[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 179 (Friday, September 13, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 48454-48455]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-23332]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
43 CFR Part 2780
[WO-RIN 1004-AC53]
Special Areas: State Irrigation Districts
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to remove
regulations concerning the establishment and operation of state
irrigation districts, from the Code of Federal Regulations. BLM
believes these regulations are obsolete because there is only one
record in BLM of their use in the last 40 years.
DATES: Any comments must be received by BLM at the address below on or
before November 12, 1996. Comments received after the above date will
not necessarily be considered in the decisionmaking process on the
final rule.
ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may hand-deliver comments to the
Bureau of Land Management, Administrative Record, Room 401, 1620 L St.,
NW., Washington, DC; or mail comments to the Bureau of Land Management,
Administrative Record, Room 401LS, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC
20240. You also may transmit comments electronically via the Internet
to [email protected] Please include ``attn: RIN 1004-
AC53'' in your message. If you do not receive a confirmation from the
system that we have received your internet message, contact us
directly. You will be able to review comments at BLM's Regulatory
Management Team office, Room 401, 1620 L St., N.W., Washington, D.C.,
during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.) Monday through
Friday.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff Holdren, Bureau of Land
Management, Realty Use Group at (202) 452-7779.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Public Comment Procedures
II. Background and Discussion of Proposed rule
III. Procedural Matters
I. Public Comment Procedures
Written Comments
Written comments on the proposed rule should be specific, should be
confined to issues pertinent to the rule, and should explain the reason
for any recommended change. Where possible, comments should reference
the specific section or paragraph of the proposal which the comment
addresses. BLM may not necessarily consider or include in the
Administrative Record for the rule comments which BLM receives after
the close of the comment period (see DATES) or comments delivered to an
address other than those listed above (see ADDRESSES).
II. Background and Discussion of Proposed Rule
This proposed rule will remove 43 CFR part 2780, Special Areas:
State Irrigation Districts, from the Code of Federal Regulations. The
regulations in part 2780 implement the Act of August 11, 1916 entitled
``An Act to Promote the Reclamation of Arid Lands,'' 43 U.S.C. 621 et
seq. Part 2780 was originally issued as Circular Number 592 on March 6,
1918, and has existed in similar form since modified in 1922 to
accommodate amendments to the Act. These regulations describe the
procedures a state irrigation district uses to apply for secretarial
approval of an irrigation plan. If an application is approved, all
unentered public lands within the state irrigation district, and
entered lands for which no certificate has been issued, are subject to
the same provisions of State law relating to the reclamation of arid
lands for agricultural purposes as those which apply to private lands
within the district. Such lands are subject to a lien for all taxes and
assessments lawfully levied by the district on unpatented land. The
district also has the right to sell land that was
[[Page 48455]]
entered at the time of a tax levy for nonpayment of tax.
We have only one record at BLM of any activity in this program
during the last 40 years, occurring in 1971. We accessed our online
case recordation system and found no other record of any recent case
activity. We also searched a legal data base and found that the last
time the statute or implementing regulation was cited in a reported
civil case was in 1948. The program's inactivity and absence of civil
case citations indicate that this regulation may be obsolete.
Furthermore, we believe that the regulations are impractical to
administer due to the scarcity of water in public land states for
agricultural purposes. For these reasons, we believe that continued
publication of 43 CFR part 2780 is unnecessary and contrary to the
public interest.
III. Procedural Matters
National Environmental Policy Act
The BLM has prepared an environmental assessment (EA), and has
found that the proposed rule would not constitute a major federal
action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment
under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C). The BLM has placed the EA and the
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on file in the BLM
Administrative Record at the address specified previously. The BLM
invites the public to review these documents by contacting us at the
addresses listed above (see ADDRESSES), and suggests that anyone
wishing to submit comments in response to the EA and FONSI do so in
accordance with the ``Written Comments'' section above, or contact us
directly.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The rule does not contain information collection requirements which
the Office of Management and Budget must approve under the Paperwork
Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
Congress enacted the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA), 5
U.S.C. 601 et seq., to ensure that government regulations do not
unnecessarily or disproportionately burden small entities. The RFA
requires a regulatory flexibility analysis if a rule would have a
significant economic impact, either detrimental or beneficial, on a
substantial number of small entities. The BLM has determined under the
RFA that this proposed rule would not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Executive Order 12866
According to the criteria listed in section 3(f) of Executive Order
12866, BLM has determined that the proposed rule is not a significant
regulatory action. As such, the proposed rule is not subject to Office
of Management and Budget review under section 6(a)(3) of the order.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Removal of 43 CFR part 2780 will not result in any unfunded mandate
to state, local or tribal governments in the aggregate, or to the
private sector, of $100,000,000 or more in any one year.
Executive Order 12612
The proposed rule would not have sufficient federalism implications
to warrant BLM preparation of a Federalism Assessment (FA).
Executive Order 12630
The proposed rule does not represent a government action capable of
interfering with constitutionally protected property rights. Section
2(a)(1) of Executive Order 12630 specifically exempts actions
abolishing regulations or modifying regulations in a way that lessens
interference with private property use from the definition of
``policies that have takings implications.'' Since the primary function
of the proposed rule is to abolish unnecessary regulations, there will
be no private property rights impaired as a result. Therefore, BLM has
determined that the rule would not cause a taking of private property,
or require further discussion of takings implications under this
Executive Order.
Executive Order 12988
The Department of the Interior has determined that this rule meets
the applicable standards provided in sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of
Executive Order 12988.
Author
The principal author of this proposed rule is Jeff Holdren, Realty
Use Group, assisted by Ian Senio, Regulatory Management Team, Bureau of
Land Management, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240; Telephone
202/452-7779.
List of Subjects for 43 CFR Part 2780
Irrigation, Public lands--sale, Reclamation.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, and under the authority of
43 U.S.C. 1740, part 2780 of group 2700, subchapter B, chapter II of
title 43 of the Code of Federal Regulations is removed.
Dated: September 4, 1996.
Sylvia V. Baca,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 96-23332 Filed 9-12-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P
