[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 198 (Wednesday, October 14, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 55025-55027]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-27503]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 915

[SPATS No. IA-005-FOR]


Iowa 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 an amendment to the Iowa 
regulatory program (Iowa program) under the Surface Mining Control and 
Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Iowa proposes to add revegetation 
success guidelines, entitled ``Revegetation Success Standards and 
Statistically Valid Sampling Techniques,'' to its program. These 
guidelines include revegetation success standards, normal husbandry 
practices, and statistically valid sampling procedures and techniques 
for determining revegetation success on areas being restored to various 
land uses. Iowa intends to revise its program to be consistent with the 
corresponding Federal regulations and to improve operational 
efficiency.
    This document gives the times and locations that the Iowa program 
and the amendment to that program are available for public inspection, 
the comment period during which you may submit written comments on the 
amendment, and the procedures that will be followed for the public 
hearing, if one is requested.

DATES: We will accept written comments until 4:00 p.m., c.s.t., 
November 13, 1998. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on the 
amendment on November 9, 1998. We will accept requests to speak at the 
hearing until 4:00 p.m., c.s.t. on October 29, 1998.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and 
requests to speak at the hearing to Perry L. Pursell, Mid-Continent 
Regional Coordinating Center, at the address listed below.
    You may review copies of the Iowa program, the 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 Mid-
Continent Regional Coordinating Center.
    Perry L. Pursell, Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center, 
Office of Surface Mining, Alton Federal Building, 501 Belle Street, 
Alton, Illinois 62002, Telephone: (618) 463-6460.
    Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Division of 
Soil Conservation, Henry A. Wallace Building, Des Moines, Iowa 50319, 
Telephone: (515) 281-6147.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Perry L. Pursell, Mid-Continent 
Regional Coordinating Center. Telephone: (618) 463-6460. Internet: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Iowa Program

    On January 21, 1981, the Secretary of Interior conditionally 
approved the Iowa program, effective April 10, 1981. You can find 
background information on the Iowa program, including the Secretary's 
findings, the disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval 
in the January 21, 1981,

[[Page 55026]]

Federal Register (46 FR 5885). You can find later actions on the Iowa 
program at 30 CFR 915.10, 915.15, and 915.16.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated September 28, 1998 (Administrative Record No. IA-
441), Iowa sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA. Iowa sent 
the amendment in response to our letter dated August 1, 1986 
(Administrative Record No. IA-280), that we sent to Iowa under 30 CFR 
732.17(c). Below is a summary of the revegetation success guidelines 
proposed by Iowa. The full text of the Iowa program amendment is 
available for public inspection at the locations listed above under 
ADDRESSES.

1. Part I. Introduction

    Part I includes the purpose and scope of the revegetation success 
guidelines and the State and Federal regulations that apply to or 
address the requirements for revegetation success standards.

2. Part II. Terms

    The following terms that apply to the revegetation success 
guidelines are defined in Part II: (1) Permittee; (2) Permit; (3) 
Reference Area; (4) Prime Farmland; (5) Control Area; (6) Statistically 
Valid; (7) USDA-NRCS or NRCS; (8) Significant Figures; (9) Erosion; 
(10) Rill Erosion; (11) Gully Erosion; (12) Sheet Erosion; and (13) 
Soil Map Unit.

