National Park Service December 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and Council on Environmental Quality regulations that the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service (NPS), will prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) on proposed revisions to existing regulations governing the exercise of nonfederal oil and gas rights within the boundaries of units of the National Park System. The current regulations have been in effect for over thirty years and have not been substantively updated during that period. The EIS will analyze a range of reasonable alternatives for regulating nonfederal oil and gas development and the potential environmental impacts on park resources such as threatened and endangered species, water resources, soils, vegetation, wetlands, air resources, night skies, wildlife, cultural resources, and soundscapes. Effects on oil and gas operators, visitor experience and public safety, adjacent lands, and park operations will also be analyzed.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), and the Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), the Department of the Interior, National Park Service (NPS) has prepared and approved a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS) for the Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) Management Plan. The ROD documents the decision by the NPS to implement Alternative F: NPS Preferred Alternative (the ``selected action''). The selected action is necessary to regulate ORV use at the Seashore in a manner that is consistent with applicable law, and appropriately addresses resource protection (including protected, threatened, or endangered species), potential conflicts among the various Seashore users, and visitor safety. The selected action provides the basis for a proposed special regulation for ORV use at the Seashore. Section 4.10(b) of the NPS regulations in Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), which implements Executive Orders 11644 and 11989, prohibits ORV use except on routes and areas designated in a special regulation. The ORV plan and special regulation are necessary to provide continued visitor access through the use of ORVs. The intended effects or objectives of this action are to: Minimize impacts from ORV use to soils and topographic features, for example, dunes, ocean beach, wetlands, tidal flats, and other features; Provide protection for threatened, endangered, and other protected species (e.g., state-listed species) and their habitats, and minimize impacts related to ORV and other uses as required by laws and policies, such as the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and NPS laws and management policies; Minimize impacts to native plant species from ORV use; Minimize impacts to wildlife species and their habitats from ORV use; Protect cultural resources such as shipwrecks, archeological sites, and cultural landscapes from impacts related to ORV use; Ensure that ORV operators are informed about the rules and regulations regarding ORV use at the Seashore; Manage ORV use to allow for a variety of visitor use experiences; Minimize conflicts between ORV use and other uses; Ensure that ORV management promotes the safety of all visitors; Identify operational needs and costs to fully implement an ORV management plan; Identify potential sources of funding necessary to implement an ORV management plan; Provide consistent guidelines, according to site conditions, for ORV routes, ramps, and signage; Identify criteria to designate ORV use areas and routes; Establish ORV management practices and procedures that have the ability to adapt in response to changes in the Seashore's dynamic physical and biological environment; Establish a civic engagement component for ORV management; Establish procedures for prompt and efficient public notification of beach access status, including any temporary ORV use restrictions, for such things as ramp maintenance, resource and public safety closures, storm events, etc; Build stewardship through public awareness and understanding of NPS resource management and visitor use policies and responsibilities as they pertain to the Seashore and ORV management.

Notice is hereby given that a meeting of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Advisory Commission will be held at 9:30 a.m., on Friday, January 7, 2011, at C & O Canal National Historical Park, 1850 Dual Highway, Suite 100, Hagerstown, Maryland 21740.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), and the Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR part 1500-1508), the Department of the Interior, National Park Service (NPS) has prepared and approved a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS) for the South Florida and Caribbean Parks Exotic Plant Management Plan. The nine parks included in this Plan are: Big Cypress National Preserve, Biscayne National Park, Canaveral National Seashore, Dry Tortugas National Park, Everglades National Park, Buck Island Reef National Monument, Christiansted National Historic Site, Salt River Bay National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve, and Virgin Islands National Park. The ROD documents the decision by the NPS to implement Alternative C (New Framework for Exotic Plant management: Increased Planning, Monitoring, and Mitigation, with an Emphasis on Active Restoration of Native Plants) as the selected action for the South Florida and Caribbean Parks Exotic Plant Management Plan. Alternative C was also identified in the Final EIS as the environmentally preferable alternative. The selected action is necessary to promote restoration of native species and habitat conditions in ecosystems that have been invaded by exotic plants and to protect park resources and values from adverse effects resulting from exotic plant presence and control activities. The intended effects or objectives of this action are to: Establish priorities for exotic plants to be treated and treatment locations in parks; Reduce the number of individual targeted exotic plants to minimize the threat to natural resources (native habitat, plants, and wildlife); Reduce to the greatest extent possible the introduction of new exotic plants into parks; Ensure that park exotic plant management programs support, and are consistent with, south Florida ecosystem restoration goals; Reconcile potential conflicts between preservation of significant cultural landscapes and removal of exotic plants; Preserve plants and sites valued by native Americans and other traditional cultures and protect archeological and historic resources, while reducing the spread of exotic plant species; Conduct the exotic plant management plan so it is continually monitored and improved, environmentally safe, incorporates best management practices, and supports and is supported by science and research; Minimize unintended impacts of control measures on park resources, visitors, employees, and the public; Use Federal resources with increased efficiency; Ensure that control measures are consistent with the Wilderness Act and NPS wilderness policy; Increase visitor and public awareness of the impacts exotic plants have on native habitat and species and on cultural resources, building support for NPS management efforts; Coordinate NPS efforts with partners and neighbors (nationally and internationally) to establish compatible goals and provide assistance to achieve them; and Restore and protect native plant communities in ways that allow natural processes, function, cycles, and biota to be re- established and maintained in perpetuity.

Notice is hereby given in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770, 5 U.S.C. App 1, Section 10) of a meeting of the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission.

Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and National Park Service (NPS) policy in Director's Order Number 2 (Park Planning) and Director's Order Number 12 (Conservation Planning, Environmental Impact Analysis, and Decision- making), the NPS announces the availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Tamiami Trail (U.S. Highway 41) Modifications: Next Steps Project for Everglades National Park, Florida. The 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 111-008, dated March 11, 2009) directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to construct modifications to Tamiami Trail (U.S. Highway 41) that were approved in the 2008 Limited Reevaluation Report and Environmental Assessment. The 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act also directed the NPS to ``immediately evaluate the feasibility of additional bridge length, beyond that to be constructed pursuant to the Modified Water Deliveries to Everglades National Park Project (16 U.S.C. 410r-8), including a continuous bridge, or additional bridges or some combination thereof, for the Tamiami Trail (U.S. Highway 41) to restore more natural water flow to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay and for the purpose of restoring habitat within the Park and the ecological connectivity between the Park and the Water Conservation Areas.''