Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 94 / Monday, May 15, 2000 / Notices 31013

Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), 5 U.S.C.

appendix 1, The Department of the

Interior, Bureau of Land Management

(BLM), announces a meeting of the New

Mexico Resource Advisory Council

(RAC). The meeting will be held on June

14–16, 2000, at the Quality Inn, 1043

Camino del Pueblo Sur, Taos, NM.

There will be an optional all day field

trip on Wednesday, June 14, 2000, to the

Wild Rivers area to look at vegetation

and on the ground events. The optional

tour will start at the Quality Inn, in

Taos, NW, at 8 am and end back in

Taos, NM, about 5 pm. Transportation

will be provided for RAC members.

The meeting on Thursday, June 15,

2000, starts at 8 a.m. and will end about

5 pm. The three established RAC

Subcommittees may have late afternoon

or evening meetings on this day. The

exact time and location of the

Subcommittee meeting will be

established by the Chairperson of each

Subcommittee earlier in the day during

the RAC meeting. The meeting on

Friday, June 16, 2000, starts at 8 a.m.

and will end about 3 pm. The ending

time of 3 p.m., for the meeting, may be

changed depending on the work

remaining for the RAC. The draft agenda

for the RAC meeting includes an

agreement on the meeting agenda, any

RAC comments on the draft minutes of

the last RAC meeting on April 26

through 28, 2000, in Lordsburg, NM, a

check in from the RAC members (the

following are planned presentations that

also include discussions) a Standards

and Guidelines update presentation, an

update on the Lesser Prairie Chicken,

Threatened and Endangered Species

comprehensive approach on border

issues, elk management on BLM, Forest

Service, and private land, a Vermijo

Park wildlife presentation, a Willow

Flycatcher presentation, BLM Field

Office Managers State of the Field Office

presentations with emphasis on wildlife

and the Willow Flycatcher, RAC

Subcommittee reports from the Urban/

Lands Subcommittee, the Oil and Gas

Subcommittee, and the Roads and Trails

Subcommittee, a public comment

period to the RAC, RAC discussions and

any RAC recommendations, develop

draft agenda items and select a location

for the next RAC meeting, and a RAC

assessment on the current meeting. The

time for the public to address the RAC

is on Friday, June 16, 2000, from 10 a.m.

to 12 noon. The RAC may reduce or

extend the end time of 12:00 noon

depending on the number of people

wishing to address the RAC. Anyone

wishing to address the RAC should be

present at the 10:00 starting time. The

length of time available for each person

to address the RAC will be established

at the start of the public comment

period and will depend on how many

people there are that wish to address the

RAC. At the completion of the public

comments the RAC may continue

discussion on its agenda items.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mary White, New Mexico State Office,

Office of External Affairs, Bureau of

Land Management, 1474 Rodeo Road,

PO Box 27115, Santa Fe, New Mexico

87502–0115, telephone (505) 438–7404.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

purpose of the Resource Advisory

Council is to advise the Secretary of the

Interior, through the BLM, on a variety

of planning and management issues

associated with the management of

public lands. The Council’s

responsibilities include providing

advice on long-range planning,

establishing resource management

priorities and assisting the BLM to

identify State and regional standards for

rangeland health and guidelines for

grazing management.

Dated: May 9, 2000.

Michelle J. Chavez,

State Director.

[FR Doc. 00–12104 Filed 5–12–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–FB–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AZA—31116 (supercedes AZA 28350)]

Notice of Availability for the Ray Land

Exchange/Plan Amendment Record of

Decision

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Ray Plan Amendment Record of

Decision and Notice of Decision for the

Ray Land Exchange.

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) is amending the

Phoenix and Safford District Resource

Management Plans (RMPs) to allow the

transfer of certain federal lands and

mineral estate in Pinal and Gila counties

(Arizona) for privately owned lands in

Mohave and Pinal counties. BLM

examined the lands and interests

described below under the Federal Land

Policy and Management Act of 1976, as

amended (43 U.S.C. 1716) (FLPMA) and

through the planning process described

in BLM regulations (43 CFR 1600). BLM

determined the lands and interests

therein as suitable for disposal by land

exchange pursuant to Section 206 of

FLPMA, as amended. The Record of

Decision approving the plan

amendment is now available.

