[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 182 (Wednesday, September 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55010-55012]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-7929]


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DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT-062-06-1220-PM]


Notice of Supplementary Rules Requiring Human Waste Carry-Out for 
White Wash Sand Dunes Area, Moab Field Office, UT

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Interim Final Supplementary Rules Requiring Human 
Waste Carry-out for White Wash Sand Dunes Area, Moab Field Office, 
Utah.

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SUMMARY: These interim final supplementary rules, applicable to 
specified public lands administered by BLM's Moab Field Office, require 
the possession, set up for usage, and use of portable toilets for 
individuals and groups camping on public lands administered by the Moab 
Field Office in the White Wash Sand Dunes area of Grand County Utah. 
This action is necessary to protect public health and maintain public 
land recreation opportunities in the area.

DATES: These interim final supplementary rules are effective September 
20, 2006 and will remain in effect until modified by the authorized 
officer or such time as constructed toilets are installed to provide 
reasonable coverage of the geographic area. We invite comments until 
November 20, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Deliver all comments concerning the interim final rule by 
one of the following means:

    Mail, personal, or messenger delivery: address your comment to the 
Bureau of Land Management, Moab Field Office, 82 East Dogwood Avenue, 
Moab, Utah 84532; Internet: you may access the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal: http://www.regulations.gov; E-mail: you may send comments to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Russell von Koch, Recreation Branch 
Chief, BLM Moab Field Office, 82 East Dogwood Avenue, Moab, Utah 84532, 
or telephone 435-259-2100.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Comment Procedures

    Written comments on the interim final supplementary rules should be 
specific, confined to issues pertinent to the interim final 
supplementary rules, and should explain the reason for any recommended 
change. Where possible, comments should reference the specific section 
or paragraph of the rules that the comment is addressing. BLM need not 
consider or include in the Administrative Record for the final 
supplementary rules: (a) Comments that BLM receives after the close of 
the comment period (see DATES), unless they are postmarked or 
electronically dated before the deadline, or (b) comments delivered to 
an address other than those listed above (See ADDRESSES).
    You may also access and comment on the interim final supplementary 
rules at the Federal eRulemaking Portal by following the instructions 
at that site (see ADDRESSES).
    Comments, including names, street addresses, and other contact 
information of respondents, will be available for public review at the 
Moab Field Office, 82 East Dogwood Avenue, Moab, Utah 84532, during 
regular business hours (7:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.), Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. Individual respondents may request 
confidentiality. If you wish to request that BLM consider withholding 
your name, street address, and other contact information (such as: 
Internet address, FAX or phone number) from public review or from 
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this 
prominently at the beginning of your comment. BLM will honor requests 
for confidentiality on a case-by-case basis to the extent allowed by 
law. BLM will make available for public inspection in their entirety 
all submissions from organizations, businesses, and government 
agencies, or from individuals identifying themselves as representatives 
or officials of such entities.

II. Background and Purpose

    Improper disposal of human body waste by recreation visitors to 
undeveloped public lands in the White Wash Sand Dunes area near Green 
River, Utah, has produced conditions hazardous to public health. 
Subsequent to receiving public complaints, the Sanitarian for the 
Southeastern Utah Health Department has requested BLM to implement 
corrective action. Problems identified include dumping of recreational 
vehicle holding tanks on public roads (an illegal activity under both 
State and Federal law), human waste on the ground at camping areas, and 
frequent burying of human waste near camping areas. In addition to the 
public health issue, the presence of solid human waste impacts the 
quality of recreation opportunities in the White Wash Sand Dunes area. 
The interim final supplementary rules are necessary to halt ongoing 
impacts, provide for sanitation and public safety, and maintain the 
quality of recreation opportunities.
    BLM finds good cause to publish these supplementary rules on an 
interim final basis, effective the date of publication, because of 
public health and safety concerns within the management area. The Moab 
Field Office was contacted on June 14, 2006, by the Sanitarian for the 
Southeastern Utah Health Department regarding human waste at White Wash 
Sand Dunes. The problems identified by the Sanitarian include frequent 
dumping of holding tanks from recreational vehicles along the main 
access road (presumably done as people leave the area), human waste on 
the ground at camping areas, and the high density of poorly buried 
human waste near camping areas. The Health Department has received 
several complaints about this situation. These conditions represent an 
immediate threat to human health, and cause a continuous nuisance to 
recreational visitors and users of nearby lands.

