3150 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 13 / Wednesday, January 21, 1998 / Notices

announcing the criteria for tribes to be

included in an applicant pool and the

establishment of the selection process

for tribes/consortia to negotiate

agreements pursuant to the Tribal SelfGovernance Act of 1994. This interim

rule was added to Title 25 of the Code

of Federal Regulations at Part 1001 of

Chapter VI. While it may be changed by

later rulemaking, the Act stipulates that

the lack of promulgated regulations will

not limit its effect. It should be noted

that a proposed rulemaking has been

negotiated between tribal and Federal

members of a self-governance negotiated

rulemaking committee and is currently

in the process of being prepared for

publication in the Federal Register for

review and comment.

Purpose of Notice

The interim rules established at 25

CFR parts 1001.1 to 1001.5 will be used

to govern the application and selection

process for tribes/consortia to begin

their participation in the tribal selfgovernance program in fiscal year 1999

and calendar year 1999. Applicants

should be guided by the requirements in

25 CFR parts 1001.1 to 1001.5 in

preparing their applications. Copies of

the interim rules published in the

Federal Register on February 15, 1995,

may be obtained from the information

contact person identified in this notice.

Tribes/consortia wishing to be

considered for participation in the tribal

self-governance program in fiscal year

1999 or calendar year 1999 must

respond to this notice, except for those

which are (1) currently involved with

negotiations with the Department; (2)

one of the 64 tribal entities with signed

agreements; or (3) one of the tribal

entities already included in the

applicant pool as of the date of this

notice.

The Director’s decision on the actual

number of tribes that will enter

negotiations will be made at a later date.

Tribes already in the applicant pool will

retain their existing ranking with tribes

entering the applicant pool under these

rules receiving a lower ranking. Being in

the applicant pool will not guarantee

that a tribe will actually be provided the

opportunity to negotiate in any given

year. However, it does mean that a tribe

will not be passed over by a tribe with

a lower ranking in the applicant pool or

by a tribe not in the applicant pool, with

the exception of a tribe already in the

negotiation process.

For example, if the Department

determines that five tribes will be

afforded the opportunity to negotiate

self-governance agreements for fiscal

year 1999 and calendar year 1999, the

five tribes with highest rankings would

be notified and negotiations would be

scheduled. The tribe ranked sixth on the

list would then have the highest ranking

to negotiate a self-governance agreement

for 2000 or might enter negotiations for

1999 if one of the first five tribes

discontinued negotiations. In such a

case, the tribe that discontinued

negotiations would remain in the

applicant pool with its original ranking

and would be the first to be selected in

1999 for negotiating agreements

commencing in 2000.

Dated: January 14, 1998.

William A. Sinclair,

Director, Office of Self-Governance.

[FR Doc. 98–1283 Filed 1–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–02–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary

Tribal Self-Governance Notice of

Availability of Self-Governance

Negotiation/Planning Grants

AGENCY: Office of Self-Governance,

Office of the Secretary, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of grants availability.

SUMMARY: In this notice, the Office of

Self-Governance (OSG) announces the

availability of fiscal year 1998

negotiation grants (up to 15 grants of no

more than $40,000 each) and advance

planning grants (up to 5 grants of no

more than $40,000 each). The

timeframes for application and selection

vary with the type of grant and are

specified in this announcement.

DATES: Applications must be submitted

in accordance with the table below:

Type of grant Deadline for submitting application

Negotiation .................... Mar. 31, 1998.

Advance planning ......... May 1, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Completed applications for

grants should be sent to the Director,

Office of Self-Governance, U.S.

Department of the Interior, Mail Stop

2542, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington,

DC 20240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dr. Kenneth D. Reinfeld, U.S.

