Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 216 / Friday, November 7, 2014 / Notices 66393 

Proposed Action 

Our proposed action is to issue an 

incidental take permit to the applicant, 

who would implement the HCP, 

described above. If we approve the 

permit, incidental take of covered 

species would be authorized for the 

applicant’s activities associated with the 

construction freeway improvement 

projects and Preserve Management, 

Restoration, and Monitoring Activities 

in Orange County, California. 

No Project/No Action Alternative 

Under the No Project/No Action 

Alternative, the proposed NCCP/HCP, 

including implementation of 

conservation measures and creation of a 

Preserve system, would not be adopted. 

Compliance with Act and the California 

Endangered Species Act would be 

addressed project-by-project for each of 

the M2 freeway projects. In contrast to 

the comprehensive strategies to avoid, 

minimize, or mitigate effects on 

sensitive species that would be 

implemented under the proposed 

action, the No Project/No Action 

Alternative would address impacts to 

affected listed species with project-byproject conservation and mitigation. The 

landscape–scale conservation actions 

intended to benefit both listed and nonlisted species under the NCCP/HCP 

would not occur under the No Project/ 

No Action Alternative. 

Reduced Plan Alternative 

Under the Reduced Plan Alternative, 

only those species that are federally or 

State-listed as threatened or endangered 

would be proposed for coverage under 

the NCCP/HCP. Accordingly, only the 

southwestern willow flycatcher, least 

Bell’s vireo, and coastal California 

gnatcatcher would be covered under the 

Reduced Plan Alternative. The amount 

of land acquisition and Preserve system 

assembled would be identical to that of 

the proposed Plan. The amount of 

species-specific habitat restoration 

required would be less, however, 

because the conservation strategy 

measures would be focused only on the 

three ESA-listed species mentioned 

above. 

Public Comments 

The Service and OCTA invite the 

public to comment on the Draft NCCP/ 

HCP, Draft Implementing Agreement 

and DEIR/DEIS during a 90-day public 

comment period beginning the date of 

this notice. While written comments are 

encouraged, we will accept both written 

and oral comments at the public 

meetings. Please direct written 

comments to the Service contact listed 

in the ADDRESSES section, and any 

questions to the Service contact listed in 

the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section. 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. 

Reasonable Accommodation 

Individuals who require special 

accommodations (American Sign 

Language interpreter, accessible seating, 

documentation in alternate formats, etc.) 

to attend and participate in the public 

meetings are requested to contact 

Marissa Espino (mespino@octa.net, 

714–560–5607) at least 14 days prior to 

the scheduled public meeting date. 

Information regarding this proposed 

action is available in alternative formats 

upon request. 

Next Steps 

Issuance of an incidental take permit 

is a Federal proposed action subject to 

compliance with NEPA. This notice is 

provided under section 10(a) of the Act 

and Service regulations for 

implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (40 

CFR 1506.6). We will evaluate the 

application, associated documents, and 

comments submitted thereon to prepare 

a final EIS. A permit decision will be 

made no sooner than 30 days after the 

publication in the Federal Register of 

the notice of availability for final EIS 

and completion of the record of 

decision. 

Dated: October 27, 2014. 

Alexandra Pitts, 

Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Southwest 

Region, Sacramento, California. 

[FR Doc. 2014–26361 Filed 11–6–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

[145A2100DD/A0T501010.999900/

AAK3000000] 

Renewal of Agency Information 

Collection for Verification of Indian 

Preference for Employment in BIA and 

IHS 

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of submission to OMB. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is 

submitting to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) a request for renewal 

for the collection of information, 

‘‘Verification of Indian Preference for 

Employment in BIA and IHS.’’ The 

information collection is currently 

authorized by OMB Control Number 

1076–0160, which expires November 

30, 2014. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before 

December 8, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the information collection to the 

Desk Officer for the Department of the 

Interior at the Office of Management and 

Budget, by facsimile to (202) 395–5806 

or you may send an email to: OIRA_

Submission@omb.eop.gov. Please send a 

copy of your comments to: Ms. Laurel 

Iron Cloud, Chief, Division of Tribal 

Government Services, Office of Indian 

Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1849 

C Street NW., Mail Stop 4513 MIB, 

Washington, DC 20240; facsimile: (202) 

208–5113; email: laurel.ironcloud@

bia.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Laurel Iron Cloud, telephone (202) 513– 

7641. You may review the information 

collection request online at http://

www.reginfo.gov. Follow the 

instructions to review Department of the 

Interior collections under review by 

OMB. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

BIA is seeking renewal of the 

approval for the information collection 

conducted under 25 U.S.C. 43, 36 Stat. 

472, inter alia, and implementing 

regulations, at 25 CFR part 5, regarding 

verification of Indian preference for 

employment. The purpose of Indian 

preference is to encourage qualified 

Indian persons to seek employment 

with the BIA and Indian Health Service 

(IHS) by offering preferential treatment 

to qualified candidates of Indian 

heritage. BIA collects the information to 

ensure compliance with Indian 

preference hiring requirements. The 

information collection relates only to 

individuals applying for employment 

with the BIA and IHS. The tribe’s 

involvement is limited to verifying 

membership information submitted by 

the applicant. The collection of 

information allows certain persons who 

are of Indian descent to receive 

preference when appointments are 

made to vacancies in positions with the 

BIA and IHS as well as in any unit that 

has been transferred intact from the BIA 

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66394 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 216 / Friday, November 7, 2014 / Notices 

to a Bureau or office within the 

Department of the Interior or the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services and that continues to perform 

functions formerly performed as part of 

the BIA and IHS. You are eligible for 

preference if (a) you are a member of a 

federally recognized Indian tribe; (b) 

you are a descendent of a member and 

you were residing within the present 

boundaries of any Indian reservation on 

June 1, 1934; (c) you are an Alaska 

native; or (d) you possess one-half 

degree Indian blood derived from tribes 

that are indigenous to the United States. 