Notice is hereby given that on April

27, 2000, Jesse Juen, Tucson Field Office

Manager, Bureau of Land Management,

issued a decision to approve a proposed

land exchange with ASARCO,

Incorporated, a New York Corporation.

This Notice of Decision initiates a 45-

day comment period on the decision to

approve the land exchange.

Federal lands and mineral estate

determined suitable for land exchange

(total approximately 10, 976 acres) are

described as:

Mineral Estate Only

Gila and Salt River Base and Meridian, Pinal

County, Arizona

T.2 S., R.13 E., Section 35 (80 acres)

T.2 S., R.14 E., Section 31 (71 acres)

T.3 S., R.12 E., Section 24 (160 acres)

T.3 S., R.13 E., Sections 9, 10, 11, 12, 30

(1337 acres)

T.3 S., R.14 E., Sections 6, 7, 17, 18 (495

acres)

T.6 S., R.4 E., Sections 12, 23, 24 ( 637acres)

Comprising approximately 2,780 acres.

Full Fee Estate

Gila and Salt River Base and Meridian, Pinal

and Gila Counties, Arizona

T.2 S., R.13 E., Section 34 (428 acres)

T.3 S., R.12 E., Sections 25, 26 (1,120 acres)

T.3 S., R.13 E., Sections 1, 2, 8, 10, 11, 13,

17, 19,20, 22, 23, 26, 27, 34, 35 (3,121

acres)

T.3 S., R.14 E., Sections 7, 18, 19, 20, 33, 34

(1,253 acres)

T.4 S., R.14 E., Sections 3, 4, 5, 8 (1,442

acres)

T.4 S., R.15 E., Sections 22, 27 (272 acres)

T.5 S., R.15 E., Sections 11, 28 (560 acres)

Comprising approximately 8,196 acres.

Non-federal lands (private land now

owned by Asarco Incorporated) to be

acquired (total approximately 7,300

acres) described as:

Gila and Salt River Base and Meridian,

Mohave County, Arizona

Knisely Ranch, T.25 N., R.18 W., Sections 4,

17, 20 (160 acres)

McCracken Mtn.

T.14 N., R.14 W., Sections 19, 31 (1,266

acres)

T.14 N., R.15 W., Sections 3, 9, 11, 15, 23,

25, 27, 35 (5,118 acres)

Sacramento Valley, T.19 N., R.19 W., Section

23 (120 acres)

Tomlin Parcels, T.15 N., R.13 W., Sections

19, 35 (313 acres)

Comprising approximately 6,980 acres.

Gila and Salt River Base and Meridian, Pinal

County, Arizona

Gila River/Cochran, T.4 S., R.12 E., Sections

6, 7 (320 acres)

Comprising approximately 320 acres.

The purpose of the Ray Land

Exchange is to acquire the non-federal

land parcels which have high public

values for: wilderness inholdings in the

Mt. Tipton Wilderness and parcels

31014 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 94 / Monday, May 15, 2000 / Notices

adjacent to the Warm Springs

Wilderness; checkerboard inholdings in

the McCracken Mountains Area of

Critical Environmental Concern;

riparian zones along the Big Sandy and

Gila Rivers; other habitat supporting

threatened and endangered or special

species; and cultural and recreation

values. The public interest will be

served by making the exchange.

The values of the lands to be

exchanged are equal. Lands transferred

from the United States to ASARCO will

be subject to the following reservations,

terms and conditions:

A right-of-way thereon for ditches or

canals.

Three rights-of-way for the Arizona

Highway Department, AZAR 04524,

AZAR 04525, AZAR 024241.

Two rights-of-way for the Salt River

Project, AZA 2146, AZPHX 086749.

A right-of-way for Southwest Gas

Corporation, AZAR 02148.

Two rights-of-way for Arizona Public

Service Company, AZA 8778, AZAR

033336.

Two rights-of-way for US West

Communications Inc., AZA 6541,

AZA 24678.

And a right-of-way for Pinal County

Board of Supervisors, AZA 21389.

DATES: The publication of this Notice of

Decision initiates a 45-day protest

period on the Ray land exchange.

Interested parties may submit comments

or objections regarding the land

exchange to the Tucson Field Office

Manager, BLM, 12661 East Broadway,

Tucson, AZ 85748–7208. Objections

will be reviewed by the Arizona State

Director who may sustain, vacate or

modify this Notice of Decision. A copy

of the Record of Decision may be

obtained from the person/address that

follows.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Shela McFarlin, Project Manager, BLM,

Arizona State Office, 222 N. Central,

Phoenix, AZ 85004, or by telephone

(602) 417–9568.

