[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 223 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63333-63334]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-30257]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement


Proposed Construction of Lander Water Treatment System

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 Lander Water Treatment System.

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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 $887,239 from the Abandoned Mine 
Reclamation Fund to pay for the cost of building the Lander Water 
Treatment System. In its application, the State proposes paying for 
part of the reconstruction cost as a public facility project that will 
benefit a community impacted by iron and uranium mining.
    This notice describes when and where you may read the grant 
application for funding the Lander Water Treatment System 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 for 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 responses to 
comments, in the February 14, 1983 Federal 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

[[Page 63334]]

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 Lander Water Treatment System 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 Lander Water Treatment 
System

    The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality submitted to us a 
grant application dated November 1, 1999. In that application, Wyoming 
asked for $887,239 to pay for the cost of constructing the Lander Water 
Treatment System. 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 iron and uranium mining activities. The facility consists of total 
replacement of the water treatment system in the community of Lander, 
Wyoming. This project will mitigate the impacts of safety hazards 
associated with the present condition of the Lander Water System. This 
project will serve the City of Lander by reducing the drinking water 
borne threat to the public health and safety presented by giardia, 
crypto and fecal coliform. 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 Sec. 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, is 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 fulling funding this specific project; (5) the 
impact on the State, the public, and the minerals industry if the 
facility is not funded; (6) the reason 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 cause 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 Lander Water Treatment System 
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 part of the cost of reconstructing the Lander water system. 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. 99-30257 Filed 11-18-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M