[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 166 (Monday, August 29, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-21213]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 29, 1994]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 

Proposed 1994 U.S. World Heritage Nominations

AGENCY: National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice and request for public comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: On May 18, 1994, the Department of the Interior, through the 
National Park Service, set forth in a public notice the process and 
schedule that will be used in calendar year 1994 to identify and 
prepare U.S. nominations to the World Heritage List (59 FR 25957). In 
addition, the May 18 notice identified the criteria and requirements 
that U.S. properties must satisfy before nomination for World Heritage 
status, and solicited public comments and suggestions regarding 
cultural and natural properties that should be considered as potential 
U.S. nominations this year. This notice announces and invites comment 
on the proposed 1994 U.S. World Heritage nominations as described 
below.

DATES: Written comments or recommendations regarding the properties 
listed herein as proposed 1994 U.S. World Heritage Nominations must be 
received by September 28, 1994 to ensure full consideration. A decision 
on proposed 1994 nominations will be made based on public comment, and 
will be published in the Federal Register.
    The Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage will review the 
accuracy, completeness, and suitability of draft 1994 nominations' 
documentation and will make recommendations to the Assistant Secretary 
of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. The Assistant 
Secretary will subsequently transmit any approved nomination on behalf 
of the United States to the World Heritage Committee Secretariat, 
through the Department of State, by October 1 for evaluation by the 
World Heritage Committee in a process that could lead to inscription on 
the World Heritage List by fall 1995. Notice of transmittal of U.S. 
nominations will be published in the Federal Register.

ADDRESS: Written comments or recommendations should be sent to the 
Director, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, P.O. 
Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127. Attention: World Heritage 
Convention-023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Robert C. Milne, Chief, Office of International Affairs, National 
Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, P.O. Box 37127, 
Washington, DC 20013-7127, Telephone: (202)-343-7063.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Convention Concerning Protection of the 
World Cultural and Natural Heritage, now ratified by the United States 
and 135 other countries, has established a system of international 
cooperation through which cultural and natural properties of 
outstanding universal value to mankind may be recognized and protected.
    The Convention seeks to put into place an orderly approach for 
coordinated and consistent heritage resource protection and enhancement 
throughout the world.
    Participating nations identify and nominate their sites for 
inclusion on the World Heritage List, which currently includes 411 
cultural and natural properties. The World Heritage Committee judges 
all nominations against established criteria.
    Under the Convention, each participating Nation assumes 
responsibility for taking appropriate legal, scientific, technical, 
administrative, and financial measures necessary for the 
identification, protection, conservation, and rehabilitation of World 
Heritage properties situated within its borders.
    In the United States, the Department of the Interior is responsible 
for directing and coordinating U.S. participation in the World Heritage 
Convention. The Department implements its responsibilities under the 
Convention in accordance with the statutory mandate contained in Title 
IV of the National Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 1980 (P.L. 
96-515; 16 U.S.C. 470a-1, a-2). On May 27, 1982, the Interior 
Department published in the Federal Register the policies and 
procedures which it uses to carry out the legislative mandate (47 FR 
23392). The rules contain additional information on the Convention and 
its implementation in the United States, and identify the specific 
requirements that U.S. properties must satisfy before they can be 
nominated for World Heritage status, i.e., the property must have 
previously been determined to be of national significance, its owner 
must concur in writing to its nominations, and its nomination must 
include evidence of such legal protection as may be necessary to ensure 
preservation of the property and its environment.
    These Regulations, the criteria which cultural or natural 
properties must satisfy for World Heritage status, the properties on 
the U.S. Indicative Inventory of Potential Future U.S. World Heritage 
Nominations, and the 19 U.S. properties inscribed on the World Heritage 
List as of January 1, 1994 are available upon request from the National 
Park Service.
    Proposed 1994 U.S. World Heritage Nominations:

Chihuahuan Desert

    Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico. This series of 
connected caverns, which include the largest underground chambers yet 
discovered, have many magnificent and curious cave formations, 
including an array of speleothems. Criteria (ii) An outstanding example 
of significant geological process, and (iii) contains superlative 
natural phenomena, formations, and areas of exceptional beauty.

European Exploration and Colonial Settlement

    Savannah Historic District, Georgia. The first settlement in the 
English colony of Georgia, which was founded with philanthropic intent. 
Savannah has retained much of James Oglethorpe's original city plan and 
possesses many structures of architectural merit. Criteria (ii) Has 
exerted great influence over a span of time or within a cultural area 
of the world on developments in town-planning, and (vi) directly and 
tangibly associated with events or with ideas of outstanding universal 
significance.

    Dated: July 30, 1994.
George T. Frampton, Jr.,
Assistant Secretary, Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 94-21213 Filed 8-26-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P-M