Notice2025-22913
Notice of Inventory Completion: California Department of Transportation, District 7, Los Angeles, CA
Primary source
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Published
December 16, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 7 has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 58285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22913]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6638; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041370; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: California Department of
Transportation, District 7, Los Angeles, CA
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) District 7 has completed an inventory of human remains and
has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human
remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this
notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or
after January 15, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
in this notice to Caprice Harper, California Department of
Transportation, District 7, 100 Main Street, 10th Floor, Los Angeles,
CA 90012, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#86c5e7f6f4efe5e3a8cee7f4f6e3f4c6e2e9f2a8e5e7a8e1e9f0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7a391b0a0813191f54321b080a1f083a1e150e54191b541d150c">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA.
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of
Caltrans, and additional information on the determinations in this
notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in its
inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not
responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Human remains representing, at least, two individuals have been
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. These two
individuals were removed from CA-LAN-2233 after Caltrans initiated an
emergency effort to recover burials located in the path of a
construction project to improve State Route 126. All human remains were
thought to be reburied at the time of excavation and the resulting
collection was housed at the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA), under Accession 894. This collection was then a part of a
NAGPRA repatriation in 2016 (88 FR 54350). For unknown reasons, the
human remains of the two individuals (Burials 15c and 16) listed in
this notice were then sent to the University of California, Riverside
UC Riverside) for radiocarbon dating, and then to the university of
California, Davis, before being transferred to the Santa Barbara Museum
of Natural History (SBMNH) in 2017, where they were identified in 2025.
There are no known/documented potentially hazardous substances used to
treat the human remains.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical
location and acquisition history of the human remains described in this
notice.
Determinations
Caltrans has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> There is a connection between the human remains described
in this notice and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of
the Santa Ynez Reservation, California.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this
notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this
notice under ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:
1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian
organizations identified in this notice.
2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal
descendant or an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation.
Repatriation of the human remains described in this notice to a
requestor may occur on or after January 15, 2026. If competing requests
for repatriation are received, Caltrans must determine the most
appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint
repatriation of the human remains are considered a single request and
not competing requests. Caltrans is responsible for sending a copy of
this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations
identified in this notice and any other consulting parties.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: November 19, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-22913 Filed 12-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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