[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 70204]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19447]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_AK_FRN_MO4500181601; F-86061, F-16298, F-16299, F-16301, AA-61299, 
F-16304, F-85667, AA-61005, F-85702, AA-66614, AA-65515, AA-65516, AA-
65513, AA-61301, AA-65514, F-16302]


Public Land Order No. 7947; Rescission of Public Land Order Nos. 
7899, 7900, 7901, 7902, and 7903; Alaska.

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Public Land Order.

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SUMMARY: This Order rescinds Public Land Order Nos. 7899 (see 86 FR 
5236), and 7900, 7901, 7902, and 7903 (unpublished), which purported to 
revoke Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) 17(d)(1) withdrawals 
affecting approximately 28 million acres of public lands within the 
Bay, Bering Sea-Western Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk-Seward Peninsula, 
and Ring of Fire planning areas.

DATES: This PLO takes effect on August 29, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brittany Templeton, Realty Specialist, 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Alaska State Office, 222 West Seventh 
Avenue, Mailstop #13, Anchorage, AK 99513-7504, (907) 271-4214, or 
[email protected]. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, 
deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 
(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. 
Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services 
offered within their country to make international calls to the point 
of contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department identified certain procedural 
and legal defects in the decision-making processes for PLO Nos. 7899 
(see 86 FR 5236), 7900, 7901, 7902, and 7903 (unpublished) 
(collectively, ``the PLOs''), including insufficient analysis under the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), failure to comply with 
section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and 
failure to secure consent from the Department of Defense (DOD) with 
regard to lands under DOD administration as required by section 204(i) 
of FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 1714(i)). The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
since analyzed the impacts of revoking the ANCSA 17(d)(1) withdrawals 
and opening the lands as stated in the five PLOs in the ANSCA 17(d)(1) 
Withdrawals Final Environmental Impact Statement under NEPA (see 89 FR 
55654), consulted on the action under the NHPA, and sought consent from 
agencies managing overlapping withdrawals pursuant to section 204(i) of 
FLPMA. The Secretary has determined, after the BLM documented 
compliance with those laws, that revocation would not protect the 
public interest and has therefore selected the No Action Alternative as 
set forth in a Record of Decision signed on August 23, 2024. This Order 
rescinds as improperly issued the five PLOs that would partially revoke 
the ANCSA 17(d)(1) withdrawals across five planning areas.

Order

    By virtue of the authority vested in the Secretary of the Interior 
by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq., 
including, but not limited to, the withdrawal revocation authority 
provided by section 204 of that Act, 43 U.S.C. 1714, and other 
authority, including her authority to correct legal errors of the 
Department, it is ordered as follows:
    Subject to valid existing rights, Public Land Order Nos. 7899 (86 
FR 5236), 7900, 7901, 7902, and 7903 are hereby rescinded as improperly 
issued; therefore, the ANCSA 17(d)(1) withdrawals remain in place to 
protect the public interest in important resource values insofar as 
they affect the Federal lands described in PLO Nos. 7899-7903 in the 
Bay, Bering Sea-Western Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk-Seward Peninsula, 
and Ring of Fire planning areas. The areas described aggregate a total 
of approximately 28,000,000 acres.

Deb Haaland,
Secretary of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 2024-19447 Filed 8-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-10-P