Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/01/28/2015-01621/subsistence-management-regulations-for-public-lands-in-alaska-rural-determination-process
Timestamp: 2018-07-23 17:11:39
Document Index: 148567880

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 242', 'art 100', 'art 242', 'art 100', 'art 242', 'art 100']

Federal Register :: Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska; Rural Determination Process
Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska; Rural Determination Process
A Proposed Rule by the Forest Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service on 01/28/2015
Public comments: Comments and proposals to change this proposed rule must be received or postmarked by April 1, 2015.
80 FR 4521
4521-4525 (5 pages)
Docket No. FWS-R7-SM-2014-0063
FXFR13350700640-156-FF07J00000
FBMS#4500075014
1018-BA62
2015-01621
Prior Rulemaking
Public Review Process—Comments, Proposals, and Public Meetings
Compliance With Statutory and Regulatory Authorities
PART—SUBSISTENCE MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS FOR PUBLIC LANDS IN ALASKA
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2015-01621 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2015-01621
This PDF is the current document as it appeared on Public Inspection on 01/26/2015 at 11:15 am.
The Secretaries propose to revise the regulations governing the rural determination process for the Federal Subsistence Program in Alaska. Under current regulations, the Federal Subsistence Board (Board) defines which community or area of Alaska is rural using guidelines and characteristics defined by the Secretaries. This new process will enable the Board to be more flexible in making decisions and take into account the regional differences found throughout the State.
Public meetings: The Secretaries, through the Board, will hold public meetings in conjunction with the Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils (Councils) to receive comments on this proposed rule on several dates between February 10 and March 19, 2015. In addition, the Councils will discuss and make their recommendations to the Board. The Board will discuss and evaluate proposed regulatory changes during a public meeting in Anchorage, AK, on or before April 2016 and make recommendations on the proposed rule to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific information on dates and locations of the public meetings and for requesting reasonable accommodations.
Public comments: You may submit comments by one of the following methods:
Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov and search for FWS-R7-SM-2014-0063, which is the docket number for this rulemaking.
By hard copy: U.S. mail or hand-delivery to: USFWS, Office of Subsistence Management, 1011 East Tudor Road, MS 121, Attn: Theo Matuskowitz, Anchorage, AK 99503-6199, or hand delivery to the Designated Federal Official attending any of the Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council public meetings. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for additional information on locations of the public meetings.
We will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we will post any personal information you provide us (see the Public Review Process section below for more information).
Public meetings: The Federal Subsistence Board and the Councils' public meetings will be held at various locations in Alaska. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific information on dates and locations of the public meetings.
Under Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) (16 U.S.C. 3111-3126), the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretaries) jointly implement the Federal Subsistence Management Program (Program). The Program provides a preference to rural Alaskan residents for taking fish and wildlife resources for subsistence uses on Federal public lands and waters in Alaska. Because the Program is a joint effort between Interior and Agriculture, these regulations are located in two titles of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): Title 36, “Parks, Forests, and Public Property,” and Title 50, “Wildlife and Fisheries,” at 36 CFR 242.1-242.28 and 50 CFR 100.1-100.28, respectively. The regulations contain subparts as follows: Subpart A, General Provisions; Subpart B, Program Structure; Subpart C, Board Determinations; and Subpart D, Subsistence Taking of Fish and Wildlife.
Consistent with subpart B of these regulations, the Secretaries established a Federal Subsistence Board to administer the Program. The Board comprises:Start Printed Page 4522
The Alaska Regional Director, U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs;
Through the Board, these agencies and public members participate in the development of regulations for subparts C and D, which, among other things, set forth program eligibility and specific harvest seasons and limits. The Board determines which areas of Alaska are rural and which areas are nonrural. Alaska residents living in areas determined to be nonrural are not eligible to participate in the Program.
In administering the Program, the Secretaries divided Alaska into 10 subsistence resource regions, each of which is represented by a Regional Advisory Council. The Regional Advisory Councils provide a forum for rural residents with personal knowledge of local conditions and resource requirements to have a meaningful role in the subsistence management of fish and wildlife on Federal public lands in Alaska. The Regional Advisory Council members represent varied geographical, cultural, and user interests within each region.
