[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 52 (Friday, March 17, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14400-14401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6592]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
30 CFR Part 935

[OH-231; Amendment Number 68R]


Ohio Regulatory Program

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

action: Proposed rule; reopening and extension of public comment period 
and opportunity for public hearing on proposed amendment.

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summary: OSM is reopening the public comment period for a revised 
amendment to the Ohio permanent regulatory program (hereinafter 
referred to as the Ohio program) under the Surface Mining Control and 
Reclamation Act of 1977. This revised amendment was initiated by Ohio 
and is intended to make the Ohio program as effective as the 
corresponding Federal regulations concerning contemporaneous 
reclamation.
    Specifically, the amendment proposes to revise Ohio's definition of 
``auger mining'' and to further revise Ohio's proposed time and 
distance schedules for backfilling and grading in conjunction with 
various mining methods.
    This document sets forth the times and locations that the Ohio 
programs and the proposed amendments to those programs will be 
available for public inspection, the comment period during which 
interested persons may submit written comments on the proposed 
amendments, and the procedures that will be followed regarding the 
public hearing, if one is requested.

dates: Written comments must be received by 4 p.m. [e.s.t.], on April 
3, 1995. If requested, a public hearing on the proposed amendments will 
be held at 1 p.m. [e.s.t.], on March 27, 1995. Requests to present oral 
testimony at the hearing must be received on or before 4 p.m. [e.s.t.], 
on March 24, 1995.

addresses: Written comments and requests to testify at the hearing 
should be mailed or hand-delivered to Mr. Robert H. Mooney, Acting 
Director, Columbus Field Office, at the address listed below. Copies of 
the Ohio programs, the proposed amendments, and all written comments 
received in response to this document will be available for public 
review at the addresses listed below during normal business hours, 
Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Each requester may receive, 
free of charge, one copy of the proposed amendments by contacting OSM's 
Columbus Field Office.

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Columbus Field 
Office, 4480 Refugee Road, Suite 201, Columbus, Ohio 43232, Telephone: 
(614) 866-0578
Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Reclamation, 1855 
Fountain Square Court, Building H-3, Columbus, Ohio 43224, Telephone: 
(614) 265-6675.

for further information contact: Mr. Robert H. Mooney, Acting Director, 
Columbus Field Office, (614) 866-0578.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Ohio Program

    On August 16, 1982, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally 
approved the Ohio programs. Information on the general background of 
the Ohio program submissions, including the Secretary's findings, the 
disposition of comments, and a detailed explanation of the conditions 
of approval of the Ohio programs, can be found in the August 10, 1982, 
Federal Register (47 FR 34688). Subsequent actions concerning the 
conditions of approval and program amendments are identified at 30 CFR 
935.11, 935.12, 935.15, and 935.16.

II. Proposed Amendment

    The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Reclamation 
(Ohio) submitted proposed Program Amendment Number 68 (PA 68) by letter 
dated May 17, 1994 (Administrative Record No. OH-2018). In this 
amendment, Ohio proposed to revise three rules in the Ohio 
Administrative Code (OAC) to make the Ohio program as effective as the 
corresponding Federal regulations concerning contemporaneous 
reclamation. As part of and in support of proposed PA 68, Ohio also 
submitted a draft Policy/Procedure Directive (PPD) which provided 
additional clarification and guidance on the proposed Ohio rule 
requirements for contemporaneous reclamation.
    OSM announced receipt of PA 68 in the May 26, 1994, Federal 
Register (59 FR 27253), and, in the same document, opened the public 
comment period and provided an opportunity for a public hearing on the 
adequacy of the proposed amendment. The public comment period closed on 
June 27, 1994.
    OSM and Ohio staff met on August 22, 1994, to discuss OSM's 
questions and concerns about PA 68 (Administrative Record No. OH-2093). 
In response to OSM's August 22, 1994, questions and comments, Ohio 
provided Revised Program Amendment Number 68 (PA 68R) by letter dated 
March 1, 1995 (Administrative Record No. OH-2094).
    In PA 68R, Ohio is proposing a number of editorial changes to 
improve the clarity and readability of the rule changes and the PPD 
previously proposed by Ohio in PA 68. These additional changes do not 
affect the content of the previously proposed revisions and are not 
individually discussed in this proposed rule document.
    The substantive changes proposed by Ohio in PA 68R are described 
briefly below: [[Page 14401]] 
    (1) OAC section 1501:13-1-02 paragraph (K): Ohio is revising the 
definition of ``auger mining'' to mean drilling holes or cutting into 
an exposed coal seam at a highwall and transporting the coal to the 
surface along an auger bit, by conveyor, or by other means.
    (2) OAC section 1501:13-4-05 paragraph (A)(2)(a)(i): Ohio is 
further revising this new paragraph to require that permit applications 
identify the mining method as area mining, contour mining, another 
named mining method, or a combination of methods to be identified by 
name.
    (3) OAC section 1501:13-4-05 paragraph (A)(2)(a)(ii): Ohio is 
further revising this new paragraph to clarify that the description of 
the mining operation in the permit application shall include the 
location where the mining will begin.

III. Public Comment Procedures

Written Comments

    In accordance with the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), OSM is now 
seeking comment on whether the amendments proposed by Ohio satisfy the 
applicable program approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If the 
amendments are deemed adequate, they will become part of the Ohio 
programs.
    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 Columbus Field Office will 
not necessarily be considered in the final rulemaking or included in 
the Administrative Record.

Public Hearing

    Persons wishing to comment at the public hearing should contact the 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m. 
[e.s.t.], on March 24, 1995. If no one requests an opportunity to 
comment at a public hearing, the hearing will not be held. 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. 
    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 comment and who wish to do so will be heard following 
those scheduled. The hearing will end after all persons scheduled to 
comment and persons present in the audience who wish to comment have 
been heard.

Public Meeting

    If only one person requests an opportunity to comment 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 
amendments may request a meeting at the Columbus Field Office by 
contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. All 
such meetings shall be open to the public and, if possible, notices of 
the meetings will be posted at the locations listed under ADDRESSES. A 
written summary of each public 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, 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

    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 which is the subject of this rule is based upon 
corresponding 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 corresponding Federal regulations.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 935

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: March 10, 1995.
Richard J. Seibel,
Acting Assistant Director, Eastern Support Center.
[FR Doc. 95-6592 Filed 3-16-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M