III. Procedural Matters

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review

    These interim final supplementary rules are not a significant 
regulatory action and are not subject to review by the Office of 
Management and Budget under Executive Order 12866. The interim final 
supplementary rules will not have an annual effect of $100 million or 
more on the economy. They are not intended to affect commercial

[[Page 55011]]

activity, but impose a rule on disposal of the human waste of 
recreational visitors for health protection reasons in a limited area 
of public lands. The supplementary rules will not adversely affect, in 
a material way, the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the 
environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal 
governments or communities. The interim final supplementary rules will 
not create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an 
action taken or planned by another agency, but in fact are in 
furtherance of cooperation with State and local agencies. The interim 
final supplementary rules do not materially alter the budgetary effects 
of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or the right or 
obligations of their recipients; nor do they raise novel legal or 
policy issues. They merely impose a requirement to possess and use 
portable toilets on recreational users of a limited portion of the 
public lands in Utah in order to protect human health, safety, and the 
environment.

Clarity of the Interim Final Supplementary Rules

    Executive Order 12866 requires each agency to write regulations 
that are simple and easy to understand. We invite your comments on how 
to make these interim final supplementary rules easier to understand, 
including answers to questions such as the following:
    (1) Are the requirements in the interim final supplementary rules 
clearly stated?
    (2) Do the interim final supplementary rules contain technical 
language or jargon that interferes with their clarity?
    (3) Does the format of the interim final supplementary rules 
(grouping and order of sections, use of headings, paragraphing, etc.) 
aid or reduce their clarity?
    (4) Would the interim final supplementary rules be easier to 
understand if they were divided into more (but shorter) sections?
    (5) Is the description of the interim final supplementary rules in 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this preamble helpful in 
understanding the interim final supplementary rules? How could this 
description be more helpful in making the interim final supplementary 
rules easier to understand?
    Please send any comments you may have on the clarity of the interim 
final supplementary rules to one of the addresses specified in the 
ADDRESSES section.

National Environmental Policy Act

    The interim final supplementary rules do not constitute a major 
Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human 
environment under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C). BLM has determined that this 
supplementary rule requiring the use of portable toilets for overnight 
camping is an example of routine and continuing government business, 
including such things as supervision, administration, operations, 
maintenance and replacement activities having limited context and 
intensity, e.g., limited size and magnitude or short-term effects. 
Therefore, it is categorically excluded from environmental review under 
section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act, pursuant to 
516 Departmental Manual (DM), Chapter 2, Appendix 1. In addition, the 
supplementary rule does not meet any of the 10 criteria for exceptions 
to categorical exclusions listed in 516 DM, Chapter 2, Appendix 2. 
Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR 
1508.4) and the environmental policies and procedures of the Department 
of the Interior, the term ``categorical exclusions'' means a category 
of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant 
effect on the human environment and that have been found to have no 
such effect in procedures adopted by a Federal agency and for which 
neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact 
statement is required.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Congress enacted the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) of 1980, as 
amended, 5 U.S.C. 601-612, to ensure that Government regulations do not 
unnecessarily or disproportionately burden small entities. The RFA 
requires a regulatory flexibility analysis if a rule would have a 
significant economic impact, either detrimental or beneficial, on a 
substantial number of small entities. The interim final supplementary 
rules do not pertain specifically to commercial or governmental 
entities of any size, but to public recreational use of specific public 
lands. Therefore, BLM has determined under the RFA that the interim 
final supplementary rules would not have a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA)

    These interim final supplementary rules do not constitute a ``major 
rule'' as defined at 5 U.S.C. 804(2). The interim final supplementary 
rules merely contain a requirement that recreational users use portable 
toilets and remove their solid human wastes from certain public lands. 
The interim final supplementary rules would not affect business, 
commercial, or industrial use of the public lands.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    The interim final supplementary rules would not impose an unfunded 
mandate on State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate, or the 
private sector, of more than $100 million per year; nor would they have 
a significant or unique effect on small governments. These interim 
final supplementary rules do not require anything of State, local, or 
tribal governments. Therefore, BLM is not required to prepare a 
statement containing the information required by the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act (2 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Executive Order 12630, Governmental Actions and Interference With 
Constitutionally Protected Property Rights (Takings)

    The interim final supplementary rules are not a government action 
capable of interfering with constitutionally protected property rights. 
The interim final supplementary rules do not address property rights in 
any form, and do not cause the impairment of anybody's property rights. 
Therefore, the Department of the Interior has determined that these 
interim final supplementary rules would not cause a taking of private 
property or require further discussion of takings implications under 
this Executive Order.