Department of the Interior, Office of

Self-Governance, 1849 C Street, NW,

Mail Stop 2542, Washington, DC 20240,

202–219–0240.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The tribal

self-governance program is designed to

promote self-determination by allowing

tribes to assume more control through

negotiated annual funding agreements

of programs operated by the Department

of the Interior. The Tribal SelfGovernance Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103–

413) allows for negotiations to be

conducted for programs operated by BIA

and for programs operated by other

bureaus and offices within the

Department that are otherwise available

to Indians or when there is a historical,

cultural, or geographic connection to an

Indian tribe.

The purpose of this notice is to

announce the availability of planning

and negotiation grants in accordance

with the self-governance interim rule

published in the Federal Register on

April 23, 1996. The interim rules were

established at 25 CFR 1001.7 to 1001.9

and will be used to govern the

application and selection process for

tribes/consortia to receive fiscal year

1998 negotiation and planning grants as

specified in this notice. Applicants

should be guided by the requirements in

25 CFR 1001.7 to 1001.9 in preparing

their applications. Copies of the interim

rules published in the Federal Register

on April 23, 1996, may be obtained from

the information contact person

identified in this notice.

Subject to the discretion of the

Director, Office of Self-Governance, the

following types of grants are available to

tribes/consortia in 1998 with the

deadlines as stated below:

(1) Negotiation Grants: Up to 15

grants of no more than $40,000 may be

made available. Grants to tribes/

consortia already receiving advance

planning grants shall be limited to

$20,000. As announced in today’s

Federal Register, the closing date for

submitting completed applications to

begin participation in tribal selfgovernance in fiscal year 1999 or

calendar year 1999 is March 2, 1998.

Applications requesting to be included

in the applicant pool to begin

participation in tribal self-governance

may be submitted at any time. Tribes/

consortia selected from the applicant

pool to begin participation in tribal selfgovernance in fiscal year 1999 or

calendar year 1999, may be eligible to

receive a negotiation grant. Each

selected tribe/consortium will be

notified by March 16, 1998, and must

submit a written application for a

negotiation grant, no later than March

31, 1998, indicating its intention to

negotiate an annual funding agreement

with any bureau within DOI for 1999.

(2) Advance Planning Grants: Up to

five grants of no more than $40,000 may

be made available. The closing date for

submitting applications to receive a

grant to plan for future participation in

the tribal self-governance program is

May 1, 1998. No later than June 1, 1998,

each applicant will be notified by letter
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 13 / Wednesday, January 21, 1998 / Notices 3151

from the Director, Office of SelfGovernance whether it has been

selected to receive an advance planning

grant.

In order to provide sufficient time for

tribes/consortia to effectively use the

planning and negotiation grants, the

following target dates have been

established for the awarding of grants.

(1) Negotiation Grants: Since

agreements for the 1998 fiscal year need

to be signed and submitted by July 1,

1998, to allow sufficient time to prepare

for negotiations, new participating tribes

will be selected and awarded

negotiation grants by May 1, 1998.

(2) Advance Planning Grants: In order

to avoid delays in planning activity and

future participation in tribal selfgovernance, advance planning grants

will be awarded to tribes/consortia by

July 1, 1998.

Submitting Applications

(1) Applications must be submitted in

accordance with the interim rule

published in the Federal Register on

April 23, 1996, and by the deadlines

identified in this announcement.

(2) Applications may be mailed or

hand-delivered.

(3) Applications which are mailed

must be postmarked no later than the

date given in this notice for the

particular type of grant being applied

for.

Dated: January 14, 1998.

William A. Sinclair,

Director, Office of Self-Governance.

[FR Doc. 98–1289 Filed 1–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–02–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary

Alaska Land Managers Forum

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: This notice is published in

accordance with section 10(a)(2) of the

Federal Advisory Committee Act

(FACA), 5 U.S.C. App. (1988) and 41

CFR 101–6.1015(b). The Department of

the Interior hereby gives notice of a

public meeting of the Alaska Land

Managers Forum to be held from 8:30

a.m. to noon on Wednesday, January 28,

1998. The meeting will take place in

Conference Room 114, 1689 C Street,

Anchorage, Alaska. This meeting will be

held to receive and discuss work group

reports on recreation and tourism. The

agenda will also include several briefing

items.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ronald B. McCoy at (907) 271–5485 or

Sally Rue at (907) 465–4084.

