PART 37—CAVE MANAGEMENT Authority: 16 U.S.C. 4301-4309; 43 U.S.C. 1740. Source: 58 FR 51554, Oct. 1, 1993, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A—Cave Management—General § 37.1 Purpose. The purpose of this part is to provide the basis for identifying and managing significant caves on Federal lands administered by the Secretary of the Interior. § 37.2 Policy. It is the policy of the Secretary that Federal lands be managed in a manner which, to the extent practical, protects and maintains significant caves and cave resources. The type and degree of protection will be determined through the agency resource management planning process with full public participation. § 37.3 Authority. Section 4 of the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988 (102 Stat. 4546; 16 U.S.C. 4301) authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations providing for the identification of significant caves. Section 5 authorizes the Secretary to withhold information concerning the location of significant caves under certain circumstances. § 37.4 Definitions. (a) Authorized officer (b) Cave (c) Cave resources (d) Federal lands, (e) Secretary (f) Significant cave § 37.5 Collection of information. (a) The collections of information contained in this part have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. (b) The public reporting burden is estimated to average 3 hours per response for the cave nomination and one-half hour per response for the confidential cave information request. The estimated response time for both of the information burdens includes time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to Bureau of Land Management Clearance Officer, WO-873, Mail Stop 401 LS, 1849 C Street NW., Washington, DC 20240; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project 1004-0165/6, Washington, D.C. 20503. Subpart B—Cave Designation § 37.11 Nomination, evaluation, and designation of significant caves. (a) Nominations for initial and subsequent listings. Federal Register, (b) Evaluation for initial and subsequent listings. (c) Criteria for significant caves. (1) Biota. (2) Cultural. (3) Geologic/Mineralogic/Paleontologic. (i) Geologic or mineralogic features that are fragile, or that exhibit interesting formation processes, or that are otherwise useful for study. (ii) Deposits of sediments or features useful for evaluating past events. (iii) Paleontologic resources with potential to contribute useful educational and scientific information. (4) Hydrologic. (5) Recreational. (6) Educational or Scientific. (d) National Park Service policy. et seq. (e) Special management areas. (f) Designation and documentation. (g) Decision final. (h) If a cave is determined to be significant, its entire extent, including passages not mapped or discovered at the time of the determination, is deemed significant. This includes caves that extend from lands managed by any Federal agency into lands managed by one or more other bureaus or agencies of the Department of the Interior, as well as caves initially believed to be separate for which interconnecting passages are discovered after significance is determined. § 37.12 Confidentiality of cave location information. (a) Information disclosure. (b) Requesting confidential information. (1) Name, address, and telephone number of the individual responsible for the security of the information received. (2) A legal description of the area for which the information is sought. (3) A statement of the purpose for which the information is sought, and (4) Written assurances that the requesting party will maintain the confidentiality of the information and protect the cave and its resources. (c) Decision final.