Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 185 / Friday, September 22, 2000 / Notices 57381

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 Medicine Bow Water

Treatment Plant Improvement project

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 Medicine Bow Water

Treatment Plant Improvement 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 $324,150 that it will use to pay

for part of the cost of building the

Medicine Bow Water Treatment Plant

Improvement project. This project is a

public facility in a community impacted

by coal or 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 Medicine Bow (50

percent). The Governor of Wyoming

certified the need and urgency to fund

the Medicine Bow Water Treatment

Plant 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 constructing an

ion exchange water treatment facility

designed to remove Radium 226 and

228 from the Medicine Bow municipal

public water supply. The project will

bring the supply into compliance with

EPA drinking water standards and will

rectify inadequacies that have resulted

in an Enforcement Order against the

town. Current treatment consists of

chlorination only.

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) 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

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 Medicine Bow

Treatment Plant Improvements project

contains the information described in

these seven subsections.

Section 875.15(f) requires us to

evaluate all comments we received 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

Medicine Bow Water Treatment Plant

Improvements 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. 00–24380 Filed 9–21–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–05–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation

and Enforcement

Proposed Frannie Sewer Line

Replacement Project in Wyoming

AGENCY: Office of Surfacing Mining

Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM),

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of application for grant

funding; public comment period on

request to fund the Frannie sewer line

replacement 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

$249,050 from the Abandoned Mine

Reclamation Fund to pay approximately

50 percent of the cost of building the

Frannie Sewer Line Replacement Project

in Park and Big Horn county, Wyoming.

In its application, the State proposes

paying for part of the reconstruction

cost as a public facility project that will

57382 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 185 / Friday, September 22, 2000 / Notices

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 Frannie

Sewer Line Replacement 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 handdeliver 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:

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

exclusively authority to put its AMLR

plan into effect.

Once the Secretary approves a State’s

AMLR plan, the State may annually

apply to use 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 Frannie Sewer Line

Replacement 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 Frannie Sewer Line

Replacement 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 $249,050 that it will use to pay

for part of the cost of building the

Frannie Sewer Line Replacement

project. This project is a public facility

in a community impacted by bentonite

and gypsum 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 Frannie (50 percent).

The Governor of Wyoming certified the

need and urgency to fund the Frannie

Sewer Line Replacement 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 mineral

mining activities. The project will

rectify a threat to human health and

safety and to the environment. This

project will replace a sewer system with

numerous failures that have threatened

to contaminate groundwater aquifers in

the area. A need and urgency for the

project exists, and an impact on the coal

or minerals industry has been

documented. Sewer line failures are

increasing, and each failure poses a

threat to area groundwater aquifers, and

thus a threat to both human health and

safety and to the environment.

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)

of the AML Regulations, Chapter VII,

Section 6(c).

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 185 / Friday, September 22, 2000 / Notices 57383

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

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 Frannie Sewer Line

Replacement 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 he 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

Frannie Sewer Line Improvements

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. 00–24381 Filed 9–21–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–05–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation

and Enforcement

Proposed Greybull Sewer

Improvements Project 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 Greybull sewer

improvements 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

$105,668 from the Abandoned Mine

Reclamation Fund to pay approximately

50 percent of the cost of building the

Greybull Sewer Improvement project in

Big Horn 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 Greybull

Sewer Improvement 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 4:00 p.m., m.s.t.,

October 23, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or handdeliver 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:

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.