National Park Service September 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Park Service (NPS) is adding a regulation governing parking violations. The addition is needed to address situations in which the vehicle's operator is absent when the vehicle is illegally parked. The amendment provides that a parking citation is subject to fine, allows the citation to name the registered owner if the operator is not present, and creates a rebuttable prima facie presumption that the registered owner of the illegally parked vehicle was the person who committed the violation. This rule is similar to provisions in the parking laws of the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland.

Pursuant to National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), the National Park Service announces the availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Winter Use Plans, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway, Wyoming. Seven alternative winter use management plans are evaluated in this EIS; alternative 7 is the NPS preferred alternative. Alternative 1 would put into place the provisions of the temporary winter use plan of August 2004, with some modifications. Alternative 2 would prohibit recreational snowmobiling in the parks in favor of snowcoach access. Alternative 3A would close much of Yellowstone to oversnow travel, leaving the South Entrance to Old Faithful route open to such use. A variation of alternative 3 (3B) is the no action alternativeit closes all routes to motorized oversnow recreation. This would be the outcome of the temporary plan, should no new decision be made. Four other alternatives (4, 5, 6, and 7) would allow varying levels of snowmobile and snowcoach access to continue in the parks. Alternative 4 would allow for increased snowmobile use, relative to historic numbers. Alternative 5 would allow for some unguided snowmobile use and would feature seasonal and flexible daily entry limits in Yellowstone. Alternative 6 would provide for plowing some roads in Yellowstone to allow commercial wheeled-vehicle access from West Yellowstone and Mammoth to Old Faithful. Preferred alternative 7 would provide for a balance of snowmobile and snowcoach use and protect park soundscapes, air quality, wildlife and other resources. In Yellowstone, the daily limit on snowmobiles would be 540 snowmobiles per day in Yellowstone. 65 snowmobiles would be allowed per day in Grand Teton and the Parkway. In Yellowstone, all snowmobilers would be required to travel with a commercial guide, and in both parks, all snowcoaches and most snowmobiles would be required to use Best Available Technology (BAT). 83 snowcoaches would be allowed into Yellowstone daily. The East Entrance would remain open for cross-country ski and snowshoe access.

Notice is hereby given that a meeting of the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission (the Commission) will be held on Tuesday, October 23, 2007, at 1:30 p.m., at the National Building Museum, Room 312, 401 F Street, NW., Washington, DC. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss currently authorized and proposed memorials in the District of Columbia and its environs. In addition to discussing general matters and conducting routine business, the Commission will review the status of legislative proposals intoduced in the 110th Congress to establish memorials in the District of Columbia and its environs, as follows:

Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 9.52(b) of Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 9, Subpart B, of a Plan of Operations submitted by St. Joseph Petroleum, Inc., for continued production of six gas wells inside the boundary of Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Fentress County, Tennessee. Additionally, the NPS has prepared an EA for this proposal.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 CFR Part 1320, Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements, the National Park Service (NPS) invites public comments on a proposed new collection of information (OMB 1024-xxxx). The 30-Day Federal Register Notice for this collection of information was published on August 28, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 166, Pages 49303-49305). There are a few corrections that need to be added to the previous publication of this Federal Register Notice. Under the heading Estimated average number of respondents, the words that should be added at the end are ``and 4750 non-respondents''. Under the heading Estimated average number of responses, the answer should be: 8,794 responses (4,044 respondents and 4,750 non-respondents). Under the heading Estimated average time burden per respondent, the information that should be added should read ``Non-respondents: 1 minute/respondent''. Under the heading Estimated total annual reporting burden, the information should be 1,144 hours. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this matter, please contact Mr. Leonard E. Stowe, NPS, Information Collection Clearance Office, 1849 C St., NW., (2605), Washington, DC 20240; or via fax at 202/371-1427; or via e-mail at leonard stowe@nps.gov.

Pursuant to National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4332(C), the National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the General Management Plan, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the General Management Plan analyzes the impacts of a no-action and two action alternatives. The official responsible for this decision is the NPS Regional Director, National Capital Region.

In accordance with section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the National Park Service (NPS) will be preparing an Environmental Impact Statement and Plan for the National Mall to develop a long term vision plan for the use and management of the National Mall, which has been defined by Congress as a ``substantially completed work of civic art,'' and for Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Park. In the January 16, 2007 Federal Register (72 FR 1763), the NPS announced it was developing this plan. The NPS was already holding public meetings and engaging with other government agencies. The NPS has since determined it will proceed to producing an Environmental Impact Statement as part of the planning process.