Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2001 / Proposed Rules 10403

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation

and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 936

[SPATS No. OK–025–FOR]

Oklahoma Regulatory Program

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining

Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment

period and opportunity for public

hearing.

SUMMARY: The Office of Surface Mining

Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is

announcing receipt of a proposed

amendment to the Oklahoma regulatory

program (Oklahoma program) under the

Surface Mining Control and

Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA).

Oklahoma proposes revisions to its rules

concerning permit revisions. Oklahoma

intends to revise its program to be

consistent with the corresponding

Federal regulations.

This document gives the times and

locations that the Oklahoma program

and the proposed amendment to that

program are available for your

inspection, the comment period during

which you may submit written

comments on the amendment, and the

procedures that we will follow for the

public hearing, if one is requested.

DATES: We will accept written

comments until 4 p.m., c.s.t., March 19,

2001. If requested, we will hold a public

hearing on the amendment on March 12,

2001. We will accept requests to speak

at the hearing until 4 p.m., c.s.t. on

March 2, 2001.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand

deliver written comments and requests

to speak at the hearing to Michael C.

Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa Field Office, at

the address listed below.

You may review copies of the

Oklahoma program, the proposed

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 Tulsa

Field Office.

Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa

Field Office, Office of Surface Mining,

5100 East Skelly Drive, Suite 470, Tulsa,

Oklahoma 74135–6547, Telephone:

(918) 581–6430.

Oklahoma Department of Mines, 4040

N. Lincoln Blvd., Suite 107, Oklahoma

City, Oklahoma 73105, Telephone: (405)

521–3859.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa

Field Office. Telephone: (918) 581–

6430. Internet: mwolfrom@osmre.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Oklahoma

Program

On January 19, 1981, the Secretary of

the Interior conditionally approved the

Oklahoma program. You can find

background information on the

Oklahoma program, including the

Secretary’s findings, the disposition of

comments, and the conditions of

approval in the January 19, 1981,

Federal Register (46 FR 4902). You can

find later actions concerning the

Oklahoma program at 30 CFR 936.15

and 936.16.

II. Description of the Proposed

Amendment

By letter dated January 25, 2001

(Administrative Record No. OK–990),

the Oklahoma Department of Mines

(Department) sent us an amendment to

the Oklahoma program under SMCRA

and the Federal regulations at 30 CFR

732.17(b). Oklahoma sent the

amendment at its own initiative.

Oklahoma is amending its rules at OAC

460:20–17–3 concerning permit

revisions by providing guidelines for

determining when a permit revision is

major/significant or minor and by

specifying a time period for approval or

disapproval of a permit revision

application. Below is a summary of the

changes proposed by Oklahoma.

1. OAC 460:20–17–3(a) General. At

Section 460:20–17–3(a) Oklahoma is

adding the following provision:

Any revision application to the approved

mining or reclamation plan will be subject to

review and approval by the Department.

During the revision review, the revision will

be classified as either: (1) Major or

Significant; or (2) Minor.

2. OAC 460:20–17–3(b) Application

requirements and procedures.

Oklahoma is removing the existing

provisions in Section 460:20–17–3(b),

and adding the following new

provisions:

(b) Application requirements and

procedures. A permittee is required to submit

any permit revision applications to the Chief

of Technical Services for review. The

Technical Service review shall determine:

(1) Whether the permittee has provided all

technical and public notice requirement

information the Department deems necessary

to adequately evaluate and find that the

revision meets the requirements of the

statutes and of this Chapter; and

(2) Whether the revision application

contains any deficiencies. The Department is

required to send written notification to the

permittee of any deficiencies along with a

response date deadline for answering the

deficiencies noted. Any deadline extension

requests shall be in writing and are subject

to the approval of the Chief of Technical

Services. Failure of the permittee to file

written responses within the required time

frames, will result in the denial of the

revision application.

3. OAC 460:20–17–3(c) Significant

revisions. Oklahoma is moving the

existing provision in Section 460:20–

17–3(c) to new Section 460:20–17–3(f),

and is adding the following provision to

Section OAC 460:20–17–3(c):

A significant revision to the mining or

reclamation plan will be subject to the permit

application information requirements and

procedures of this Subchapter, including

notice, public participation, and notice of

decision requirements of Sections 460:20–

15–5, 460:20–15–8(b)(1) and (3), and 460:20–

23–9 prior to approval by the Department

and implementation by the permittee.

4. OAC 460:20–17–3(d) Departmental

consideration. Oklahoma is moving the

existing provision in Section 460:20–

17–3(d) to new Section 460:20–17–3(g),

and is adding the following new

provisions to Section OAC 460:20–17–

3(d):

(d) Departmental consideration. The

Department will consider any proposed

revision to be significant if its

implementation could reasonably be

expected, in the opinion of the Director, to

result in any adverse impact to persons,

property, or the environment outside the

permit area. Revisions with impacts confined

to the permit area will be evaluated on a case

by case basis to determine if significant.

While consideration will be given to the size,

location, type and extent of impact in

classifying a revision, the following will

typically be considered significant:

(1) Incidental boundary changes;

(2) Hydrology plan changes which could

have adverse impacts outside the permit

acres, such as:

(A) The addition or relocation of

permanent impoundments;

(B) The addition, deletion, or relocation of

stream diversions; and

(C) The addition or deletion of acid mine

drainage treatment facilities;

(3) The addition of a coal wash plant;

(4) The addition of or changes to a non coal

waste storage plan;

(5) Construction or relocation of county

roads;

(6) Addition of blasting plans;

(7) Postmining land use changes to

residential, industrial or commercial (except

for changes involving oil and gas wells and

private roads), recreation, or developed water

resources as discussed 460:20–27–14(a)(2);

(8) Changes impacting historical or cultural

areas, high value wildlife habitat, and parks

and public places;

(9) Permanent changes which could have a

limiting or adverse effect on the long term

future of the land; and

(10) Other changes deemed significant by

the Director which affect the landowner and

or the public.

