National Park Service July 10, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve announces a meeting of the Great Sand Dunes National Park Advisory Council, which was established to provide guidance to the Secretary on long-term planning for Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

Pursuant to the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (Pub. L. 91-190) and Council on Environmental Quality's implementing regulations (40 CFR 1502.9(c)), the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service (NPS), is initiating the scoping phase of the conservation planning and environmental impact analysis process for updating the General Management Plan (GMP) for lava Beds National Monument (Monument). Following the scoping phase and consideration of public concerns and other agency comments, a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the GMP will be prepared and released for public review. The GMP will address desired conditions for the Monument, uses or treatment needs for resource protection, visitor use and other management goals; it will serve as a ``blueprint'' to guide future management for the next 15-20 years. The purpose of the scoping outreach efforts is to elicit early public comment regarding issues and concerns, the nature and extent of potential environmental impacts (and as appropriate, mitigation measures), and alternatives which should be addressed in the plan update. Consistent with NPS Planning Program Standards the updated GMP will: (1) Describe the Monument's purpose, significance, and primary interpretive themes; (2) identify the fundamental resources and values of the Monument, its other important resources and values, and describe the condition of these resources; (3) describe desired conditions for cultural and natural resources and visitor experiences throughout the Monument; (4) develop management zoning to support these desired conditions; (5) develop alternative applications of these management zones to the Monument landscape (i.e., zoning alternatives); (6) address user capacity; (7) analyze potential boundary modifications; (8) ensure that management recommendations are developed in consultation with interested stakeholders and the public and adopted by NPS leadership after an adequate analysis of the benefits, environmental impacts, and economic costs of alternative courses of action; and (9) identify and prioritize subsequent detailed studies, plans and actions that may be needed to implement the updated GMP. Scoping: Through the outreach activities planned in the scoping phase, the NPS welcomes information and suggestions from the public regarding resource protection, visitor use, and land management. This notice formally initiates the public scoping comment phase for the EIS process for the GMP update. All scoping comments must be postmarked or transmitted not later than September 2, 2006. All written responses should be submitted to the following address: General Management Plan, Lava Beds National Monument, Attn.: Craig Dorman, Superintendent, 1 Indian Well Headquarters, Tulelake, CA 96134. As noted, a key purpose of the scoping process is to elicit early public comment on matters which should be considered in updating the GMP in order to inform the development of the Draft EIS. At this time it is expected that three public meetings will be hosted in towns near the Monument during June 5-8, 2006. Detailed information regarding these meetings will be posted on the GMP Web site (https://parkplanning.nps.gov/labe). All attendees will be given the opportunity to ask questions and provide comments to the planning team. The GMP Web site will provide the most up-to-date information regarding the project, including project description, planning process updates, meeting notices, reports and documents, and useful links associated with the project. It is the practice of the NPS to make all comments, including names and addresses of respondents who provide that information, available for public review. NPS will make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organzations or businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety. Individuals may request that the NPS withhold their name and/or address from public disclosure. If you wish to do this, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comments. Respondents using the Web site can make such a request by checking the box: ``keep my contact information private.'' NPS will honor such requests to the extent allowable by law, but you should be aware that NPS may still be required to disclose your name and address pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (Pub. L. 91-190, Sec. 102(2)(c), and the Council on Environmental Quality regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508), the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, and its cooperating agency have completed the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed reconstruction of the Furnace Creek Water Collection System. This water collection system reconstruction project is located in the Furnace Creek area of Death Valley National Park, California. The proposed project would rebuild the outdated water collection system in the Furnace Creek area to deliver a safe and reliable potable and nonpotable water supply to the park's main visitor use area. The FEIS was prepared in accordance with the National Park Service NEPA guidelines (Director's Order 12).

Under provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 CFR part 1320, Reporting and Record Keeping Requirements, the National park Service (NPS) invites public comments on an extension of a currently approved information collection (OMB 1024-0125).