59152 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 4, 2000 / Proposed Rules

federal regulations and whether the

other requirements of 30 CFR Parts 730,

731, and 732 have been met.

National Environmental Policy Act

Section 702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C.

1292(d)) provides that a decision on a

proposed state regulatory program

provision does not constitute a major

federal action within the meaning of

section 102(2)(C) of the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42

U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). A determination has

been made that such decisions are

categorically excluded from the NEPA

process (516 DM 8.4.A).

Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule does not contain

information collection requirements that

require approval by the Office of

Management and Budget under the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3507 et seq.).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Department of the Interior has

determined that this rule will not have

a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5

U.S.C. 601 et seq.). The State submittal

which is the subject of this rule is based

upon counterpart Federal regulations for

which an economic analysis was

prepared and certification made that

such regulations would not have a

significant economic effect upon a

substantial number of small entities.

Accordingly, this rule will ensure that

existing requirements previously

promulgated by OSM will be

implemented by the State. In making the

determination as to whether this rule

would have a significant economic

impact, the Department relied upon the

data and assumptions for the

counterpart Federal regulations.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act

This rule is not a major rule under 5

U.S.C. 804(2), the Small Business

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act.

This rule:

a. Does not have an annual effect on

the economy of $100 million.

b. Will not cause a major increase in

costs or prices for consumers,

individual industries, federal, state, or

local government agencies, or

geographic regions.

c. Does not have significant adverse

effects on competition, employment,

investment, productivity, innovation, or

the ability of U.S. based enterprises to

compete with foreign-based enterprises.

This determination is based upon the

fact that the state submittal which is the

subject of this rule is based upon

counterpart federal regulations for

which an analysis was prepared and a

determination made that the federal

regulation was not considered a major

rule.

Unfunded Mandates

This rule will not impose a cost of

$100 million or more in any given year

on any governmental entity or the

private sector.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 920

Intergovernmental relations, Surface

mining, Underground mining.

Dated: September 22, 2000.

Michael K. Robinson,

Acting Regional Director, Appalachian

Regional Coordinating Center.

[FR Doc. 00–25404 Filed 10–3–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–05–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation

and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 946

[VA–119–FOR]

Virginia Regulatory Program

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining

Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM),

Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment

period and opportunity for public

hearing.

SUMMARY: OSM is announcing receipt of

a proposed amendment to the Virginia

regulatory program under the Surface

Mining Control and Reclamation Act of

1977 (SMCRA). The program

amendment consists of changes to the

Virginia Surface Mining Reclamation

Regulations concerning letters of credit.

The amendment is intended to revise

the Virginia program to be consistent

with the corresponding Federal

regulations.

DATES: If you submit written comments,

they must be received on or before 4

p.m. (local time), on November 3, 2000.

If requested, a public hearing on the

proposed amendment will be held on

October 30, 2000. Requests to speak at

the hearing must be received by 4:00

p.m. (local time), on October 19, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand-deliver your

written comments and requests to speak

at the hearing to Mr. Robert A. Penn,

Director, Big Stone Gap Field Office at

the address listed below.

You may review copies of the Virginia

program, the proposed amendment, a

listing of any scheduled hearings, and

all written comments received in

response to this document at the

addresses below during normal business

hours, Monday through Friday,

excluding holidays. You may receive

one free copy of the proposed

amendment by contacting OSM’s Big

Stone Gap Field Office.

Mr. Robert A. Penn, Director, Office of

Surface Mining Reclamation and

Enforcement, Big Stone Gap Field

Office, 1941 Neeley Road, Suite 201,

Compartment 116,

Big Stone Gap, Virginia 24219,

Telephone: (540) 523–4303, E-mail:

rpenn@osmre.gov.

