[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 15, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13932-13935]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6302]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 926


Montana Regulatory Program

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

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

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SUMMARY: OSM is announcing the receipt of a proposed amendment to the 
Montana regulatory program (hereinafter, the ``Montana program'') under 
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The 
proposed amendment consist of revisions to Title 26, Chapter 4, 
Subchapters 3 through 12 of the Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM). 
The amendment is intended to revise the Montana program to be 
consistent with the corresponding Federal regulations, incorporate the 
additional flexibility afforded by the revised Federal regulations, 
clarify ambiguities, and improve operational efficiency
    This document sets forth the times and locations that the Montana 
program and proposed amendment to that program are available for public 
inspection, the comment period during which interested persons may 
submit written comments on the proposed amendment, and procedures that 
will be followed regarding the public hearing if one is requested.

DATES: Written comments must be received by 4:00 p.m., m.s.t. April 14, 
1995. If requested, a public hearing on the proposed amendment will be 
held on April 10, 1995. Requests to present oral testimony at the 
hearing must be received by 4:00 p.m., m.s.t. on March 30, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed or hand delivered to Guy 
Padgett at the address listed below.
    Copies of the Montana program, the proposed amendment, and all 
written comments received in response to this notice will be available 
for public review at the addresses listed below during normal business 
hours, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Each requester may 
receive one free copy of the proposed amendment by contacting OSM's 
Casper Field Office.

Guy Padgett, Director, Casper Field Office, Office of Surface Mining 
Reclamation and Enforcement, 100 East B Street, Room 2128, Casper, WY 
82601-1918, Casper, WY 82601-1918, Telephone: (307) 261-5776.
Gary Amestoy, Administrator, Montana Department of State Lands, 
Reclamation Division, Capitol Station, 1625 Eleventh Avenue, Helena, 
Montana 59620, (406) 444-2074.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Guy V. Padgett, Telephone: (307) 261-5776.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Montana Program

    On April 1, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally 
approved the Montana program as administered by the Department of State 
Lands. General background information on the Montana program, including 
the Secretary's findings, the disposition of comments, and conditions 
of approval of the Montana program can be found in the April 1, 1980, 
Federal Register (45 FR 21560). Subsequent actions concerning Montana's 
program and program amendments can be found at 30 CFR 926.15 and 
926.16.

II. Proposed Amendment

    By letters dated February 1, 1995, and February 28, 1995, Montana 
submitted a proposed amendment to its program pursuant to SMCRA 
(Administrative Record Nos. MT-12-01 and MT-12-05, State Program 
Amendment Tracking System (SPATS) No. MT-003-FOR). Montana's proposed 
amendment consist of changes to the Montana program as required by 30 
CFR 926.16; in response to program deficiency letters from OSM dated 
April 29, 1985, May 11, 1989, and March 29, 1990; and on its own 
initiative. The Montana proposed amendment consists of changes to Title 
26, Chapter 4, Subchapters 3 through 12 of the State's ARM. The 
proposed revisions and rule changes are located at: ARM 26.4.301, 
definitions; ARM 26.4.304, legal, financial, compliance related 
information; ARM 26.4.304, baseline information for environmental 
resources; Arm 26.4.308, operation plans; ARM 26.314, plans for 
protection of the hydrologic balance; ARM 26.4.321, transportation 
facilities plans; ARM 26.4.304, review of applications; ARM 26.4.405, 
findings and notices of decision; ARM 26.4.405A, improvidently issued 
permits general requirements; ARM 26.4.405B, improvidently issued 
permits: revocation; ARM 26.4.407, conditions of permits; ARM 26.4.410, 
permit renewal; ARM 26.4.501A, final grading requirements; ARM 
26.4.505, burial and treatment of waste materials; ARM 26.4.519A, thick 
overburden and excess spoil; ARM 26.4.524, signs and markers; ARM 
26.4.601, general requirements for road and railroad loop construction; 
ARM 26.4.602, location of roads and railroad loops; ARM 26.4.603, 
embankments; ARM 26.4.605, Hydrologic impacts of roads and railroad 
loops; ARM 26.4.623, blasting schedules; ARM 26.4.633, water quality 
performance standards; ARM 26.4.634, reclamation of drainages; ARM 
26.4.638, sediment control measures; ARM 26.4.639, sedimentation ponds 
and other treatment facilities; ARM 26.4.642, permanent and temporary 
impoundments; ARM 26.4.645, ground water monitoring; ARM 26.4.646, 
surface water monitoring; ARM 26.4.702, redistribution and stockpiling 
of soil; ARM 26.4.711, establishment of vegetation; ARM 26.4.711, 
eradication of rills and gullies; ARM 26.4.724, use of revegetation 
comparison standards; ARM 26.4.726, vegetation production, cover, 
diversity, density, and utility requirements; ARM 26.4.821, alternate 
reclamation: submission of plan; ARM 26.4.825, alternate reclamation: 
Alternate revegetation; ARM 26.4.924, disposal of underground 
development waste: general requirements; ARM 26.4.927, disposal of 
underground development waste: durable rock fills; ARM 26.4.930, 
placement and disposal of coal processing waste: special application 
requirements; ARM [[Page 13933]] 26.4.923, disposal of coal processing 
waste; ARM 26.4.1001, permit requirements; ARM 26.4.1001A, notice of 
intent to prospect; ARM 26.4.1002, information and monthly reports; ARM 
26.4.1005, drill holes; ARM 26.4.1006, roads and other transportation 
facilities; ARM 26.4.107, grading, soil salvage, storage, and 
redistribution; ARM 26.4.1009, diversions; ARM 26.4.1011, hydrologic 
balance; ARM 26.4.1014, test pits: application requirements, review 
procedures, bonding and additional performance standards; ARM 
26.4.1116, bonding: criteria and schedule for release of bond; ARM 
26.4.1116A, reassertion of jurisdiction; ARM 26.4.1141, designation of 
lands unsuitable; ARM 26.4.1206, notices, orders of abatement and 
cessation orders: issuance and service; and ARM 26.4.1212, point system 
for civil penalties and waivers.
    Specifically, Montana proposes to:

--Revise ARM 26.4.301 to add the definitions of ``Owned or controlled'' 
and ``Waste disposal structure;'' to modify the definition of ``Test 
pit;'' and to recodify the numbering of definitions affected by this 
action.
--Revise ARM 26.4.303 to require new information on ownership and 
control, and status of violations in the permit application 
requirements.
--Revise ARM 26.4.304 to clarify baseline informational needs regarding 
groundwater and surface water resources in the permit application.
--Revise ARM 26.4.308 to require cross sections, design drawings, and 
other specifications for other support facilities.
--Revise ARM 26.4.314 to provide a list of considerations when 
summarizing the probable hydrologic consequences of the proposed mining 
operation.
--Revise ARM 26.4.321 to demonstrate that transportation facilities are 
in compliance with performance standards.
--Revise ARM 26.4.404 to identify under what situations the department 
would conditionally issued a permit.
--Revise ARM 26.4.405 to require the applicant to provide any new 
information regarding ownership/control and violations prior to making 
a decision to approve the permit application.
--Provide new rule requirements at ARM 26.4.405A to allow the 
department to consider, if it has reason to believe, that a permit has 
been improvidently issued.
--Provide new rule requirements at ARM 26.4.405B concerning revocation 
of an improvidently issued permit.
--Revise ARM 26.4.407 to require certain information from the permittee 
when a cessation order has been issued.
--Revise ARM 26.4.410 to clarify when a permit need not be renewed.
--Revise ARM 26.4.501A to require that grading and backfilling may not 
be more than four rather than two spoil ridges behind the pit being 
worked.
--Revise 26.4.505 concerning waste disposal structure location, design 
criteria, and inspection requirements.
--Revise 26.4.519A to delete the requirement that all highwalls and 
depressions must be eliminated when mining in thick overburden.
--Revise ARM 26.4.524 to require identification of the mine safety and 
health administration number and contractor identification (if 
applicable) on mine area access signs.
--Revise ARM 26.4.601 to require a report that roads have been 
constructed or reconstructed in accordance with the approved plan.
--Revise ARM 26.4.602 to identify when stream fords can be used.
--Revise ARM 26.4.603 to remove the ability for a registered land 
surveyor to design and certify embankments and require all embankments 
to have a minimum seismic safety factor of 1.2.
--Revise ARM 26.4.605 to require that all roads used to haul coal or 
spoil or be retained in the post mining land use, must meet certain 
design criteria for water-control structures.
--Revise ARM 26.4.623 to allow the department to impose more 
restrictive conditions when explosives are to be detonated.
--Revise ARM 26.4.633, to correct an incorporated cite regarding 
revegetation performance requirements as related to sediment control 
through BTCA practices.
--Revise ARM 26.4.634 to clarify drainage systems/drainage channel 
reclamation requirements and when detailed reclamation plans prior to 
reclaiming a drainage channel is required.
--Revise ARM 26.4.638 to correct an incorporated citation on 
revegetation performance standards in relation to sedimentation control 
measures.
--Revise ARM 26.4.639 to allow for a single spillway in the 
construction of sedimentation ponds, provide design criteria/size 
relationship when a spillway is not needed, require that a sediment 
pond constructed per 30 CFR 77.216(a) must meet certain spillway 
discharge standards, and delete certain requirement before a 
sedimentation pond can be removed.
--Revise ARM 26.4.642 to clarify when inspection reports are needed for 
dams and embankments.
--Revise ARM 26.4.645 and .646 to require that sampling and water 
quality analysis be conducted in accordance with ``Circular WOB-7, 
Montana Numeric Water Quality Standards.''
--Revise ARM 26.4.702 to require the determination of the 
physicochemical nature of surficial spoil material in soil prior to 
redistribution and to scarify soil to a minimum 12-inch depth when 
replaced.
--Revise ARM 26.4.711 to require consultation and approval by certain 
State agencies concerning cover, planting, and stocking of vegetation 
on certain land uses.
--Revise ARM 26.4.721 to require treatment of rills and gullies under 
certain conditions.
--Revise ARM 26.4.724 to delete special success of revegetation 
considerations on operations of less than 100 acres.
--Revise ARM 26.4.726 to require ``live'' vegetative cover.
--Revise ARM 26.4.821 to allow technical standards derived from 
historical data for comparison when releasing bond for alternate 
revegetation areas.
--Revise ARM 26.4.825 to specify what performance standard criteria is 
to be used on special use pasture.
--Revise ARM 26.4.924 to clarify the applicability for use of waste 
disposal structures plus design criteria that must be met.
--Revise ARM 26.4.927 to require that durable rock fills meet a minimum 
