[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 208 (Tuesday, October 28, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55828-55829]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-28499]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Meeting of Federal Interagency Panel on World Heritage

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

ACTION: Notice of meeting of panel.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given in accordance with the Federal Advisory 
Committees Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770, 5 U.S.C. App. I), of a 
meeting of the Federal Interagency Panel on World Heritage. It is 
expected that the following agenda items will be discussed:

Results of 21st Meeting of the World Heritage Bureau
Results of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World 
Heritage Convention
Agenda for and United States Representation at the 21st Meeting of 
the World Heritage Committee
Report on Legislative Proposals potentially affecting U.S. World 
Heritage Program
Public Information Activities, including new National Park Service 
World Heritage Leaflet
U.S. World Heritage Nomination Process for 1998

DATES: The meeting will be held on Monday, November 3, 1997. The 
meeting will begin at 2:00 pm and end by approximately 5 pm. The 
meeting is open to the public. It is expected that 10 persons will be 
able to attend the meeting in addition to the Panel members.

LOCATION: The meeting will be held at the Main Interior Building, 1849 
C St., NW, Washington, DC., in Room 3121.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharon J. Cleary, Chief, Office of 
International Affairs, or James H. Charleton, International Cooperation 
Specialist, Office of International

[[Page 55829]]

Affairs, National Park Service, Washington, DC 20240. Phone (202) 565-
1280; fax 202-565-1290; e-mail: james--charleton @ nps.gov.

ADDRESSES: Written comments or recommendations should be sent to the 
Director, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, P.O. 
Box 37127, Washington, D.C. 20240. Attention: World Heritage 
Convention-0050.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Convention Concerning Protection of the 
World Cultural and Natural Heritage, now ratified by the United States 
and 149 other countries, has established a system of international 
cooperation through which cultural and natural properties of 
outstanding universal value to humanity 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 voluntarily identify and nominate their most 
important natural wonders and cultural treasures for inclusion on the 
World Heritage List, which currently includes 506 cultural, natural, 
and mixed 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, 2 conservation, and rehabilitation of World 
Heritage properties situated within its borders. By the terms of the 
Convention, each nation explicitly retains full sovereignty over and 
complete ownership, legal authority and management responsibility for 
its World Heritage Sites. In the United States, for example, only 
United States law applies to the sites.
    The World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 countries elected by 
the signatories to the Convention, reviews proposals to add new sites 
to the List once each year. The United States now serves on the 
Committee and has twice served as its Chair. The Committee administers 
the World Heritage Fund, which assists countries in participating in 
World Heritage activities related to the preservation of listed 
properties, particularly those on a List of World Heritage in Danger 
maintained by the Committee.
    The United States has placed 20 sites on the List. Among them are 
Monticello and the Taos Pueblo, nominated with their owners' full 
support. National Parks are included in 17 World Heritage Sites--among 
which are the Grand Canyon, Independence Hall, Mammoth Cave, and 
Everglades. Two sites in the United States are on the List of World 
Heritage in Danger--Everglades and Yellowstone National Parks.
    No United States nominations to the World Heritage List are 
pending. The Panel will review the process for possible U.S. 
nominations in calendar 1998 that might lead to consideration of sites 
for inscription in the World Heritage List at the World Heritage 
Committee meeting scheduled for the end of calendar 1999.
    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 this legislative mandate (47 FR 
23392, 36 CFR 73). 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 nomination, and its nomination must 
include evidence of such legal protections as may be necessary to 
ensure preservation of the property and its environment.
    The program regulations; the criteria which cultural, natural, and 
mixed properties must satisfy for World Heritage status; the properties 
on the Indicative Inventory of Potential Future U.S. World Heritage 
nominations; and a list of the 20 U.S. properties inscribed on the 
World Heritage List as of the date of this notice are available upon 
request from the National Park Service.
    The Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage assists the 
Department in implementing the Convention by making recommendations on 
U.S. World Heritage policy, procedures, and nominations. The Panel is 
chaired by the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, and 
currently includes representatives from the Office of the Assistant 
Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, the National Park Service, 
the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and 
the U.S. Geological Survey within the Department of the Interior; the 
President's Council on Environmental Quality; the Smithsonian 
Institution; the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of 
Commerce; the U.S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture; the U.S. 
Information Agency; and the Department of State.

    Dated: October 7, 1997.
Sharon J. Cleary,
Chief, Office of International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 97-28499 Filed 10-27-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P