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

The National Park Service (NPS) amends its special regulation for off-road vehicle (ORV) use at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina, to revise the times that certain beaches open to ORV use in the morning, to extend the dates that certain seasonal ORV routes are open in the fall and spring, and to modify the size and location of certain vehicle-free areas. The NPS was required to consider these changes by section 3057 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015. The NPS also amends this special regulation to allow the Superintendent to issue ORV permits for different lengths of time than are currently allowed, and to remove an ORV route designation on Ocracoke Island to allow vehicle access to a soundside area without the requirement of an ORV permit.

We, the Bureau of Reclamation, intend to submit a request for renewal of an existing approved information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) titled, Certification Summary Form, Reporting Summary Form for Acreage Limitation,.

We (the U.S. Geological Survey) are notifying the public that we have submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the information collection request (ICR) described below. To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) 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 ICR. This collection is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2017.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), in accordance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), are amending the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife (List) by removing the current species-level listing of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), and in its place listing the Cape Verde Islands/Northwest Africa, Western North Pacific, Central America, and Arabian Sea distinct population segments (DPSs) as endangered and the Mexico DPS as threatened. Humpback whales in the remaining DPSs will no longer be protected under the Act. This amendment is based on a previously published determination by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce, which has jurisdiction for this species.

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.

We (National Park Service, NPS) 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 July 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.

Through this final rule the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is amending its regulations governing rights-of-way issued under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) and the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA). The principal purposes of these amendments are to facilitate responsible solar and wind energy development on BLM-managed public lands and to ensure that the American taxpayer receives fair market value for such development. This final rule includes provisions to promote the use of preferred areas for solar and wind energy development, called ``designated leasing areas'' (DLAs). It builds upon existing regulations and policies to expand BLM's ability to utilize competitive processes to offer authorizations for development inside or outside of DLAs. It also addresses the appropriate terms and conditions (including payment and bonding requirements) for solar and wind energy development rights-of-way issued under the regulations. Finally, the rule makes technical changes, corrections, and clarifications to the existing rights-of-way regulations. Some of these changes affect all rights-of-way, while some provisions affect only specific rights-of- way, such as those for transmission lines with a capacity of 100 kilovolts (kV) or more.

On Monday, October 31, 2016, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published the Atlantic Wind Lease Sale 6 (ATLW-6) for Commercial Leasing for Wind Power on the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore New YorkFinal Sale Notice (FSN) in the Federal Register (81 FR 75429). The FSN announced that BOEM will offer for lease an identified area offshore New York, and provided details regarding the terms of Lease OCS-A 0512 and the forthcoming auction. This Notice corrects a statement in the FSN describing the rental rate for the project easement associated with the lease, to ensure consistency with the rental rate for the project easement as specified in Addendum ``D'' to the lease.

The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) approving the TransWest Express 600-kilovolt (kV) Direct Current Transmission Project (Project) right-of-way in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada and associated amendments to the Rawlins Field Office (FO) Resource Management Plan (RMP) in Wyoming, the Little Snake FO RMP in Colorado, the Vernal FO and Pony Express RMPs in Utah, and the Ely District RMP in Nevada.

The Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society, 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 Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society. 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 St. Joseph Museums, Inc. has completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and present-day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or 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 St. Joseph Museums, Inc. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

The United States Forest Service (USFS) has filed an application with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) requesting that the Secretary of the Interior extend the duration of Public Land Order (PLO) No. 1144, as modified by PLO No. 7325, for an additional 20-year term subject to valid existing rights. PLO No. 1144, as modified by PLO 7325, withdrew 949.43 acres of Forest System Lands in the Fremont- Winema National Forest from location and entry under United States mining laws, but not from leasing under the mineral leasing laws. The purpose of the proposed withdrawal extension is to protect the Miller Lake Recreational Area. PLO No. 1144, as modified by PLO No. 7325 will expire on May 20, 2018, unless extended. This notice also gives the public an opportunity to comment on the application and to request a public meeting.

The National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to address the presence of wolves at Isle Royale National Park.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), pursuant to its regulations, is issuing a closure order which maintains an existing closure of approximately 900 acres of public land on the Lake Mountains in Utah County, Utah. This closure is necessary to protect persons, property, the public lands and resources from the discharge or use of firearms or dangerous weapons for the purposes of recreational target shooting. This closure does not restrict other public activities or access to this portion of the Lake Mountains that is hereby closed to recreational target shooting.

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 (ESA) prohibits activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is acquired that allows such activities.

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 San Juan Islands National Monument Advisory Committee (MAC) will meet as indicated below:

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a proposal to list the following five tarantula species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act): Poecilotheria fasciata, P. ornata, P. smithi, P. subfusca, and P. vittata. This document also serves as the 12-month finding on a petition to list these species. After review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing each of these species is warranted and propose listing all of them as endangered species.

This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as lead agency, with the Wilton Rancheria (Tribe), City of Galt, City of Elk Grove, Sacramento County (County), and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) serving as cooperating agencies, has prepared a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Wilton Rancheria Fee-to-Trust and Casino Project, Sacramento County, California, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended. This notice announces that the FEIS is now available for public review. In accordance with Section 176 of the Clean Air Act and EPA's general conformity regulations, a Revised Draft Conformity Determination (DCD) also has been prepared for the proposed project.

In accordance with Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regulations, the United States Department of the Interior, BLM Miles City Field Office is publishing this notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to evaluate the potential impacts of four proposed actions related to coal mining at the Spring Creek Mine in Big Horn County, Montana. The proposed actions involve the potential sale of two tracts of Federal coal through a Lease-By- Application (LBA) and a lease modification application (LMA). Both applications cover proposed additions to an existing Federal coal lease at the Spring Creak Mine. Related to these leasing requests, the EIS will also evaluate proposed amendments to an existing land use permit to maintain access to mine monitoring and gauging stations and an existing land use lease to provide room for the placement of overburden and infrastructure. The EIS will be called the Spring Creek Coal EIS. This notice initiates the public scoping process for the Spring Creek Coal EIS.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Colorado State Office is publishing this notice to inform the public of the intent to officially file the survey plats listed below and afford a proper period of time to protest this action prior to the plat filing. During this time, the plats will be available for review in the BLM Colorado State Office.

This Challenge seeks to identify innovative solutions to expand usable water supplies by maximizing fresh water production from inland desalination systems in a cost effective and environmentally sound manner. Currently, significant and desirable water supplies are trapped in concentrate streams that are a byproduct of desalination technologies. The cost to manage or dispose of concentrate is rather large and very limiting to utilization of desalination in inland applications. This is Stage 1 of a planned three-stage Challenge, with the second and third stages consisting of prototype demonstrations in lab and field settings and larger prize purses.

The Assistant SecretaryIndian Affairs made a final agency determination to acquire 165.81 acres, more or less, of land in trust for the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana, for gaming and other purposes on November 17, 2016.