Department of the Interior December 20, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule revises the regulations that the Department of the Interior (Department) follows in processing records under the Freedom of Information Act in part to comply with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016. The revisions clarify and update procedures for requesting information from the Department and procedures that the Department follows in responding to requests from the public.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of our draft recovery plan for the jaguar, which is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This species is currently found in 19 countries ranging from the United States to Argentina. The draft recovery plan includes specific recovery objectives and criteria to be met to enable us to remove this species from the list of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants. We request review and comment on this plan from local, State, and Federal agencies; Tribes; and the public. We will also accept any new information on the status of the jaguar throughout its range to assist in finalizing the recovery plan.

The Bureau of Land Management, Oklahoma Field Office, located at 7906 East 33rd Street, Suite 101, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74145, and the Moore Field Station, located at 200 Northwest 4th Street, Room 2401, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102, will combine and relocate to 201 Stephenson Parkway, Suite 1200, Norman, Oklahoma 73072.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE or OSM), are revising our regulations, based on, among other things, advances in science, to improve the balance between environmental protection and the Nation's need for coal as a source of energy. This final rule will better protect water supplies, surface water and groundwater quality, streams, fish, wildlife, and related environmental values from the adverse impacts of surface coal mining operations and provide mine operators with a regulatory framework to avoid water pollution and the long-term costs associated with water treatment. We have revised our regulations to define ``material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area'' and require that each permit specify the point at which adverse mining-related impacts on groundwater and surface water would reach that level of damage; collect adequate premining data about the site of the proposed mining operation and adjacent areas to establish an adequate baseline for evaluation of the impacts of mining and the effectiveness of reclamation; adjust monitoring requirements to enable timely detection and correction of any adverse trends in the quality or quantity of surface water and groundwater or the biological condition of streams; ensure protection or restoration of perennial and intermittent streams and related resources; ensure that permittees and regulatory authorities make use of advances in science and technology; ensure that land disturbed by mining operations is restored to a condition capable of supporting the uses that it was capable of supporting before mining; and update and codify the requirements and procedures for protection of threatened or endangered species and designated critical habitat. Approximately thirty percent of the final rule consists of editorial revisions and organizational changes intended to improve consistency, clarity, accuracy, and ease of use.