[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 153 (Friday, August 8, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 42715-42717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21033]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 936

[SPATS No. OK-022-FOR]


Oklahoma Regulatory Program

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment period and opportunity for public 
hearing.

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SUMMARY: OSM is announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the 
Oklahoma regulatory program (hereinafter the ``Oklahoma program'') 
under the

[[Page 42716]]

Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The 
proposed amendment consists of revisions to Oklahoma's regulations 
pertaining to normal husbandry practices. The amendment is intended to 
revise the Oklahoma program to improve operational efficiency.
    This document sets forth the times and locations that the Oklahoma 
program and proposed amendment to that program 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 the public hearing, if one is 
requested.

DATES: Written comments must be received by 4:00 p.m., c.d.t., 
September 8, 1992. If requested, a public hearing on the proposed 
amendment will be held on September 2, 1997. Requests to speak at the 
hearing must be received by 4:00 p.m., c.d.t. on August 25, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests to speak at the hearing should 
be mailed or hand delivered to Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa 
Field Office, at the address listed below.
    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 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.
    Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa Field Office, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Oklahoma Program

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

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated July 3, 1997 (Administrative Record No. OK-978), 
Oklahoma submitted a proposed amendment to its program pursuant to 
SMCRA. Oklahoma submitted the proposed amendment at its own initiative. 
Oklahoma proposes to amend the Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) for 
surface mining operations at OAC 460:20-43-46(c)(4) and underground 
mining operations at OAC 460:20-45-46(c)(4) by adding criteria for 
normal husbandry practices in the State. The full text of the proposed 
program amendment submitted by Oklahoma is available for public 
inspection at the locations listed above under ADDRESSES. A brief 
discussion of the proposed amendment is presented below.
    Oklahoma is proposing normal husbandry practices for reseeding, 
fertilizing, liming, weed and pest control, mulching, irrigation, 
pruning, transplanting and replanting trees and shrubs, removal and 
reclamation of temporary structures, and repair of rills and gullies.
    To determine if husbandry practices used by the surface and 
underground mining operations are normal husbandry practices, Oklahoma 
will judge management practices on mined lands against the recommended 
practices for unmined lands provided by the Oklahoma State University 
(OSU) and the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources 
Conservation Service (NRCS). OSU has established and publishes 
recommended fertility and management practices for row crops, hayland, 
and grazingland that are tailored for soil conditions, crop rotations, 
tillage and application practices. OSU has extension offices throughout 
the State to provide more site specific recommendations, if needed. 
Oklahoma will use guidelines prepared by the NRCS in determining 
whether rill and gully repair on mined lands is augmentative or non-
augmentative.
    OAC 460:20-43-46(c)(4)(A) and 460:20-45-46(c)(4)(A) specify that 
Oklahoma will consider limited reseeding and associated fertilizing and 
liming as non-augmentative if the area is small in relation to the 
permit area, watershed, or surface property boundary, whichever is 
smaller. The reclaimed area must meet postmining land use and bond 
release requirements.
    At OAC 460:20-43-46(c)(4)(B) and 460:20-45-46(c)(4)(B), approved 
agricultural practices published by the OSU Cooperative Extension 
Service, including fertilizing, liming, weed and pest control, and 
mulching, are not considered augmentation.
    At OAC 460:20-43-46(c)(4)(C) and 460:20-45-46(c)(4)(C), on all 
lands with a postmining land use other than cropland, any areas 
reseeded or replanted as a part or result of a normal husbandry 
practice must be small in size and limited in extent of occurrence, or 
a part of a hay management plan. A hay management plan is an 
agricultural practice described by the OSU Cooperative Extension 
Service.
    OAC 460:20-43-46(c)(4)(D) and 460:20-45-46(c)(4)(D) specify that 
the repair of rills and gullies will not be considered an augmentation 
practice if the occurrences and treatment of such rills and gullies 
constitute a normal conservation practice in the region. In the coal 
mining region of Oklahoma, the normal range of precipitation during 
fall or spring seeding seasons may result in the formation of rills and 
gullies during the initial establishment of permanent vegetative cover 
for any land use. Continued treatment of rills and gullies after 
initial vegetative establishment would be considered an augmentative 
practice that would restart the liability period. Oklahoma also defines 
the treatment of rills and gullies requiring permanent reseeding of 
more than 10 acres in a contiguous block or 10 percent of a permit area 
initially seeded during a single year to be an augmentative practice. 
This section also specifies the types of treatment for repair of rills 
and gullies, including seeding, mulching, and erosion control measures.
    At OAC 460:20-43-46(c)(4)(E) and 460:20-45-46(c)(4)(E), liming, 
fertilizing, mulching, seeding or stocking following the reclamation of 
temporary haul roads, temporary sediment or hydraulic control 
structures, areas disturbed by the installation or removal of oil and 
gas wells or utility lines, and areas where the vegetation was 
disturbed by vehicular traffic not under the control of the permittee 
will not be considered augmentation.
    OAC 460:20-43-46(c)(4)(F) and 460:20-45-46(c)(4)(F) specify that 
irrigation, reliming, and refertilizing revegetated areas; reseeding 
cropland; and renovating pastureland by overseeding with legumes after 
Phase II bond release shall be considered normal husbandry practices if 
the amount and frequency of these practices do not exceed normal 
husbandry practices

[[Page 42717]]

used on unmined land within the region.
    At OAC 460:20-43-46(c)(4)(G) and 460:20-45-46(c)(4)(G), other 
normal husbandry practices that may be conducted on postmining land 
uses of fish and wildlife habitat, recreation, and forestry without 
restarting the liability period are disease, pest, and vermin control; 
pruning; and transplanting and replanting trees and shrubs in 
accordance with OAC 460:20-43-46(b)(3) and 460:20-45-46(b)(3).

III. Public Comment Procedures

    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.

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.

Public Hearing

    Persons wishing to speak at the public hearing should contact the 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m., 
c.d.t. on August 25, 1997. The location and time of the hearing will be 
arranged with those persons requesting the hearing. 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. If no one requests an opportunity to speak 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 speak have been heard. Persons in the audience who 
have not been scheduled to speak, and who wish to do so, will be heard 
following those who have been scheduled. The hearing will end after all 
persons scheduled to speak and persons present in the audience who wish 
to speak have been heard.

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. 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

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 12988

    The Department of the Interior has conducted the reviews required 
by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (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.

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: August 1, 1997.
Russell W. Frum,
Acting Regional Director, Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 97-21033 Filed 8-7-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M