Executive Order 13132, Federalism

    The interim final supplementary rules will not have a substantial 
direct effect on the States, on the relationship between the National 
Government and the States, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities among the various levels of government. The interim 
final supplementary rules apply on a limited area of land in only one 
State, Utah, and are intended to comply with State and local government 
requirements. Therefore, BLM has determined that the interim final 
supplementary rules do not have sufficient federalism implications to 
warrant preparation of a Federalism Assessment.

[[Page 55012]]

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform

    Under Executive Order 12988, we have determined that the interim 
final supplementary rules will not unduly burden the judicial system 
and that the requirements of sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of the Order are 
met. The supplementary rules comprise a provision requiring the use of 
portable toilets to protect human health and the environment.

Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal 
Governments

    In accordance with Executive Order 13175, the BLM has found that 
these interim final supplementary rules do not include policies that 
have tribal implications. The interim final supplementary rules do not 
affect lands held for the benefit of Indians, Aleuts, or Eskimos.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    These interim final supplementary rules do not contain information 
collection requirements that the Office of Management and Budget must 
approve under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

Author

    The principal author of the interim final supplementary rules is 
Russell von Koch, Recreation Branch Chief, Moab Field Office, Bureau of 
Land Management.

Human Waste Carry-Out Supplementary Rules

1. Definition

    Portable toilets may be--
    a. A containerized and reusable system;
    b. A commercially available biodegradable system that is landfill 
disposable; or
    c. A toilet within a camper, trailer, or motor home.

2. Rules

    a. You must possess, set up for usage, and use portable toilets for 
solid human body waste during overnight camping activity in the 
following area: Public lands administered by the Bureau of Land 
Management in and adjacent to the White Wash Sand Dunes near Green 
River, Utah, in the following sections: T. 23 S., R. 17 E., Sections 
21, 22, and 28.
    b. You must dispose of portable toilet waste off public land. This 
requirement is effective on a year-round basis and will remain in 
effect for camping use until modified by the authorized officer or 
until such time as constructed toilets are installed to provide 
reasonable coverage of the geographic area.
    c. Campers at the above-described area at White Wash Sand Dunes 
must not bury, or leave exposed, solid human body waste and toilet 
paper soiled with solid human body waste. The draining of sewage from a 
trailer or other vehicle upon the public lands, except in places or 
receptacles provided for that purpose, is prohibited by 43 CFR 8365.1-
1(b)(3).

3. Exceptions

    The portable toilet requirements do not apply to activities 
specifically exempted by BLM, or to military, fire, emergency, and law 
enforcement actions. Backpacking is not regulated by these 
supplementary rules. Backpacking is defined as camping more than 1 mile 
from a road without a vehicle.

4. Implementation

    This notice and a map depicting the area included under this human 
waste carry-out requirement are available for public review at the Moab 
Field Office. The area covered by this requirement is also shown on a 
map on the Moab Field Office's Web site at http://www.blm.gov/utah/moab. BLM will provide public land users with information about the 
human waste carry-out requirement using signs at or leading to major 
camping areas in the White Wash Sand Dunes area. Enforcement of the 
human waste carry-out rules will be taken as necessary in accordance 
with 43 CFR 8360.0-7, or violators may be subject to the enhanced 
penalties provided for by 18 U.S.C 3571.

5. Future Planning

    This notice shall not be construed as a limitation on BLM's future 
planning efforts and/or management of camping use on the public lands. 
BLM will periodically monitor resource conditions and trends in the 
area described above and may modify this notice or implement additional 
limitations or closures as necessary.

    Dated: August 2, 2006.
Gene R. Terland,
Acting, State Director.
[FR Doc. 06-7929 Filed 9-19-06; 8:45 am]
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