[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 43 (Monday, March 5, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13147-13149]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-5191]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS--OIA--WASO--0112--DTS:9376; 0050-673]


U.S. Nominations to the World Heritage List; 15-Day Notice of 
Opportunity for Public Comment

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This is a First Notice for the public to comment on the next 
potential U.S. nominations from the U.S. World Heritage Tentative List 
to the UNESCO World Heritage List, and on possible additions to the 
Tentative List. This notice complies with Sec. 73.7(c) of the World 
Heritage Program regulations (36 CFR part 73).
    The U.S. World Heritage Tentative List (formerly referred to as the 
Indicative Inventory) appears at the end of this notice. The current 
Tentative List was transmitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre on 
January 24, 2008 and includes properties that appear to qualify for 
World Heritage status and which may be considered for nomination by the 
United States to the World Heritage List. Any property nominated to the 
World Heritage List must have been on the Tentative List for at least a 
year prior to its nomination, according to the Operational Guidelines 
of the World Heritage Committee.
    On Thursday, July 14, 2011, the U.S. Department of the Interior 
announced that it had requested the preparation of draft World Heritage 
nominations for two properties or groups of properties on the Tentative 
List: The Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings and Poverty Point State Historic 
Site and National Monument. These draft nominations are currently in 
preparation.
    The United States Department of the Interior is now considering 
whether to initiate the preparation of draft nominations for any of the 
remaining properties on the Tentative List to the World Heritage List. 
The Department will consider both public comments received during this 
comment period and the advice of the Federal Interagency Panel for 
World Heritage (the Panel) in making a final decision on any future 
nominations. The United States is currently prohibited by law from 
providing any funding to UNESCO, including UNESCO and World Heritage 
member dues. The Panel will consider possible implications of this 
status in making its recommendation on future nominations.
    Comments may also be made on suggestions for additions to the 
Tentative List, although the Department is not required to make 
additions to the List. All previous suggestions made during the public 
comment period held from December 14, 2010-January 14, 2011, as well as 
those made since that time, are still on file for consideration and 
should not be resubmitted at this time.

DATES: Comments will be accepted on or before fifteen days from the 
date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
    If additional site(s) are selected by the Department for 
nomination, public notice will be made of the decision. The site's 
owner(s) will be responsible, in cooperation with the National Park 
Service, for preparing the draft nomination in the nomination Format 
required by the World Heritage Committee and for gathering 
documentation in support of it. Legal protective measures must be in 
place before a property may be nominated. Any such nominations must be 
received from the preparers by the National Park Service in 
substantially complete draft form by a date on or near July 15, 2013. 
Such draft nominations will be reviewed, revisions requested if 
necessary, and, if considered by the Department to be technically and

[[Page 13148]]

substantively adequate, as well as in consideration of other relevant 
factors, may be provided to the World Heritage Centre for technical 
review no later than September 30, 2013. The Centre would then provide 
comments by approximately November 15, 2013, with final submittal to 
the World Heritage Centre by the Department of the Interior through the 
Department of State no later than January 30, 2014. Any nomination 
submitted by that date will be considered by the World Heritage 
Committee at its meeting in the summer of 2015. The Committee, composed 
of representatives of 21 nations elected as the governing body of the 
World Heritage Convention, makes the final decisions on which 
nominations to accept on the World Heritage List. If a nomination 
cannot be completed in accordance with this timeline, work may continue 
on the nomination for possible submission to UNESCO in a subsequent 
year.