No changes are being made to the form. 

II. Request for Comments 

On July 18, 2014, BIA published a 

notice announcing the renewal of this 

information collection and provided a 

60-day comment period in the Federal 

Register (79 FR 42031). There were no 

comments received in response to this 

notice. 

The BIA requests your comments on 

this collection concerning: (a) The 

necessity of the information collection 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agencies, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden (hours 

and cost) of the collection of 

information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(c) ways we could enhance the quality, 

utility and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and (d) ways we could 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

the information on the respondents. 

Please note that an agency may not 

sponsor or conduct, and an individual 

need not respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a valid 

OMB Control Number. 

It is our policy to make all comments 

available to the public for review at the 

location listed in the ADDRESSES section 

during the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 

p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through 

Friday except for legal holidays. Before 

including your address, phone number, 

email address or other personally 

identifiable information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personally identifiable information— 

may be made publicly available at any 

time. While you can ask us in your 

comment to withhold your personally 

identifying information from public 

review, we cannot guarantee that we 

will be able to do so. 

III. Data 

OMB Control Number: 1076–0160. 

Title: Verification of Indian preference 

for Employment in the BIA and IHS. 

Brief description of collection: 

Submission of this information by 

Indian applicants for jobs with BIA and 

IHS allows the Personnel Offices of BIA 

and IHS to verify that the individual 

meets the requirements for Indian 

preference in hiring. Response is 

required to obtain the benefit of 

preferential hiring. The collection of 

this information is voluntary. Response 

is required to obtain or retain a benefit. 

Type of Review: Extension without 

change of a currently approved 

collection. 

Respondents: Qualified Indian 

persons who are seeking preference in 

employment with the BIA and IHS. 

Number of Respondents: 5,000 per 

year, on average. 

Number of Responses: 5,000 per year, 

on average. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion. 

Estimated Time per response: 30 

minutes. 

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 

2,500 hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Non-Hour 

Dollar Cost: $6,920 (postage and 

copying costs). This reflects an increase 

to the non-hour cost burden by $400 

(from $6,520 to $6,920) to reflect the 

increase in postage costs. 

Dated: November 4, 2014. 

Elizabeth K. Appel, 

Director, Office of Regulatory Affairs and 

Collaborative Action—Indian Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2014–26539 Filed 11–6–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–4J–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

[145A2100DD.AADD001000.A0E501010.

999900] 

Renewal of Agency Information 

Collection for Sovereignty in Indian 

Education Grant Program 

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of request for comments. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is 

seeking comments on the renewal of 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) approval for the collection of 

information for the Sovereignty in 

Indian Education Grant Program 

authorized by OMB Control Number 

1076–0182. This information collection 

expires January 31, 2015. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

January 6, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the information collection Ms. 

Wendy Greyeyes, Bureau of Indian 

Education, 1849 C Street NW., MS– 

4655–MIB, Washington, DC 20240; 

Email: Wendy.Greyeyes@bie.edu. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Wendy Greyeyes, telephone: (202) 208– 

5810. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

In 2013, the Secretary of the Interior 

and the Secretary of Education 

convened an American Indian 

Education Study Group to diagnose the 

systemic challenges facing the Bureau of 

Indian Education (BIE) and to propose 

a comprehensive plan for reform to 

ensure that all students attending BIEfunded schools receive a world-class 

education. 

The Study Group drafted a framework 

for reform based on several listening 

sessions last fall with tribal leaders, 

Indian educators and others throughout 

Indian Country on how to facilitate 

tribal sovereignty in American Indian 

education and how to improve 

educational outcomes for students at 

BIE-funded schools. The Study Group 

incorporated feedback it received from 

tribal leaders and other BIE stakeholders 

into the final ‘‘Blueprint for Reform,’’ 

released on June 13, 2014. 

Acting on the recommendations in the 

Blueprint, BIE will award competitive 

grants to tribes and their tribal 

education agencies to promote tribal 

control and operation of BIE-funded 

schools on their Indian reservations. 

The purpose of the grants is to support 

the tribe’s capacity to manage and 

operate tribally controlled schools as 

defined in the Tribally Controlled 

Schools Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100–297). 

These funds will (a) support 

development of a school-reform plan to 

improve educational outcomes for 

students and (b) improve efficiencies 

and effectiveness in the operation of 

BIE-funded schools within a 

reservation. 

The grants will provide funds for the 

tribe to: 

• Develop an implementation plan 

that will reform a tribe’s current 

organizational structure towards an 

expert and independent tribal education 

agency that will support schools and 

students; and 

• Cover the execution of the 

implementation plan with identified 

staffing, projected timelines, proposed 

budgets, and activities. 

Each proposal must include a project 

narrative, a budget narrative, a work 

plan outline, and a Project Director to 

manage the execution of the grant. The 

Project Directors will participate in 

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