Department of the Interior January 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We (the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) invite you to provide us with information and recommendations on animal and plant species to be considered as candidates for U.S. proposals to amend Appendices I and II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES, or the Convention) at the upcoming eighteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP18). Such amendments may concern the addition of species to Appendix I or II, the transfer of species from one Appendix to another, or the removal of species from Appendices. We also describe the U.S. approach to preparations for CoP18. We will publish a second Federal Register notice specifically to solicit information and recommendations on possible resolutions, decisions, and agenda items for discussion at CoP18 and to provide information on how to request approved observer status.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) are proposing to renew an information collection.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) are proposing to renew an information collection.

The Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) is publishing this rule to repeal a 2013 direct final rule and restore the former regulatory language governing service of official correspondence.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), are proposing to renew a control number with revisions.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Alabama regulatory program (Alabama program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Alabama proposes revisions to its program regarding annual permit fees. Alabama revised its program at its own initiative to raise revenues sufficient to fund the Alabama Surface Mining Commission's (ASMC) share of costs to administer their coal regulatory program, including the cost of reviewing, administering, inspecting, and enforcing surface coal mining permits in Alabama. This document gives the locations and times where the Alabama program documents and proposed amendment to that program are available for your inspection, establishes the comment period during which you may submit written comments on the amendment, and describes the procedures we will follow for the public hearing, if one is requested.

The Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) publishes this final rule to increase our maximum civil monetary penalty (CMP) rates for inflation occurring between October 2016 and October 2017.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is scheduled to file plats of survey 30 calendar days from the date of this publication in the BLM Wyoming State Office, Cheyenne, Wyoming. The surveys, which were executed at the request of the BLM and U. S. Forest Service, are necessary for the management of these lands.

The National Indian Gaming Commission is amending its fee regulations. The rule amends the regulations that describe when the Commission adopts annual fee rates, defines the fiscal year of the gaming operation that will be used for calculating the fee payments, and includes additional revisions clarifying the fee calculation and submission process for gaming operations.

This final rule adjusts the level of the maximum civil monetary penalty contained in the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) regulations pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance. The civil penalty inflation adjustment, using a 1.02041 multiplier, accounts for one year of inflation spanning October 2016 to October 2017.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) owns or has an interest in irrigation projects located on or associated with various Indian reservations throughout the United States. We are required to establish irrigation assessment rates to recover the costs to administer, operate, maintain, and rehabilitate these projects. We request your comments on the proposed rate adjustments.

The National Park Service is soliciting comments on the significance of properties nominated before December 16, 2017, for listing or related actions in the National Register of Historic Places.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Office of Acquisition and Property Management, Office of the Secretary, Department of the Interior are proposing to renew an information collection.

The Secretary of the Interior intends to renew the National Park System Advisory Board, in accordance with section 14(b) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. This action is necessary and in the public interest in connection with the performance of statutory duties imposed upon the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the revised taxonomy of the orangutan under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). When we listed the orangutan in 1970, the listed entity included all orangutans in the genus Pongo. At that time, the scientific community recognized one species (Pongo pygmaeus) in the genus Pongo, which consisted of two subspecies (P. pygmaeus pygmaeus and P. p. abelii). However, the orangutan has recently been reclassified as belonging to two distinct species: P. pygmaeus and P. abelii. Therefore, we are revising the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife to reflect the current scientifically accepted taxonomy and nomenclature of the orangutan. Because all orangutans in the genus Pongo are already included under the original listing of Pongo pygmaeus as endangered under the Act, the newly recognized taxonomic species is considered part of the original listed entity, and this technical correction does not alter the regulatory protections afforded to the orangutan. For the same reason, if other Pongo species emerge due to future taxonomic revisions to further subdivide the genus Pongo, they would be encompassed by the original listing and this technical correction.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), are proposing to renew an information collection.

The plats of survey of the following described lands are scheduled to be officially filed in the Bureau of land Management (BLM), Eastern States Office, Washington, DC, 30 days from the date of this publication. The survey, executed at the request of the Midwest Regional Office of the BIA, is necessary for the management of these lands.

In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the National Forest Management Act of 1976, as amended (NFMA), and Presidential Proclamation 9558 as modified by Presidential Proclamation 9681, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Canyon Country District Office, Moab, Utah intends to prepare a Monument Management Plan (MMP) for the Bears Ears National Monument Indian Creek Unit, and intends to jointly prepare, with the Manti La- Sal National Forest (USFS), Price, Utah, a MMP for the Shash J[aacute]a Unit. The BLM and USFS, which is a co-manager of the Shash J[aacute]a Unit, will prepare a single Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to satisfy the NEPA requirements for this planning process. By this Notice, the BLM announces the beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and identify issues. These MMPs may replace portions of the existing Monticello Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan, as amended, and Manti- La Sal National Forest Plan.

This rule removes an outdated reference to a document establishing environmental criteria for electric transmissions lines that is no longer used by the National Park Service to evaluate applications for right-of-way permits.

In compliance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (the Act) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance, the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC or Commission) is amending its civil monetary penalty rule to reflect an annual adjustment for inflation in order to improve the penalty's effectiveness and maintain its deterrent effect. The Act provides that the new penalty level must apply to penalties assessed after the effective date of the increase, including when the penalties whose associated violation predate the increase.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), are proposing to renew an information collection with revisions.

We, the U.S. Department of the Interior, announce a public meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force and a request for written comments. This meeting, the 39th biannual meeting of the task force, provides a forum for coordinated planning and action among Federal agencies, State and territorial governments, and nongovernmental partners.

We (the USGS) 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.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on applications to conduct certain activities with foreign endangered and threatened species. With some exceptions, the Endangered Species Act prohibits activities with listed species unless Federal authorization is acquired that allows such activities. The ESA also requires that we invite public comment before issuing these permits.

The Bureau of Reclamation is announcing the interest rate to be used by Federal agencies in the formulation and evaluation of plans for water and related land resources is 2.750 percent for fiscal year 2018.