Virginia Division of Mined Land

Reclamation, P. O. Drawer 900, Big

Stone Gap, Virginia 24219,

Telephone: (540) 523–8100, E-mail:

whb@mme.state.va.us.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Robert A. Penn, Director, Big Stone Gap

Field Office; Telephone: (540) 523–

4303.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Virginia Program

On December 15, 1981, the Secretary

of the Interior conditionally approved

the Virginia program. You can find

background information on the Virginia

program, including the Secretary’s

findings, the disposition of comments,

and the conditions of approval in the

December 15, 1981, Federal Register (46

FR 61085–61115). You can find later

actions concerning the conditions of

approval and program amendments at

30 CFR 946.12, 946.13, 946.15, and

946.16.

II. Discussion of the Proposed

Amendment

By letter dated September 22, 2000

(Administrative Record Number VA–

1008) the Virginia Department of Mines,

Minerals and Energy (DMME) submitted

an amendment to the Virginia program.

In its letter, the DMME stated that the

program amendment changes the

Virginia program rules at 4 VAC 25–

130–700.5 and 4 VAC 25–130–800.21 in

response to amendments required by

OSM in the May 3, 1999, Federal

Register (64 FR 23542).

On May 3, 1999, OSM approved an

amendment to the Virginia program

which amended the Virginia Coal

Surface Mining Control and

Reclamation Act by adding ‘‘letter of

credit’’ as an acceptable form of

collateral bond to satisfy the

performance bonding requirements of

the Virginia Act. In our approval of the

Virginia amendment, we required that

the Virginia program regulations be

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 4, 2000 / Proposed Rules 59153

revised to be no less effective than the

Federal regulations at 30 CFR 800.5(b),

and 30 CFR 800.21(b)(2) concerning

letters of credit. We codified this

requirement at 30 CFR 946.16(a).

The amendment submitted by the

DMME is described below.

4 VAC 25–130–700.5. Definitions.

The definition of ‘‘Collateral bond’’ is

amended by adding a new paragraph (d)

to read as follows.

(d) An irrevocable letter of credit of

any bank organized or authorized to

transact business in the United States,

payable only to the Department at sight

prepared in accordance with the

Uniform Customs and Practices for

Documentary Credits (1993 revision or

the UCP revision current at the time of

issuance of the letter of credit)

International Chamber of Commerce

(Publication No. 500).

4 VAC 25–130–800.21. Collateral

bonds.

This provision is amended by revising

paragraph (a) by adding the words

‘‘except for letters of credit’’ in the

introductory sentence, adding a new

paragraph (c), and re-lettering existing

paragraph (c) as paragraph (d).

As amended, 4 VAC 25–130–800.21(a)

reads as follows.

(a) Collateral bonds, except for letters

of credit, shall be subject to the

following conditions: The division

shall. * * *

As amended, subsections 4 VAC 25–

130–800.21(c) and (d) read as follows.

(c) Letters of credit shall be subject to

the following conditions:

(1) The letter may be issued only by

a bank organized or authorized to do

business in the United States and must

conform to the Uniform Customs and

Practice for Documentary Credits (1993

Revision or revision current at the time

of issuance of the letter of credit)

International Chamber of Commerce

(Publication No. 500);

(2) Letters of credit shall be

irrevocable during their terms. A letter

of credit used as security in areas

requiring continuous bond coverage

shall be forfeited and shall be collected

by the division if not replaced by other

suitable bond or letter of credit at least

30 days before its expiration date; and

(3) The letter of credit shall be

payable to the Department at sight, in

part or in full, upon receipt from the

division of a notice of forfeiture issued

in accordance with 4 VAC 25–130–

800.50.

(d) Persons with an interest in

collateral posted as a bond, and who

desire notification of actions pursuant to

the bond, shall request the notification

in writing to the division at the time

collateral is offered.

III. Public Comment Procedures

In accordance with the provisions of

30 CFR 732.17(h), OSM is seeking

comments, on whether the proposed

amendment satisfies the applicable

program approval criteria of 30 CFR

732.15. If the amendment is deemed

adequate, it will become part of the

Virginia program.

