[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 210 (Wednesday, October 31, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61664-61666]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-21377]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


30-Day Notice of Intention To Request Clearance of Collection of 
Information; Opportunity for Public Comment

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Consistent with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 CFR 
Part 1320. Reporting and Record Keeping Requirements, the National Park 
Service (NPS) hereby publishes and invites comments on the proposed new 
U.S. World Heritage Tentative List (OMB 1024-0050).

DATES: Public comments on this Information Collection Request (ICR) 
will be accepted on or before November 30, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to: Jonathan Putnam, Office of International 
Affairs, NPS, 1201 Eye Street, NW., (0050), Washington, DC 20005; or 
via e-mail at [email protected] ; or via phone at 202/354-1809; 
or via fax at 202/371-1446. Also, you may send comments to Leonard 
Stowe, NPS Information Collection Clearance Officer, 1849 C St., NW., 
(2605), Washington, DC 20240; or by e-mail at [email protected]. 
All comments will become a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan Putnam at 202/354-1809, or 
April Brooks at 202/354-1808. General information about the Tentative 
List process is posted on the Office of International Affairs Web site 
at http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/tentativelist.htm. The 
NPS staff report, including summaries of information on each site 
referenced in the draft Tentative List being published in this notice, 
is posted in its entirety on the Internet at http://www.nps.gov/oia/TLEssayFinal.pdf. If you would like to review the original Applications 
submitted to the NPS for these candidate sites, please go to: http://www.nps.gov/oia/NewWebpages/ApplicantsTentativeList.html.
    To Request a Paper Copy of the Staff Report on the Draft U.S. World 
Heritage Tentative List Contact: April Brooks, Office of International 
Affairs, NPS, 1201 Eye Street, NW., (0050), Washington, DC 20005; or 
via phone at 202/354-1808; or via e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Application for the Inclusion of a Property in the U.S. 
World Heritage Tentative List.

[[Page 61665]]

