized removal or mishandling of oil and condensate, and immediate assessments for certain acts of noncompliance. The final rule also establishes a process for the BLM to consider variances from the requirements of the final regulation. Some of the key changes from the proposed rule that are incorporated into the final rule include: Additional exemptions from the final rule's commingling requirements; a streamlined FMP application and approval process; simplified site facility diagram submissions; and clarifications to tank gauging procedures and frequency. The BLM believes that this final rule, as well as the final rules to update and replace Onshore Oil and Gas Order No. 4 (Order 4), related to measurement of oil, and Onshore Oil and Gas Order No. 5 (Order 5), related to measurement of gas enhance the BLM's overall production verification and accountability program.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), announce the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Stream Protection Rule developed pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

This rule amends Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) regulations requiring lessees and owners of operating rights to submit summaries of actual decommissioning expenditures incurred for certain decommissioning activities related to oil and gas and sulfur operations on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The amendment requires lessees, owners of operating rights, and right- of-way (ROW) holders to submit summaries of actual expenditures incurred for pipeline decommissioning activities.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of the final long range transportation plan (LRTP). The Final LRTP outlines a strategy for improving and maintaining transportation assets that provide access to Service-managed lands in the Northeast Region (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia) over the next 20 years.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of the final recovery plan for the endangered laurel dace, a small fish native to the Tennessee River Basin in Tennessee. The recovery plan includes specific recovery objectives and criteria that must be met in order for us to downlist the fish to threatened status or delist it under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended.

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

The National Park Service is soliciting comments on the significance of properties nominated before October 15, 2016, for listing or related actions in the National Register of Historic Places.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), make available the final record of decision (ROD) on revising regulations governing non-Federal oil and gas activities on National Wildlife Refuge System lands in order to improve our ability to protect refuge resources, visitors, and the general public's health and safety from potential impacts associated with non-Federal oil and gas operations located within refuges. The Service has selected Alternative B, implementation of the final rule, Management of Non-Federal Oil and Gas Rights, which revises current Service regulations, as its final decision. This decision is described and analyzed in the final environmental impact statement and summarized in the ROD.

This notice sets forth the date of the second meeting of the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument Advisory Council.

This notice sets forth the meeting date of the Mary McLeod Bethune National Council House National Historic Site Advisory Commission.

We (National Park Service, NPS) have sent an Information Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. We summarize the ICR below and describe the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost. This information collection is scheduled to expire on March 31, 2017. 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. However, under OMB regulations, we may continue to conduct or sponsor this information collection while it is pending at OMB.

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 (Act) prohibits activities with endangered and threatened species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The Act also requires that we invite public comment before issuing recovery permits to conduct certain activities with endangered 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 (Act) prohibits activities with listed species unless a Federal permit is issued that allows such activities. The Act requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

The Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and any present-day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a written request to the University of California, Berkeley. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains to the Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

The Gettysburg Foundation has completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human remains and any present-day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a written request to the Gettysburg Foundation. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

Albion College, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed in this notice meet the definition of sacred objects. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written request to Albion College. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural items to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District (Omaha District), in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed in this notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written request to the Omaha District. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural items to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

We (National Park Service, NPS) have sent an Information Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. We summarize the ICR below and describe the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost. 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. However, under OMB regulations, we may continue to conduct or sponsor this information collection while it is pending at OMB.

The National Park Service intends to award a temporary concession contract to a qualified person for the conduct of certain visitor services within Fire Island National Seashore for a term not to exceed 1 year. The visitor services include marina operation, food and beverage, retail and campground.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is authorized to issue regulations to facilitate the implementation of the sustainable harvest management obligations under the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation on the Conservation and Management of the Alaska- Chukotka Polar Bear Population (U.S.-Russia Agreement). To that end, the Service is soliciting public comment on the development of a regulatory program and local management structures for carrying out the responsibilities under the U.S.-Russia Agreement and title V of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended. The Service is also interested in entering into a cooperative agreement with an Alaska Native Organization for the purposes of involving subsistence users in conservation and management of polar bears in Alaska, including the creation of effective two-way communication pathways; collecting and exchanging local observations on polar bears for the development of sound management practices for polar bears in Alaska; managing and monitoring the harvest of polar bears for subsistence use; and developing a polar bear co-management structure.

This notice informs the public that the Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs proclaimed approximately 24.76 acres, more or less, an addition to the reservation of the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation.

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, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Redding and Arcata Field Offices intend to prepare a Resource Management Plan (RMP) known as the Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan with an associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This notice announces the beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and identify issues. The RMP will replace the existing Redding Resource Management Plan (1993) and Arcata Resource Area Resource Management Plan (1992).

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 Coastal Oregon Resource Advisory Council (RAC) will meet as indicated below: