Department of the Interior – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are reopening the public comment period on our October 3, 2023, proposed rule to list the northwestern pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata), a species from Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and northern and central California, and the southwestern pond turtle (Actinemys pallida), a species from central and southern California and Baja California, Mexico, as threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We are taking this action to allow all interested parties an additional opportunity to comment on the proposed listing of the two species and the proposed rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act ("4(d) rule") for the species. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted and will be fully considered in our final determinations.

In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Central California Resource Advisory Council (RAC) will meet as follows.

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

To comply with a court order, the Secretaries, through the Federal Subsistence Board (Board), initiated regulatory proceedings to identify those submerged lands within the Tongass National Forest that did not pass to the State of Alaska at statehood and, therefore, remain Federal public lands subject to Federal subsistence provisions. This rule adds to the list of submerged parcels in the Federal subsistence regulations that have been identified through agency review. The purpose of this rule is to complete regulatory proceedings addressing submerged public lands within the Tongass National Forest, as directed by the Court, and will result in increased subsistence harvest opportunities for rural Alaskans. This final rule will also make nonsubstantive changes to present the list of submerged parcels in a tabular format.

This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), as lead agency, intends to gather information necessary for preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in connection with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (Colville Tribes) proposed Fee-to-Trust and Casino Project in the City of Pasco, Franklin County, Washington. This notice also opens public scoping to identify potential issues, concerns, and alternatives to be considered in the EIS.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gives notice of a public meeting of the Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) Task Force, in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The ANS Task Force's purpose is to develop and implement a program for U.S. waters to prevent introduction and dispersal of aquatic invasive species; to monitor, control, and study such species; and to disseminate related information.

Notice is hereby given in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act that a meeting of the National Historic Landmarks Committee (Committee) of the National Park System Advisory Board (Board) will meet as indicated below.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, as amended, the National Park Service (NPS) is hereby giving notice that the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Commission (Commission) will meet as indicated below.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from Florida Department of TransportationFlorida's Turnpike Enterprise (applicant) for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species Act. The applicant requests the ITP to take the federally listed eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon corais couperii) incidental to the construction of the Suncoast Parkway 2 Segment 3A from County Road (CR) 486 to CR 495 in Citrus County, Florida. We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and on the Service's preliminary determination that the proposed permitting action may be eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. To make this preliminary determination, we prepared a draft environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of which are also available for public review. We invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority propose to act in partnership to prepare a joint draft environmental impact statement/environmental impact report to evaluate the impacts on the environment related to placing excavated or other fill material into several former salt production ponds on, and adjacent to, Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge to raise the pond bottoms for the purpose of accelerating the timeline for tidal marsh habitat restoration. The Service is providing this notice to open a public scoping period in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and its implementing regulations. We invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.

The plats of surveys for the lands described in this notice are scheduled to be officially filed 30 calendar days after the date of this publication in the BLM Montana State Office, Billings, Montana. The surveys, which were executed at the request of the United States Forest Service, Fort Pierre Ranger District, South Dakota are necessary for the management of these lands.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are revising the rule for the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) promulgated under section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The purposes are threefold: To increase protection for African elephants in light of the recent rise in international trade of live African elephants by establishing ESA enhancement permit requirements for international trade in live elephants and specific enhancement requirements for the import of wild-sourced elephants, as well as requirements to ensure that all proposed recipients of live African elephants are suitably equipped to house and care for them; to clarify the existing enhancement requirement during our evaluation of an application for a permit to import African elephant sport-hunted trophies; and to incorporate a Party's designation under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) National Legislation Project into the decision-making process for the import of live African elephants, African elephant sport-hunted trophies, and African elephant parts and products other than ivory and sport-hunted trophies. Amendments to the section 4(d) regulations in 2016 prohibited the import and export of African elephant ivory with limited exceptions. This final rule does not affect the regulations pertaining to African elephant ivory.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announces the availability of the joint record of decision (ROD) on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the construction and operations plan (COP) submitted by Sunrise Wind, LLC (Sunrise Wind) for its proposed Sunrise Wind Offshore Wind Farm Project (Project), offshore New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. The joint ROD includes the Department of the Interior's (DOI's) decision regarding the COP, the National Park Service's (NPS) decision regarding special use permits (SUPs) and a Right-of-Way (ROW) permit, and the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) plans for decision, pending completion of all statutory processes, regarding Sunrise Wind's requested Incidental Take Regulations (ITR) and an associated Letter of Authorization (LOA) under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). NMFS has adopted the final EIS to support its decision of whether or not to promulgate the requested ITR under the MMPA. The NPS has adopted the final EIS to support its decision to issue a ROW permit and SUPs. The joint ROD concludes the National Environmental Policy Act process for each agency.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application for an incidental take permit to take the federally listed Santa Ana sucker under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We request public comment on the application, which includes the applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), and the Service's preliminary determination that the proposed permitting action may be eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, the Department of the Interior's (DOI) NEPA regulations, and the DOI Departmental Manual. To make this preliminary determination, we prepared a draft environmental action statement and low-effect screening form, both of which are also available for public review. We invite comment from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.

The National Park Service is soliciting electronic comments on the significance of properties nominated before March 16, 2024, for listing or related actions in the National Register of Historic Places.

This order withdraws 20,982.981 acres of public land from settlement, sale, location, or entry under the public land laws, including location and entry under the United States mining laws, and from leasing under the mineral and geothermal leasing laws; and 800 acres of Federal surface lands from settlement, sale, location, or entry under the public land laws, for 5 years for land management evaluation purposes, subject to valid existing rights. The withdrawn land is located in La Paz and Yuma Counties, Arizona.

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

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), withdraw the September 7, 2021, proposed rule to list the pyramid pigtoe (Pleurobema rubrum), a freshwater mussel, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended. This withdrawal is based on new information we received following publication of the proposed rule that indicates the pyramid pigtoe is not a valid listable entity under the Act. In 2023, a comprehensive genetic analysis throughout the range of the pyramid pigtoe (P. rubrum) and round pigtoe (P. sintoxia) mussels concluded that the two mussels are conspecific and that pyramid pigtoe is not a valid taxon. Individuals previously assigned to P. rubrum are now considered to be P. sintoxia, a wide- ranging common species. Because we are withdrawing the proposal to list the pyramid pigtoe, we are also withdrawing the associated proposed rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Gilcrease Museum intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and/or objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.

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 has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes in this notice. The human remains were removed from Lauderdale County, TN.

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 Buchanan, Jackson, and Platte Counties, MO.

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.

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the PMAE 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 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announces its intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for a construction and operations plan (COP) of a proposed offshore wind energy project submitted by Vineyard Northeast, LLC (Vineyard Northeast). This notice of intent (NOI) initiates the public scoping and comment process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and their respective implementing regulations. Vineyard Northeast proposes to construct and operate the project in Renewable Energy Lease Area OCS-A 0522 (Lease Area), which encompasses approximately 132,370 acres and is located approximately 29 miles from Nantucket and approximately 39 miles from Martha's Vineyard, offshore of Massachusetts. Vineyard Northeast proposes to develop the entire Lease Area.

This notice publishes the approval by operation of law of the Tribal-State Gaming Compact between the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota and the State of South Dakota.