43342 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 156 / Wednesday, August 13, 1997 / Notices

Dated: August 7, 1997.

Nicolas P. Retsinas,

Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal

Housing Commissioner.

[FR Doc. 97–21302 Filed 8–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–27–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Availability of a Draft Revised

Recovery Plan for the Okaloosa Darter

for Review and Comment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service (Service) proposes to extend the

public comment period for review of the

draft revised recovery plan for the

Okaloosa darter. This endangered fish

occurs in six stream systems flowing

from Eglin Air Force Base through or

near the cities of Niceville and

Valparaiso into Boggy and Rocky bayous

on Choctawhatchee Bay, in Okaloosa

and Walton Counties, Florida. During

the previous comment period (June 10,

1997–August 8, 1997)) agencies

significantly involved in the recovery of

the Okaloosa darter were concerned that

they would be unable to provide their

comments within the comment period.

DATES: Comments on the draft revised

recovery plan must be received on or

before August 30, 1997, to receive

consideration by the Service.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review

the draft revised recovery plan may

examine a copy at the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service’s Panama City Field

Office, 1612 June Avenue, Panama City,

Florida 32405, between 7:30 AM and

4:30 PM Central Time; or may obtain a

copy by contacting Frank Parauka,

Panama City Field Office, 850/769–0552

ext. 237.

Written comments and materials

regarding the plan should be addressed

to Frank Parauka at the Panama City

Field Office. Comments and materials

received are available on request for

public inspection, by appointment,

during the previously stated hours at the

Panama City Field Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Frank Parauka, at the Panama City Field

Office address given above, at 850/769–

0552, ext. 237, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Restoring an endangered or

threatened animal or plant to the point

where it is again a secure, selfsustaining member of its ecosystem is a

primary goal of the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service’s endangered species

program. To help guide the recovery

effort, the Service is working to prepare

recovery plans for most of the listed

species native to the United States.

Recovery plans describe actions

considered necessary for conservation of

the species, establish criteria for the

recovery levels for downlisting or

delisting them, and estimate the time

and cost for implementing the recovery

measures needed.

The Endangered Species Act of 1973,

as amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et

seq.) requires the development of

recovery plans for listed species unless

such a plan would not promote the

conservation of a particular species.

Section 4(f) of the Act, as amended in

1988, requires that public notice and an

opportunity for public review and

comment be provided during recovery

plan development. The Service will

consider all information presented

during a public comment period prior to

approval of each new or revised

recovery plan. The Service and other

federal agencies will also take these

comments into account in the course of

implementing approved recovery plans.

The draft revised recovery plan for the

Okaloosa darter updates the original

1981 plan. The Service listed this

species in 1973 due to its extreme

limited range, habitat degradation, and

apparent competition from a possibly

introduced related species, the brown

darter. Studies recommended in the

original plan have been completed.

Eglin Air Force Base is implementing

habitat conservation measures, and

plans to implement others. Okaloosa

darter populations have apparently

stabilized. Downlisting this species from

endangered to threatened could be

considered in the near future if

Okaloosa darter populations in all six

inhabited stream systems remain stable

or increase, and if effective interagency

agreements are established to protect the

quality and quantity of water in these

streams. Inhabited streams are the main

stems and tributaries of Toms, Turkey,

Mill, Swift, East Turkey, and Rocky

creeks. The watersheds of these streams,

located on Eglin Air Force Base and in

the cities of Niceville and Valparaiso,

are also in the planning area. Comments

received during the review period will

be used as appropriate for developing a

final revised recovery plan. The Panama

City Field Office will then forward the

final plan to the Service’s Regional

Office in Atlanta, Georgia, for approval.

Public Comments Solicited

The Service solicits written comments

on the draft revised recovery plan

described. All comments received by

the date specified above will be

considered prior to approval of the plan.

Authority

The authority for this action is

Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species

Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).

Dated: August 7, 1997.

