Land Management Bureau September 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given, in accordance with Public Laws 92-463 and 94-579, that the California Desert District Advisory Council to the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, will participate in a field tour of BLM-administered public lands on Friday, November 14, 2008 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and meet in formal session on Saturday, November 15 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Heritage Inn and Suites, 1050 N. Norma, Ridgecrest, CA. The Council and interested members of the public will depart for the field tour at 8 a.m. from the lobby of the Heritage Inn and Suites. The public is welcome to participate in the tour but should plan on providing their own transportation, lunch, and beverage. A four-wheel drive vehicle is strongly recommended for the field tour. Agenda topics for the formal session on Saturday will include updates by Council members and reports from the BLM District Manager and five field office managers. Additional agenda topics are being developed. Once finalized, the field tour and meeting agendas will be published in a news release prior to the meeting and posted on the BLM California state Web site at https://www.blm.gov/ca/news/rac.html.

Members of the public are hereby invited to participate with Western Energy Company in a program for the exploration of coal deposits owned by the United States of America in lands located in Rosebud County, Montana, encompassing 921.06 acres.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Approved Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Ely RMP planning area located in east-central Nevada in Lincoln, White Pine and a portion of Nye counties. The Nevada State Director signed the ROD on August 20, 2008, which constitutes the final decision of the BLM and makes the Approved RMP effective immediately.

As required by 43 CFR 2650.7(d), notice is hereby given that an appealable decision approving the surface and subsurface estates in certain lands for conveyance pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act will be issued to NANA Regional Corporation, Inc. The lands are near Kiana, Noorvik, and Selawik, Alaska, and are located in:

On June 25, 2008, the Secretary of the Interior renewed the Charter for the PAWG and Task Groups. There are currently two vacancies on the PAWG for which nominations are being solicited: A representative of (1) Sublette County Government, and (2) the oil and gas operators. Section 309 of FLPMA directs the Secretary to select 10 to 15 member citizen-based advisory councils that are consistent with the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). Individuals or groups who wish to submit a nomination or are interested in becoming a member of the PAWG should submit the specified information within 30 days of this Notice. Nomination forms may be found at https:// www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/field_offices/Pinedale/pawg.html.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has filed the plats of survey of the lands described below in the BLM Wyoming State Office, Cheyenne, Wyoming, on the dates indicated.

The plats of survey of the described lands were officially filed in the Arizona State Office, Bureau of Land Management, Phoenix, Arizona, on dates indicated.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) requests the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to extend an existing approval to collect information from those persons who submit Form 2520-1 to apply for a desert-land entry to reclaim, irrigate, and cultivate arid and semiarid public lands in the Western United States. The BLM uses this information to determine if the applicant is eligible to make a desert-land entry under the appropriate land entry laws.

This order withdraws approximately 472 acres of lands from surface entry and mining, and transfers jurisdiction of the lands to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be managed as part of the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge. The lands will remain open to mineral and geothermal leasing, and mineral material sales.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will file the plat of survey of the lands described below in the BLM-Eastern States, Springfield, Virginia, 30 calendar days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has filed an application requesting the Secretary of the Interior to withdraw approximately 936 acres of land from the United States mining and mineral leasing laws and transfer jurisdiction to the DOE. The land would be used for ancillary facilities at the DOE's Crescent Junction Uranium Mill Tailings Repository in connection with moving the Moab Mill Site uranium mill tailings to the Repository. Except for existing claims, rights, and interests, including oil and gas leases that would be retained by the Secretary of the Interior, full management, jurisdiction, authority, responsibility, and liability for all activities conducted on the land would be vested in the DOE.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will file the plat of survey of the lands described below in the BLM-Eastern States, Springfield, Virginia, 30 calendar days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Pinedale Anticline Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Project located in Sublette County, Wyoming. C. Stephen Allred, Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior signed the ROD on September 12, 2008, which constitutes the final decision of the BLM and makes the decisions effective immediately.