    Bureau Form #(s): None.
    OMB #: 1024-0050.
    Expiration Date: 08/31/2009.
    Type of Request: New Collection.
    Description of Need: The U.S. World Heritage List is an 
international list of cultural and natural properties of outstanding 
universal value nominated by the signatories of the World Heritage 
Convention (1972). In 1973, the United States was the first nation to 
ratify the treaty. U.S. participation and the roles of the Department 
of the Interior and the NPS are authorized by Title IV of the Historic 
Preservation Act Amendments of 1980 and conducted in accordance with 36 
CFR 73--World Heritage Convention.
    A Tentative List is a national list of natural and cultural 
properties appearing to meet the World Heritage Committee eligibility 
criteria for nomination to the World Heritage List. It is a list of 
candidate sites which a country intends to consider for nomination 
within a given time period.
    The World Heritage Committee has issued Operational Guidelines 
asking participating nations to provide Tentative Lists, which aid in 
evaluating properties for the World Heritage List on a comparative 
international basis and help the Committee to schedule its work over 
the long term. The Guidelines recommend that a nation review its 
Tentative List at least once every decade. The new Tentative List will 
altogether replace the current U.S. Tentative List (formerly Indicative 
Inventory) that was published by NPS in the Federal Register on May 6, 
1982 (FR 47, 88: 19648-19655) and amended with an additional site in 
1983 and one other in 1990.
    In order to guide the U.S. World Heritage Program effectively and 
in a timely manner NPS intends to prepare and submit through the 
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of State to the World 
Heritage Centre of UNESCO by February 1, 2008, a Tentative List of 
properties that appear to meet the criteria for nomination and can be 
nominated during the ensuing decade (2009-2019), starting on or before 
February 1, 2009. The number of sites included on the proposed 
Tentative List is limited so as to meet the World Heritage Committee's 
request that the Tentative List allow for the nomination of no more 
than two sites per year by any one nation (excluding potential 
emergency nominations not at present foreseen).
    Only sites that have been formally found to be of national 
significance and that have such legal protections as appear necessary 
to ensure the preservation of the properties and their environment may 
even be given preliminary consideration for nomination by the United 
States. By law and regulation, all property owners must also concur in 
any World Heritage nomination. Only properties for which Applications 
were submitted and signed by owners or authorized representatives have 
been considered for inclusion in the new U.S. World Heritage Tentative 
List.
    Inclusion in the Tentative List does not confer World Heritage 
status or confer any other legal effects on a property, but merely 
indicates that a property may be further examined for possible World 
Heritage nomination in the future.
    The National Park Service Office of International Affairs (NPS-OIA) 
and the George Wright Society (GWS) have worked together under a 
cooperative agreement to prepare the new U.S. Tentative List. The 
present notice provides an opportunity for property owners and the 
public to comment on the NPS staff recommendations for the Tentative 
List and the accompanying explanatory essay. Subsequently, the 
Secretary of the Interior, through the Assistant Secretary for Fish and 
Wildlife and Parks, will determine the composition of the new Tentative 
List and will, as previously noted, submit it through the U.S. 
Department of State to the World Heritage Committee.
    The NPS staff recommendations along with the U.S. National 
Commission for UNESCO recommendations appear at the end of this Notice. 
The Tentative List is to consist of properties that appear to quality 
for World Heritage status and which may be considered for nomination by 
the United States to the World Heritage List during the next decade. 
The opportunity for the public to comment is part of a process that has 
also included the review of the NPS staff recommendations by the U.S. 
National Commission for UNESCO, a Federal Advisory Commission (FACA) to 
the U.S. Department of State.
    Process for Developing the U.S. World Heritage Tentative List: The 
NPS-OIA provided an Application form in August 2006 for voluntary 
applications to a new U.S. World Heritage Tentative List by 
governmental and private property owners. It was intended that 
preparers use the Application to demonstrate that their properties meet 
the criteria established by the World Heritage Committee for inclusion 
in the World Heritage List (which can be found in the general 
information on the Tentative List on the NPS-OIA website) and other 
requirements, including those of U.S. domestic law (16 U.S.C. 470 a-1, 
a-2, d) and the program regulations (36 CFR 73--World Heritage 
Convention).
    Thirty-seven (37) Applications were received by the April 1, 2007 
deadline. Two were subsequently withdrawn. The NPS recommendations were 
based on staff review of the Applications by the OIA, in consultation 
with NPS subject matter experts and external reviewers for cultural and 
natural resources who are knowledgeable about the World Heritage 
Committee's policies, practices and precedents. Additional 
correspondence and/or Addenda containing revised or expanded material 
was received from most applicants in response to written reviews that 
were provided to them; all of this material has been carefully 
considered.
    Results of Review: Below is a summary of the NPS staff 
recommendations, which were also provided to the World Heritage 
Tentative List Subcommittee of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO 
for review. The specific NPS staff recommendations are listed at the 
end of this notice.
    The OIA recommends 19 sites for a new Tentative List. These include 
three natural properties, 15 cultural properties (two of which are 
extensions to currently inscribed World Heritage Sites), and one mixed 
natural and cultural property. The staff review recommends four 
additional sites for future consideration.
    NPS specifically requests comments on: (1) The qualifications of 
the properties listed below as staff recommendations for inclusion in 
the U.S. World Heritage Tentative List; (2) their assignment to the 
categories in which they are grouped; (3) how the Tentative List should 
be added to or revised in the future; (4) how and by whom World 
Heritage nominations will be prepared; and (5) how to improve public 
awareness and understanding of the World Heritage program in the United 
States. In formulating your comments, you may wish to take account of 
the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO's recommendations referenced 
just below.
    It should be emphasized that the attached list reflects an interim 
step in the process and is not the final version of the new U.S. World 
Heritage Tentative List. All public comments that will contribute to 
the development of the final Tentative List are welcomed and will be 
summarized and provided to the Department of the Interior officials who 
will determine the content of the Tentative List.
    Comments are also invited on: (1) The practical utility of the 
information being gathered; (2) the accuracy of the burden

