Notice of Inventory Completion: California Department of Transportation, District 7, Los Angeles, CA

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR <SUBAGY>National Park Service</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[N6638; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041370; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Notice of Inventory Completion: California Department of Transportation, District 7, Los Angeles, CA</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Park Service, Interior. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Notice. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> 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. </SUM> <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or after January 15, 2026. </DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> 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 <E T="03">Caprice.Harper@dot.ca.gov.</E> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> 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. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Abstract of Information Available</HD> 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. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Cultural Affiliation</HD> 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. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Determinations</HD> Caltrans has determined that: • The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry. • 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. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Requests for Repatriation</HD> Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this notice under <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> . 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. <E T="03">Authority:</E> Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10. <SIG> <DATED>Dated: November 19, 2025.</DATED> <NAME>Melanie O'Brien,</NAME> Manager, National NAGPRA Program. </SIG> </SUPLINF> <FRDOC>[FR Doc. 2025-22913 Filed 12-15-25; 8:45 am]</FRDOC> </NOTICE>