Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 20, 2023 / Proposed Rules 64853 

Tennessee State line for 10.13 miles to 

the boundary of the Cumberland Gap 

National Historical Park; then 

(2) Proceed southwest, then northwest 

along the park boundary for 

approximately 4.78 miles to its 

intersection with the 500-meter 

elevation contour on Powell Mountain; 

then 

(3) Proceed southwest, then northeast, 

then southwest along the meandering 

500-meter elevation contour for 

approximately 11.18 miles, crossing 

onto the Morristown map, and 

continuing along the 500-meter 

elevation contour for approximately 

10.38 miles, crossing onto the Oak Ridge 

map, and continuing along the 500- 

meter elevation contour for 8.7 miles to 

the point where it turns sharply 

northeast just east of Highway 25W and 

north of Lafollette; then 

(4) Proceed west in a straight line for 

approximately 0.49 mile, crossing over 

Highway 25W, to the 500-meter 

elevation contour; then 

(5) Proceed southwest, then northeast 

along the 500-meter elevation contour 

for approximately 7.46 miles to its 

intersection with and unnamed 

tributary of Bruce Creek; then 

(6) Proceed west in a straight line to 

Interstate 75; then 

(7) Proceed south in a straight line for 

approximately 6.34 miles to the 

intersection of the Campbell and 

Anderson County lines; then 

(8) Proceed south along the shared 

Campbell-Anderson County line for 

approximately 6.28 miles, crossing over 

Stony Fork, to the intersection with an 

unnamed trail running southwest-tonortheast along Windrock Mountain; 

then 

(9) Proceed southwest in a straight 

line for 9.26 miles to the intersection 

with the shared Anderson-Morgan 

County line; then 

(10) Proceed southeast along the 

Anderson-Morgan County line for 

approximately 5.59 miles to its 

intersection with the Roane County line; 

then 

(11) Proceed southwest along the 

shared Roane-Morgan County line for 

approximately 5.65 miles, crossing onto 

the Watts Bar Lake map, and continuing 

along the Roane-Morgan County line to 

its intersection with the Cumberland 

County line; the 

(12) Proceed southwest in a straight 

line for approximately 8.82 miles to the 

intersection of the Roane and Rhea 

County lines and State Road 29; then 

(13) Proceed southerly along the 

shared Roane-Rhea County line for 

approximately 5.47 miles to its 

intersection with the Meigs County line; 

then 

(14) Proceed south-southeast along 

the Roane-Meigs County line to its 

intersection with the McMinn County 

line; then 

(15) Proceed east along the shared 

Roane-McMinn County line for 1.8 

miles to the intersection with the 

Loudon County line; then 

(16) Proceed south, then easterly 

along the shared Loudon-McMinn 

County line to its intersection with the 

Monroe County line; then 

(17) Proceed south, then southeast 

along the shared McMinn-Monroe 

County line for approximately 10.56 

miles, crossing onto the Cleveland, 

Tennessee-North Carolina map, and 

continuing along the shared McMinnMonroe County line for approximately 

13.67 miles to the intersection with an 

unnamed highway known locally as 

State Road 39/Mecca Highway; then 

(18) Proceed southeast along State 

Road 39 for approximately 3.04 miles to 

its intersection with the Cherokee 

National Forest boundary, which is 

concurrent with Conasauga Creek; then 

(19) Proceed southeasterly, then 

northerly along the Cherokee National 

Forest boundary for approximately 

23.67 miles, crossing onto the Watts Bar 

Lake map, and continue northeasterly, 

then easterly along the forest boundary 

for approximately 15.35 miles as it 

meanders east through Tellico Lake and 

becomes concurrent with the BlountMonroe County line and crosses onto 

the Knoxville, Tennessee-North 

Carolina map, to the forest boundary’s 

intersection with Abrams Creek; then 

(20) Proceed north in a straight line 

for approximately 1,500 feet to the Great 

Smoky Mountains National Park 

boundary; then 

(21) Proceed northeast, then 

southeast, then northeast along the park 

boundary line for a total of 

approximately 51.47 miles to its 

intersection with the shared CockeSevier County line near Rocky Grove; 

