Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 62 / Thursday, March 31, 2022 / Notices 18811 

provide the requested data in the 

desired format. 

We are especially interested in public 

comment addressing the following: 

(1) Whether or not the collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether or not the 

information will have practical utility; 

(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the 

burden for this collection of 

information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(3) Ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and 

(4) How the agency might minimize 

the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond, including through the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology, e.g., permitting 

electronic submission of response. 

Comments that you submit in 

response to this notice are a matter of 

public record. We will include or 

summarize each comment in our request 

to OMB to approve this ICR. Before 

including your address, phone number, 

email address, or other personally 

identifiable information (PII) in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

PII—may be made publicly available at 

any time. While you can ask us in your 

comment to withhold your PII from 

public review, we cannot guarantee that 

we will be able to do so. 

Abstract: Research and monitoring 

findings are essential to fulfilling the 

USGS’s responsibility under the 

Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act to 

develop earthquake hazard assessments 

and to record earthquake activity 

nationwide. Residents, emergency 

responders, engineers, and the general 

public rely on the USGS for this 

accurate and scientifically sound 

information. The USGS Earthquake 

Hazards Program funds external 

investigators to carry out these 

important activities. In response to our 

Program Announcements, investigators 

submit proposals for research and 

monitoring activities on earthquake 

hazard assessments, earthquake causes 

and effects, and earthquake monitoring. 

This information is used as the basis for 

selection and award of projects meeting 

the USGS’s Earthquake Hazards 

Program objectives. Final Reports of 

research and monitoring findings are 

required for each funded proposal; 

annual progress reports are required for 

awards that are two- to five years in 

duration. Final Reports are made 

available to the general public at the 

website https://www.usgs.gov/ 

programs/earthquake-hazards/externalgrants. 

Title of Collection: Earthquake 

Hazards Program Research and 

Monitoring. 

OMB Control Number: 1028–0051. 

Form Number: None. 

Type of Review: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

Respondents/Affected Public: 

Research scientists, engineers, and the 

general public. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Respondents: 370. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses: 370. 

Estimated Completion Time per 

Response: 54 (45 hours per proposal 

application response and 9 hours per 

final or annual progress report). 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Burden Hours: 19,980. 

Respondent’s Obligation: 

Participation is voluntary but necessary 

to receive funding. 

Frequency of Collection: Annually. 

Total Estimated Annual Nonhour 

Burden Cost: There are no non-hour cost 

burdens associated with this 

Information Collection. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, nor is a person is required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

unless it displays a currently valid OMB 

control number. 

The authority for this action is the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

Jill Franks, 

Associate Program Coordinator, Earthquake 

Hazards External Research. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06778 Filed 3–30–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4338–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket No. DOI–2022–0003; 223D0102DM, 

DS6CS00000, DLSN00000.000000, 

DX.6CS25] 

Request for Information To Inform 

Interagency Working Group on Mining 

Regulations, Laws, and Permitting 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, 

Department of the Interior. 

ACTION: Request for information. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the 

Interior is announcing the formation of 

an interagency working group to gather 

information and develop 

recommendations for improving Federal 

hardrock mining regulations, laws, and 

permitting processes, and is inviting 

public comments to help inform the 

efforts of the working group. Virtual or 

in-person public listening sessions will 

be announced in the upcoming months. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments by 11:59 p.m. on July 

31, 2022. When public listening 

sessions are scheduled, the dates will be 

published in the Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted through https://

www.regulations.gov and will be 

available for public viewing and 

inspection. In the Search box, enter the 

docket number presented above in the 

document headings. For best results, do 

not copy and paste the number; instead, 

type the docket number into the Search 

box using hyphens. Then, click on the 

Search button. You may submit a 

comment by clicking on ‘‘Comment.’’ 

Comments may also be submitted by 

mail using the following address: 

Bureau of Land Management, Division 

of Solid Minerals, 1849 C Street NW, 

Room 5645, Washington, DC 20240. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steven Feldgus, Deputy Assistant 

Secretary, Land and Minerals 

Management, (202) 208–6734 or by 

email at miningreform@ios.doi.gov. 

Individuals in the United States who are 

deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have 

a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, 

TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 

telecommunications relay services for 

contacting (Mr. Feldgus). Individuals 

outside the United States should use the 

relay services offered within their 

country to make international calls to 

the point-of-contact in the United 

States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

February 24, 2021, President Biden 

signed Executive Order (E.O.) 14017, 

‘‘America’s Supply Chains.’’ On June 8, 

2021, the White House released the 100- 

Day reviews directed by E.O. 14017, 

which included a recommendation for 

the Federal government to establish ‘‘an 

interagency team with expertise in mine 

permitting and environmental law to 

identify gaps in statutes and regulations 

that may need to be updated to ensure 

new production meets strong 

environmental standards throughout the 

lifecycle of the project; ensure 

meaningful community consultation 

and consultation with tribal nations, 

respecting the government-togovernment relationship, at all stages of 

the mining process; and examine 

opportunities to reduce time, cost, and 

risk of permitting without 

compromising these strong 

environmental and consultation 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1
18812 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 62 / Thursday, March 31, 2022 / Notices 

1The White House, Building Resilient Supply 

Chains, Revitalizing American Manufacturing, and 

Fostering Broad-Based Growth, June 2021, p. 14. 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/ 

statements-releases/2021/06/08/fact-sheet-bidenharris-administration-announces-supply-chaindisruptions-task-force-to-address-short-termsupply-chain-discontinuities/. 