ADDRESSES: Please provide all comments directly to Jonathan Putnam, 
Office of International Affairs, National Park Service, 1201 Eye Street 
NW., (0050). Washington, DC 20005 or by Email to: [email protected]. Phone: 202-354-1809. Fax 202-371-1446. All comments 
will be a matter of public record. Before including an address, phone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in a 
comment, members of the public should be aware that the entire 
comment--including personal identifying information--may be made public 
at any time. While commenters can request that personal identifying 
information be withheld from public review, it may not be possible to 
comply with this request.
    Comments on whether to nominate any of the properties on the 
Tentative List must address:
    (i) How well the property(ies) meet the World Heritage nomination 
criteria, requirements for authenticity, integrity, legal protection 
and management. Information on these criteria and requirements can be 
found on the National Park Service Office of International Affairs Web 
site http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/worldheritage.htm 
under ``General Information''; and
    (ii) The readiness and ability of the property owner(s) to prepare 
a satisfactory nomination document according to the timeline outlined 
above.
    Only the 10 properties or groups of properties included in U.S. 
Tentative List and not previously selected to prepare nominations are 
eligible to be considered for nomination by the United States to the 
World Heritage List at this time. One property on the List, 
Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, was nominated in 2009 and 
listed as a World Heritage Site in 2010. Brief descriptions of the 
properties appear on the Web site just noted.
    Suggestions for additions to the Tentative List not previously 
submitted must address:
    (i) How well the property(ies) meet the World Heritage nomination 
criteria, requirements for authenticity, integrity, legal protection 
and management. Information on these criteria and requirements can be 
found on the National Park Service Office of International Affairs Web 
site http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/worldheritage.htm 
under ``General Information;'' and
    (ii) The U.S. legal prerequisites that include the agreement of all 
property owners to the nomination of their property, an official 
determination that the property is nationally significant (such as by 
designation as a National Historic or National Natural Landmark), and 
effective legal protection.
    All previous suggestions for the Tentative List made during the 
public comment period held from December 14, 2010-January 14, 2011, as 
well as those made since that time, are still on file for consideration 
and should not be resubmitted at this time.
    All public comments will be summarized and provided to Department 
of the Interior officials, who will obtain the advice of the Federal 
Interagency Panel for World Heritage before making any selection of 
properties for World Heritage nomination. The selection may include the 
following considerations:
    (i) How well the particular type of property (i.e., theme or 
region) is represented on the World Heritage List in both the United 
States and other nations;
    (ii) The balance between cultural and natural properties already on 
the List and those under consideration;
    (iii) Opportunities that the property affords for public 
visitation, interpretation, and education;
    (iv) Potential threats to the property's integrity or its current 
state of preservation;
    (v) Likelihood of being able to complete a satisfactory nomination 
according to the timeline described above; and
    (vi) Other relevant factors, including the possible implications of 
non-payment of U.S. dues to UNESCO or the World Heritage Fund.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan Putnam, 202-354-1809 or April 
Brooks, 202-354-1808. General information about U.S. participation in 
the World Heritage Program and the process used to develop the 
Tentative List is posted on the Office of International Affairs Web 
site at: http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/worldheritage.htm.
    To request a paper copy of the U.S. Tentative List, please contact 
April Brooks, Office of International Affairs, National Park Service, 
1201 Eye Street, NW (0050) Washington DC 20005. Email: [email protected].
    For the World Heritage nomination Format, see the World Heritage 
Centre Web site at http://whc.unesco.org/en/nominations.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The World Heritage List is an international list of cultural and 
natural properties nominated by the signatories to the World Heritage 
Convention (1972). The United States was the prime architect of the 
Convention, an international treaty for the preservation of natural and 
cultural heritage sites of global significance proposed by President 
Richard M. Nixon in 1972, and the U.S. was the first nation to ratify 
it. The United States has served several terms on the elected 21-nation 
World Heritage Committee, but is not currently on the Committee. There 
are 936 sites in 153 of the 188 signatory countries. Currently there 
are 21 World Heritage Sites in the United States.
    U.S. participation and the roles of the Department of the Interior 
and the National Park Service are authorized by Title IV of the 
Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 1980 and conducted in 
accordance with 36 CFR part 73--World Heritage Convention.
    The National Park Service serves as the principal technical agency 
for the U.S. Government to the Convention and manages all or parts of 
17 of the 21 U.S. World Heritage Sites currently listed, including 
Yellowstone National Park, the Everglades, and the Statue of Liberty.
    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. A country cannot nominate a property unless 
it has been on its Tentative List for a minimum of a year. Countries 
also are limited to nominating no more than