[[Page 61666]]

hour estimate; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden to 
respondents, including use of automated information collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology. Before including 
your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal 
identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your 
entire comment--including your personal identifying information--may be 
made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your 
comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public 
review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    Review by U.S. National Commission for UNESCO: The staff 
recommendations for the draft Tentative List were reviewed by a 
subcommittee of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO--which included 
Federal agency representatives drawn from the Federal Interagency Panel 
on World Heritage--on September 27, 2007. The subcommittee presented 
its recommendations to the full Commission in a conference call on 
October 4, 2007, in which the public participated. The recommendations 
by the National Commission, including those which differ from the NPS 
staff recommendations, are being displayed on the NPS staff recommended 
list below and posted on the National Commission's website where they 
may be consulted at http://www.state.gov/p/io/unesco. The members of 
the National Commission and the World Heritage Draft Tentative List 
Subcommittee are identified on the same Web site. The contact for the 
U.S. National Commission for UNESCO is Ken Kolson at 202/663-0289 
([email protected]).
    Further Actions: The NPS will consider public comments and the 
National Commission's advice and submit a proposed Tentative List 
through the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks to the 
U.S. Secretary of the Interior, who will determine the final 
composition of the Tentative List. The list will be transmitted to the 
World Heritage Centre by the Department of State by February 1, 2008. 
This deadline complies with the necessary timeline for preparing the 
first nominations of sites from the Tentative List in calendar 2008 for 
submission by February 1, 2009. Such nominations will be prepared in 
full compliance with the applicable portion of 36 CFR 73.7, the World 
Heritage Program Regulations.

Draft U.S. World Heritage Tentative List

Summary of Nps Staff Recommendations*
    * (Where the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO's Recommendations 
Differ from those of the NPS Staff Report, they are indicated with the 
following numbers):
    \1\ Recommended for Future Consideration by the U.S. National 
Commission for UNESCO.
    \2\ Recommended to be placed in ``Other Properties Considered'' by 
the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO.

Natural Properties Recommended for Inclusion (3)

    Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona.
    White Sands National Monument, New Mexico.
    Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia.

Mixed Property Recommended for Inclusion (1)

    Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, Hawaii.

Cultural Properties Recommended for Inclusion (13)

    Poverty Point State Historic Site, Louisiana.
    Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, Ohio.
    Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings, Arizona, California, Illinois, New 
York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
    Civil Rights Movement Sites, Alabama.
    Serpent Mound, Ohio.
    San Antonio Franciscan Missions, Texas.
    \1\ French Creole Properties of the Mid-Mississippi Valley, 
Illinois and Missouri.
    \1\ Eastern State Penitentiary, Pennsylvania.
    \1\ Olana (Home of Frederic Church), New York.
    \1\ Dayton Aviation Sites, Ohio.
    \1\ Gamble House, California.
    \1\ Pipestone National Monument, Minnesota.
    \2\ Mount Vernon, Virginia.

Recommended Extensions of World Heritage Cultural Sites (2)

    Thomas Jefferson Buildings: Poplar Forest and the Virginia State 
Capitol, Virginia.
    \1\ Moundville Site, Alabama.

Cultural Properties Recommended for Future Consideration (4)

    Moravian Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
    Colonial Newport, Rhode Island.
    Shaker Villages, Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Kentucky.
    Underground Railroad Sites (John Parker and John Rankin Houses, 
Ripley, Ohio).

Other Natural Properties Considered (2)

    \1\ Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, American Samoa.
    \1\ Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Massachusetts.

Other Cultural Properties Considered (9)

    Blackwater Draw Locality No. 1, New Mexico.
    Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Pennsylvania.
    SunWatch Village, Ohio.
    Historic Center of Savannah, Georgia.
    New Harmony, Indiana.
    Central of Georgia, Savannah Shed and Terminal Facility, Georgia.
    Gilded Age Newport, Rhode Island.
    Shenandoah-Dives Mill, Colorado.
    Columbia River Highway, Oregon.

    Dated: October 25, 2007.
Leonard E. Stowe,
NPS, Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. E7-21377 Filed 10-30-07; 8:45 am]
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