[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 223 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63334-63336]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-30258]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement


Proposed Construction of Frannie Water Distribution 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 Frannie Water Distribution 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 requesting $420,200 from the Abandoned Mine 
Reclamation fund to pay approximately 44 percent of the cost of 
building the Frannie Water Distribution System. The Frannie community 
will provide $37,500. The Rural Utility Service will provide $464,000. 
The State Loan and Investment Board will provide $29,300. 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 bentonite and gypsum mining.
    This notice describes when and where you may read the grant 
application for funding the Frannie Water Distribution System project. 
It also sets the time period during which you may send written comments 
on the request to us.

DATES: We will accept 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.

[[Page 63335]]

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 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 Frannie Water Distribution 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 Frannie Water 
Distribution System

    The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality submitted to us a 
grant application dated November 1, 1999. In that application, Wyoming 
asked for $420,200 to pay for a part of the cost of constructing the 
Frannie Water Distribution System. The Governor of Wyoming certified 
the need and urgency to fund this project prior to completing the 
State's remaining inventory of noncoal reclamation work, as allowed by 
section 411(f) of SMCRA. That certification says the project is in a 
community impacted by bentonite and gypsum mining activities. The 
facility consists of total replacement of the water distribution system 
in the community of Frannie, Wyoming.
    This project will mitigate the impacts of safety hazards associated 
with the present condition of the Frannie Water System. The Frannie 
water system is inadequate for fire suppression. The Governor's 
certification states that safety hazards warrant funding of this 
project before the remaining inventory of non-coal projects and 
completed.

IV. How We Will Review Wyoming's Grant Applicant

    We will review this grant application using the regulations at 30 
CFR 875.15; specifically Secs. 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 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) and 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 Frannie Water Distribution 
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

[[Page 63336]]

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 Frannie water system. 
You are welcome to comment on the project. If you 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. 99-30258 Filed 11-18-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M