40732 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 146 /Thursday, July 30, 1998 / Notices

the public of this proposed three-year

program and to request comments on

the program and the proposed approach.

Under provisions of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 CFR part

1320, Reporting and Record Keeping

Requirements, the National Park Service

is soliciting comments on: (a) Whether

the collection of information is

necessary for the proper performance of

the functions of the NPS, including

whether the information will have

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

NPS estimate of the burden of the

collection of information, including the

validity of the methodology and

assumptions used; (c) the quality,

utility, and clarity of the information to

be collected; and (d) how to minimize

the burden of the collection of

information on those who are to

respond, including the use of

appropriate automated, electronic,

mechanical, or other forms of

information technology.

Sixty-day Notice of Intention to

Request Clearance of Collection of

Information—Opportunity for Public

Comment was published in the Federal

Register on September 30, 1997, Vol. 63

No. 189 pgs. 51133–51143. Several

comments were received from the

public as a result of the Federal Register

Notice and have been integrated into

this final proposal.

DATES: Public Comments will be

accepted on or before August 31, 1998.

Send comments to: Office of

Management and Budget, Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

ATTN: Desk Officer for the Interior

Department, Washington, DC 20503.

Also send a copy of these comments to

Mr. Jared D. Ficker, Social Science

Specialist, National Park Service, Social

Science Program, 1849 C Street NW, MS

3127, Washington, DC 20240.

The OMB has up to 60 days to

approve or disapprove the information

collection but may respond after 30

days. Therefore, to ensure maximum

consideration, OMB should receive

public comments on or before August

31, 1998.

All comments will become a matter of

public record. Copies of the proposal

requirement can be obtained from Mr.

Jared D. Ficker, Social Science

Specialist, National Park Service, Social

Science Program, voice 202–208–6330,

fax 202–208–4620, e-mail

<jaredlficker@nps.gov>. In addition, a

complete copy of the proposal is

available at the NPS Social Science

Program website at http://www.nps.gov/

socialscience/tech/survey.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Programmatic Approval for NPS

Visitor Surveys.

Bureau Form Number: None.

OMB Number: To be assigned.

Expiration Date of Approval: To be

assigned.

Type of Request: Request for new

clearance.

Description of Need: NPS needs to

sponsor information collection surveys

of the public to provide to park

managers information for improving the

quality and utility to the public of park

programs. NPS finds the current process

by which it secures OMB approval of

proposed collections of information can

be improved with respect to securing

public comment and can be made more

efficient for the federal government

through reducing current levels of

personnel and funding necessary for

preparing and reviewing the proposed

collections of information. NPS believes

it has developed an alternative approach

for processing proposed collections of

information that will be both more

effective and more efficient. This

proposal is designed to test the

alternative approach using one subset of

NPS information collection surveys for

a 3-year test period.

Automated Data Collection: At the

present time, there is no automated way

to gather this information, since the

information gathering process involves

asking visitors to evaluate services and

facilities that they used during their

park visits. The intrusion on individual

visitors is minimized by rigorously

designing visitor surveys to maximize

the ability of the surveys to use small

samples of visitors to represent large

populations of visitors and by

coordinating a program of surveys to

maximize the ability of new surveys to

build on the findings of prior surveys.

Description of Respondents: A sample

of visitors to parks or of people who

have relationships to parks.

Estimated Average Number of

Respondents: The proposal does not

identify the number of respondents

because that number will differ from

individual survey to individual survey,

depending on the purpose and design of

each individual survey.

Estimated average number of

responses: The proposal does not

identify the average number of

responses because that number will

differ from individual survey to

individual survey, depending on the

purpose and design of each individual

survey. For most surveys, each

respondent will be asked to respond

only one time, so in those cases the

number of responses will be the same as

the number of respondents.

Estimated average burden hours per

response: The proposal does not

identify the average burden hours per

response because that number will

differ from individual survey to

individual survey, depending on the

purpose and design of each individual

survey.

Frequency of response: Most

individual surveys will request only 1

response per respondent.

Estimated annual reporting burden:

The proposal identifies the requested

total number of burden hours annually

for all of the surveys to be conducted

under its auspices to be 10,000 burden

hours per year. The total annual burden

per survey for most surveys conducted

under the auspices of this proposal

would be within the range of 100 to 300

hours.

Diane M. Cooke,

Information Collection Clearance Officer,

WASO Administrative Program Center,

National Park Service.

[FR Doc. 98–20369 Filed 7–29–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–70–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

Advisory Council

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Establishment.

SUMMARY: The National Park Service

(NPS) is giving notice of the

establishment of the Trail of Tears

National Historic Trail Advisory

Council in accordance with the Federal

Advisory Committee Act (PL 92–463, 86

Stat. 770, 5 U.S.C. Appx., section 10).

The Council was originally

established by PL 100–192, which

amended the National Trails System Act

to designate the Trail of Tears National

Historic Trail. Under the general

authority of Section 5(d) of the National

Trail System Act, PL 90–543, as

amended, October 2, 1968, an advisory

council with a 10-year term is required

for each established national scenic or

national historic trail. The Council’s

statutorily prescribed 10-year term will

expire July 7, 1998. Because the need for

the Council is expected to continue

until such time as trail plan

implementation and administration

have broadened and matured to become

fully effective and responsive to

operational and partnership

responsibilities, the National Park

Service is administratively reestablishing the Council in the same

form as it existed under its expiring

statutory authority. In this way, the

Council may continue its work without

interruption.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 146 /Thursday, July 30, 1998 / Notices 40733

Composition: The Council, not to

exceed 35 members, shall be appointed

by the Secretary of the Interior as

follows:

(1) The head of each Federal

department or independent agency

administering lands through which the

trail passes, or a designee;

(2) A member appointed to represent

each State through which the trail

passes, and such appointments shall be

made from recommendations of the

Governors of such States;

(3) One or more members appointed

to represent private organizations,

including corporate and individual

landowners and land users, which in

the opinion of the Secretary have an

established and recognized interest in

the trail, and such appointments shall

be made from recommendations of the

heads of such organizations.

