Department of the Interior 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Alaska regulatory program (hereinafter, the Alaska program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). This amendment proposes to change the Alaska Administrative Code by revising and adding provisions pertaining to Valid Existing Rights. Alaska intends to revise its program to be consistent with the corresponding Federal regulations and SMCRA, clarify ambiguities, and improve operational efficiency. This document gives the times and locations that the Alaska program and this proposed amendment to that program are available for your inspection, the comment period during which you may submit written comments on the amendment, and the procedures that we will follow for the public hearing, if one is requested.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is proposing to renew an information collection.

This Order extends the duration of the withdrawal created by Public Land Order (PLO) No. 7566 for an additional 20-year term. PLO No. 7566 withdrew 277.05 acres of public lands from settlement, sale, location, or entry under the general land laws, including the United States mining laws, but not the mineral leasing laws, subject to valid existing rights, to protect the Rhyolite Historic Site located in Nye County, Nevada.

BOEM announces the availability of the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the construction and operations plan (COP) submitted by Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1, LLC and Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 2, LLC for their proposed Atlantic Shores South Wind Project (Project) offshore New Jersey. The DEIS analyzes the potential environmental impacts of the Project as described in the COP (the proposed action) and the alternatives to the proposed action. This notice of availability (NOA) announces the start of the public review and comment period, as well as the dates and times for public hearings on the DEIS. After BOEM holds the public hearings and addresses public comments submitted during the review period, BOEM will publish a final environmental impact statement (EIS). The EIS will inform BOEM's decision whether to approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove the COP.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Wasco County/Dalles City Museum Commission 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 unknown burial sites on the banks of the Columbia River (between Washington and Oregon) of the Columbia River Plateau.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Yuba County Water Agency (YCWA) intends to repatriate 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 Yuba County, CA.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Gilcrease Museum has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and any Indian Tribe. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Limestone and Morgan Counties, AL.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Michigan State University has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human remains and any Indian Tribe. The human remains were removed from Kalamazoo County and unknown locations in MI.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have received applications for permits to conduct activities intended to enhance the propagation or survival of endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. We invite the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies to comment on these applications. Before issuing any of the requested permits, we will take into consideration any information that we receive during the public comment period.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, as amended, along with other laws as applicable, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) intends to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement (supplemental EIS) to consider the effects of a potential land exchange of certain lands owned by the King Cove Corporation and/or the State of Alaska with certain lands owned by the U.S. Government. King Cove would use the acquired land for a road corridor for noncommercial use through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and the Izembek Wilderness Area. We furnish this notice to advise the public and other agencies of our intentions and to seek information and suggestions on the scope of issues to be addressed in the supplemental EIS. In particular, we will update information used in the 2013 analysis on the impacts of a then-proposed exchange and road corridor and the viability of alternatives to provide safe and reliable transportation between the City of King Cove, Alaska, and the airport at Cold Bay, Alaska.

In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Colorado's Rocky Mountain Resource Advisory Council (RAC) is announcing its 2023 summer meeting.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing to renew an information collection without revisions.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the National Park Service (NPS) are proposing to renew an information collection.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the National Park Service (NPS) are proposing to renew an information collection.

At the request of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Secretary of the Interior proposes to withdraw approximately 170,429 acres of public lands and interests in lands from all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws; location and entry under the U.S. mining laws; operation of the mineral and geothermal leasing laws; and disposal under the mineral materials laws, subject to valid existing rights. The withdrawal is proposed for a period of five years to maintain the status quo while the Department of the Interior, the State of Utah, and the State of Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) consider a potential land exchange. Subject to valid existing rights, publication of this notice in the Federal Register segregates the lands for two years from the date of publication unless the segregative effect is terminated sooner. This notice also initiates a 90-day public comment period on the proposed withdrawal. A notice for public meeting(s) regarding the proposed withdrawal will be announced separately in the Federal Register, in at least one newspaper having general circulation, and on the agency website at least 30 days before the meeting(s).

In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Steens Mountain Advisory Council (SMAC) will meet as follows.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology (UTK), 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 Benton, Henry, Humphreys, Stewart, and Williamson Counties, TN, as well as from an unknown county in TN.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or USFWS), are correcting one amendatory instruction in a final rule that published in the Federal Register on May 4, 2023. That rule finalizes the designation of critical habitat for the threatened slickspot peppergrass (Lepidium papilliferum) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) hereby provides constructive notice that it will issue an appealable decision approving conveyance of the surface and subsurface estates in certain lands to Bristol Bay Native Corporation, an Alaska Native regional corporation, pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA), as amended.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Filson Historical Society intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural items were removed from Fulton County, KY; Hickman County, KY; Lake County, TN; and Shelby County, TN.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Department of the Interior are proposing to renew an information collection.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains were collected at the Government School in Chitina, Valdez-Cordova County, AK.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains were collected at the Fort Mohave Indian School in Mohave County, AZ, and the Sherman Institute in Riverside County, CA.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains were collected at the Sherman Institute, Riverside County, CA.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains were collected at the U.S. Indian School, Flandreau, in Moody County, SD, and the Carson Indian School, Stewart, in Carson City County, NV.