[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 185 (Friday, September 22, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57375-57377]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-24377]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement


Proposed Sheridan Slope Stability in Wyoming

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), 
Interior.

ACTION: Notice of application for grant funding; public comment period 
on request to fund the Sheridan slope stability project.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: OSM is announcing its receipt of a grant application from the 
Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Abandoned Mine Land 
Division (AMLD). Wyoming is requesting $346,725 from the Abandoned Mine 
Reclamation Fund to pay approximately 50 percent of the cost of 
stabilizing the dangerous slopes along Big Goose Creek in Sheridan 
County, Wyoming. In its application, the State proposes paying for part 
of the reconstruction cost as a public facility project that will 
benefit a community impacted by coal and mineral mining activities.
    This notice describes when and where the Wyoming abandoned mine 
land (AML) program and the grant application for funding the Sheridan 
Slope Stability project are available for you to read. It also sets the 
time period during which you may send written comments on the request 
to us.

DATES: We will accept written comments until 4 p.m., m.s.t., October 
23, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand-deliver written comments to Guy V. 
Padgett, Casper Field Office Director, at the address shown below. You 
may read Wyoming's grant application for this proposed project during 
normal business hours Monday through Friday (excluding holidays) at the 
same address. Also, we will send one free copy of the grant application 
to you if you contact OSM's Casper Field Office.

[[Page 57376]]

Guy V. Padgett, Director, Casper Field Office, Office of Surface Mining 
Reclamation and Enforcement, Federal Building, Rm. 2403, 100 East ``B'' 
Street, Casper, Wyoming 82601-1918.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Guy V. Padgett, Telephone: (307) 261-
6555.
    Our practice is to make comments, including names and home 
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular 
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold 
their home address from the administrative record, which we will honor 
to the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in 
which we would withhold from the administrative record a respondent's 
identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name 
and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your comment. However, we will not consider anonymous comments. We will 
make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representative or officials of 
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on Title IV of SMCRA

    Title IV of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) 
established an Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (AMLR) program. The 
purpose of the AMLR program is to reclaim and restore lands and waters 
that were adversely affected by past mining. The program is funded by a 
reclamation fee paid by active coal mining operations. Lands and waters 
eligible for reclamation under Title IV are primarily those that were 
mined, or affected by mining, and abandoned or inadequately reclaimed 
before August 3, 1977, and for which there is no continuing reclamation 
responsibility under State, Federal, or other laws.
    Title IV of SMCRA allows States to submit AMLR plans to us. We, on 
behalf of the Secretary, review those plans and consider any public 
comments we receive about them. If we determine that a State has the 
ability and necessary legislation to operate an AMLR program, the 
Secretary can approve it. The Secretary's approval gives a State 
exclusive authority to put its AMLR plan into effect.
    Once the Secretary approves a State's AMLR plan, the State may 
annually apply to us for money to fund specific projects that will 
achieve the goals of its approved plan. We follow the requirements of 
the Federal regulations at 30 CFR Parts 874, 875, and 886 when we 
review and approve such applications.

II. Background on the Wyoming AMLR Plan

    The Secretary of the Interior approved Wyoming's AMLR plan on 
February 14, 1983. You can find background information on the Wyoming 
AML program, including the Secretary's findings and our responses to 
comments, in the February 14, 1983, Federal Register (48 FR 6536). 
Wyoming changed its plan a number of times since the Secretary first 
approved it. In 1984, we accepted the State's certification that it 
addressed all known coal-related impacts in Wyoming that were eligible 
for funding under its program. As a result, the State may now reclaim 
low priority non-coal reclamation projects. You can read about the 
certification and OSM's acceptance in the May 25, 1984, Federal 
Register (49 FR 22139). At the same time, we also accepted Wyoming's 
proposal that it will ask us for funds to reclaim any additional coal-
related problems that occur during the life of the Wyoming AML program 
as soon as it becomes aware of them. In the April 13, 1992, Federal 
Register (57 FR 12731), we announced our decision to accept other 
changes in Wyoming's plan that describe how it will rank eligible coal, 
non-coal, and facility projects for funding. Those changes also 
authorized the Governor of Wyoming to elevate the priority of a project 
based upon the Governor's determination of need and urgency. They also 
expanded the State's ability to construct public facilities under 
section 411 of SMCRA. We approved additional changes in Wyoming's plan 
concerning noncoal lien authority and contractor eligibility that 
improve the efficiency of the State's AML program. That approval is 
described in the February 21, 1996, Federal Register (61 FR 6537).
    Once a State certifies that it has addressed all remaining 
abandoned coal mine problems, and the Secretary concurs, then it may 
request funds to undertake abandoned noncoal mine reclamation, 
community impact assistance, and public facilities projects under 
sections 411(b), (e), and (f), of SMCRA.
    State law and regulations that apply to the proposed Sheridan Slope 
Stability funding request include Wyoming Statute 35-11-1202 and 
Wyoming Abandoned Mine Land Regulations, Chapter VII, of the Wyoming 
Abandoned Mine Program.

