[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 223 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63337-63339]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-30260]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement


Proposed Construction of Converse County Road 37

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 Converse County Road 37.

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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 $246,500.00 from the Abandoned 
Mine Reclamation Fund to pay 50 percent of the cost of building 
Converse County Road 37 in Converse County, Wyoming. The Power River 
Coal Company will provide $71,750. Kennocott Energy Company will 
provide $71,750 and Converse County will provide $103, 000. In its 
application, the State purposes paying for part of the reconstruction 
cost as a public facility project that will benefit a community 
impacted by coal and mineral mining.
    This notice describes when and where you may read the grant 
application for funding the Converse County Road 37 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 comment 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, Caster, 
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

[[Page 63338]]

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 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 Converse County Road 37 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 Converse County Road 37

    The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality submitted to us a 
grant application dated November 1, 1999. In that application, Wyoming 
asked for $246,500 to pay for a part of the cost of reconstructing 
Converse County Road 37. 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. The requested funding is 50 percent of the 
project's total cost. Money for the balance of the project cost will 
come from the County's general fund (25 percent), Powder River Coal 
Company and Kennecott Energy Company (25 percent). The project involves 
rebuilding 3 miles of County Road 37. This road is one of the busiest 
roads in the County. The road directly serves the employees of three 
coal mines. Employees commute daily to these mines by personal vehicles 
and company buses.
    This project will mitigate the impacts of safety hazards associated 
with the present condition of County Road 37. The Governor's 
certification states that safety hazards impacting coal mine employees 
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, 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 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 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 Converse County Road 37 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 63339]]

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 rebuilding Converse County Road 37. 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 1, 1999.
Guy Padgett,
Director, Casper Field Office.
[FR Doc. 99-30260 Filed 11-18-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M