16260 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 54 / Tuesday, March 20, 2012 / Notices 

Dated: March 12, 2012. 

Andrew F. DeVito, 

Chief,Division of Regulatory Support. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6655 Filed 3–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–05–M 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation 

and Enforcement 

Notice of Proposed Information 

Collection for 1029–0035 

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining 

Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation 

and Enforcement (OSM) is announcing 

that the information collection request 

for surface and underground mining 

permit applications—minimum 

requirements for information on 

environmental resources, has been 

forwarded to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) for review and 

comment. The information collection 

request describes the nature of the 

information collection and the expected 

burden and cost. This information 

collection activity was previously 

approved by OMB and assigned control 

number 1029–0035. 

DATES: OMB has up to 60 days to 

approve or disapprove the information 

collections but may respond after 30 

days. Therefore, public comments 

should be submitted to OMB by April 

19, 2012, in order to be assured of 

consideration. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to the 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Office of Management and 

Budget, Attention: Department of the 

Interior Desk Officer, by telefax to (202) 

395–5806 or by email to 

OIRA_Docket@omb.eop.gov. Also, 

please send a copy of your comments to 

John Trelease, Office of Surface Mining 

Reclamation and Enforcement, 1951 

Constitution Ave., NW., Room 203— 

SIB, Washington, DC 20240, by telefax 

to (202) 219–3276, or by email to 

jtrelease@osmre.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

receive a copy of the information 

collection request contact John Trelease 

at (202) 208–2783, or electronically at 

jtrelease@osmre.gov. You may also 

review this information collection 

request on the Internet by going to 

http://www.reginfo.gov (Information 

Collection Review, Currently Under 

Review, Agency is Department of the 

Interior, DOI–OSMRE). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OMB 

regulations at 5 CFR 1320, which 

implement provisions of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–13), 

require that interested members of the 

public and affected agencies have an 

opportunity to comment on information 

collection and recordkeeping activities 

[see 5 CFR 1320.8(d)]. OSM has 

submitted a request to OMB to renew its 

approval of the collection of information 

contained in 30 CFR Parts 779 and 

783—Surface and Underground Mining 

Permit Applications—Minimum 

Requirements for Information on 

Environmental Resources. OSM is 

requesting a 3-year term of approval for 

the information collection activity. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

unless it displays a currently valid OMB 

control number. The OMB control 

number for this collection of 

information is 1029–0035. Responses 

are required to obtain a benefit for this 

collection. 

As required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), a 

Federal Register notice soliciting 

comments on this collection of 

information was published on 

November 28, 2011 (76 FR 72972). One 

comment was received. The commenter 

suggested that there is a connection 

between coal mine drilling and 

earthquakes, and that coal companies 

should be required to report recent 

earthquakes in the area where drilling is 

proposed to occur. 

Earthquakes range from extremely 

small and virtually unnoticeable events 

to catastrophic events that cause 

considerable damage. Unlike oil and gas 

drilling operations, coal mining is 

typically undertaken at a much 

shallower depth, and without injection 

of great volumes of water to fracture 

(frack) the rock strata. Therefore, OSM’s 

engineers consider it virtually 

impossible for coal mine drilling to 

cause a reportable earthquake. To be 

certain, we checked with the United 

States Geological Survey to determine if 

there is any evidence of coal mine 

drilling causing earthquakes. We found 

no mention of coal mine drilling 

causing earthquakes of any size. In 

conclusion, we have determined that 

the comment is not supported by 

available scientific information and 

therefore does not warrant conducting 

national rulemaking to request 

earthquake data in the permit area. 

This notice provides the public with 

an additional 30 days in which to 

comment on the following information 

collection activity: 

Title: 30 CFR Parts 779 and 783— 

Surface and Underground Mining 

Permit Applications—Minimum 

Requirements for Environmental 

Resources. 

OMB Control Number: 1029–0035. 

SUMMARY: Applicants for surface and 

underground coal mining permits are 

required to provide adequate 

descriptions of the environmental 

resources that may be affected by 

proposed mining activities. The 

information will be used by the 

regulatory authority to determine if the 

applicant can comply with 

environmental protection performance 

standards. 

Bureau Form Number: None. 

Frequency of Collection: Once. 

Description of Respondents: 219 coal 

mining operators and 24 state regulatory 

authorities. 

Total Annual Responses: 2,175. 

Total Annual Burden Hours: 188,820. 

Total Annual Non-Wage Burden Cost: 

$0. 

Send comments on the need for the 

collection of information for the 

performance of the functions of the 

agency; the accuracy of the agency’s 

burden estimates; ways to enhance the 

quality, utility and clarity of the 

information collection; and ways to 

minimize the information collection 

burdens on respondents, such as use of 

automated means of collections of the 

information, to the addresses listed in 

ADDRESSES. Please refer to the 

appropriate OMB control number in all 

correspondence. 

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. 

Dated: March 12, 2012. 

Andrew F. DeVito, 

Chief, Division of Regulatory Support. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6654 Filed 3–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–05–M 

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 

COMMISSION 

[USITC SE–12–007] 

Government in the Sunshine Act 

Meeting Notice 

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING: United 

States International Trade Commission. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES