[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 133 (Thursday, July 11, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45985-45986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-17411]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WO-350-1430-PE-24 1A]


Extension of Approved Information Collection, OMB Approval Number 
1004-001]

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) request the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) to extend an existing approval to collect information from 
those persons who submit a Color-of-Title Tax Levy and Payment Record 
Application (Form No. 2540-3) to apply for public lands under a color-
of-title claim. The BLM uses the information to determine if the 
applicant is eligible to acquire public lands under the Color-of-Title 
Act of December 22, 1928.

DATES: You must submit your comments to BLM at the address below on or 
before September 9, 2001. BLM will not necessarily consider any 
comments received after the above date.

ADDRESSES: You may mail comments to: Regulatory Affairs Group (WO-630), 
Eastern States Office, 7450 Boston Blvd., Springfield, Virginia 22153.
    You may send comments via Internet to: [email protected]. Please 
include ``ATTN: 1004-0011'' and your name and address with your 
comments.
    You may deliver comments to the Bureau of Land Management, 
Administrative Record, Room 401, 1620 L Street, NW., Washington, DC.
    Comments will be available for public review at the L Street 
address during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.) Monday 
through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: You may contact Alzata L. Ransom, 
Lands and Realty Group, on (202) 452-7772 (Commercial or FTS). Persons 
who use a telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD) may call the 
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) on 1-800-877-8330, 24 hours a 
day, seven days a week, to contact Ms. Ransom.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 5 CFR 1320.12(a) requires that we provide a 
60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning a collection of 
information to solicit comments on:
    (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the 
proper functioning of the agency, including whether the information 
will have practical utility;
    (b) The accuracy of our estimates of the information collection 
burden, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions we 
use;
    (c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information collected; and
    (d) Ways to minimize the information collection burden on those who 
are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms 
of information technology.
    Congress passed the Color-of-Title Act of December 22, 1928 (45 
Stat. 1969), as amended by the Act of July 28, 1953 (67 Stat. 227; 43 
U.S.C. 1068-1068b), to provide for the transfer of legal title to 
public lands from the United States to eligible individuals, groups, or 
corporations who have a valid color-of-title claim. The regulations at 
43 CFR

[[Page 45986]]

2540 provide guidelines to file a color-of-title claim.
    Any individual, group, or corporation that possesses valid evidence 
of a title to public lands administered by BLM may file a color-of-
title application. The Act refers to Class I and Class II claims. A 
Class I claim is a claim:
    (1) Held in good faith and peaceful, adverse possession by a 
claimant, his ancestors or grantors, under claim or color-of-title for 
a minimum of 20 years; and
    (2) where the claimant or predecessors placed valuable improvements 
and cultivated part of the land.
    A Class II claim is a claim held in good faith and peaceful, 
adverse possession by a claimant, his ancestors or grantors, under 
claim of color-of-title for the period commencing not later than 
January 1, 1901, to date of application, during which time they paid 
taxes levied on the land by State and local government units.
    A claim is not held in good faith when held with knowledge that the 
land is owned by the United States. A claim is not held in peaceful, 
adverse possession if it was initiated while the land was withdrawn or 
reserved for Federal purposes.
    The information we collect on the Color-of-Title Tax Levy and 
Payment Record Form No. 2540-3 is required by 43 CFR 2540 to process 
applications to acquire legal title to public lands under the December 
22, 1928 Act, as amended by the July 28, 1953 Act. The following 
information is collected on the form:
    (1) Applicant's name;
    (2) Legal land description claimed;
    (3) Itemized data relating to all recorded tax payments in 
chronological order; and
    (4) Certification by the proper county official.
    When BLM receives the application, we will analyze the information, 
conduct an on-site field examination of the lands, and prepare reports. 
The BLM will approve your application if you meet the requirements of a 
Class I or Class II claim. We will reject your application if you do 
not meet the requirements of a Class I or Class II claim. Class II 
claims are discretionary and we may reject the application if the 
public interest in retention of the lands clearly outweighs the 
interest of the applicant.
    Based on past experience processing these applications, BLM 
estimates the public reporting burden for completing the Form 2540-3 is 
one hour. BLM estimates that we receive approximately 37 applications 
annually, with a total annual burden of 37 hours.
    Any member of the public may request and obtain, without charge, a 
copy of the BLM Form No. 2540-3 by contacting the person identified 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    BLM will summarize all responses to this notice and include them in 
the request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of a 
public record.

    Dated: May 28 2002.
Michael H. Schwartz,
Bureau of Land Management, Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 02-17411 Filed 7-10-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-M