10404 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2001 / Proposed Rules

4. OAC 460:20–17–3(e) Minor

revisions. Oklahoma is adding the

following new provisions at OAC

460:20–17–3(e):

(e) Minor revisions. The following

revisions are typically considered minor

revisions:

(1) Changes to pond designs;

(2) Addition or deletion of dewatering

pipes on ponds;

(3) Addition, deletion or changes to office

facilities, explosive storage areas, temporary

haul roads, and coal pads;

(4) Changes to surface and groundwater

monitoring plans;

(5) Vegetation changes;

(6) Change of operator without a change of

permittee; and

(7) Conversion to incremental bonding or

change to bond increments, pursuant to the

requirements of Subchapter 37 of this

Chapter.

5. OAC 460:20–17–3(h) Application

decisions. Oklahoma is adding the

following new provision at Section

460:20–17–3(h):

The Department will make a decision of

approval or denial of a revision application

within six months of receipt of the

application unless the application, or some

aspect of the application, is under technical,

administrative or judicial review.

III. Public Comment Procedures

Under the provisions of 30 CFR

732.17(h), we are seeking 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 Oklahoma program.

Written Comments: If you submit

written or electronic comments on the

proposed rule 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,

WordPerfect, or Word file avoiding the

use of special characters and any form

of encryption. Please also include ‘‘Attn:

SPATS NO. OK–025–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 Tulsa

Field Office at (918) 581–6430.

Availability of Comments: Our

practice is to make comments, including

names and home addresses of

respondents, available for public review

during regular business hours at OSM’s

Tulsa Field Office (see ADDRESSES).

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

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, contact the person

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT by 4 p.m., c.s.t. on March 2,

2001. We will arrange the location and

time of the hearing 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 speaks 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.

If you are disabled and need a special

accommodation to attend a public

hearing, contact the person 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 us to discuss the proposed

amendment, you may request a meeting

by contacting the person listed under

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. All

such meetings are open to the public

and, if possible, we will post notices of

meetings at the locations listed under

ADDRESSES. We will also make a written

summary of each meeting 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 regulations.

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

under 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 this 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

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

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2001 / Proposed Rules 10405

section 102(2)(C) of the National

Environmental Policy Act (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.

Therefore, 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 936

Intergovernmental relations, Surface

mining, Underground mining.

Dated: February 6, 2001.

Charles E. Sandberg,

Acting Regional Director, Mid-Continent

Regional Coordinating Center.

[FR Doc. 01–3837 Filed 2–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–05–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation

and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 938

[PA–132–FOR]

Pennsylvania 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

Pennsylvania regulatory program

(Pennsylvania program) under the

Surface Mining Control and

Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The

proposed amendment consists of

excerpts of House Bill 393 containing

costs in mine proceedings legislation.

The amendment is intended to revise

the Pennsylvania program to be

consistent with the corresponding

federal regulations.

DATES: If you submit written comments,

they must be received by 4 p.m. (local

time), March 19, 2001. If requested, a

public hearing on the proposed

amendment will be held on March 12,

2001. Requests to speak at the hearing

must be received by 4 p.m. (local time),

on March 2, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand-deliver your

written comments and requests to speak

at the hearing to Mr. Robert J. Biggi, at

the address listed below.

You may review copies of the

Pennsylvania program, the proposed

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

proposed amendment by contacting

OSM’s Harrisburg Field Office.

Robert J. Biggi, Director, Office of

Surface Mining Reclamation and

Enforcement, Harrisburg Field Office,

Harrisburg Transportation Center, Third

Floor, Suite 3C, 4th and Market Streets,

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17101,

Telephone: (717)782–4036, e-mail:

bbiggi@osmre.gov.

Pennsylvania Department of

Environmental Protection, Bureau of

Mining and Reclamation, Rachel Carson

State Office Building, P.O. Box 8461,

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105–8461,

Telephone: (717)787–5103.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert J. Biggi, Director, Harrisburg

Field Office, Telephone: (717)782–4036.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Pennsylvania

Program

On July 31, 1982, the Secretary of the

Interior conditionally approved the

Pennsylvania program. You can find

background information on the

Pennsylvania program, including the

Secretary’s findings, the disposition of

comments, and the conditions of the

approval in the July 31, 1982, Federal

Register (47 FR 33050). You can find

subsequent actions concerning the

conditions of approval and program

amendments at 30 CFR 938.11, 938.12,

938.15 and 938.16.

II. Description of the Proposed

Amendment

By letter dated January 3, 2001,

(Administrative Record No. PA–848.25),

Pennsylvania submitted a proposed

amendment to its program at the

Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes,

Title 27 (Environmental Resources),

Chapter 77, section 7708. The full text

of the amendment is:

Excerpts of House Bill 393 Containing Costs

in Mine Proceedings Legislation

Amending Title 27

(Environmental Resources) of the

Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes,

providing for participation in environmental

law or regulation and for costs in mining

proceedings.

The General Assembly of the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby

enacts as follows:

Section 1. Title 27 of the Pennsylvania

Consolidated Statutes is amended by adding

chapters to read:

Subpart A

General provisions

Chapter 77. Costs and fees

Sec. 7708. Costs for mining proceedings.

(A) Purpose.—This section establishes

costs and fees available in proceedings

involving coal mining activities. The purpose

of this section is to provide costs and fees to

the same extent of section 525(e) of the

Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act

of 1977 (Public Law 95–87, 30 U.S.C. § 1201