[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 223 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63330-63331]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-30255]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement


Proposed Replacement of Wright Water Distribution Looping Project

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

ACTION: Notice of application for grant funding; public comment period 
on request to fund the Wright Water Distribution Looping Project.

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SUMMARY: OSM is announcing its receipt of a grant application from the 
Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Abandoned Mine Land 
Division (AMLD). Wyoming is requesting $160,000 from the Abandoned Mine 
Reclamation Fund to pay the cost of replacing the Wright Water 
Distribution Looping Project. In its application, the State proposes 
paying for the construction cost as a public facility project that will 
benefit a community impacted by coal mining.
    This notice describes when and where you may read the grant 
application for funding the Wright Water Distribution Looping Project. 
It also sets the time period during which you may send written comments 
on the request to us.

DATES: We will accept written comments until 4:00 p.m., m.s.t., 
December 20, 1999.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand-deliver written comments to Guy V. 
Padgett, Casper Field Office Director, at the address shown below. You 
may read Wyoming's grant application for this proposed project during 
normal business hours Monday through Friday (excluding holidays) at the 
same address. Also, we will send one free copy of the grant application 
to you if you contact OSM's Casper Field Office, Guy V. Padgett, 
Director, Casper Field Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and 
Enforcement, Federal Building, Rm. 2403, 100 East ``B'' Street, Casper, 
Wyoming 82601-1918.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Guy V. Padgett, Telephone: (307) 261-
6555. 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 rulemaking (or administrative) record, 
which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also may be 
circumstances in which we would withhold from the rulemaking [or 
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 from public inspection in their entirety.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on Title IV of SMCRA

    Title IV of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) 
established an Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (AMLR) program. The 
purpose of the AMLR program is to reclaim and restore lands and waters 
that were adversely affected by past mining. The program is funded by a 
reclamation fee paid by active coal mining operations. Lands and waters 
eligible for reclamation under Title IV are primarily those that were 
mined, or affected by mining, and abandoned or inadequately reclaimed 
before August 3, 1977, and for which there is no continuing reclamation 
responsibility under State, Federal, or other laws.
    Title IV of SMCRA allows States to submit AMLR plans to us. We, on 
behalf of the Secretary, review those plans and consider any public 
comments we receive about them. If we determine that a State has the 
ability and necessary legislation to operate an AMLR program, the 
Secretary can approve it. The Secretary's approval gives a State 
exclusive authority to put its AMLR plan into effect.
    Once the Secretary approves a State's AMLR plan, the State may 
apply to us for money to fund specific projects that will achieve the 
goals of its approved plan. We follow the requirements of the Federal 
regulations at 30 CFR parts 874, 875, and 886 when we review and 
approve such applications.

II. Background on the Wyoming AMLR Plan

    The Secretary of the Interior approved Wyoming's AMLR plan on 
February 14, 1983. You can find background information on the Wyoming 
AML program, including the Secretary's findings and our response to 
comments, in the February 14, 1983 Federal

[[Page 63331]]

Register (48 FR 6536). Wyoming changed its plan a number of times since 
the Secretary first approved it. In 1984, we accepted the State's 
certification that it had addressed all known coal-related impacts in 
Wyoming that were eligible for funding under its program. As a result, 
the State may now reclaim low priority non-coal reclamation projects. 
You can read about the certification and OSM's acceptance in the May 
25, 1984, Federal Register (49 FR 22139). At the same time, we also 
accepted Wyoming's proposal that it will ask us for funds to reclaim 
any additional coal-related problems that occur during the life of the 
Wyoming AML program as soon as it becomes aware of them. In the April 
13, 1992, Federal Register (57 FR 12731), we announced our decision to 
accept other changes in Wyoming's plan that describe how it will rank 
eligible coal, non-coal, and facility projects for funding. Those 
changes also authorized the Governor of Wyoming to elevate the priority 
of a project based upon the Governor's determination of need and 
urgency. They also expanded the State's ability to construct public 
facilities under section 411 of SMCRA. We approved additional changes 
in Wyoming's plan concerning non-coal lien authority and contractor 
eligibility that improve the efficiency of the State's AML program. 
That approval is described in the February 21, 1996, Federal Register 
(61 FR 6537).
    Once a State certifies that it has addressed all remaining 
abandoned coal mine problems and the Secretary concurs, then it may 
request funds to undertake abandoned non-coal mine reclamation, 
community impact assistance, and public facilities projects under 
sections 411(b), (e), and (f), of SMCRA.
    State law and regulations that apply to the proposed Abandoned Coal 
Mine Land Program Wright Water Distribution Looping project funding 
request include Wyoming Statute 35-11-1202 and Wyoming Abandoned Mine 
Land Regulations, Chapter VII, of the Wyoming Abandoned Mine Program.