Bryan Arroyo,

Acting Field Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 97–21430 Filed 8–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Geological Survey

Federal Geographic Data Committee

(FGDC); Public Comment on the

Proposal to Develop the ‘‘National

Shoreline Data Standard’’ as a Federal

Geographic Data Committee Standard

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

SUMMARY: The Federal Geographic Data

Committee (FGDC) is charged through

Executive Order 12906 with developing

standards for geospatial data. Geospatial

data include geographic information

and related products that are used for a

variety of mapping and resource

assessment purposes by many segments

of society. The Executive Order states

that standards shall be developed ‘‘. . .

in consultation and cooperation with

State, local, and tribal government, the

private and academic sector, and to the

extent feasible the international

community . . .’’ The FGDC has

identified that there is an important

national need to develop a standard for

shoreline data.

The FGDC Bathymetric and Geodetic

Subcommittees, along with the Coastal

States Organization is sponsoring an

upcoming Shoreline Data Content

Workshop. The purpose of the meeting

and this announcement is to gather

information on the need for a national

shoreline data content standard, as

outlined in the draft proposal included

in this announcement.

In addition to comments on the need

for a national shoreline standard, the

FGDC is seeking the identification of

existing standards on shoreline data on

the identification of individuals or

organizations that are interested in

being part of the standards development

team or would otherwise like to be

involved in the review and evaluation of

the national standard as it is developed.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 156 / Wednesday, August 13, 1997 / Notices 43343

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before October 1, 1997. The Shoreline

Data Content Workshop will be held

November 3–5, 1997 at the NOAA

Coastal Services Center, Charleston, SC.

CONTACT AND ADDRESSES: To submit

comments and for more information on

the November workshop contact:

November workshop contact: Millington

Lockwood, Executive Secretary, FGDC

Bathymetric Subcommittee, 1315 EastWest Highway, Room 6222, Silver

Spring, Maryland 20910, Phone:

301:713–2777x171, Fax: 301–713–4019,

Internet: millington.lockwood@noaa.gov

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposal for a National Shoreline Data

Standard

Submitting Organization: National

Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, (NOAA) National

Ocean Service, National Geodetic

Survey, Division of Remote Sensing.

Objectives: This Standard is intended

to serve the community of users who are

involved with geospatial data

‘‘activities’’ that intersect the U.S.

Shoreline. The purpose is to clarify

(standardize) the complexities of

shoreline data by developing a data

model representing the various aspects

of shoreline, relationship to other data

standards, and its expected usage. The

standard will also define the content

accuracy, datum requirements, spatial

(X,Y,Z) accuracy, and metadata

requirements.

This standard is based on the

approach utilized by NOAA’s National

Geodetic Survey (formerly a part of the

U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey) for

mapping the shoreline of the United

States and determining boundaries

referenced to various tidal datums. It

will also establish a consistent standard

for all national mapping requirements.

It is our intention that this standard

will become the official FGDC/NSDI

standard for the shoreline layer of the

NSDI framework and an integral

component of the national hydrographic

data layer.

Scope: The scope of this standard

project involves a determination of the

content of the national shoreline (both

tidal and non-tidal) for the purposes of

establishing legal boundaries, the

baseline of the United States, and to

have a consistently reliable (known) and

properly documented shoreline for

water/land interface. It is primarily

oriented toward reaching a common

understanding of the shoreline for

national mapping purposes and other

geospatial (GIS) applications.

Justification: Users of shoreline data

make up a much more diverse group

than previously thought. Shoreline data

are also important for coastal zone

management, environmental

monitoring, resource developments,

legal land jurisdictional issues, ocean

and meteorological modelling,

engineering, construction, planning, and

many other uses. A published standard

will provide the affected community

with a basis to assess the quality and

utility of their shoreline data. Shoreline

is an integral component of the FGDC

NSDI geospatial framework.

Benefits: The principal objective is to

specify minimum standards for

shoreline data in order that shoreline

data collected according to these

standards are sufficiently accurate and

that spatial uncertainty of data is

quantified. This will provide a

standardized methodology for

evaluating shoreline data (regardless of

survey methodology or technology) and

reporting resultant data quality through

a statistically sound approach. This will

permit much wider use and

acceptability (sharing) of shoreline data

between parties. This will also establish

a means (rules) for establishing a

national shoreline certification program.

Development Approach: The

approach that is being used to develop

this standard is to:

A. Identify, review, document, and

distribute existing standard reference

documents (see section on existing

standards)

B. Conduct a needs and requirements

survey of the potential user

community (Federal, state, local

government agencies, and private

surveyors)

C. Conduct public workshop to draft

standard

D. Test and evaluate standard

E. Release draft standard for public

review

F. Conduct a public workshop based

upon comments from the public

review in order to refine the draft

standard.