On November 23, 1990 (55 FR 48877), the Board published a notice in the Federal Register explaining the proposed Federal process for making rural determinations, the criteria to be used, and the application of those criteria in preliminary determinations. On December 17, 1990, the Board adopted final rural and nonrural determinations, which were published on January 3, 1991 (56 FR 236). Final programmatic regulations were published on May 29, 1992, with only slight variations in the rural determination process (57 FR 22940). As a result of this rulemaking, Federal subsistence regulations at 36 CFR 242.15 and 50 CFR 100.15 require that the rural or nonrural status of communities or areas be reviewed every 10 years, beginning with the availability of the 2000 census data.
Because some data from the 2000 census were not compiled and available until 2005, the Board published a proposed rule in 2006 to revise the list of nonrural areas recognized by the Board (71 FR 46416, August 14, 2006). The final rule published in the Federal Register on May 7, 2007 (72 FR 25688).
On October 23, 2009, Secretary of the Interior Salazar announced the initiation of a Departmental review of the Federal Subsistence Management Program in Alaska; Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack later concurred with this course of action. The review focused on how the Program is meeting the purposes and subsistence provisions of Title VIII of ANILCA, and how the Program is serving rural subsistence users as envisioned when it began in the early 1990s.
On August 31, 2010, the Secretaries announced the findings of the review, which included several proposed administrative and regulatory reviews and/or revisions to strengthen the Program and make it more responsive to those who rely on it for their subsistence uses. One proposal called for a review, with Council input, of the rural and nonrural determination process and, if needed, recommendations for regulatory changes.
The Board met on January 20, 2012, to consider the Secretarial directive, consider the Councils' recommendations, and review all public, Tribal, and Native Corporation comments on the initial review of the rural determination process. After discussion and careful review, the Board voted unanimously to initiate a review of the rural determination process and the 2010 decennial review. Consequently, based on that action, the Board found that it was in the public's best interest to extend the compliance date of its 2007 final rule (72 FR 25688; May 7, 2007) on rural and nonrural determinations until after the review of the rural determination process and the decennial review are complete or in 5 years, whichever comes first. The Board published a final rule (77 FR 12477; March 1, 2012) extending the compliance date.
The Board followed this action with a request for comments and announcement of public meetings(77 FR 77005; December 31, 2012) to receive public, Tribal, and Alaska Native Corporations input on the rural determination process.
Due to a lapse in appropriations on October 1, 2013, and the subsequent closure of the Federal Government, some of the preannounced public meetings and Tribal consultations to receive comments on the rural determination process during the closure were cancelled. The Board decided that an extension to the comment period was needed to allow for the complete participation from the Councils, public and Tribes to address this issue (78 FR 66885; November 7, 2013).
The Councils were briefed on the Board's Federal Register notice during their winter 2013 meetings. At their fall 2013 meetings, the Councils provided a public forum to hear from residents of their regions, deliberate on the rural determination process, and provide recommendations for changes to the Board.
The Secretaries, through the Board, also held hearings in Barrow, Ketchikan, Sitka, Kodiak, Bethel, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kotzebue, Nome, and Dillingham to solicit comments on the rural determination process. Public testimony was recorded during these hearings. Government-to-government consultations on the rural determination process were held between members of the Board and Federally recognized Tribes of Alaska, and additional consultations were held between members of the Board and Alaska Native Corporations.
Altogether, the Board received 475 substantive comments from various sources, including individuals, members of the Councils, and other entities or organizations, such as Alaska Native Corporations and borough governments. In general, this information indicated a broad dissatisfaction with the current rural determination process. The aggregation criteria were perceived as arbitrary. The current population thresholds were seen as inadequate to capture the reality of rural Alaska. Additionally, the decennial review was widely viewed to be unnecessary.
Based on this information, the Board at their public meeting held on April 17, 2014, elected to recommend a simplification of the process by determining which areas or communities are nonrural in Alaska; all other communities or areas would, therefore, be rural. The Board would make nonrural determinations using a comprehensive approach that takes into consideration population size and density, economic indicators, military presence, industrial facilities, use of fish and wildlife, degree of remoteness and isolation, any other relevant material, and information provided by the public. The Board would rely heavily on the recommendations of the Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils.Start Printed Page 4523
In summary, based on Council and public comments, Tribal and Alaska Native Corporation consultations, and briefing materials from the Office of Subsistence Management, the Board developed a proposal that simplifies the process of rural and nonrural determinations and submitted its recommendation to the Secretaries on August 15, 2014.
On November 24, 2014, the Secretaries requested that the Board initiate rulemaking to pursue the regulatory changes recommended by the Board. The Secretaries also requested that the Board obtain Council recommendations and public input, and conduct Tribal and Alaska Native Corporation consultation on the proposed changes. If adopted through the rulemaking process, the current regulations would be revised to remove specific guidelines, including requirements regarding population data, the aggregation of communities, and the decennial review, for making rural determinations.
The Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils will have a substantial role in reviewing this proposed rule and making recommendations for the final rule. The Federal Subsistence Board, through the Councils, will hold public meetings on this proposed rule at the following locations in Alaska, on the following dates:
Region 1—Southeast Regional Council Yakutat March 17, 2015.
Region 2—Southcentral Regional Council Anchorage February 18, 2015.
Region 3—Kodiak/Aleutians Regional Council Kodiak February 10, 2015.
Region 4—Bristol Bay Regional Council Naknek February 24, 2015.
Region 5—Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Council Bethel February 25, 2015.
Region 6—Western Interior Regional Council Fairbanks March 3, 2015.
Region 7—Seward Peninsula Regional Council Nome February 18, 2015.
Region 8—Northwest Arctic Regional Council Kotzebue March 9, 2015.
Region 9—Eastern Interior Regional Council Fairbanks March 4, 2015.
Region 10—North Slope Regional Council Barrow March 17, 2015.
A notice will be published of specific dates, times, and meeting locations in local and statewide newspapers prior to the meetings. Locations and dates may change based on weather or local circumstances. The amount of work on each Council's agenda determines the length of each Council meeting.
The Board will conduct tribal and Alaska Native Corporations consultations and discuss and evaluate proposed changes to the rural determination regulations during a public meeting scheduled to be held in Anchorage, Alaska, on or before April 2016. The Council Chairs, or their designated representatives, will present their respective Council's recommendations at the Board meeting. Additional public testimony to the Board will be allowed during the meeting. At that public meeting, the Board will deliberate and make final recommendations to the Secretaries on this proposed rule.
You may submit written comments and materials concerning this proposed rule by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. If you submit a comment via http://www.regulations.gov, your entire comment, including any personal identifying information, will be posted on the Web site. If you submit a hardcopy comment that includes personal identifying information, you may request at the top of your document that we withhold this information from public review. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will post all hardcopy comments on http://www.regulations.gov.
Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting documentation we used in preparing this proposed rule, will be available for public inspection on http://www.regulations.gov, or by appointment, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays, at: USFWS, Office of Subsistence Management, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK 99503.
The Federal Subsistence Board is committed to providing access to these meetings for all participants. Please direct all requests for sign language interpreting services, closed captioning, or other accommodation needs to Deborah Coble, 907-786-3880, subsistence@fws.gov, or 800-877-8339 (TTY), seven business days prior to the meeting in which you would like to participate.
As expressed in Executive Order 13175, “Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments,” the Federal officials that have been delegated authority by the Secretaries are committed to honoring the unique government-to-government political relationship that exists between the Federal Government and Federally Recognized Indian Tribes (Tribes) as listed in 79 FR 4748 (January 29, 2014). Consultation with Alaska Native Corporations is based on Public Law 108-199, div. H, Sec. 161, Jan. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 452, as amended by Public Law 108-447, div. H, title V, Sec. 518, Dec. 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3267, which provides that: “The Director of the Office of Management and Budget and all Federal agencies shall hereafter consult with Alaska Native corporations on the same basis as Indian tribes under Executive Order No. 13175.”
ANILCA does not provide specific rights to Tribes for the subsistence taking of wildlife, fish, and shellfish. However, because Tribal members are affected by subsistence regulations, the Secretaries, through the Board, will provide Federally recognized Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations an opportunity to consult on this proposed rule.
The Board will engage in outreach efforts for this proposed rule, including a notification letter, to ensure that Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations are advised of the mechanisms by which they can participate. The Board provides a variety of opportunities for consultation: Commenting on proposed changes to the existing rule; engaging in dialogue at the Regional Council meetings; engaging in dialogue at the Board's meetings; and providing input in person, by mail, email, or phone at any time during the rulemaking process. The Board commits to efficiently and adequately providing an opportunity to Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations for consultation in regard to subsistence rulemaking.
The Board will consider Tribes' and Alaska Native Corporations' information, input, and recommendations, and address their concerns as much as practicable.Start Printed Page 4524
An agency may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. This proposed rule does not contain any new collections of information that require OMB approval. OMB has reviewed and approved the collections of information associated with the subsistence regulations at 36 CFR part 242 and 50 CFR part 100, and assigned OMB Control Number 1018-0075, which expires February 29, 2016.
Executive Order 12866 provides that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the Office of Management and Budget will review all significant rules. OIRA has reviewed this rule and has determined that this rule is not significant.
The Secretaries have determined and certify pursuant to the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, 2 U.S.C. 1502 et seq., that this rulemaking will not impose a cost of $100 million or more in any given year on local or State governments or private entities. The implementation of this rule would be by Federal agencies, and no cost would be imposed on any State or local entities or tribal governments.
In accordance with Executive Order 13132, the proposed rule does not have sufficient Federalism implications to warrant the preparation of a Federalism Assessment. Title VIII of ANILCA precludes the State from exercising subsistence management authority over fish and wildlife resources on Federal lands unless it meets certain requirements.
Title VIII of ANILCA does not provide specific rights to tribes for the subsistence taking of wildlife, fish, and Start Printed Page 4525shellfish. However, the Board will provide Federally recognized Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations an opportunity to consult on this proposed rule. Consultation with Alaska Native Corporations are based on Public Law 108-199, div. H, Sec. 161, Jan. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 452, as amended by Public Law 108-447, div. H, title V, Sec. 518, Dec. 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3267, which provides that: “The Director of the Office of Management and Budget and all Federal agencies shall hereafter consult with Alaska Native corporations on the same basis as Indian tribes under Executive Order No. 13175.”
The Secretaries, through the Board, will provide a variety of opportunities for consultation: Engaging in dialogue at the Regional Council meetings; engaging in dialogue at the Board's meetings; and providing input in person, by mail, email, or phone at any time during the rulemaking process.
This Executive Order requires agencies to prepare Statements of Energy Effects when undertaking certain actions. However, this proposed rule is not a significant regulatory action under E.O. 13211, affecting energy supply, distribution, or use, and no Statement of Energy Effects is required.
If you feel that we have not met these requirements, send us comments by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. To better help us revise the proposed rule, your comments should be as specific as possible.
Trevor Fox, Alaska Regional Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and
Steve Kessler and Thomas Whitford, Alaska Regional Office, U.S. Forest Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Secretaries propose to amend 36 CFR part 242 and 50 CFR part 100 as set forth below.
2. In subpart B of 36 CFR part 242 and 50 CFR part 100, § __.15 is revised to read as follows:
§ __.15
Rural determination process.
(a) The Board determines which areas or communities in Alaska are nonrural. Current determinations are listed at § ___.23.
(b) All other communities and areas are, therefore, rural.
Regional Forester, USDA-Forest Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-01621 Filed 1-26-15; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-P;4310-55-P