[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 235 (Thursday, December 7, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 62786-62789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-29877]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 756

[SPATS No. HO-003-FOR]


Hopi Tribe Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (AMLR) Plan

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 receipt of a proposed amendment to the Hopi 
Tribe AMLR plan (hereinafter, the ``Hopi Tribe plan'') under the 
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The 
proposed amendment consists of revisions of and additions to the Hopi 
Tribe plan pertaining to the purpose of the plan; eligible lands and 
water subsequent to certification; coordination with other programs; 
land acquisition, management, and disposal; reclamation on private land 
and rights of entry; public participation; organization of the Hopi 
Tribe; personnel staffing policies; purchasing policies, procurement 
procedures, and accounting systems; economic conditions on the Hopi 
Reservation; a description of flora and fauna at abandoned mine sites; 
the Hopi Tribe's authority to administer its plan, as amended in the 
absence of a specific statute; changing the name of the designated 
agency; and affirmation that the manual for purchasing policies and 
procedures manual is in accordance with the Office of Management and 
Budget's (OMB) Common Rule. Additionally, the Hopi Tribe is proposing 
numerous editorial and recodification changes. The amendment is 
intended to revise the Hopi Tribe plan to meet the requirements of and 
incorporate the additional flexibility afforded by the revised Federal 
regulations and SMCRA, as amended, and improve operational efficiency.

DATES: Written comments must be received by 4:00 p.m. m.s.t., January 
8, 1996. If requested, a public hearing on the proposed amendment will 
be held on January 2, 1996. Requests to present oral testimony at the 
hearing must be received by 4:00 p.m., m.s.t., December 22, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed or hand delivered to Donna 
J. Griffin at the address listed below.
    Copies of the Hopi Tribe plan, 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 Albuquerque Field Office.

Donna J. Griffin, Acting Director, Albuquerque Field Office, Office of 
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 505 Marquette Avenue, NW., 
Suite 1200, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102

Norman Honie, Abandoned Mine Land Program Director, Office of Mining 
and Minerals, Department of Natural Resources, The Hopi Tribe, P.O. Box 
123, Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna J. Griffin, Telephone: (505) 
248-5070.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Hopi Tribe Plan

    On June 28, 1988, the Secretary of the Interior approved the Hopi 
Tribe plan. General background information on the Hopi Tribe plan, 
including the Secretary's findings and the disposition of comments, can 
be found in the June 28, 1988, Federal Register (53 FR 24262). 
Subsequent actions concerning the Hopi Tribe's plan and plan amendments 
can be found at 30 CFR 756.14(a).

[[Page 62787]]


II. Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated November 2, 1995, the Hopi Tribe submitted a 
proposed amendment to its plan (administrative record No. HO-148) 
pursuant to SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). The Hopi Tribe submitted 
the proposed amendment at its own initiative and in response to a 
September 26, 1994, letter (administrative record No. HO-145.1) that 
OSM sent to the Hopi Tribe in accordance with 30 CFR 884.15(b). The 
provisions of the Hopi Tribe plan that the Hopi Tribe proposes to 
revise and/or add are: the ``Table of Contents;'' a preface to the 
amended reclamation plan; a list of addenda and errata; the Chairman's 
letter of designation and Hopi Tribe resolution; the General Counsel's 
opinion on the authority of the Hopi Tribe to conduct an AMLR program; 
Part I, purpose of the Hopi Tribe plan; Part II, eligible lands and 
water subsequent to certification; Part III, coordination of the Hopi 
AMLR Program with other programs; Part IV, land acquisition, 
management, and disposal; Part V, reclamation on private land; Part VI, 
rights of entry; Part VII, Hopi Department of Natural Resources (DNR) 
policy on public participation; Part VIII, organization of the Hopi 
Tribe; Part IX, personnel staffing policies; Part X, purchasing 
policies and procurement procedures; Part XI, accounting systems and 
management accounting; Part XII, economic conditions on the Hopi 
Reservation; and Part XIII, a description of flora and fauna at 
abandoned mine sites.
    Specifically, the Hopi Tribe proposes to:
    (1) revise the ``Table of Contents'' to reflect the proposed 
recodification changes and include a list of appendices;
    (2) add a new part called ``Preface to Amended Reclamation Plan'' 
that provides an explanation of the Hopi AMLR Program goals and 
objectives and describes eligible projects and their priorities;
    (3) add a cover page for the ``List of Addenda and Errata'' and 
revise the ``List of Figures'' to retitle ``Figure 4'' and delete 
``Figure 5;''
    (4) add new cover pages for the ``Chairman's Letter of Designation 
and Hopi Tribe Resolution'' and ``Opinion of Legal Counsel'' and delete 
the cover pages titled ``Section 884.13(a)'' and ``Section 
884.413(b);''
    (5) redesignate Section 884.13(c)(1) as Part ``I'' and revise this 
part to include in the purpose of Hopi Tribe plan provisions that (a) 
allow for the protection and replacement of water supplies and 
protection, repair, replacement, construction, or enhancement of public 
facilities adversely affected by mining and processing practices, (b) 
provide that the ``Director'' shall be to the ``Director of the Hopi 
Office of Mining and Mineral Resources (OMMR)'' or his designee within 
the OMMR or in the Hopi AMLR Program and that the ``OMMR is an office 
within the DNR, and oversees operations of the Hopi Abandoned Mine Land 
Program,'' and (c) reclamation priorities similar to those allowed at 
section 403 of SMCRA, and provide for deletion of language concerning 
the allocation of funds collected annually for purposes of the Hopi 
AMLR Program;
    (6) redesignate Section 884.13(c)(2) as Part ``II;'' retitle this 
part as ``Eligible Lands and Water Subsequent to Certification;'' add 
language (a) consistent with the requirements of the Federal 
regulations at 30 CFR 874.12 for eligible coal lands and water, 30 CFR 
874.16 for contractor responsibility, 30 CFR Part 875 for noncoal 
reclamation, and 30 CFR 886.23 for reports and (b) to provide for the 
construction of public facilities in villages impacted by mining 
activities on Hopi Indian lands as provided in sections 411 (e) and (f) 
of SMCRA and include a description of needs and proposed construction 
and activities; and delete (a) ``Table 1, Comprehensive/Problem 
Evaluation Matrix'' and (b) language concerning filling voids and 
sealing tunnels and evaluating and ranking reclamation projects;
    (7) redesignate Section 884.13(c)(3) as Part ``III'';
    (8) redesignate Section 884.13(c)(4) as Part ``IV;'' revise the 
procedures concerning the acquisition of lands to (a) include lands 
adversely affected by ``coal and noncoal mining'' practices and (b) add 
new language to require that the Hopi AMLR Program shall obtain ``from 
a qualified appraiser a valuation'' of the fair market value of all 
land to be acquired and that the fair market value of the land ``shall 
consider the principle of the best and highest use'' of the land as 
adversely affected by past mining and that such ``valuation of fair 
market value shall be approved by the Hopi Tribal council;'' revise the 
language concerning purchases by (a) deleting the provision that allows 
affected lands to be acquired with monies from the abandoned mine land 
(AML) fund if approved by the OSM Field Office Director and the Hopi 
Tribal Council and such acquisition meets the requirements of OSM's 
regulations, (b) replacing it with new language requiring that ``the 
Tribe may acquire land and water under this section if approved in 
advance by OSM based on written findings made by OSM in accordance with 
the provisions of 30 CFR 879.11, and as approved by the Hopi Tribal 
Council,'' and (c) deleting the requirement that ``improvements to the 
land may be acquired if such interest is necessary to the reclamation 
work planned or the post reclamation use of the land;''
    (9) redesignate Sec. 884.13 (c)(5) as Part ``V'' and revise the 
language of this part to include a reference to ``the General Allotment 
Act of 1887''(25 U.S.C.A. 331 et seq.);
    (10) redesignate Sec. 884.13(c)(6) as Part ``VI'' and delete 
language concerning emergency entry and the requirement that ``if 
written notice cannot be obtained for the purposes of emergency 
reclamation and if notice cannot be given prior to entry, notice will 
be given to the landholders as soon after entry as practical;''
    (11) redesignate Sec. 884.13(c)(7) as Part ``VII'' and add language 
clarifying procedures concerning public participation in the 
development of the Hopi Tribe plan and listing the 1991 and 1992 public 
meetings held in connection with the Hopi Tribe's certification of 
completion of reclamation of all known coal-related problems and to 
review projects and needs relevant to sections 411(e) and (f) of SMCRA;
    (12) redesignate Sec. 884.13(d)(1) as Part ``VIII'' and add 
language to (a) provide that the Hopi Tribal Council on ``December 07, 
1987, passed Resolution H-03-88,'' which designates DNR as the agency 
responsible for implementing the Hopi Tribe plan, (b) reference ``the 
Chairman's Letter of Designation and Hopi Tribe Resolution section of 
this plan,'' and (c) reference ``Figure 4,'' which presents ``the 
relationship of the DNR to others in the Tribal organization;''
    (13) redesignate Sec. 884.13(d)(2) as Part ``IX'' and add 
references to the Tribe's ``Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual,'' 
``The Civil Rights Act of 1964,'' and ``The Rehabilitation Act of 
1973;''
    (14) redesignate Sec. 884.13(d)(3) as Part ``X'' and add references 
to the ``Purchasing Policies and Procedures Manual,'' which was adopted 
by the Tribe by Executive Action dated April 15, 1978, and OMB's 
``Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative 
Agreements to State and Local Governments'' dated March 11, 1988, which 
is also known as ``the Common Rule;''
    (15) redesignate Sec. 884.13(d)(4) as Part ``XI'' and add 
references to ``The Hopi Tribe Financial Policies and Procedures 