Deborah L. Williams,

Special Assistant to the Secretary for Alaska.

[FR Doc. 98–1300 Filed 1–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–RP–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Availability of an Environmental

Assessment, Finding of No Significant

Impact, and Receipt of an Application

for an Incidental Take Permit by

International Paper Company for

Timber Management Practices on its

Lands in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana,

Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South

Carolina, and North Carolina

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: International Paper Company

(Applicant) seeks an incidental take

permit (ITP) from the Fish and Wildlife

Service (Service) pursuant to Section

10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species

Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), as

amended (Act). The permit would apply

to all of the applicant’s land holdings in

Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi,

Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and

North Carolina that contain the federally

endangered red-cockaded woodpecker

(RCW) (Picoides borealis). The applicant

has a total of 18 known active clusters

in Alabama (2), Georgia (2), South

Carolina (9), and Louisiana (5). The

applicant wants to eventually transfer

its baseline responsibility of 18 RCW

clusters to its Southlands Experimental

Forest (SEF) in Bainbridge, Georgia

where there are currently two active

RCW clusters. This ITP would authorize

take of the existing 16 RCW groups in

Alabama, South Carolina, and Louisiana

incidental to timber management

activities, plus any clusters in excess of

the baseline at SEF.

The Service also announces the

availability of an environmental

assessment (EA) and Habitat

Conservation Plan/Application for

Incidental Taking (HCP). Copies of the

EA and/or HCP may be obtained by

making a request to the Regional Office

(see ADDRESSES). Requests must be in

writing to be processed. This notice also

advises the public that the Service has

made a preliminary determination that

issuing the ITP is not a major Federal

action significantly affecting the quality

of the human environment within the

meaning of Section 102(2)(C) of the

National Environmental Policy Act of

1969 (NEPA), as amended. The Finding

of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is

based on information contained in the

EA and HCP. The final determination

will be made no sooner than 30 days

from the date of this notice. This notice

is provided pursuant to Section 10 of

the Act and NEPA regulations (40 CFR

1506.6). The Service specifically

requests comment on the

appropriateness of the ‘‘No Surprises’’

assurances should the Service

determine that an ITP will be granted

and based upon the submitted HCP.

Although not explicitly stated in the

HCP, the Service has, since August

1994, announced its intention to honor

a ‘‘No Surprises’’ Policy for applicants

seeking ITPs. Copies of the Service’s

‘‘No Surprises’’ Policy may be obtained

by making a written request to the

Regional Office (see ADDRESSES). The

Service is soliciting public comments

and review of the applicability of the

‘‘No Surprises’’ Policy to this

application and HCP.

DATES: Written comments on the permit

application, EA, and HCP should be

sent to the Service’s Regional Office (see

ADDRESSES) and should be received on

or before February 20, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review

the application, HCP, and EA may

obtain a copy by writing the Service’s

Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta,

Georgia. Documents will also be

available for public inspection by

appointment during normal business

hours at the Regional Office, 1875

Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta,

Georgia 30345 (Attn: Endangered

Species Permits), or Field Supervisor,

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

Brunswick Field Office, 4270 Norwich

Street, Brunswick, Georgia 31520.

Written data or comments concerning

the application, EA, or HCP should be

submitted to the Regional Office.

Requests for the documentation must be

in writing to be processed. Comments

must be submitted in writing to be

processed. Please reference permit

number PRT–833203 in such comments,

or in requests of the documents

discussed herein.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Rick G. Gooch, Regional Permit

Coordinator, (see ADDRESSES above),

telephone: 404/679–7110; or Mr. Robert

Brooks, Fish and Wildlife Biologist,

Brunswick Field Office, (see ADDRESSES

above), telephone: 912/265–9336.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Picoides

borealis (or RCW) is a non-migratory

species that once was common in the

southern Coastal Plain from east Texas

to Florida and north to Maryland,