III. Wyoming's Request to Fund the Cost of Wright Water 
Distribution Looping Project

    The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality submitted to us a 
grant application dated November 1, 1999. In that application, Wyoming 
asked for $160,000 to pay for the cost of replacing the Wright Water 
Distribution Project. The Governor of Wyoming certified the need and 
urgency to fund this project prior to completing the State's remaining 
inventory of non-coal reclamation work, as allowed by section 411(f) of 
SMCRA. That certification says the project is in a community impacted 
by coal mining activities.
    This project will mitigate the impacts of safety hazards associated 
with the present condition of the Wright Water Distribution Looping 
project. The project will serve the community of Wright by reducing the 
threat to surface water and public health and safety presented by 
inadequate water pressure for fire suppression and consumption. The 
Governor's certification states that safety hazards warrant funding of 
this project before the remaining inventory of non-coal projects are 
completed.

IV. How We Will Review Wyoming's Grant Application

    We will review this grant application using the regulations at 30 
CFR 875.15; specifically subsections 875.15(e)(1) through (7). As 
stated in those regulations, the application must include the following 
information: (1) The need or urgency for the activity or the 
construction of the public facility; (2) the expected impact the 
project will have on Wyoming's coal or minerals industry; (3) the 
availability of funding from other sources and, if other funding is 
provided, its percentage of the total cost involved; (4) documentation 
from other local, State, and Federal agencies with oversight for such 
utilities or facilities describing what funding they have available and 
why their agency is not fully funding this specific project; (5) the 
impact on the State, the public, and the minerals industry if the 
facility is not funded; (6) the reasons why this project should be 
selected before the priority project relating to the protection of the 
public health and safety or the environment from the damages caused by 
past mining activities, and (7) an analysis and review of the 
procedures Wyoming used to notify and involve the public in this 
request, and a copy of all comments received and their resolution by 
the State. Wyoming's application for the Wright project contains the 
information described in these seven subsections.
    Section 875.15(f) requires us to evaluate all comments we receive 
and determine whether the funding meets the requirements of 
Secs. 875.15(e)(1) through (7) described above. It also requires us to 
determine if the request is in the best interests of the State's AML 
program. We will approve Wyoming's request to fund this project if we 
conclude that it meets all the requirements of 30 CFR 875.15.

V. What To Do if You Want To Comment on the Proposed Project

    We are asking for public comments on Wyoming's request for funds to 
pay for the cost of replacing the Wright Water Distribution Looping 
project. You are welcome to comment on the project. If you do, please 
send us written comments. Make sure your comments are specific and 
pertain to Wyoming's funding request in the context of the regulations 
at 30 CFR 875.15 and the provisions of section 411 of SMCRA. You should 
explain any recommendations you make. If we receive your comments after 
the time shown under DATES or at locations other than the Casper Field 
Office, we will not necessarily consider them in our final decision or 
include them in the administrative record.

    Dated: November 3, 1999.
Guy Padgett,
Director, Casper Field Office.
[FR Doc. 99-30255 Filed 11-18-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M