[[Page 62788]]
Manual,'' which was adopted by Tribal Council Resolution H-102-82 on 
August 9, 1982, and the ``Standards for Audit of Governmental 
Organizations, Program Activities, and Functions,'' which provides 
standards for the performance of audits;
    (16) delete the following sections in their entirety: (a) ``Section 
884.13(e)(1), Eligible Lands and Water,'' and provide for its 
replacement at Part II, Eligible Lands and Waters Subsequent to 
Certification, (b) ``Section 884.13(e)(2), Problem Descriptions,'' and 
provide that current problems and needs are described in Part II, 
Section H of the Hopi Tribe plan, and (c) ``Section 884.13(e)(3), 
Problem Abatement Proposals,'' and provide that current proposals are 
described in Part II, Section H of the Hopi Tribe plan;
    (17) redesignate Section 884.13(f)(1) as Part ``XII;'' add language 
to provide that (a) the ``[o]riginal text of this part, Economic 
Conditions on the Hopi Reservation, is replaced in its entirety by the 
FY 1993-1995 Annual OEDP [Overall Economic Development Plan] Report * * 
*,'' (b) the ``[c]urrent economic conditions on the Hopi Reservation 
are discussed in the following Annual OEDP Report,'' and (c) ``[t]he 
figures included in the OEDP Report also provide data on economic and 
socioeconomic conditions on the Hopi Reservation, and reveal the 
importance of coal mining and the minerals industry to the reservation 
economic base and the tribal government revenue system;'' and attach 
the referenced report to the Hopi Tribe plan;
    (18) delete ``Section 884.13(f)(2), Description of Aesthetic, 
Cultural and Recreational Conditions of the Hopi Reservation,'' in its 
entirety;
    (19) redesignate Section 884.13(f)(3) as part ``XIII'';
    (20) provide as ``Appendix 1'' the ``Constitution and By-Laws of 
the Hopi Tribe,'' which was approved December 19, 1936, and amended on 
August 1, 1969, February 14, 1980, and December 7, 1993;
    (21) provide cover pages for Appendices 2 through 12 and change the 
title of Appendix 7 from ``Hopi Tribe Resolution H-93-80'' to ``Hopi 
Tribe Resolution H-93-80 and Subsequent Correspondence to the Bureau of 
Census;'' and
    (24) numerous minor editorial and grammatical revisions and 
recodification changes.
    The Hopi Tribe also proposes adding the following items to its 
plan: (1) a memorandum dated May 18, 1995, from the Hopi Tribe's 
Assistant General Counsel affirming the authority of the Tribe's AMLR 
Program to administer the Hopi Tribe plan as amended in the absence of 
any AMLR statute; (2) Hopi Tribal Resolution H-134-89 that provides 
documentation of the Tribe's action changing the name of the Office of 
Natural Resources to the Department of Natural Resources; and (3) a 
memorandum dated August 31, 1995, from the Tribe's Office of Financial 
Management that affirms that the Hopi Tribe ``Purchasing Policies and 
Procedures Manual'' is in accordance with OMB's Common Rule.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    In accordance with the provisions of 30 CFR 884.15(a), OSM is 
seeking comments on whether the proposed amendment satisfies the 
applicable plan approval criteria of 30 CFR 884.14. If the amendment is 
deemed adequate, it will become part of the Hopi Tribe plan.

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

2. 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., December 22, 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 testify 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.

3. 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

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 Tribe or State AMLR plans and 
revisions thereof since each such plan is drafted and promulgated by a 
specific Tribe or State, not by OSM. Decisions on proposed Tribe or 
State AMLR plans and revisions thereof submitted by a Tribe or State 
are based on a determination of whether the submittal meets the 
requirements of title IV of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1231-1243) and the 
applicable Federal regulations at 30 CFR parts 884 and 888.

3. National Environmental Policy Act

    No environmental impact statement is required for this rule since 
agency decisions on proposed Tribe or State AMLR plans and revisions 
thereof are categorically excluded from compliance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4332) by the Manual of the 
Department of the Interior (516 DM 6, appendix 8, paragraph 8.4B(29)).

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.).

[[Page 62789]]


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 Tribe or State submittal which is the subject of this rule is based 
upon 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 
established by SMCRA or previously promulgated by OSM will be 
implemented by the Tribe or State. In making the determination as to 
whether this rule would have a significant economic impact, the 
Department relied upon the data and assumptions in the analyses for the 
corresponding Federal regulations.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 756

    Abandoned mine reclamation programs, Indian lands, Surface mining, 
Underground mining.

    Dated: November 29, 1995.
James F. Fulton,
Acting Regional Director, Western Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 95-29877 Filed 12-6-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M