benchmarks.’’ 1 On September 16, 2021, 

the Department of the Interior 

(Department) received a petition for 

rulemaking pursuant to the 

Department’s regulations at 43 CFR part 

14 from 9 Tribal and 31 conservation 

groups requesting ‘‘a rulemaking to 

strengthen and modernize [the Bureau 

of Land Management’s] regulations at 43 

CFR 3800 et seq.’’ On November 15, 

2021, President Biden signed the 

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 

(IIJA); section 40206 of the IIJA, 

‘‘Critical Minerals Supply Chains and 

Reliability,’’ directs the Secretaries of 

the Interior and Agriculture to submit a 

report to Congress by November 15, 

2022, that ‘‘identifies additional 

measures, including regulatory and 

legislative proposals, if appropriate, that 

would increase the timeliness of 

permitting activities for the exploration 

and development of domestic critical 

minerals.’’ 

To respond to these directives and the 

rulemaking petition, the Department has 

created an interagency working group 

(IWG) on Federal hardrock mining laws, 

regulations, and permitting, chaired by 

the Department and including the 

Department of Agriculture through the 

U.S. Forest Service; the Environmental 

Protection Agency; the Army Corps of 

Engineers; the Departments of 

Commerce, Energy, and State; the 

Council on Environmental Quality; and 

the National Economic Council. For the 

purposes of the IWG, ‘‘hardrock’’ 

minerals are those mineral resources 

that are subject to disposal under the 

Mining Law of 1872. 

The IWG intends to convene agency 

experts and receive input from the 

public in order to assess the adequacy 

of existing laws, regulations, and 

permitting processes, determine 

whether changes to those are necessary 

to meet the goals laid out in the 

recommendation from the E.O. 14017 

100-Day reviews, and if it concludes 

that changes are necessary, make 

recommendations to the appropriate 

Federal agencies or Congress on how to 

implement those changes. The IWG will 

consider a broad range of issues related 

to mining, such as: 

• Would alternatives to the existing 

claim system, such as leasing, or 

adjustments to the current system, such 

as incorporating mining into 

comprehensive federal lands use 

assessments and planning, lead to better 

outcomes for communities, environment 

and a secure domestic supply of 

minerals? If so, how should such an 

alternative or adjusted system be 

structured? 

• Are there international mining best 

practices or standards that the United 

States should consider adopting, or 

encouraging the U.S. mining industry to 

adopt? If so, which practices or 

standards and what improvements or 

benefits would they provide? 

• If the U.S. were to place royalties on 

hardrock minerals produced from 

public domain lands, what factors 

should be considered and what 

structures would best protect the 

interests of the taxpayer while 

responsibly incentivizing production?, 

In addition, if royalties were collected, 

how should those revenues be 

allocated? 

• What changes to financial assurance 

requirements for mining should be 

considered? 

• How might the U.S. best support 

reclamation of existing AML sites 

including the development of 

meaningful good Samaritan proposals as 

well as remining and reprocessing of 

mine tailings and waste, where feasible? 

• What would a successful mine 

reclamation program include? Are there 

existing programs that the U.S. should 

adopt? 

• How can Tribes and local 

communities be effectively engaged 

early in the process to ensure that they 

have meaningful input into the 

development of mine proposals? 

• How could updates to the Mining 

Law of 1872, or other relevant statutes, 

help provide more certainty and 

timeliness in the permitting process? 

• What improvements can be made to 

the mine permitting process without 

reducing opportunities for public input 

or limiting the comprehensiveness of 

environmental reviews? 

• What types of incentives would be 

appropriate to encourage the 

development of critical minerals, and 

what is the proper definition of a 

‘‘critical mineral mine’’? 

• Are there areas that should be offlimits from mining, and if so, how 

should those be identified? 

• What science and data should be 

included in any decisions to permit and 

develop mines? 

This list is not meant to be 

comprehensive; it is simply a reflection 

of the breadth of the issues under the 

IWG’s purview. 

To inform the IWG’s deliberations, in 

addition to soliciting comment from any 

interested member of the public through 

the end of July 2022, the IWG will host 

a series of roundtables, either virtually 

or in-person, for different stakeholder 

groups, including but not limited to: 

• Native American Tribes; 

• state and local governments; 

• environmental justice groups; 

• labor organizations; 

• the hardrock mining industry; 

• Non-governmental organizations 

representing environmental, 

conservation, and recreation interests; 

• scientists; and 

• other experts in mining laws, 

regulations, and permitting. 

Additional information regarding 

these roundtables will be provided at a 

later date through publication in the 

Federal Register and on agency 

websites. The roundtables will be open 

to the public but speaking opportunities 

will be by invitation only. The 

Department welcomes nominations for 

speakers for each of the stakeholder 

groups listed above, and also 

suggestions for roundtables for 

additional stakeholder groups that are 

not listed. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Dated: March 23, 2022. 

Tommy Beaudreau, 

Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the 

Interior. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06750 Filed 3–30–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4334–63–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLNVL0000–L51100000–GN0000– 

LVEMF190482A 19X MO: 4500154824] 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Bald Mountain Mine Plan of 

Operations Amendment Juniper 

Project White Pine County, Nevada 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969, as amended (NEPA), and the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the 


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