We intend to hold at least two open

forum/workshop type meetings to

explain the standard to the affected

community. The first meeting is

scheduled for November 3–5, 1997, at

the NOAA Coastal Services Center in

Charleston, SC. A second meeting will

be held in the spring of 1998 in

conjunction with the annual meeting of

the American Society of

Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing in

Tampa, Florida, March 30–April 4,

1998.

Development and Completion

Schedule: It is anticipated that an

outline of the draft shoreline standard

will be completed by December 1997.

The draft standard will be completed by

April 1998. At that time the standard

will be available for preliminary review

and will be the subject of the second

workshop. Following this workshop

there will be a 3-month period of formal

public review. It is anticipated that the

draft standard will receive a thorough

review and comments will primarily be

of a clarifying nature relating to the

implementation of the standard or

definitions.

Resources: Resources needed to

complete this standard are available

within the NOAA Office of the Coast

Survey, the National Geodetic Survey,

and the NOAA Coastal Services Center.

Funding requests of state and local

participants at the workshops has been

requested from FGDC.

Potential Participants: The primary

organizations who will be involved in

the development of this standard are the

shoreline engineering, coastal zone

management, flood insurance, and

resource management community.

These include the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration, U.S.

Geological Survey, Minerals

Management Service, Bureau of Land

Management, Federal Emergency

Management Agency, the

Environmental Protection Agency,

Department of State, Department of

Justice, U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S.

Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers, the National Imagery and

Mapping Agency. There is also interest

in this standard from private surveying

contractors, real estate, insurance

industry, various agencies within state

and local governments, and private land

owners.

Anticipated User Community:

Agencies that conduct surveys of

shorelines, including coastal and

estuarine, inland lakes and rivers are the

most likely groups to use this standard.

By and large this is embodied in the

civil engineering, surveying, and

photogrammetry community This

standard will greatly increase the

potential for exchange of data between

and among various federal, state, local

governmental agencies, academic

institutions, and the private sector. The

standard will provide a common

understanding of data accuracy

requirements based on a variety of

applicant profiles and accuracies. It will

also provide a common framework for

independent evaluation and assessment

of shoreline data for a range of

applications, independent of

technology.

Related Standards: A crosscutting

standards review and data model

conducted by FGDC in 1995 indicated

that most of the FGDC thematic
43344 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 156 / Wednesday, August 13, 1997 / Notices

subcommittees and work groups have a

relationship to shoreline data. Two data

standards that have been published that

include reference to the shoreline are

the Cadastral Standard and the

Wetlands Standard. The Tri Service

Spatial Data Standard and feature

reference model contain a relationship

to shoreline. The National Imagery and

Mapping Agency has recently published

a geospatial systems data model for

shoreline data. There are several FGDC

standards in either draft or proposal

stage that relate to shoreline, these

include: digital elevation, data accuracy,

hydrographic, and facilities.

Reference Documents and Existing

Standards

Existing standards that relate to

shoreline are contained within the

following publications and reports.

Swainson, O.W., 1928. Topographic

Manual, Special Publication No. 144,

DOC, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.

Swanson, R.L., 1949. Topographic

Manual, Part II, U.S. Coast and

Geodetic Survey Special Publication

249.DOC U.S. Coast and Geodetic

Survey.

Shalowitz, A.L., 1964. Shore and Sea

Boundaries—with special reference to

the interpretation and use of Coast

and Geodetic Survey Data. U.S.

Department of Commerce Publication

10–1, Two Volumes, U.S. GPO,

Washington, D.C.

U.S. Department of Commerce, 1976.

Hydrographic Manual, Fourth

Edition, NOAA/NOS Washington,

D.C. Chapter 3.2, Shoreline Surveys.

Ellis, M.Y., 1978. Coastal Mapping

Handbook, Department of the Interior,

U.S. Geological Survey and U.S.

Department of Commerce, National

Ocean Service and Office of Coastal

Zone Management, U.S. GPO,

Washington, D.C.

U.S. Department of the Interior, 1979.

