[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 205 (Monday, October 23, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63223-63225]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-27163]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 931

[SPATS No. NM-041-FOR]


New Mexico Regulatory Program

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment period and opportunity for public 
hearing on proposed amendment.

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SUMMARY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is 
announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the New Mexico

[[Page 63224]]

regulatory program (hereinafter, the ``New Mexico program'') under the 
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation act of 1977 (SMCRA). The 
proposed amendment consists of recodification of the New Mexico Surface 
Coal Mining Regulations. The amendment is intended to revise the New 
Mexico program to improve operational efficiency and assure that the 
New Mexico Surface Coal Mining Regulations are codified according to 
the New Mexico administrative procedures.

DATES: Written comments must be received by 4 p.m., m.d.t., November 
22, 2000. If requested, a public hearing on the proposed amendment will 
be held on November 17, 2000. Requests to present oral testimony at the 
hearing must be received by 4 p.m., m.d.t., on November 7, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and 
requests to speak at the hearing to Willis L. Gainer at the address 
listed below.
    You may review copies of the New Mexico program, the amendment, a 
listing of any scheduled public hearings, and all written comments 
received in response to this document at the addresses listed below 
during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding 
holidays. You may receive one free copy of the amendment by contacting 
OSM's Albuquerque Field Office.

Willis L. Gainer, Director, Albuquerque Field Office, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 505 Marquette Avenue, NW., Suite 
1200, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102
Mining and Minerals Division, New Mexico Energy & Minerals Department, 
2040 South Pacheco Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505, Telephone: (505) 
827-5970

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Willis L. Gainer, Telephone: (505) 
248-5096, Internet address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9dcadadcd4d3d8cfddd2ced0cfd8b3dad2cb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="31667670787f7463717e627c63741f767e67">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the New Mexico Program

    On December 31, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally 
approved the New Mexico program. General background information on the 
New Mexico program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition 
of comments, and the conditions of approval of the New Mexico program 
can be found in the December 31, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 86459). 
Subsequent actions concerning New Mexico's program and program 
amendments can be found at 30 CFR 931.11, 931.15, 931.16, and 931.30.

II. Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated September 22, 2000 (administrative record No. NM-
840), New Mexico submitted a proposed amendment to its program pursuant 
to SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). New Mexico submitted the proposed 
amendment at its own initiative. New Mexico proposes to recodify the 
New Mexico Surface Coal Mining Regulations.
    Specifically, New Mexico proposes to recodify its regulations from 
Title 19 (Natural Resources and Wildlife), Chapter 8 (Coal Mining), 
Part 2 (Coal Surface Mining) of the New Mexico Administrative Code 
(NMAC), Subparts 1 through 34, to Title 19, Chapter 8 of NMAC, Parts 1 
through 34, or 19.8 NMAC Parts 1-34. No substantive changes to the text 
of the New Mexico regulations that are counterpart to SMCRA are 
proposed.
    The only significant text revisions New Mexico proposes are at 
19.8.1.5. and 19.8.1.108. New Mexico proposes to revise Section 5 to 
clarify the effective date of the regulations as follows:

    19.8.1.5 Effective Date: November 29, 1997, unless a later date 
is cited at the end of a section.

New Mexico proposes to revise Section 108 to reinsert previously 
approved language that was unintentionally removed when New Mexico 
recodified it regulations in 1997. New Mexico proposes to reinsert the 
following:

    19.8.1.108 Suspension of Rules or Regulations (None) Section 1-
11 CSMC Rule 80-1, as adopted May 15, 1980, is hereby repealed, 
provided, however, that such repeal shall not be deemed to affect 
the authority of persons to engage in or carry out any surface coal 
mining operations if he has a permit under Laws 1972, Chapter 68, 
and such permit has not expired pursuant to the Act or 19.8 NMAC 
Parts 1-34, so long as he complies with the provisions of the Act, 
the permit and 19.8 NMAC Parts 1-34.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    We will make comments, including names and addresses of 
respondents, available for public review during normal business hours. 
We will not consider anonymous comments. If individual respondents 
request confidentiality, we will honor their request to the extent 
allowable by law. Individual respondents who wish to withhold their 
name or address from public review, except for the city or town, must 
state this prominently at the beginning of their 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 review in their entirety.
    Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII file avoiding the use 
of special characters and nay form of encryption. Please also include 
``Attn: SPATS No. NM-041-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 Albuquerque Field Office at 
(505) 248-5096.
    Your written comments should be specific and pertain only to the 
issues proposed in this rulemaking, and include explanations in support 
of the commenter's recommendations. In the final rulemaking, we will 
not necessarily consider or include in the Administrative Record any 
comments received after the time indicated under DATES or at locations 
other than the Albuquerque Field Office.
    In accordance with the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are 
requesting comments on whether the proposed amendment satisfies the 
applicable program approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If we approve 
the amendment, it will become part of the New Mexico program.
    Comments received after the time indicated under DATES or at 
locations other than the Albuquerque Field Office will not necessarily 
be considered in the final rulemaking or included in the administrative 
record.

Public Hearing

    Persons wishing to testify at the public hearing should contact the 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m., 
m.d.t., on November 7, 2000. 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. The location 
and time of the hearing will be arranged with those persons requesting 
the hearing. If no one requests an opportunity to testify 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

[[Page 63225]]

speak and persons present in the audience who wish to speak have been 
heard.

Public Meeting

    If only one person requests an opportunity to testify at a hearing, 
a public meeting, rather than a public hearing, may be held. Persons 
wishing to meet the OSM representatives to discuss the proposed 
amendment 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

    This rule is exempted from review by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and 
Review).

Executive Order 12988

    The Department of the Interior has conducted the reviews required 
by section 3 of the Executive Order 12988 (Civil Justice Reform) and 
has determined that 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 the Federal regulations at 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

    No environmental impact statement is required for this rule since 
section 702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1292(d)) provides that agency 
decisions on proposed State regulatory program provisions do not 
constitute major Federal actions within the meaning of section 
102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4332 
(2)(C)).

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This rule does not contain information collection requirements that 
require approval by OMB 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 that 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 931

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: October 11, 2000.
Peter A. Rutledge,
Acting Regional Director, Western Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 00-27163 Filed 10-20-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M


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