then 

(22) Proceed northeast in a straight 

line for 6.15 miles to the intersection of 

the Cherokee National Forest boundary 

with Highway 321/State Road 32 and 

Rabbit Branch near Allen Grove; then 

(23) Proceed east along the forest 

boundary for 1.99 miles to its 

intersection with Interstate 40; then 

(24) Proceed north along Interstate 40 

for 2.98 miles to its intersection with 

Highway 321; then 

(25) Proceed northeast along the forest 

boundary for 3.12 miles to its 

intersection with State Road 73 at 

Edwina; then 

(26) Proceed northeast in a straight 

line for 9.2 miles, crossing onto the 

Morristown map, and continuing 

northeast in a straight line for 4.16 miles 

to the shared Greene-Cocke County line; 

then 

(27) Proceed northwest along the 

Greene-Cocke County line to its 

intersection with the Hamblen County 

line; then 

(28) Proceed northeast along the 

Hamblen-Greene County line to its 

intersection with the Hawkins County 

line; then 

(29) Proceed northwest, then 

southwest along the Hawkins-Hamblen 

County line to its intersection with the 

Grainger County line; then 

(30) Proceed northwesterly along the 

Hawkins-Grainger County line to its 

intersection with the Hancock County 

line; then 

(31) Proceed west along the GraingerHancock County line to its intersection 

with the Claiborne County line; then 

(32) Proceed north along the HancockClaiborne County line for approximately 

8.14 miles, crossing onto the 

Middlesboro map, and continuing 

northwest along the Hancock-Claiborne 

county line for approximately 8.51 

miles to return to the beginning point. 

Signed: September 8, 2023. 

Mary G. Ryan, 

Administrator. 

Approved: September 11, 2023. 

Thomas C. West, Jr., 

Deputy Assistant Secretary (Tax Policy). 

[FR Doc. 2023–20346 Filed 9–19–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–31–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation 

and Enforcement 

30 CFR Part 926 

[SATS No. MT–042–FOR; Docket ID: OSM– 

2023–0007; S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000 

222S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 

SX064A000 22XS501520] 

Montana Regulatory Program 

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining 

Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment 

period reopening and opportunity for 

public hearing on proposed amendment. 

SUMMARY: We, the Office of Surface 

Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 

(OSMRE), are reopening the public 

comment period due to a request for an 

extension of the public comment period 

to a proposed amendment to the 

Montana regulatory program 

(hereinafter, the Montana program) 

under the Surface Mining Control and 

Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
64854 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 20, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

Act). Montana proposed this 

amendment to OSMRE, on its own 

initiative, following its passing of 

Montana House Bill 576 (2023), which 

amends the Montana Code Annotated 

and proposes changes to the definition 

of material damage and changes to 

permit requirements related to 

hydrologic information. HB 576 also 

adds four contingencies to the proposed 

amendments of the MCA: a severability 

clause, a contingent voidness clause, an 

effective date clause, and a retroactive 

applicability clause. This document 

gives the times and locations that the 

Montana program and this revised 

proposed amendment to that program 

are available for your inspection, the 

comment period during which you may 

submit written comments on the revised 

amendment, and the procedures that we 

will follow for the public hearing, if one 

is requested. 

DATES: We will accept written 

comments on this amendment until 4 

p.m., Mountain Daylight Time (MDT), 

November 6, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by SATS No. MT–042–FOR, 

by any of the following methods: 

• Mail/Hand Delivery: 100 East B 

Street, Room 4100, Casper, WY 82601. 

• Fax: (307) 421–6552. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: The 

amendment has been assigned Docket 

ID: OSM–2023–0007. If you would like 

to submit comments go to https://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

We cannot ensure that comments 

received after the close of the comment 

period (see DATES) or sent to an address 

other than the ones listed above will be 

included in the docket for this 

rulemaking and considered. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number for this rulemaking. For 

detailed instructions on submitting 

comments and additional information 

on the rulemaking process, see the 

Public Comment Procedures heading of 

the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

of this document. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

review copies of the Montana program, 

this amendment, a listing of any 

scheduled public hearings or meetings, 

and all written comments received in 

response to this document, you must go 

to the address listed below during 

normal business hours, Monday through 

Friday, excluding holidays. You may 

receive one free copy of the amendment 

by contacting OSMRE’s Denver Field 

Division or the full text of the program 

amendment is available for you to read 

at www.regulations.gov. 