Classification of Wetlands and

Deepwater Habitats of the United

States, FGDC Standards for Wetlands,

Approved by FGDC December 1996.

Hicks, Stacey D., 1980. The National

Tidal Datum Convention of 1980. U.S.

Department of Commerce, National

Ocean Survey.

Hicks, Stacy D., 1984. Tide and Current

Glossary, NOAA/National Ocean

Service. Rockville, MD.

Hicks, Stacy D., 1988. Fantastic Tidal

Datums NOAA/NOS. Rockville, MD.

NOAA/DMA, 1990. Chart No. 1,

Nautical Chart Symbols Abbreviations

and terms, 9th Edition January 1990.

Joint NOAA/DMA publication.

Harrington, Charles, E., 1993. Maritime

Boundaries on National Ocean

Service Nautical Charts. Cartographic

Perspectives, Bulletin of the North

American Cartographic Information

Society. No. 14, Winter 1993.

Fritz, L.W., 1994. Shoreline Layer of the

Master Seafloor Digital Data Base.

Concept and Tutorial. NIMA HYSAS

Program Office, Bethesda, MD.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1994.

Civil Works Engineering Manual EM–

1110–2–1003—Hydrographic

Surveying.

Tri-Service CADD/GIS, 1996. GIS

Spatial Data Standards. Department of

Defense Tri-Service Technology

Center, Vicksburg, MS.

FGDC, 1996. Cadastral Data Content

Standard for the National Spatial Data

Infrastructure, FGDC, Washington,

D.C.

International Hydrographic Office,

1996. International Transfer Standard

for Digital Hydrographic Data. Edition

3.9, IHO Special Publication No. 57

International Hydrographic Bureau,

Monaco.

National Imagery and Mapping Agency,

1997. The United States Imagery and

Geospatial System Data Model,

Volume 4—Nautical—NIMA:

Standards and Interoperability

Division Bethesda, MD.

Completion Date: Approximately

December 1998.

Target Authorization Body: The Federal

Geographic Data Committee will be

the authorization body for this

standard.

Maintenance Agency: Department of

Commerce, National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration,

National Ocean Service, National

Geodetic Survey—Under the

leadership of the FGDC Bathymetric

and Nautical Charting Data

Subcommittee.

Dated: August 1, 1997.

Richard E. Witmer,

Chief, National Mapping Division.

[FR Doc. 97–21409 Filed 8–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–31–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[MT–962–1020–00]

Notice of Availability for the Montana/

Dakotas Standards for Rangeland

Health and Guidelines for Livestock

Grazing Management Record of

Decision

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: The Record of Decision (ROD)

on the final environmental impact

statement (EIS) for Standards for

Rangeland Health and Guidelines for

Livestock Grazing Management

(standards and guidelines) in Montana

and North and South Dakota is

available. The ROD documents the

selection of the Preferred Alternative

(the standards and guidelines) and

provides background information and

rationale for the decision. The standards

and guidelines were developed in

coordination with four Resource

Advisory Councils (RACs) in Montana

and the Dakotas. The standards and

guidelines would be incorporated into

10 BLM land use plans that cover about

8.4 million acres of BLM-administered

land in Montana and the Dakotas. This

action is proposed in accordance with

revised regulations for livestock grazing

on BLM-administered lands (43 CFR

4100).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sandy Brooks, Project Manager, BLM

Montana State Office, P.O. Box 36800,

Billings, Montana 59107–6800, or 406–

255–2929.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The final

EIS for Standards for Rangeland Health

and Guidelines for Livestock Grazing

Management was released and made

available for a 30-day public availability

period on June 6, 1997. The 30-day

protest period for the final EIS began on

June 18, 1997. The final EIS reflected

changes based on public comments from

the draft and supplement to the draft

EIS. The changes included

modifications to the Preferred

Alternative, as well as other portions of

the EIS, but did not change the scope of

the final EIS nor alter the analysis of the

environmental impacts. The decision to

select the Preferred Alternative was

based on a review of the environmental

analysis in the EIS and consideration of

public comments.

Dated: August 7, 1997.

James Binando,

Acting Deputy State Director, Division of

Resources.

[FR Doc. 97–21352 Filed 8–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–DN–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AZA–29258]

Arizona, Notice of Scoping Period

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of scoping period and

notice of open house.