[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37270-37271]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12139]



[[Page 37270]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-OIA-DTS-35557; PPWODIREI0-PIN00IO15.XI0000-234P104215]


U.S. Nominations to the World Heritage List; 21-Day Notice of 
Opportunity for Public Comment

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice requests public comment on the next potential U.S. 
nominations from the U.S. World Heritage Tentative List (``Tentative 
List'') to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural 
Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List. The public may also make 
suggestions for future additions to the Tentative List. This notice 
complies with applicable World Heritage Program regulations.

DATES: Comments will be accepted on or before June 28, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods--
Mailing to Jonathan Putnam, Office of International Affairs, National 
Park Service, 1849 C Street NW, Room 2415, Washington, DC 20240 (202) 
354-1809, or sending electronic mail (Email) to: 
[email protected].
    Comments will not be accepted in any way other than those specified 
above.
    Information on the U.S. World Heritage program can be found at: 
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/internationalcooperation/worldheritage.htm.
    To request paper copies of documents discussed in this notice, 
contact April Brooks, Office of International Affairs, National Park 
Service, 1849 C St. NW, Room 2415, Washington, DC 20240, (202) 354-
1808, or sending electronic mail (Email) to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan Putnam, (202) 354-1809. For 
the World Heritage nomination format, see the World Heritage Centre 
website 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), an international treaty for the preservation of 
natural and cultural heritage sites of global significance. 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.
    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 may consider for nomination within a 
given time period, but does not guarantee future nomination. 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. A country cannot 
nominate a property unless it has been on its Tentative List for a 
minimum of a year. Countries also are limited at this time to 
nominating no more than one site in any given year.
    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 to U.S. laws.

Current U.S. World Heritage Tentative List

    The current U.S. World Heritage Tentative List includes the 
following properties:

Cultural Sites

Civil Rights Movement Sites, Alabama [Other Properties Would Be Added 
for a Complete Nomination]

--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

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

Jefferson (Thomas) Buildings, Virginia (Proposed Jointly as an 
Extension to the World Heritage Listing of Monticello and the 
University of Virginia Historic District)

--Poplar Forest, Bedford County
--Virginia State Capitol, Richmond

Mount Vernon, Virginia

Serpent Mound, Ohio

Ellis Island, New Jersey and New York

Chicago Early Skyscrapers, Illinois, Including: [Other Properties May 
Be Added in the Course of Developing a Nomination]

--Rookery
--Auditorium Building
--Monadnock Building
--Ludington Building
--Marquette Building
--Old Colony Building
--Schlesinger & Mayer (Carson, Pirie Scott) Department Store
--Second Leiter Building
--Fisher Building

Central Park, New York

Brooklyn Bridge, New York

Moravian Bethlehem District, Pennsylvania

Natural Sites

National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa (Formerly Fagatele Bay 
National Marine Sanctuary, American Samoa)

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia

Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

Marianas Trench National Monument, U.S. Territory, Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, Guam

Central California Current, California, Including

--Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary
--Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
--Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
--Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge
--Point Reyes National Seashore
--Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Big Bend National Park, Texas

Pacific Remote Islands National Monument, U.S. Territorial Waters

    Notes: (1) A nomination for the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks was 
submitted by the United States to the World Heritage Committee in 
January 2022 and will be considered by the

[[Page 37271]]

Committee at its upcoming annual session in September 2023. (2) A 
nomination of the Moravian Bethlehem District in Bethlehem, 
Pennsylvania as part of multi-country serial nomination of Moravian 
Settlements was submitted by the United States to the World Heritage 
Committee in January 2023 for consideration by the Committee in 2024. 
The nomination includes Herrnhut in Germany and Gracehill in Northern 
Ireland and was proposed as an extension to the World Heritage listing 
of Christiansfeld, a Moravian Church Settlement in Denmark. (3) The 
Department is now awaiting advice from the International Council on 
Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) on adding other properties to the proposal 
for the Civil Rights Movement Sites and its overall justification.

Request for Public Comments

    Comments on whether to authorize the preparation of a World 
Heritage nomination for any of the properties on the Tentative List 
should address the readiness and ability of the property owner(s) to 
prepare a satisfactory nomination document. Suggestions for additions 
to the Tentative List not previously submitted must address: (i) How 
the property(ies) would 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 website noted in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this notice; 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 
previous comment periods or otherwise submitted since 2008, have been 
retained and considered and should not be resubmitted at this time.

Selection and Nomination

    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 authorization to prepare a World Heritage nomination. 
The selection may include relevant factors, such as the likelihood of 
being able to complete a satisfactory nomination, and the fact that the 
United States is in arrears in its payments of dues to the World 
Heritage Fund. Once authorized, the property owners may prepare a draft 
nomination.
    The Department does not have a fixed schedule for completing or 
submitting World Heritage nominations. No more than one nomination from 
any country may be submitted per year, per the UNESCO World Heritage 
Operational Guidelines. Completed nominations, if approved by the 
Department for submission, may be submitted to the UNESCO World 
Heritage Centre by February 1 of any year.

Public Availability of Comments

    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.
    Authority: 54 U.S.C. 307101; 36 CFR part 73.

Shannon A. Estenoz,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2023-12139 Filed 6-6-23; 8:45 am]
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