Department of the Interior June 8, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of the Interior (DOI) is issuing a public notice of its intent to rescind the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) Privacy Act system of records notice (SORN), INTERIOR/WBR-37, Trespass Cases, from its existing inventory. Reclamation has decommissioned records previously maintained within this system and migrated those records into the INTERIOR/DOI-10, Incident Management, Analysis and Reporting System. This rescindment will eliminate an unnecessary duplicate notice and promote the overall streamlining and management of DOI Privacy Act systems of records.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) and University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) intend to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and certain cultural items that meet the definition of objects of cultural patrimony, and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural items were removed from Sacramento County, CA.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Rochester Museum & Science Center (RMSC) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Broome County, NY.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Kansas City Museum has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Amchitka Island, AK.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the swale paintbrush (Castilleja ornata), a flowering plant species from New Mexico within the United States and the states of Chihuahua and Durango in Mexico, as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This determination also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the swale paintbrush. After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the species is warranted. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would add this species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Plants and extend the Act's protections to the species. We find that designating critical habitat for the swale paintbrush is not prudent at this time.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in response to a request under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended, from Turnagain Marine Construction, propose to authorize nonlethal, incidental take by harassment of small numbers of the Southcentral Alaska stock of northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) for 1 year from the date of issuance of the incidental harassment authorization. The applicant has requested this authorization for take by harassment that may result from activities associated with pile driving and marine construction activities on the western shore of Passage Canal in Whittier, Alaska. We estimate that this project may result in the nonlethal incidental take by harassment of up to 44 northern sea otters from the Southcentral stock. This proposed authorization, if finalized, will be for up to 70 takes of 7 northern sea otters by Level A harassment and 544 takes of 37 northern sea otters by Level B harassment. No lethal take is requested, or expected, and no such take will be authorized.