[[Page 13149]]

two sites in any given year. If two are nominated, at least one must be 
a natural site or a cultural landscape.
    Neither inclusion in the Tentative List nor inscription as a World 
Heritage Site imposes legal restrictions on owners or neighbors of 
sites, nor does it give the United Nations any management authority or 
ownership rights in U.S. World Heritage Sites, which continue to be 
subject only to U.S. laws. Inclusion in the Tentative List merely 
indicates that the property may be further examined for possible World 
Heritage nomination in the future.
    The World Heritage Committee's Operational Guidelines ask 
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.
    In order to guide the U.S. World Heritage Program effectively and 
in a timely manner, NPS prepared and submitted (through the Secretary 
of the Interior and the Secretary of State) to the World Heritage 
Centre of UNESCO on January 24, 2008, the previously referenced 
Tentative List of properties that appear to meet the criteria for 
nomination. Information on how the Tentative List was developed is 
available on the Office of International Affairs Web site at http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/worldheritage.htm.
    In order to be included, a proposed site must meet several U.S. 
prerequisites in addition to appearing to meet the stringent World 
Heritage criteria of international importance. The U.S. prerequisites 
include the written agreement of all property owners to the nomination 
of their property, a prior official determination that the property is 
nationally important (such as by designation as a National Historic or 
National Natural Landmark), and effective legal protection. Support 
from stakeholders, including elected officials, is also considered 
important.

U.S. World Heritage Tentative List Cultural Sites (9)

Civil Rights Movement Sites, Alabama

Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, Montgomery
Bethel Baptist Church, Birmingham
16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham

Dayton Aviation Sites, Ohio

    Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, including:

--Huffman Prairie (part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base)
--Wright Cycle Company and Wright & Wright Printing, Dayton
--Wright Hall (housing the Wright Flyer III), Dayton
--Hawthorn Hill, Dayton

Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, Ohio

Fort Ancient State Memorial, Warren County
Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, near Chillicothe

    Newark Earthworks State Historic Site, Newark and Heath, including:

--Wright Earthworks
--The Octagon Earthworks
--Great Circle Earthworks

Jefferson (Thomas) Buildings, Virginia

Poplar Forest, Bedford County
Virginia State Capitol, Richmond
    (Proposed jointly as an extension to the World Heritage listing of 
Monticello and the University of Virginia Historic District)

Mount Vernon, Virginia

Poverty Point National Monument and State Historic Site, Louisiana 
[Selected To Prepare a Nomination in 2011; Draft Nomination in 
Preparation]

San Antonio Franciscan Missions, Texas

Mission San Antonio de Valero (The Alamo)
    San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, including:

--Mission Concepcion
--Mission San Jose
--Mission San Juan
--Mission Espada (including Rancho de las Cabras)

Serpent Mound, Ohio

Wright (Frank Lloyd) Buildings [Selected To Prepare a Nomination in 
2011; Draft Nomination in Preparation]

Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona
Hollyhock House, Los Angeles, California
Marin County Civic Center, San Rafael, California
Frederick C. Robie House, Chicago, Illinois
Unity Temple, Oak Park, Illinois
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York
Price Tower, Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Fallingwater, Mill Run, Pennsylvania
S. C. Johnson and Son, Inc., Administration Building and Research 
Tower, Racine, Wisconsin
Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin
Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House, Madison, Wisconsin

Natural Sites (4)

Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, American Samoa

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia

Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 470 a-1, a-2, d; 36 CFR 73.

    Dated: February 10, 2012.
Rachel Jacobson,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2012-5191 Filed 3-2-12; 8:45 am]
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