Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 16, 1995 / Notices 26045

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Public Advisory

Group; Meeting

AGENCY: Department of the Interior,

Office of the Secretary.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The Department of the

Interior, Office of the Secretary is

announcing a public meeting of the

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Public Advisory

Group.

DATES: June 13–14, 1995 at 9 a.m.

ADDRESSES: First floor conference room,

645 ‘‘G’’ Street, Anchorage, Alaska.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Douglas Mutter, Department of the

Interior, Office of Environmental Policy

and Compliance, 1689 ‘‘C’’ Street, Suite

119, Anchorage, Alaska, (907) 271–

5011.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Public Advisory Group was created by

Paragraph V.A.4 of the Memorandum of

Agreement and Consent Decree entered

into by the United States of America

and the State of Alaska on August 27,

1991, and approved by the United States

District Court for the District of Alaska

in settlement of United States of

America v. State of Alaska, Civil Action

No. A91–081–CV. The agenda will

include the review of the fiscal year

1996 restoration work plan and

proposed fish and marine mammal

projects.

Dated: May 10, 1995.

Willie R. Taylor,

Director, Office of Environmental Policy and

Compliance.

[FR Doc. 95–11979 Filed 5–15–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–10–M

Bureau of Land Management

[AK–962–1410–00–P]

Alaska; Notice for Publication AA–

10968; Alaska Native Claims Selection

In accordance with Departmental

regulation 43 CFR 2650.7(d), notice is

hereby given that a decision to issue

conveyance under the provisions of Sec.

14(h)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims

Settlement Act of December 18, 1971, 43

U.S.C. 1601, 1613(h), will be issued to

Chugach Alaska Corporation for 0.10

acre. The land involved is in the

vicinity of Long Bay, Alaska.

U.S. Survey No. 6935, Alaska.

A notice of the decision will be

published once a week, for four (4)

consecutive weeks, in the ANCHORAGE

DAILY NEWS. Copies of the decision

may be obtained by contacting the

Alaska State Office of the Bureau of

Land Management, 222 West Seventh

Avenue, #13, Anchorage, Alaska 99513–

7599 ((907) 271–5960).

Any party claiming a property interest

which is adversely affected by the

decision, an agency of the Federal

government or regional corporation,

shall have until June 15, 1995 to file an

appeal. However, parties receiving

service by certified mail shall have 30

days from the date of receipt to file an

appeal. Appeals must be filed in the

Bureau of Land Management at the

address identified above, where the

requirements for filing an appeal may be

obtained. Parties who do not file an

appeal in accordance with the

requirements of 43 CFR part 4, subpart

E, shall be deemed to have waived their

rights.

Christy Favorite,

Acting Chief, Branch of Gulf Rim

Adjudication.

[FR Doc. 95–11964 Filed 5–15–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–84–P

Interagency Memorandum of

Understanding Concerning Animal

Damage Control and National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

Compliance

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management;

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of final memorandum of

understanding.

SUMMARY: The Department of the

Interior, Bureau of Land Management

(BLM) and the Department of

Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service—Animal Damage

Control (APHIS–ADC) have signed a

Master Memorandum of Understanding

(MOU) that recognizes APHIS–ADC as

the lead federal agency for the conduct

of animal damage management on lands

administered by the BLM. Specifically,

the MOU assigns responsibility to

APHIS–ADC for carrying out animal

damage management, primarily for

protection of livestock, including

compliance with the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and

the issuance of records of decision. The

MOU also recognizes the State’s

responsibilities for management of

resident wildlife populations and the

need for communication among the

parties, the States, and other affected

agencies such as the USDA Forest

Service.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This MOU becomes

effective May 16, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cal

McCluskey, Bureau of Land

Management, Wildlife, Fisheries,

Rangeland and Forestland Group, 1849

C St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240;

telephone (202) 452–7765.

Background Information

On August 5, 1994 the BLM published

for a 60-day public comment period, a

draft MOU between BLM and APHIS–

ADC outlining the proposed shift of

responsibility for compliance with

NEPA, ESA, and authorization of animal

damage management actions on BLM

administered lands to APHIS–ADC. The

BLM received a total of 66 written

comments from various sources.

Approximately half (36) of the

comments came from individuals, 20

from non-profit, nongovernment

organizations and 10 were received from

either State or Federal agencies.

A summary of the comments received,

responses to the comments and a copy

of the final MOU is provided in the

following section.

Denise Meridith,

Acting Director.

Comment: APHIS–ADC does not have

any administrative appeals process

thereby forcing individual citizens or

organizations to resort to litigation in

order to challenge a decision issued by

APHIS–ADC on their control program.

Response: The transfer of NEPA

compliance and decision-making

responsibility to APHIS–ADC does not

eliminate the responsibility to obtain

adequate public input into the decisionmaking process. APHIS–ADC must

consider issues presented to them

during the NEPA process and comment

period. APHIS recently published its

new NEPA implementation procedures

(60CFR 6000–05, February 1, 1995)

which contain specific commitments to

public involvement and notification

during the NEPA process.

Comment: The BLM should complete

NEPA analysis using either an

Environmental Assessment or

Environmental Impact Statement before

it makes a decision to transfer NEPA

responsibilities and decision-making

authority for animal damage control to

APHIS–ADC as proposed by the MOU.

Response: The development of

policies, directives, regulations and

guidelines of an administrative,

financial, legal, technical or procedural

nature, or environmental effects which

are too broad, speculative or conjectural

to lend themselves to meaningful

analysis and that will be subject to the

NEPA process, either collectively or

case by case are categorically excluded

from the NEPA process under