[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 250 (Friday, December 30, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-32177]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: December 30, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
30 CFR Part 936

 

Oklahoma Regulatory Program

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening and extension of public comment period 
on proposed amendment.

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SUMMARY: OSM is announcing receipt of revisions and additional 
explanatory information pertaining to a previously proposed amendment 
to the Oklahoma regulatory program (hereinafter, the ``Oklahoma 
program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 
(SMCRA). The revisions and additional explanatory information for 
Oklahoma's proposed rules pertain to recodification of Oklahoma's coal 
mining rules and revisions to the rules pertaining to primary road 
certification requirements for road systems and transportation 
facilities; sedimentation pond storage volume; subsidence control for 
surface mining activities; and protection of underground mining. The 
amendment is intended to revise the Oklahoma program to be consistent 
with the corresponding Federal regulations.

DATES: Written comments must be received by 4:00 p.m., c.s.t. January 
17, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed or hand delivered to James 
H. Moncrief at the address listed below.
    Copies of the Oklahoma program, the proposed amendment, 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 one free copy of the proposed amendment by 
contacting OSM's Tulsa Field Office.

James H. Moncrief, Director, Tulsa Field Office, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 5100 E. Skelly Drive, Suite 550, 
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135.
Oklahoma Department of Mines, 4040 N. Lincoln Blvd., Suite 107, 
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105, Telephone: (405) 521-3859.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
James H. Moncrief, Telephone: (918) 581-6430.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background on the Oklahoma Program

    On January 19, 1981, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally 
approved the Oklahoma program. General background information on the 
Oklahoma program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition 
of comments, and the conditions of approval of the Oklahoma program can 
be found in the January 19, 1981, Federal Register (46 FR 4902). 
Subsequent actions concerning Oklahoma's program and program amendments 
can be found at 30 CFR 936.15, 936.16, and 936.30.

II. Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated September 14, 1994, Oklahoma submitted a proposed 
amendment to its program pursuant to SMCRA (administrative record No. 
OK-963). Oklahoma submitted the proposed amendment with the intention 
of revising the Oklahoma program to be consistent with the 
corresponding Federal regulations.
    Oklahoma proposed to revise the Oklahoma Coal Rules and Regulations 
at sections 780.25 and 784.16, reclamation plan for ponds, 
impoundments, banks, dams, and embankments; section 780.37, road 
systems; section 784.20, subsidence control plans; section 784.24, 
transportation facilities; section 800.40, requirement to release 
performance bonds; sections 816.46 and 817.46, hydrologic balance and 
siltation structures; section 816.116, revegetation success standards; 
section 816.121, subsidence control; section 823.12, prime farmland 
soil removal; section 823.13, prime farmland soil stockpiling; and 
section 823.14, prime farmland soil replacement. Oklahoma also proposed 
to recodify its rules in accordance with the standards set forth by the 
Oklahoma State Legislature and the Office of Administrative Code.
    OSM announced receipt of the proposed amendment in the September 
27, 1994 Federal Register (59 FR 49223), provided an opportunity for a 
public hearing or meeting on its substantive adequacy, and invited 
public comment on its adequacy (administrative record No. OK-963.03). 
Because no one requested a public hearing or meeting, none was held. 
The public comment period ended on October 27, 1994.
    During its review of the amendment, OSM identified concerns 
relating to the provisions of recodified Oklahoma Administrative Code 
(OAC) 460:20-27-20(b) and 460:20-31-17(b), primary road certification 
requirements for road systems and transportation facilities, and 
Oklahoma's proposed rule recodification. With respect to the 
recodification, OSM identified concerns relating to OAC 460:20-43-
12(f)(8), sedimentation pond storage volume; OAC 460:20-43-47 and 
460:20-43-48, subsidence control for surface mining activities; OAC 
460:20-45-28, protection of underground mining; and various editorial 
and citation inconsistencies. OSM notified Oklahoma of the concerns by 
letter dated November 22, 1994 (administrative record No. OK-963.08). 
Oklahoma responded in a letter dated December 20, 1994, by submitting a 
revised amendment and additional explanatory information 
(administrative record No. OK-963.10).
    In response to the issue letter, Oklahoma proposes to move the as-
built requirements regarding primary road certification for road 
systems and transportation facilities from the permitting requirements 
of OAC 460:20-27-20(b) and 460:20-31-17(b) to the performance standard 
requirements of OAC 460:20-43-53(1) and 460:20-45-53(1); to delete at 
OAC 460:20-43-12(f)(8) the requirement that sediment shall be removed 
from a structure when the sediment storage volume is 80 percent filled; 
to provide additional information explaining why the provisions at OAC 
460:20-45-47 and 460:20-45-48, regarding subsidence control for surface 
mining activities, should be retained in its rules; to delete at OAC 
460:20-45-28 from its underground mining performance standards a 
provision regarding the protection of underground mining; and to 
propose revisions and provide additional explanatory information for 
the recodification of its coal mining rules.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    OSM is reopening the comment period on the proposed Oklahoma 
program amendment to provide the public an opportunity to reconsider 
the adequacy of the proposed amendment in light of the additional 
materials submitted. 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 Oklahoma 
program.

1. 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 Tulsa Field Office will not 
necessarily be considered in the final rulemaking or included in the 
administrative record.

IV. Procedural Determinations

1. 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).

2. 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 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 12550) 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.

3. 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)).

4. 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.).

5. 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.

V. List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 936

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: December 21, 1994.
Charles E. Sandberg,
Acting Assistant Director, Western Support Center.
[FR Doc. 94-32177 Filed 12-29-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M