Jeffrey Fleischman, Chief, Denver Field 

Division, Office of Surface Mining 

Reclamation and Enforcement, Dick 

Cheney Federal Building, POB 11018, 

100 East B Street, Casper, Wyoming 

82601, Telephone: (307) 261–6550, 

Email: jfleischman@osmre.gov 

In addition, you may review a copy of 

the amendment during regular business 

hours at the following location: 

Dan Walsh, Chief, Coal and Opencut 

Mining Bureau, Montana Department 

of Environmental Quality, P.O. Box 

200901, Helena, Montana 59620– 

0901, Telephone: (406) 444–6791, 

Email: dwalsh@mt.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Howard Strand, Office of Surface 

Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 

One Denver Federal Center, Building 41, 

Lakewood, CO 80225–0065, Telephone: 

(303) 236–2931, Email: hstrand@

osmre.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 

7, 2023 (88 FR 52084) we published a 

proposed rule announcing receipt of a 

program amendment from Montana. 

Montana submitted this proposed 

amendment to us, of its own volition, 

following the passage of Montana House 

Bill 576 (HB 756) during the 2023 

legislative session. HB 576 amends the 

Montana Strip and Underground Mine 

Reclamation Act as well as section 82– 

4–203 and section 82–4–222 of MCA. 

HB 576 also adds four contingencies 

that apply to the proposed amendments. 

First, Montana proposes several changes 

to section 82–4–203(32), which defines 

and describes ‘‘Material Damage.’’ Next, 

Montana proposes to amend its coal 

mine operation permit requirements 

related to hydrologic information 

section 82–4–222(1)(m). Lastly, HB 576 

adds four contingencies to the proposed 

amendments of section 82–4–203(32) 

and section 82–4–222(1)(m) that are not 

codified into the MCA but apply to the 

amended sections: a severability clause, 

a contingent voidness clause, an 

effective date clause, and a retroactive 

applicability clause. 

By letter dated August 18, 2023 

(FDMS Document ID No. OSM–2023– 

0007–0008), Multiple conservation 

groups sent us a letter requesting an 

extension of the public comment period. 

The conservation groups cited the 

controversial nature of the amendment, 

technical difficulties accessing the 

comment portal, and scheduling 

difficulties around a public holiday, as 

to why OSMRE should grant an 

extension on the comment period. 

OSMRE reviewed the request for an 

extension of the public comment period 

and agree that the controversial nature 

of the amendment affords the public 

more time to submit the fullest and most 

comprehensive comments possible. The 

full text of the program amendment is 

available for you to read at the locations 

listed above under ADDRESSES. 

Public Comment Procedures 

Under the provisions of 30 CFR 

732.17(h), we are seeking your 

comments on whether the amendment 

satisfies the applicable program 

approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If we 

approve the amendment, it will become 

part of the State program. 

Electronic or Written Comments 

If you submit written or electronic 

comments on the proposed rule during 

the 15-day comment period, they should 

be specific, confined to issues pertinent 

to the proposed regulations, and explain 

the reason for any recommended 

change(s). We appreciate any and all 

comments, but those most useful and 

likely to influence decisions on the final 

regulations will be those that either 

involve personal experience or include 

citations to and analyses of SMCRA, its 

legislative history, its implementing 

regulations, case law, other pertinent 

State or Federal laws or regulations, 

technical literature, or other relevant 

publications. 

We cannot ensure that comments 

received after the close of the comment 

period (see DATES) or sent to an address 

other than those listed (see ADDRESSES) 

will be included in the docket for this 

rulemaking and considered. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment including your 

personal identifying information, may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 926 

State-federal cooperative agreement, 

State regulatory program approval, 

Required program amendments. 

David A. Berry, 

Regional Director, Unified Regions 5, 7–11. 

[FR Doc. 2023–20350 Filed 9–19–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–05–P 


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