[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 175 (Friday, September 10, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49118-49120]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23489]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 918

[SPATS No. LA-018-FOR]


Louisiana Regulatory Program

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

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

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SUMMARY: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) 
is announcing receipt of an amendment to the Louisiana regulatory 
program (Louisiana program) under the Surface Mining Control and 
Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Louisiana proposes revisions to and 
additions of statutes concerning requirements for permit applications, 
eligibility requirements for the Small Operator Assistance Program 
(SOAP), and permit exemptions. Louisiana intends to revise the 
Louisiana program to be consistent with SMCRA and the Louisiana Surface 
Mining Regulations.
    This document gives the times and locations that the Louisiana 
program and the amendment to that program are available for your 
inspection, the comment period during which you may submit written 
comments on the amendment, and the procedures that we will follow for 
the public hearing, if one is requested.

DATES: We will accept written comments until 4:00 p.m., c.d.t., October 
12, 1999. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on the amendment 
on October 5, 1999. We will accept requests to speak at the hearing 
until 4:00 p.m., c.d.t. on September 27, 1999.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and 
requests to speak at the hearing to Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa 
Field Office, at the address listed below.
    You may review copies of the Louisiana 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 Tulsa Field Office. Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa Field 
Office, Office of Surface Mining, 5100 East Skelly Drive, Suite 470, 
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135-6547, Telephone: (918) 581-6430.
    Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Office of Conservation, 
Injection and Mining Division, 625 N . 4th Street, P. O. Box 94275, 
Baton Rouge, LA 70804, Telephone: (504) 342-5540.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa 
Field Office. Telephone: (918) 581-6430. Internet: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Louisiana Program

    On October 10, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior approved the 
Louisiana program. You can find background information on the Louisiana 
program, including the Secretary's findings and the disposition of 
comments in the October 10, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 67340). You 
can find later actions concerning the Louisiana program at 30 CFR 
918.15 and 918.16.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated August 23, 1999 (Administrative Record No. LA-364), 
Louisiana sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA. Louisiana 
sent the amendment at its own initiative. Louisiana proposes to amend 
the Louisiana Surface Mining Act. Below is a summary of the changes 
proposed by Louisiana. The full text of the program amendment is 
available for your inspection at the locations listed above under 
ADDRESSES.

A. Section 907, Application Requirements

    1. Louisiana proposes to remove the provision at paragraph B(16) 
that requires an applicant to make information about coal seams, test 
borings, core samplings, or soil samples available to any person with 
an interest which is or may be adversely affected. Louisiana then 
proposes to add this removed provision at new paragraph B(17).
    2. Louisiana also proposes to add new paragraph B(18) to require an 
applicant to submit with his or her permit application a description of 
the nature of cultural, historical, and archeological

[[Page 49119]]

resources listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of 
Historic Places. This description must be based on all available 
information, and include a plan that describes the measures the 
applicant will take to prevent or minimize any adverse impacts the 
mining operation might have on the resources.
    3. Louisiana further proposes to add new paragraph B(19) to require 
an applicant to submit with his or her permit application a description 
of fish and wildlife resource information for the permit area and 
adjacent area. The scope and level of detail for such information will 
be determined by the office of conservation. However, site specific 
resource information will be required when the permit area or adjacent 
area is likely to include endangered or threatened species of plants or 
animals or their habitats.
    4. Louisiana proposes to add new paragraph B(20) to require an 
applicant to submit with his or her permit application a description of 
how the operator will minimize disturbances and adverse impacts on 
fish, wildlife, and related environmental values. The description will 
apply to the species and habitats identified in new paragraph B(19) and 
must include the protective measures that the operator will use during 
the active mining phase of the operation.
    5. Finally, Louisiana proposes to revise Subsection C of this 
section to read as follows:

    C. If the commissioner finds that the probable total annual 
production at all locations of any coal surface mining operator will 
not exceed three hundred thousand tons, the determination of 
probable hydrologic consequences, including the engineering analyses 
and designs necessary for the determination, required by Paragraph 
B(11) of this Section, cross-section maps and plans required by 
Paragraph B(14) of this Section, the drilling and statement of the 
result of test borings or core samplings required by Paragraph B(15) 
of this Section, the collection of archaeological and historical 
information and related plans required by Paragraph B(18) of this 
Section, the collection of site-specific resources information 
required by Paragraph B(19) of this Section, the production of 
protection and enhancement plans for fish and wildlife habitats 
required by Paragraph B(20) of this Section, and information and 
plans for any other environmental values required by the office of 
conservation and this Chapter, and pre-blast surveys required by 
R.S. 30:915(B)(15) shall, upon the written request of the operator, 
be performed by a qualified public or private laboratory designated 
by the commissioner and the cost of the preparation of such 
determination and statement shall be assumed by the commissioner.

B. Section 927, Surface Coal Mining Operations Not Subject to This 
Chapter.

    Louisiana proposes to revise paragraph (2) whereby the requirements 
of Chapter 9 do not apply to the extraction of coal where coal does not 
exceed sixteen and two-thirds percent of the total tonnage of coal and 
other minerals removed for purposes of commercial use or sale.

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 Louisiana program.

Written Comments

    Our practice is to make comments, including names and home 
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular 
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold 
their home address from the administrative record, which we will honor 
to the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in 
which we would withhold from the administrative record a respondent's 
identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name 
and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your comment. However, we will not consider anonymous comments. We will 
make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their 
entirety.
    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 Tulsa Field Office.
    Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII file avoiding the use 
of special characters and any form of encryption. Please also include 
``Attn: SPATS No. LA-018-FOR'' and your name and return address in your 
Internet message. If you do not receive a confirmation that we have 
received your Internet message, contact the Tulsa Field Office at (918) 
581-6430.

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.d.t. on 
September 27, 1999. 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 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. If you wish 
to meet with us to discuss the amendment, request a meeting by 
contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. All 
such 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.

IV. 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 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),

[[Page 49120]]

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 918

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: September 1, 1999.
Ervin J. Barchenger,
Acting Regional Director, Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 99-23489 Filed 9-9-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P