3. Part III. General Requirements and Exclusions of Revegetation

    Part III.A. contains information on the erosion and ground cover 
criteria that an area must meet before it is eligible for Phase II bond 
release.
    Part III.B. includes sampling dates for Phase II ground cover and 
general revegetation requirements, and sampling and/or harvest dates 
for production data. It also includes dates for reporting the schedule 
of proposed revegetation activity and the results of the previous 
year's revegetation activities.
    Part III.C. describes the general revegetation requirements for 
prime farmland; cropland; pasture land and forage crops; industrial, 
commercial, or residential lands; recreational, wildlife, and forested 
lands; and remined lands.
    Part III.D. concerns requirements on averaging of sampling data to 
meet revegetation success standards.
    Part III.E. excludes road surface areas and water covered surfaces 
of streams and impoundments from having to meet Iowa's revegetation 
success standards. This part also requires permanent impoundments to be 
constructed outside the prime farmland areas, but within the reclaimed 
permit area.
    Part III.F. contains requirements for the use of reference areas 
for establishing revegetation success standards. Data from reference 
areas can be used for direct comparison only when Iowa has approved the 
use of reference areas in the permit.
    Part III.G. requires that all revegetated areas meet the 
requirements of applicable State and Federal seed, poisonous and 
noxious plant, and introduced species laws and regulations. The 
revegetated areas must meet these requirements before the collection of 
the data that is used to prove the establishment of any revegetation 
success standards. This part includes a list of primary and secondary 
noxious weeds that will not be allowed to grow on any area within the 
permit boundaries.
    Part III.H. describes normal husbandry practices that can be used 
in the repair of rills and gullies without restarting the 
responsibility period. It includes requirements for terrace repair and 
maintenance; riprap repair and maintenance; land smoothing and 
reseeding; and liming, fertilizing and interseeding.

4. Part IV. Revegetation Success Standards

    Part IV contains revegetation success standards and mitigation plan 
requirements for the land use categories of prime farmland; pasture 
land; cropland; industrial, commercial, or residential; recreational, 
wildlife, and forested lands; and remined lands.

5. Part V. Sampling Procedures and Techniques

    Part V describes the sampling procedures and techniques for corn, 
soybeans, oats, and wheat crops; forage crops; ground cover; and trees 
and shrubs.

6. Part VI. Statistical Analysis of Sampling Data

    Part VI explains the statistical analysis used to determine if the 
collected revegetation success sample data for production and ground 
cover meet the appropriate revegetation success standards.

7. Technical Documents

    Iowa included the following technical documents in its revegetation 
guidelines: (1) Lucas County Soil Map Unit Yield Data; (2) Mahaska 
County Soil Map Unit Yield Data; (3) Marion County Soil Map Unit Yield 
Data; (4) Monroe County Soil Map Unit Yield Data; (5) Recommended Tree 
Planting Species in Iowa; (6) Iowa Soil Map Units That Qualify As Prime 
Farmland; and (7) Iowa State University, Cooperative Extension Service, 
Pamphlet PM-287, Take a Good Soil Sample.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are requesting 
comments on whether the amendment satisfies the applicable program 
approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If we approve the amendment, it 
will become part of the Iowa program.

Written Comments

    Your written comments should be specific and pertain only to the 
issues proposed in this rulemaking. You should explain the reason for 
any recommended change. In the final rulemaking, we will not 
necessarily consider or include in the Administrative Record any 
comments received after the time indicated under DATES or at locations 
other than the Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.

Public Hearing

    If you wish to speak at the public hearing, contact the person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m., c.s.t. on 
October 29, 1998. We will arrange the location and time of the hearing 
with those persons requesting the hearing. If you are disabled and need 
special accommodation to attend a public hearing, contact the 
individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. The hearing 
will not be held if no one requests an opportunity to speak at the 
public hearing.
    You should file a written statement at the time you request the 
hearing. This will allow us 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. 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 spoken.

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 amendment, request a meeting by 
contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER

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INFORMATION CONTACT. All meetings are open to the public and, if 
possible, we will post notices of meetings at the locations listed 
under ADDRESSES. We also make a written summary of each meeting a part 
of the Administrative Record.

VI. Procedural Determinations

Executive Order 12866

    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) exempts this rule from 
review 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 program is 
drafted and published 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 State regulatory programs and 
program amendments 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

    This rule does not require an environmental impact statement since 
section 702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1292(d)) provides that agency 
decisions on 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 
corresponding 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 published 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 corresponding Federal regulations.

Unfunded Mandates

    OSM has determined and certifies under the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act (2 U.S.C. 1502 et seq.) that this rule will not impose a cost of 
$100 million or more in any given year on local, state, or tribal 
governments or private entities.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 915

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: October 2, 1998.
Brent Wahlquist,
Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 98-27503 Filed 10-13-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P; 4310-05-M