[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 49 (Friday, March 14, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12108-12109]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04129]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
36 CFR Part 7
[NPS-GLCA-NPS39678; NPS-2024-0005; PPIMGLCAA0.PPMPSAS1Z.Y00000-
255P10361]
RIN 1024-AE91
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area; Motor Vehicles;
Postponement of Effective Date
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Final rule; postponement of effective date.
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SUMMARY: This action further postpones the effective date for a rule
published on January 13, 2025, pending judicial review.
DATES: As of March 14, 2025, the effective date of the rule amending 36
CFR part 7 published at 90 FR 2621, January 13, 2025, delayed on
February 13, 2025, at 90 FR 9518, is postponed indefinitely, pending
judicial review. The National Park Service (NPS) will publish a
document in the Federal Register announcing the new effective date or
other dates the public may need to know.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michelle Kerns, Superintendent, Glen
Canyon National Recreation Area, P.O. Box 1507, Page, Arizona 86040, by
phone at 928-608-6210, or by email at [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: On January 13, 2025, the NPS published a
final rule revising special regulations at Glen Canyon National
Recreation Area to update rules about the use of motor vehicles on
roads and off roads on designated routes and areas (the ``Final Rule'';
90 FR 2621). On January 20, 2025, the President issued a memorandum
titled ``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review'' (``Freeze Memo''). The
Freeze Memo directed all executive departments and agencies to consider
postponing for 60 days from the date of the Freeze Memo the effective
date for any rules that had been published in the Federal Register but
had not yet taken effect for the purpose of reviewing any questions of
fact, law, and policy that the rules may raise.
On February 13, the NPS published an action delaying the effective
date for the Final Rule until March 21, 2025 (90 FR 9518) for the
purpose of giving agency officials the opportunity to further review
any questions of fact, law, and policy that the Final Rule may raise.
After conducting that review, the NPS has determined that justice
requires an indefinite postponement of the effective date of the Final
Rule, pending resolution of ongoing litigation. Under section 705 of
the Administrative Procedure Act ``[w]hen an agency finds that justice
so requires, it may postpone the effective date of action taken by it,
pending judicial review.'' 5 U.S.C. 705. The State of Utah, Wayne and
Garfield Counties, and the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands
Administration have challenged the special regulations for motor
vehicle use at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area that were
promulgated in 2021 (the ``2021 Rule''; 86 FR 3804) and the
corresponding off-road vehicle management plan (``ORV plan''). State of
Utah v. Haaland, 4:24-cv-00048 (D. Utah). The plaintiffs allege
numerous legal deficiencies, including claimed State interests in roads
affected by the 2021 Rule, the plaintiffs' inability to economically
develop school trust lands accessed from roads managed by the ORV Plan,
and the opportunity for Department of the Interior agencies to better
coordinate motorized vehicle regulation across jurisdictional
boundaries. While the plaintiffs' challenge is to the 2021 Rule, many
of the issues raised in that litigation, including the effects of off-
road vehicle management on State interests and school trust lands, are
also relevant to the Final Rule.
The NPS has determined that postponing the effective date of the
Final Rule and preserving the regulatory status quo of the 2021 Rule
pending the resolution of ongoing litigation regarding that rule is
necessary in order to avoid unduly foreclosing potential remedies,
ensure proper adjudication of these claims, and avoid creating a
shifting regulatory landscape that may frustrate resolution of the
issues raised in that litigation. Maintaining the status quo will also
serve the public interest by avoiding confusion with the public on what
motorized uses are allowed in the Recreation Area and avoiding
unnecessary and costly agency operations to implement additional
changes while the previous changes are the subject of the pending
litigation.
Additionally, the Bureau of Land Management (``BLM'') released its
Travel Management Plan for the Henry Mountains and Freemont Gorge Area
on January 17, 2025, shortly after the publication of the Final Rule.
This area is adjacent to the Recreation Area, and roads from the
Recreation Area extend into this BLM planning area, and vice versa.
Postponing the effective date of the Final Rule will allow for ongoing
coordination on these matters that will better inform the adjudication
of the pending claims from the State of Utah and the other plaintiffs.
Finally, the National Parks Conservation Association and Southern
Utah Wilderness Alliance, parties to the Settlement Agreement under
which the Final Rule was published, have been granted intervenor status
in the challenge from the State of Utah to the 2021 Rule, so that the
interests of all parties will be heard and adequately protected by
resolution of these issues in that forum. In light of this active
litigation, the NPS has concluded that justice requires it to postpone
the effective date for the Final Rule until the
[[Page 12109]]
judicial challenges to the 2021 Rule are resolved.
In addition to the ongoing judicial review of the 2021 Rule, which
as described above raises issues relevant to the Final Rule, the United
States House of Representatives and the United States Senate have both
introduced joint resolutions providing for congressional disapproval of
the Final Rule under the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. chapter 8.
See H.J. Res. 60 (referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources
on February 21, 2025) and S.J. Res. 30 (placed on the Senate
Legislative Calendar on March 4, 2025). These resolutions create
additional uncertainty for the parties about whether the Final Rule
will become effective or will remain in effect if it does, providing
additional support for this decision to further postpone the effective
date of the Final Rule.
Maureen D. Foster,
Chief of Staff, Exercising the Delegated Authority of the Assistant
Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2025-04129 Filed 3-13-25; 8:45 am]
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