safety factor of 1.5, rather than this minimum factor at the end of 
construction.
--Revise ARM 26.4.930 to provide design information and impoundment 
operation, demonstration of compliance with performance standards, 
results and analysis of geotechnical investigations, stability 
analysis, and description assumptions/calculations of design options 
and considerations in selection of specific design parameters for coal 
processing waste impoundments.
--Revise ARM 26.4.932 to clarify the inspection requirements for coal 
processing waste disposal areas.
--Revise ARM 26.4.1001 to clarify that a prospecting permit will be 
required when areas designated as unsuitable for mining are involved; 
that ethnological values, pits and disposal areas for extracted 
materials, and roads/access routes must be identified; that the yearly 
prospecting permit is subject to renewal, [[Page 13934]] suspension, 
and revocation; and that a copy of the permit must be available for 
review by the department upon request.
--Provide new rule requirements at ARM 26.4.1001 for filing of a notice 
of intent to prospect.
--Revise ARM 26.4.1002 to clarify informational requirements and report 
requirements concerning prospecting activities.
--Revise ARM 26.4.1005 to specify requirements for treatment of drill 
holes upon completion of exploration when circulation is not lost and 
detail description requirements for wells and drill holes that are to 
be retained after exploration.
--Revise ARM 26.4.1006 to include consideration and performance 
requirements for other transportation facilities involved in 
prospecting.
--Revise ARM 26.4.1007 to require that excavations or embankments 
created during prospecting must be reclaimed to the approximate 
original contour.
--Revise ARM 26.4.1009 to require that diversions needed in 
prospecting, meet applicable performance standards at ARM 26.4.635 and 
.636.
--Revise ARM 26.4.10011 to require that the prevailing hydrologic 
balance in prospecting be minimized in accordance with ARM 26.4.631 
through .634 and .638 through .651.
--Revise ARM 26.4.1014 to demonstrate that a test pit is necessary and 
include such information as the name of the firm doing the testing, 
types of tests, amount of mineral needed, that sufficient reserves are 
available for future markets, and why other means of prospecting are 
not adequate to determine feasibility.
--Revise ARM 26.4.1116 to incorporate revegetation performance 
standards that need to be met for bond release.
--Provide new rule at ARM 26.4.1116A to allow the department 
reassertion of jurisdiction.
--Revise ARM 26.4.1141 to correct the definition of ``national'' to 
``natural'' hazard lands.
--Revise ARM 26.4.1206 to require the department to notify owners and 
controllers that a cessation order or noncompliance notice has been 
issued the mining operation.
--Revise ARM 26.4.1212 to clarify when a violation must be counted in 
the ``history of recent violations'' review during the assessment of 
penalties.

II. 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 Montana program.

Written Comments

    Written comments should be specific, pertain only to the issues 
proposed in this rulemaking, and include explanations in support of the 
commenter's recommendations. Comments received after the time indicated 
under DATES or at locations other than the Casper 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.s.t. March 30, 1995. 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.
    Filing of a written statement at the time of the hearing is 
requested as it will greatly assist the transcriber. Submission of 
written statements in advance of the hearing will allow OSM officials 
to prepare adequate responses and appropriate questions.
    The public hearing will continue on the specified date until all 
persons scheduled to comment have been heard. Persons in the audience 
who have not been scheduled to testify, and who wish to do so, will be 
heard following those who have been scheduled. The hearing will end 
after all persons scheduled to testify and persons present in the 
audience who wish to testify 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 with 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 12778

    The Department of the Interior has conducted the reviews required 
by section 2 of Executive Order 12778 (Civil Justice Reform) and has 
determined that, this rule meets the applicable standards of subsection 
(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)(1)), 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 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 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. [[Page 13935]] 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.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 926

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: March 8, 1995.
Charles E. Sandberg,
Acting Assistant Director, Western Support Center.
[FR Doc. 95-6302 Filed 3-14-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M