[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 96 (Thursday, May 19, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-12265]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: May 19, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 917

 

Kentucky Permanent Regulatory Program; Disposal of Coal Fly Ash, 
Bottom Ash, and Scrubber Sludge

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

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: OSM is announcing the receipt of a proposed amendment to the 
Kentucky permanent regulatory program (hereinafter referred to as the 
Kentucky program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 
of 1977 (SMCRA). By letter of April 18, 1994 (Administrative Record No. 
KY-1276), Kentucky submitted a proposal program amendment that replaces 
a previous proposed program amendment dated November 17, 1993 
(Administrative Record No. KY-1260). The amendment consists of proposed 
new and amended statutes to Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) relating to 
disposal of coal combustion fly ash, bottom ash, and scrubber sludge 
under special waste permit-by-rule at KRS chapter 224. The proposed 
amendment, known as Senate Bill 266, was passed by Kentucky's General 
Assembly during the 1994 regular session.
    This document sets forth the times and locations that the Kentucky 
program and the proposed amendment are available for public inspection, 
the comment period during which interested persons may submit written 
comments on the proposed amendment, and the procedures that will be 
followed regarding a public hearing if one is requested.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before 4 p.m., [e.s.t] 
on June 20, 1994. If requested, a public hearing on the proposed 
amendment will be held at 10 a.m., [e.s.t] on June 13, 1994. Requests 
to present oral testimony at the hearing must be received on or before 
4 p.m., [e.s.t] on June 3, 1994. Any disabled individual who has need 
for a special accomendation to attend a public hearing should contact 
the individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests to testify at the hearing 
should be mailed or hand delivered to: William J. Kovacic, Director, 
Lexington Field Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and 
Enforcement, 2675 Regency Road, Lexington, Kentucky 40503.
    Copies of the Kentucky program, the proposed amendment, and all 
written comments received in response to this document will be 
available for review at the addresses listed below, Monday through 
Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding holidays. Each requestor may 
receive, free of charge, one copy of the proposed amendment by 
contacting OSM's Lexington Field Office.

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Lexington 
Field Office, 2675 Regency Road, Lexington, Kentucky 40503, 
Telephone: (606) 233-2896
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Eastern 
Support Center, Ten Parkway Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, 
Telephone: (412) 937-2828
Department of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, No. 2 
Hudson Hollow Complex, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, Telephone: (502) 
564-6940

    If a public hearing is held, its location will be: The Harley 
Hotel, 2143 North Broadway, Lexington, Kentucky 40505.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William J. Kovacic, Director, 
Lexington Field Office, Telephone (606) 233-2896.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On May 18, 1982, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally 
approved the Kentucky program. Information pertinent to the general 
background, revisions, modifications, and amendments to the proposed 
permanent program submission, as well as the Secretary's findings, the 
disposition of comments, and a detailed explanation of the conditions 
of approval can be found in the May 18, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR 
21404-21435). Subsequent actions concerning the conditions of approval 
and program amendments are identified at 30 CFR 917.11, 917.15, 917.16, 
and 917.17.

II. Discussion of Amendment

    By letter of April 18, 1994 (Administrative Record No. KY-1276), 
Kentucky submitted a proposed program amendment that replaces a 
previous proposed program amendment dated November 17, 1993 
(Administrative Record No. KY-1260). The amendment consists of proposed 
new and amended statutes to KRS relating to disposal of coal combustion 
fly ash, bottom ash, and scrubber sludge under special waste permit-by-
rule at KRS chapter 224. The proposed amendment, known as Senate Bill 
266, was passed by Kentucky's General Assembly during the 1994 regular 
session.
    These proposed statutes offer surface coal mining permittees the 
option to dispose of coal combustion waste on the permit area under the 
special waste permit-by-rule established at KRS Chapter 224. Applicants 
who obtain a permit from the Cabinet's Department for Surface Mining 
Reclamation and Enforcement under these proposed revised statutes are 
deemed to have received a permit from the Cabinet's Department for 
Environmental Protection, Division of Waste Management, without having 
applied separately to the Division Of Waste Management. A person who 
wishes to dispose of coal combustion waste on a surface mining permit 
area in a manner that is not authorized in Senate Bill 266 may, as at 
present, apply separately to the Division of Waste Management for a 
special waste formal permit under KRS Chapter 224.
    Senate Bill 266 contains the following changes:
    Amend KRS 350.010 to define coal combustion by-products; create new 
sections of KRS 350 to allow the Department of Surface Mining 
Reclamation and Enforcement to issue a permit authorizing the disposal 
of coal combustion by-products at surface coal mining operations; 
exclude from application of the Act, coal combustion by-products for 
which a special waste formal permit or registered permit-by-rule is 
required under Chapter 224, and coal combustion by-products that have 
been mixed with hazardous or low volume waste; require an application 
to modify an existing surface mining permit to initially include 
disposal of coal combustion by-products to be a major amendment; in 
other cases involving coal combustion by-products, allow for minor 
revisions unless the cabinet determines otherwise; require removal of 
other materials from coal combustion by-products before disposal; 
confine disposal of coal combustion by-products to the pit or 
extraction area from which coal was removed--except that disposal may 
be allowed in other places within the permit area if the applicant 
demonstrates that no adverse environmental impacts will occur; prohibit 
disposal of any hazardous component of the coal combustion by-products 
from being disposed of under the permit; require maps showing locations 
and volumes of by-products disposed; require a lab analysis to 
characterize the coal combustion by-products; require newspaper 
advertisements stating that an application proposes disposal of coal 
combustion by-products; require an application to demonstrate the legal 
right to dispose to coal combustion by-products on the proposed 
disposal area; require the application to identify the facility that 
will generate the coal combustion by-products, a responsible official, 
components of the by-products, and the coal combustion by-products 
materials, weight, and volume; require analysis and a demonstration 
that each component of the coal combustion by-products does not contain 
any contaminant at a concentration that exceeds cabinet regulations; 
require the application to include a determination of the probable 
hydrologic consequences of disposal and measures to minimize 
disturbances; require a description of measures to be taken to keep the 
by-products from becoming airborne; require baseline ground and surface 
water data and monitoring wells; require that performance bond required 
under Chapter 350 cover disposal of coal combustion by-products when 
applicable; require the permittee to comply with environmental 
performance standards, to include placing the by-products at least four 
feet above the seasonal high water table unless exempted, limiting the 
volume of by-products disposed of on the permit area to the volume of 
the marketable coal seams to be removed, limiting the thickness of the 
disposed by-products to forty feet at any point, and requiring covering 
the by-products as contemporaneously as practicable with at least four 
feet of nonacid-forming spoil material; and require water quality 
monitoring and reporting until final bond release.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    In accordance with the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), OSM is now 
seeking comment on whether the amendment proposed by Kentucky satisfies 
the applicable approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If the amendment is 
deemed adequate, it will become part of the Kentucky program.

Written Comments

    Written comments should be specific, pertain only to the issues 
proposed in this rulemaking, and include explanations in support of the 
commentor's recommendations. Comments received after the time indicated 
under DATES or at locations other than the Lexington Field Officer 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 p.m., [e.s.t] 
on June 3, 1994. If no one requests an opportunity to comment at a 
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 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 
amendment may request a meeting at the OSM, Lexington Field Office 
listed under ADDRESSES 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 in advance 
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 proposed 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 
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.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 917

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: May 12, 1994.
Robert J. Biggi,
Acting Assistant Director, Eastern Support Center.
[FR Doc. 94-12265 Filed 5-18-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M