Written Comments

If you submit written or electronic

comments on the proposed amendment

during the 30-day comment period, they

should be specific, should be confined

to issues pertinent to the notice, and

should explain the reason for your

recommendation(s). We may not be able

to consider or include in the

Administrative Record comments

delivered to an address other than the

one listed above (see ADDRESSES).

Electronic Comments

Please submit Internet comments as

an ASCII, Word Perfect, or Word file

avoiding the use of special characters

and any form of encryption. Please also

include ‘‘Attn: SPATS NO. VA–119-

FOR’’ and your name and return address

in your Internet message. If you do not

receive a confirmation that we have

received your Internet message, contact

the Big Stone Gap Field office at (540)

523–4303.

Availability of Comments

Our practice is to make comments,

including names and home addresses of

respondents, available for public review

during our regular business hours at the

OSM Administrative Record Room (see

ADDRESSES). Individual respondents

may request that we withhold their

home address from the rulemaking

record, which we will honor to the

extent allowable by law. There also may

be circumstances in which we would

withhold from the rulemaking 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

representatives or officials of

organizations or businesses, available

for public inspection in their entirety.

Public Hearing

If you wish to speak at the public

hearing, you should contact the person

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT by 4 p.m. (local time), on

October 19, 2000. The location and time

of the hearing will be arranged with

those persons requesting the hearing. If

no one requests an opportunity to speak

at the public hearing, the hearing will

not be held.

To assist the transcriber and ensure an

accurate record, we request, if possible,

that each person who testifies at a

public hearing provide us with a written

copy of his or her testimony. The public

hearing will continue on the specified

date until all persons scheduled to

speak have been heard. If you are in the

audience and have not been scheduled

to speak and wish to do so, you will be

allowed to speak after those who have

been scheduled. We will end the

hearing after all persons scheduled to

speak and persons present in the

audience who wish to speak have been

heard.

Any disabled individual who has

need for a special accommodation to

attend a public hearing should contact

the individual listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT.

Public Meeting

If only one person requests an

opportunity to speak at a hearing, a

public meeting, rather than a public

hearing, may be held. If you wish to

meet with OSM representatives to

discuss the proposed amendment, you

may request a meeting by contacting the

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. All such meetings

will be open to the public and, if

possible, notices of meetings will be

posted at the locations listed under

ADDRESSES. A written summary of each

meeting will be made a part of the

Administrative Record.

IV. Procedural Determinations

Executive Order 12866—Regulatory

Planning and Review

This rule is exempted from review by

the Office of Management and Budget

under Executive Order 12866.

Executive Order 12630—Takings

This rule does not have takings

implications. This determination is

based on the analysis performed for the

counterpart federal regulation.

Executive Order 13132—Federalism

This rule does not have federalism

implications. SMCRA delineates the

roles of the federal and state

governments with regard to the

regulation of surface coal mining and

reclamation operations. One of the

purposes of SMCRA is to ‘‘establish a

nationwide program to protect society

and the environment from the adverse

59154 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 4, 2000 / Proposed Rules

effects of surface coal mining

operations.’’ Section 503(a)(1) of

SMCRA requires that state laws

regulating surface coal mining and

reclamation operations be ‘‘in

accordance with’’ the requirements of

SMCRA, and section 503(a)(7) requires

that state programs contain rules and

regulations ‘‘consistent with’’

regulations issued by the Secretary

pursuant to SMCRA.

Executive Order 12988—Civil Justice

Reform

The Department of the Interior has

conducted the reviews required by

section 3 of Executive Order 12988 and

has determined that, to the extent

allowed by law, this rule meets the

applicable standards of subsections (a)

and (b) of that section. However, these

standards are not applicable to the

actual language of state regulatory

programs and program amendments

since each such program is drafted and

promulgated by a specific state, not by

OSM. Under sections 503 and 505 of

SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1253 and 1255) and

30 CFR 730.11, 732.15, and

732.17(h)(10), decisions on proposed

state regulatory programs and program

amendments submitted by the states

must be based solely on a determination

of whether the submittal is consistent

with SMCRA and its implementing

federal regulations and whether the

other requirements of 30 CFR parts 730,

731, and 732 have been met.