The Secretary of the Interior may also

appoint a non-voting representative of

each bureau of the Department of the

Interior that administers land through

which the trail passes, provided that

such bureau is not otherwise

represented by a voting member of the

Council.

Copies of the Council’s charter will be

filed with the appropriate committees of

the Congress and with the Library of

Congress in accordance with section

9(c) of the Federal Advisory Committee

Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. appx.

Records of Meetings: In accordance

with requirements of the Federal

Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C.

Appx. 1994, the NPS will keep a record

of all Council meetings.

Administrative Support: To the extent

authorized by law, the NPS will fund

the costs of the Council and provide

administrative support and technical

assistance for the activities of the

Council.

Certification: I hereby certify that the

administrative establishment of the

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

Advisory Council is necessary and in

the public interest in connection with

the performance of duties imposed on

the Department of the Interior by the

Act of October 2, 1968, as amended, 16

U.S.C. 1241 et seq.

Dated: July 15, 1998.

Bruce Babbitt,

Secretary of the Interior.

[FR Doc. 98–20371 Filed 7–29–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–70–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Notice of Availability of the Record of

Decision, Final Environmental Impact

Statement for the General Management

Plan, Cape Cod National Seashore,

Wellfleet, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service,

Department of the Interior.

INTRODUCTION: Pursuant to Section

102(2)(C) of the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969, (P.L. 91–190 as

amended), and specifically to

regulations promulgated by the Council

on Environmental Quality (40 CFR

1505.2), the Department of the Interior,

National Park Service has prepared this

Record of Decision following the Final

Environmental Impact Statement for the

General Management Plan for Cape Cod

National Seashore, Barnstable County,

Massachusetts. In accordance with the

National Environmental Policy Act of

1969, the environmental impact

statement was prepared to assess the

impacts of implementing the general

management plan. The purpose of the

General Management Plan is to guide

the overall management, development,

resource conservation and public use

Cape Cod National Seashore. Presented

are alternatives for the preservation,

public use and management of the

National Seashore and the impacts of

implementing each alternative.

SUMMARY: The Record of Decision

concludes compliance with the National

Environmental Policy Act for decision

making to approve a General

Management Plan for Cape Cod National

Seashore. This compliance was initiated

upon a Notice of Intent to prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement

published in the Federal Register on

April 24, 1992. A second Federal

Register notice announcing the

schedule for public scoping meetings in

the six Outer Cape towns and

Barnstable, Massachusetts was issued

on June 11, 1992. Notice of Availability

of the Draft Environmental Impact

Statement and announcement of two

public forums was made in the Federal

Register on August 5, 1996. The

comment period of about 75 days was

scheduled to end October 31, 1996. This

period was extended twice to December

31, 1996 by subsequent Federal Register

notices on October 7, 1996 and

November 20, 1996. The October 7,

1996 Federal Register notice also

announced two additional public

meetings. The Notice of Availability for

the Final Environmental Impact

Statement was published in the Federal

Register on March 2, 1998.

The Record of Decision is a concise

statement of the decisions made, other

alternatives considered, the basis for the

decision, the environmentally preferable

alternative, the mitigating measures, and

the public involvement in the decision

making process.

The Final Environmental Impact

Statement for the General Management

Plan describes alternatives for

management actions at Cape Cod

National Seashore, the environment that

would be affected by those actions, and

the environmental consequences of

implementing alternative actions. Three

alternatives were presented, including

the proposed general management plan,

the selected action described in the

Record of Decision.

Alternative 1 is a continuation of

current management, often referred to as

the ‘‘no-action’’ alternative. Under this

alternative the Park Service would

continue to manage the National

Seashore to protect natural and cultural

resources, while allowing for

appropriate public use related to those

resources. Essentially no new

development for public use would be

undertaken.

Alternative 2, the selected action,

would guide the overall management of

Cape Cod National Seashore for the next

10 to 15 years. The emphasis of the plan

is on the management of natural and

cultural resources; public use and

interpretation; coordination with

nonfederal landowners within the

National Seashore; administrative,

maintenance, and operational concerns;

and working with local residents, town

and county officials and interested

agencies and persons to resolve

problems of mutual concern. The plan

is programmatic in that it gives

guidance and criteria for day-to-day

decision making and for producing

more specific future action and

development plans. It would seek to

maintain an appropriate balance

between resource protection and public

use. More opportunities would be

provided for the public to experience

the resources of the National Seashore.

Existing public use facilities and

attractions would be improved. No

major new development, however, is

proposed, and the built environment or

impacts from development would be

reduced where possible. Under

Alternative 2 there would be more

emphasis on preserving the ‘‘timeless’’

character of Cape Cod in terms of

natural and dynamic landscapes,

historic architecture and cultural

landscapes, and customary activities.

The National Park Service would work

in partnership with local communities

and officials to more effectively further