III. Wyoming's Request to Fund Part of the Cost of the Sheridan 
Slope Stability Project

    The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality submitted to us a 
grant application requesting new funding for the FY2002 consolidated 
grant. In that application, Wyoming asked for $346,725 that it will use 
to pay for part of the cost of building the Sheridan Slope Stability 
project. This project is a public facility in a community impacted by 
coal and mineral mining activities. The requested funding is 50 percent 
of the project's total cost. Money for the balance of the project cost 
will come from the Town of Sheridan (50 percent). The Governor of 
Wyoming certified the need and urgency to fund the Sheridan Slope 
Stability project prior to completing the State's remaining inventory 
of non-coal reclamation, as allowed by section 411(f) of SMCRA. That 
certification says the project is in a community impacted by coal and 
mineral mining activities. The project consists of stabilization of a 
high bank of Big Goose Creek. Fills for an athletic field, a hillside 
road, erosion from an existing storm drain, saturation of the hillside, 
and naturally unstable soils have caused slumping and created the 
potential for a major slope failure. This slope failure could block Big 
Goose Creek and cause flooding that may cause property damage or loss 
of life.
    The Governor's certification states that the project meets the 
requirements for his certification under the authority of Wyoming 
Statute W.S. 35-11-1202(c) and the AML Regulations, Chapter VII, 
Section 6(c).

IV. How We Will Review Wyoming's Grant Application

    We will review this grant application with respect to the 
regulations at 30 CFR 875.15, specifically subsections 875.15(e)(1) 
through (7). As stated in those regulations, the application must 
include the following information: (1) The need or urgency for the 
activity or the construction of the public facility; (2) the expected 
impact the project will have on Wyoming's coal or minerals industry; 
(3) the availability of funding from other sources and, if other 
funding is provided, its percentage of the total costs involved; (4) 
documentation from other local, State, and Federal agencies with 
oversight for such utilities or facilities describing what funding they 
have available and why their agency is not fully funding this specific 
project; (5) the impact on the State, the public, and the minerals 
industry if the facility is not funded; (6) the reason why this project 
should be selected before a

[[Page 57377]]

priority project relating to the protection of the public health and 
safety or the environment from the damages caused by past mining 
activities, and (7) an analysis and review of the procedures Wyoming 
used to notify and involve the public in this funding request, and a 
copy of all comments received and their resolution by the State. 
Wyoming's application for the Sheridan Slope Stability project contains 
the information described in these seven subsections.
    Section 875.15(f) requires us to evaluate all comments we receive 
and determine whether the funding meets the requirements of sections 
875.15(e)(1) through (7) described above. It also requires us to 
determine if the request is in the best interests of the State's AML 
program. We will approve Wyoming's request to fund this project if we 
conclude that it meets all the requirements of 30 CFR 875.15.

V. What To Do If You Want To Comment on the Proposed Project

    We are asking for public comments on Wyoming's request for funds to 
pay for part of the cost of completing the Sheridan Slope Stability 
Project. You are welcome to comment on the project. If you do, please 
send us written comments. Make sure your comments are specific and 
pertain to Wyoming's funding request in the context of the regulations 
at 30 CFR 875.15 and the provisions of section 411 of SMCRA. You should 
explain any recommendations you make. If we receive your comments after 
the time shown under DATES or at locations other than the Casper Field 
Office, we will not necessarily consider them in our final decision or 
include them in the administrative record.

    Dated: September 12, 2000.
Guy Padgett,
Director, Casper Field Office.
[FR Doc. 00-24377 Filed 9-21-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M