The purpose of these administrative procedures is to set forth a process for State-specific rulemaking to address the management of inventoried roadless areas in areas where the Secretary determines that regulatory direction is appropriate based on a petition from the affected Governor.

Inventoried roadless areas—Areas identified in a set of inventoried roadless area maps, contained in the Forest Service Roadless Area Conservation, Final Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 2, dated November 2000, and any subsequent update or revision of those maps through the land management planning process.

The Governor of any State or territory that contains National Forest System lands may petition the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate regulations establishing management requirements for all or any portion of National Forest System inventoried roadless areas within that State or territory. Any such petition must be submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture not later than November 13, 2006.

(a) Review and consideration of petitions made pursuant to § 294.12 shall be accomplished as follows:

(1) Review. The Secretary shall review petitions and may request additional information from a petitioner before deciding whether to accept the petition. If the Secretary requests additional information from a petitioner, the petition will be considered complete when the petitioner provides the additional information.

(2) Disposition. The Secretary or the Secretary's designee shall respond to the petition within 180 days of receipt of a completed petition. The response shall accept or decline the petition to initiate a State-specific rulemaking.

(a) Any petition made pursuant to § 294.12 shall provide the following:

(1) The location and description of the particular lands for which the petition is being made, including maps and other appropriate resources in sufficient detail to enable consideration of the petition;

(2) The particular management requirements recommended for the lands and any exceptions;

(3) The identification of the circumstances and needs intended to be addressed by the petition, including conserving roadless area values and characteristics; protecting human health and safety; reducing hazardous fuels and restoring essential wildlife habitats; maintaining existing facilities such as dams, or providing reasonable access to public and private property or public and privately owned facilities; and technical corrections to existing maps such as boundary adjustments to remove existing roaded areas;

(4) A description of how the recommended management requirements identified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section differ from existing applicable land management plan(s) or policies related to inventoried roadless area management, and how they would comply with applicable laws and regulations;

(5) A description of how the recommended management requirements identified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section compare to existing State or local land conservation policies and direction set forth in any applicable State or local land and resource management plan(s);

(6) A description of how the recommended management requirements identified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section would affect the fish and wildlife that utilize the particular lands in question and their habitat;

(7) A description of any public involvement efforts undertaken by the petitioner during development of the petition, including efforts to engage Tribal and local governments, and persons with expertise in fish and wildlife biology, fish and wildlife management, forest management, outdoor recreation, and other important disciplines; and

(8) A commitment by the petitioner to participate as a cooperating agency in any environmental analysis for a rulemaking process.

(b) The petition contents described in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(8) of this section constitute an information collection requirement as defined by 5 CFR part 1320 and have been assigned Office of Management and Budget control number 0596-0178.

A National Advisory Committee shall review each petition and provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary within 90 days of receipt of a completed petition. The committee will also provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary on any subsequent State-specific rulemakings.

If the Secretary or the Secretary's designee accepts a petition, the Forest Service shall be directed to initiate notice and comment rulemaking to address the petition. The Forest Service shall coordinate development of the proposed rule with the petitioner. The Secretary or the Secretary's designee shall make the final decision for any State-specific inventoried roadless area management rule.

(a) The provisions of this subpart apply exclusively to the development and review of petitions made pursuant to this subpart.

(b) Nothing in this subpart shall be construed to provide for the transfer to, or administration by, a State or local authority of any Federally owned lands.

(c) Nothing in this subpart, nor any regulation promulgated pursuant to this petitioning process, shall prohibit the exercise of any valid existing rights.

In the event that any provision, section, subsection, or phrase of this subpart is determined by a court or body of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, unconstitutional, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions, sections, subsections, or phrases shall remain in full force and effect.