National Environmental Policy Act

Section 702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C.

1292(d)) provides that a decision on a

proposed state regulatory program

provision does not constitute a major

federal action within the meaning of

section 102(2)(C) of the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42

U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). A determination has

been made that such decisions are

categorically excluded from the NEPA

process (516 DM 8.4.A).

Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule does not contain

information collection requirements that

require approval by the Office of

Management and Budget under the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3507 et seq.).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Department of the Interior has

determined that this rule will not have

a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5

U.S.C. 601 et seq.). The state submittal

which is the subject of this rule is based

upon counterpart federal regulations for

which an economic analysis was

prepared and certification made that

such regulations would not have a

significant economic effect upon a

substantial number of small entities.

Accordingly, this rule will ensure that

existing requirements previously

promulgated by OSM will be

implemented by the state. In making the

determination as to whether this rule

would have a significant economic

impact, the Department relied upon the

data and assumptions for the

counterpart federal regulation.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act

This rule is not a major rule under 5

U.S.C. 804(2), the Small Business

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act.

This rule:

a. Does not have an annual effect on

the economy of $100 million.

b. Will not cause a major increase in

costs or prices for consumers,

individual industries, federal, state, or

local government agencies, or

geographic regions.

c. Does not have significant adverse

effects on competition, employment,

investment, productivity, innovation, or

the ability of U.S. based enterprises to

compete with foreign-based enterprises.

This determination is based upon the

fact that the state submittal which is the

subject of this rule is based upon

counterpart federal regulations for

which an analysis was prepared and a

determination made that the federal

regulation was not considered a major

rule.

Unfunded Mandates

This rule will not impose a cost of

$100 million or more in any given year

on any governmental entity or the

private sector.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 946

Intergovernmental relations, Surface

mining, Underground mining.

Dated: September 26, 2000.

Michael K. Robinson,

Acting Regional Director, Appalachian

Regional Coordinating Center.

[FR Doc. 00–25403 Filed 10–3–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–05–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81

[WA–71–7146b; FRL–6879–7]

Approval and Promulgation of

Implementation Plans and Designation

of Areas for Air Quality Planning

Purposes; Washington

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: Environmental Protection

Agency proposes to approve the

Thurston County, Washington PM–10

area maintenance plan and

redesignation request from

nonattainment to attainment as

revisions to the Washington State

Implementation Plan. PM–10 air

pollution is suspended particulate

matter with a diameter less than or

equal to a nominal ten micrometers.

In the Final Rules section of this

Federal Register, the EPA is approving

the State’s SIP submittal as a direct final

rule without prior proposal because the

Agency views this as a noncontroversial

submittal amendment and anticipates

no adverse comments. A detailed

rationale for the approval is set forth in

the direct final rule. If no adverse

comments are received in response to

this action, no further activity is

contemplated.

If the EPA receives adverse

comments, the direct final rule will be

withdrawn and all public comments

received will be addressed in a

subsequent final rule based on this

proposed rule. The EPA will not

institute a second comment period. Any

parties interested in commenting on this

action should do so at this time.

DATES: Written comments must be

received in writing by November 3,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be addressed to Debra Suzuki,

Environmental Protection Specialist

(OAQ–107), Office of Air Quality, at the

EPA Regional Office listed below.

Copies of the State’s request and other

information supporting this action are

available for inspection during normal

business hours at the following

locations: EPA, Office of Air Quality

(OAQ–107), 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle,

Washington 98101, and State of

Washington Department of Ecology, 300

Desmond Drive, PO Box 47600,

Olympia, Washington 98504–7600.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Scott Downey, Office of Air Quality

(OAQ–107), EPA, Seattle, Washington,

(206) 553–0682.