Under the Class II provisions of Title IV, Public Law 97-451, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) received a petition for reinstatement of oil and gas lease TXNM 118213 from the lessee, Woodward Development LLC, for lands in Houston County, Texas. The petition was filed on time and was accompanied by all the rentals due since the date the lease terminated under the law.

Under the Class II provisions of Title IV, Public Law 97-451, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) received a petition for reinstatement of oil and gas lease TXNM 118211 from the lessee, Woodward Development LLC, for lands in Houston County, Texas. The petition was filed on time and was accompanied by all the rentals due since the date the lease terminated under the law.

As required by 43 CFR 2650.7(d), notice is hereby given that an appealable decision approving the surface and subsurface estates in certain lands for conveyance pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act will be issued to Doyon, Limited. The lands are in the vicinity of Koyukuk, Alaska, and are located in:

The Act of February 28, 1958 (43 U.S.C. 155-158), sometimes referred to as the Engle Act, places on the Secretary of the Interior the responsibility to process Department of Defense applications for national defense withdrawals, reservations or restrictions aggregating 5,000 acres or more for any one project or facility. These withdrawals, reservations or restrictions may only be made by an act of Congress, except in time of war or national emergency declared by the President or the Congress and except as otherwise expressly provided in the Act of February 28, 1958. The U.S. Department of the Navy, in accordance with the Engle Act, has filed an application requesting the Secretary of the Interior to process a proposed legislative withdrawal and reservation of public lands for military training exercises involving the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, San Bernardino County, California. The proposal seeks the transfer of jurisdiction and the withdrawal of approximately 365,906 acres of public lands and approximately 507 acres of Federal subsurface mineral estate from all forms of appropriation under the public land laws, including surface entry, mining, mineral leasing, and the Materials Act of 1947. This notice temporarily segregates for two years the public lands and mineral estate described from settlement, sale, location, or entry under the public land laws, including the mining laws, and the operation of the mineral leasing laws and the Materials Act of 1947. In addition, the surface estate of the 507 acres of mineral estate and the surface and mineral estate of an approximately 72,186 acres of other non-federally owned property in the proposed withdrawal area, if they should be acquired by or returned to the United States by any means, would also be included in the proposed withdrawal and subject to the temporary segregation authorized by this notice.

In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), and the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), the U. S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Northwest California Resource Advisory Council will meet as indicated below.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has examined and found suitable for classification for conveyance under the provisions of the Recreation and Public Purposes (R&PP) Act, as amended, approximately 90.00 acres of public land in Park County, Wyoming. Park County proposes to use the land for a sanitary landfill.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) requests the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to extend an existing approval to collect information from entities who conduct geophysical operations on public lands.

This action corrects an error in the land description published as FR Doc. E8-12424 in the Federal Register, 73 FR 31880- 31881, June 4, 2008. On page 31881, column 1, line 13 from the top, which reads ``Salt Lake Meridian'' is hereby corrected to read ``Uintah Special Meridian''. On page 31881, below ``b. Hawthorne Campground,'' column 1, line 20 from the top, and above ``T. 8 S., R. 5 E.,'' column 1, line 21 from the top, insert ``Salt Lake Meridian''.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared the Proposed Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resource Management Plan Amendments to Address Land Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming (PRMP Amendments) and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (FPEIS).

As required by 43 CFR 2650.7(d), notice is hereby given that an appealable decision approving the surface and subsurface estates in certain lands for conveyance pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act will be issued to NANA Regional Corporation, Inc. The lands are in the vicinity of Buckland and Deering, Alaska, and are located in:

This order confirms the transfer of management of 1,246 acres of Federal surveyed and accreted lands thereto, by the Secretary of Interior from the Bureau of Land Management to the Director, National Park Service for the creation of the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park.

In the notice published in 73 FR 49217-49218, published August 20, 2008, as FR Doc. E8-19262, make the following correction: On page 49217, column 3, following T. 7 S., R. 3 E., Sec. 32, should read ``All, except SE\1/4\SE\1/4\ and HES 348''.