[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 245 (Wednesday, December 22, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 71700-71702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-33139]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 931

[SPATS No. NM-040-FOR]


New Mexico Regulatory Program

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

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

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SUMMARY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is 
announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the New Mexico regulatory 
program (hereinafter, the ``New Mexico program'') under this Surface 
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The proposed 
amendment consists of revisions to rules pertaining to revegetation 
success standards and sampling techniques. The amendment is intended to 
revise the New Mexico program to be consistent with the corresponding 
Federal regulations.

DATES: Written comments must be received by 4 p.m., m.s.t., January 21, 
2000. If requested, a public hearing on the proposed amendment will be 
held on January 18, 2000. Requests to present oral testimony at the 
hearing must be received by 4 p.m., m.s.t., on January 6, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and 
requests to speak at the hearing to Willis L. Gainer at the address 
listed below.
    You may review copies of the New Mexico 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

[[Page 71701]]

one free copy of the amendment by contracting OSM's Albuquerque Field 
Office.

Willis L. Gainer, Director, Albuquerque Field Office, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 505 Marquette Avenue, NW., Suite 
1200, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.
Mining and Minerals Division, New Mexico Energy & Minerals Department, 
2040 South Pacheco Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505, telephone: (505) 
827-5970.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Willis L. Gainer, Telephone: (505) 
248-5096, Internet address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the New Mexico Program

    On December 31, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally 
approved the New Mexico Program. General background information on the 
New Mexico program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition 
of comments, and the conditions of approval of the New Mexico program 
can be found in the December 31, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 86459). 
Subsequent actions concerning New Mexico's program and program 
amendments can be found at 30 CFR 931.11, 931.15, 931.16, and 931.30.

II. Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated December 1, 1999 (administrative record No. NM-
816), New Mexico submitted a proposed amendment to its program pursuant 
to SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). New Mexico submitted the proposed 
amendment in response to the required program amendments at 30 CFR 
931.16(m), (n), and (z). The provisions of New Mexico Annotated Code 
(NMAC) that New Mexico proposed to revise were: 19 NMAC 8.2 2065.A, 
sampling techniques used to measure success of revegetation; and 19 
NMAC 2065.B(1), success standards for ground cover and productivity of 
living plants on revegetated areas.
    Specifically, New Mexico proposes to revise:
    (1) 19 NMAC 8.2 2065(A) to reference a guidance document entitled 
Coal Mine Reclamation Program Vegetation Standards for the sampling 
techniques that can be used to measure success of revegetation and to 
allow for the comparison of ground cover and productivity to be made 
using technical standards developed using an historic record of 
premining conditions rather than a reference area; and
    (2) 19 NMAC 2065.B(1), to allow the success standards for ground 
cover and productivity to be developed using the technical standards 
set forth in the guidance document entitled Coal Mine Reclamation 
Program Vegetation Standards rather than by comparison to a reference 
area.
    In addition, New Mexico submitted a copy of the guidance document 
entitled Coal Mine Reclamation Program Vegetation Standards and 
requested OSM's approval of it as part of the New Mexico program. This 
document established methods and acceptable techniques of measurement 
that are approved and recommended when conducting vegetation baseline 
inventories in accordance with 19 NMAC Subpart 808 and when assessing 
revegetation success in accordance with 19 NMAC Subparts 2065 and 2066. 
Additional standards are provided regarding the selection and use of 
reference areas and technical standards, approved normal husbandry 
practices, and the demonstration of postmine suitability for livestock 
grazing.

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 New Mexico program.

1. Written Comments

    We will make comments, including names and addresses of 
respondents, available for public review during normal business hours. 
We will not consider anonymous comments. If individual respondents 
request confidentiality, we will honor their request to the extent 
allowable by law. Individual respondents who wish to withhold their 
name or address from public review, except for the city or town, must 
state this prominently at the beginning of their 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 review in their entirety.
    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. NM-040-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 Albuquerque Field Office at 
(505) 248-5096.
    Your written comments should be specific and pertain only to the 
issues proposed in this rulemaking, and include explanations in support 
of the commenter's recommendations. 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 Albuquerque Field Office.
    In accordance with the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are 
requesting comments on whether the proposed amendment satisfies the 
applicable program approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If we approve 
the amendment, it will become part of the New Mexico program.
    Comments received after the time indicated under DATES or at 
locations other than the Albuquerque Field Office will not necessarily 
be considered in the final rulemaking or included in the administrative 
record.

2. Public Hearing

    Persons wishing to testify at the public hearing should contact the 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m., 
m.s.t., on January 6, 2000. Any disabled individual who has need for a 
special accommodation to attend a public hearing should contact the 
individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. The location 
and time of the hearing will be arranged with those persons requesting 
the hearing. If no one requests an opportunity to testify at the public 
hearing, the hearing will not be held.
    To assist the transcriber and ensure an accurate record, we 
request, if possible, that each person who testifies at a public 
hearing provide us with a written copy of his or her testimony. 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.

3. Public Meeting

    If only one person requests an opportunity to testify at a hearing, 
a public meeting, rather than a public hearing, may be held. Persons 
wishing to meet with OSM representatives to discuss the proposed 
amendment may request a meeting by contacting the person listed under 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. All such meetings will be open to the 
public and, if possible, notices of meetings will be posted at the 
locations listed under

[[Page 71702]]

ADDRESSES. A written summary of each meeting will be made a part of the 
administrative record.

IV. Procedural Determinations

1. Executive Order 12866

    This rule is exempted from review by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and 
Review).

2. Executive Order 12988

    The Department of the Interior has conducted the reviews required 
by section 3 of the Executive Order 12988 (Civil Justice Reform) and 
has determined that 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 such 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 the Federal regulations at 30 CFR 730.11, 
732.15, and 732.17(h)(10), decisions on proposed State regulatory 
programs and program amendments submitted by the States 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.

3. National Environmental Policy Act

    No environmental impact statement is required for this rule since 
section 702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1292(d)) provides that agency 
decisions on proposed 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)).

4. 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.).

5. 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 that is the subject of this rule is based upon 
counterpart 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. Accordingly, this rule will ensure that existing requirements 
previously promulgated 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 counterpart Federal regulations.

6. Unfunded Mandates

    This rule will not impose a cost of $100 million or more in any 
given year on any governmental entity or the private sector.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 931

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: December 13, 1999.
Brent T. Wahlquist,
Regional Director, Western Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 99-33139 Filed 12-21-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M