Dated: April 27, 2000.

Jesse Juen,

Field Manager, Tucson.

[FR Doc. 00–12088 Filed 5–12–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–32–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

Preparation of an Environmental

Assessment for Proposed Lease Sale

178 in the Central Gulf of Mexico (2001)

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service.

ACTION: Preparation of an Environmental

Assessment.

SUMMARY: The Minerals Management

Service (MMS) is beginning preparation

of an environmental assessment (EA) for

proposed lease Sale 178 (scheduled for

March 2001) in the Central Gulf of

Mexico Planning Area. In August 1996,

MMS issued a Call for Information and

Nominations/Notice of Intent to Prepare

an EIS (Call/NOI) for the five proposed

Central Gulf of Mexico sales in the

current 5-year leasing program. In 1997,

MMS prepared a single environmental

impact statement (EIS) for all five sales.

The multisale Final EIS, filed in

November 1997, included an analysis of

a single, ‘‘typical’’ sale, and a

cumulative analysis that included the

effects of holding all five sales, as well

as the cumulative effects of the longterm development of the planning area.

The MMS stated in the EIS that an EA

would be prepared for each lease sale

after the first sale covered in the EIS

(Sale 169).

The preparation of this EA is the first

step in the prelease decision process for

Sale 178. The proposal and alternatives

for Sale 178 were identified by the

Director of MMS in November 1996

following the Call/NOI and were

analyzed in the Central Gulf multisale

EIS, which is available from the Gulf of

Mexico OCS Region’s Public

Information Office at 1–800–200-GULF.

The proposed action analyzed in the

multisale EIS was the offering of all

available unleased acreage in the

Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area.

The EA will also analyze alternatives to

defer blocks south and within 15 miles

of Baldwin County, Alabama, and to

defer blocks containing topographic

features with sensitive biological

resources, as well as the no action

alternative. The analysis in the EA will

reexamine the potential environmental

effects of the proposal and alternatives

based on any new information regarding

potential impacts and issues that was

not available at the time the Final EIS

was prepared.

The MMS requests interested parties

to submit comments regarding any such

new information or issues that should

be addressed in the EA to Minerals

Management Service, Gulf of Mexico

OCS Region, Office of Leasing and

Environment, Attention: Regional

Supervisor (MS 5410), 1201 Elmwood

Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana

70123–2394 by June 15, 2000. After

completion of the EA, MMS will

determine whether to prepare a Finding

of No New Significant Impact (FONNSI)

or a supplemental EIS. The MMS will

then prepare and send consistency

determinations to the affected States to

determine whether the proposed sale is

consistent with federally-approved State

coastal zone management programs, and

will send a proposed Notice of Sale to

the Governors for their comments on the

size, timing, and location of the

proposed sale. The tentative schedule

for the steps in the prelease decision

process for Sale 178 is listed below:

Comments due to MMS, June 15, 2000;

EA/FONNSI or Supplemental EIS,

October 2000;

Consistency Determinations sent to

States, October 2000;

Proposed Notice of Sale sent to

Governors, November 2000;

Final Notice of Sale in Federal Register,

January 2001;

Sale, March 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Minerals Management Service, Gulf of

Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood

Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana

70123–2394, Mr. George Hampton,

telephone (504) 736–2465.

Dated: May 9, 2000.

Charles J. Schoennagel,

Acting Regional Director, Gulf of Mexico OCS

Region.

[FR Doc. 00–12108 Filed 5–12–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Immigration and Naturalization Service

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Comments Request

ACTION: Notice of Information Collection

Under Review; Visa Waiver Pilot

Program Carrier Agreement.

The Department of Justice,

Immigration and Naturalization Service

has submitted the following information

collection request for review and

clearance in accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The

Proposed information collection is

published to obtain comments from the

public and affected agencies. Comments

are encouraged and will be accepted for

‘‘sixty days’’ until [Insert date of the

60th day from the date that this notice

is published in the Federal Register].

Written comments and suggestions

from the public and affected agencies

concerning the proposed collection of

information should address one or more

of the following four points:

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of the

functions of the agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility;