Department Hearings and Appeals Procedures; Cooperative Relations; Grazing AdministrationExclusive of Alaska

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary

43 CFR Part 4

Bureau of Land Management

43 CFR Parts 1780 and 4100

[WO-220-4320-02 24 1A]

RIN 1004-AB89

Department Hearings and Appeals Procedures; Cooperative

Relations; Grazing Administration--Exclusive of Alaska

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary and the Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period and additional

request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The comment period on the Department's proposed rule

pertaining primarily to the administration of livestock grazing on

public lands is extended to provide additional opportunity for public

comment. This document also solicits public comment on whether the

Department of the Interior should consider reducing the fee that would

be charged for grazing sheep on public lands. Comments on this issue

will be considered along with comments on the proposed rule published

in the Federal Register on March 25, 1994, in developing the

Department's final rule.

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule must be submitted in writing by

September 9, 1994. Comments postmarked after this date will not be

considered in the preparation of the final rule.

ADDRESSES: Send comments on this proposed rule to Rangeland Reform '94,

P.O. Box 66300, Washington, D.C. 20035-6300. Com ments delivered to an

address other than above may not be considered in the preparation of

the final rule.

Comments on the proposed rule will be made available for public

inspection during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.),

Monday through Friday. Viewing of the comments can be arranged by

contacting the Bureau of Land Management at the telephone number

provided below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark W. Stiles, Regulations Analyst,

Division of Legislation and Regulatory Management, Bureau of Land

Management, (202) 208-4256.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A proposed rule that would amend primarily

the regulations that govern how the Secretary of the Interior, through

the Bureau of Land Management, administers livestock grazing was

published in the Federal Register March 25, 1994 (59 FR 14314). That

proposed rule is a part of the Department's Rangeland Reform '94, an

effort to improve the administration of grazing. The original comment

period on the proposed rule was to end on July 28, 1994. The comment

period is being extended until September 9, 1994.

During the development of the proposed rule and since the opening

of the comment period on the Rangeland Reform '94 proposal, the

Governors of several States have organized groups to consider the

Department's proposals. The Governor of Wyoming has established one

such group which is developing comments and alternative actions to be

considered. The Governor of Wyoming has requested an extension of the

comment period to provide the Wyoming working group sufficient time to

complete their model for rangeland reform. In keeping with the

Department's intent to encourage collaborative efforts in the

resolution of difficult public land management issues, the comment

period on the proposed rule is being extended until September 9, 1994.

Elements of Rangeland Reform '94 have been analyzed through a draft

environmental impact statement (EIS), notice of which was published in

the Federal Register on May 13, 1994 (59 FR 25118). The Forest Service

is a cooperating agency in the preparation of the EIS. The comment

period on the draft EIS ends August 11, 1994, but the Department is

considering the need to extend the EIS comment period to coincide with

the closing of the comment period on the related proposed rule. Any

extension of the comment period for the draft EIS will be made through

a separate Federal Register notice.

A key provision of the Department's proposed rule published March

25, 1994, would raise the Federal grazing fee to a level more closely

reflecting market value. Under the proposed rule the grazing fee would

be charged for each animal unit month (AUM) of grazing on Federal

lands. An AUM was defined, for billing purposes, as a month's use and

occupancy of range by one cow, bull, steer, heifer, horse, burro, mule,

five sheep, or five goats, over the age of six months at the time of

entering the public lands or other lands administered by the Bureau of

Land Management (BLM); for all such weaned animals regardless of age;

and for such animals that will become 12 months of age during the

authorized period of use. This document requests comment from the

public regarding whether the definition of an AUM for billing purposes,

as it pertains to sheep, should be six or seven sheep, rather than five

sheep.

The Department solicits comments on this aspect of the proposed

rule in recognition of the decline in the number of sheep operators and

number of sheep AUMs authorized on public lands over the last 20 years.

During the period of 1975 through 1993 the number of sheep operators

using public rangelands administered by the BLM dropped from 2,490 to

1,624. During the same period the number of AUMs authorized for sheep

use dropped from about 1.8 million to about 1.2 million. The decline in

sheep grazing on the public lands may be attributed to a number of

factors, but has resulted in a shift from sheep to cattle in many areas

where grazing by sheep would be environmentally and administratively

preferable. It has come to the attention of the Department that the

long-term trend in the shift from sheep to cattle may be accelerated by

recent changes in market factors such as the phase-out of wool

incentive and unshorn lamb payments.

The public is asked to provide information addressing whether or

how the proposed rule might affect the long-term trend in the shift

from sheep to cattle. In particular, the Department is inviting comment

on the effect of changing the definition of an AUM for billing purposes

in a manner that would reduce the proposed grazing fee that would be

charged for the use of public lands by sheep by 17 percent if the

number of sheep per billing unit would be changed from five to six, or

28 percent if changed from five to seven.

An adjustment in the definition of an AUM for billing purposes

would not affect the manner in which sheep stocking rates are

determined. It would only affect the price paid for the use of public

lands by sheep. Stocking rates are determined by, among other things,

assessing the capacity of the public lands for a given kind of

livestock. The equivalency between cattle and sheep expressed in the

definition of an AUM for billing purposes is not used by the BLM in

determining stocking rates.

The Department intends that any change in the definition of an AUM

for billing purposes would not affect the proposed 30 percent incentive

fee reduction.

Due to the great volume of comments already received and

anticipated on this proposed rule, the Department requests that

reviewers identify the specific section and paragraph label for the

regulatory text on which they are commenting. Specific statements of

what regulatory text the reviewer feels should be modified, and the

reasons for the recommended changes, are encouraged.

This additional request for comment is proposed under the authority

of the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 (43 U.S.C. 315 et seq.), the Federal

Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), and

the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 (43 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.).

This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866.

The Department has prepared an initial Small Entity Flexibility

Analysis analyzing the economic impact of the March 25, 1994 rulemaking

(59 FR 14314) on small entities pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility

Act (5 U.S.C. 605 et seq.). The anticipated effects of this additional

request would be consistent with the analysis prepared for the March

25, 1994, proposed rule. The initial analysis is available at the

address provided above.

This additional request for comment on the proposed rule has been

reviewed under Executive Order 12630, the Attorney General Guidelines,

Department of the Interior Guidelines, and the Attorney General

Supplemental Guidelines to determine the takings implications of the

proposed rule if it were promulgated as currently drafted. The

Department has determined that this additional request for comment does

not present a risk of a taking.

The Department has certified to the Office of Management and Budget

that the proposed rule meets the applicable standards provided in

sections 2(a) and 2(b)(2) of Executive Order 12778.

This additional request for comment does not contain collections of

information which require approval by the Office of Management and

Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

Bruce Babbitt,

Secretary of the Interior.

[FR Doc. 94-18304 Filed 7-26-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-84-P