[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 63 (Friday, March 31, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17211-17213]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-8011]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 934

[SPATS No. ND-040-FOR; ND State Program Amendment XXIX]


North Dakota 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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is 
announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the North Dakota 
regulatory program (hereinafter, the ``State program'') under the 
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). North 
Dakota proposes revisions to its revegetation policy document, 
``Standards for Evaluation of Revegetation Success and Recommended 
Procedures for Pre- and Postmining Vegetation Assessments,'' as 
discussed in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, II. Proposed Amendment. It 
intends to revise its program to improve operational efficiency.

DATES: We will accept written comments on this amendment until 4:00 
p.m., m.s.t. May 1, 2000. If requested, we will hold a public hearing 
on the amendment on April 25, 2000. We will accept requests to speak 
until 4:00 p.m., m.s.t. on April 17, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and 
requests to speak at the hearing to Guy Padgett at the address listed 
below.
    You may review copies of the North Dakota program, this 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 one free copy of the amendment by contacting 
OSM's Casper Field Office.

Guy Padgett, Director, Casper Field Office, Office of Surface Mining 
Reclamation and Enforcement, 100 East ``B'' Street, Casper, Wyoming 
82601-1918

[[Page 17212]]

James R. Deutsch, Director, Reclamation Division, Pubic Service 
Commission, 600 E. Boulevard Avenue, Bismarck, North Dakota 58505-0480, 
Telephone: 701/328-2400

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Guy Padgett, Telephone: 307/261-6550. 
Internet: [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the North Dakota Program
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations

I. Background on the North Dakota Program

    North Dakota: On December 15, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior 
conditionally approved the North Dakota program. You can find 
background information on the North Dakota program, including the 
Secretary's findings, the disposition of comments, and conditions of 
approval of the North Dakota program in the December 15, 1980 Federal 
Register (45 FR 82214). You can also find later actions concerning 
North Dakota's program and program amendments at 30 CFR 934.15 and 
934.16.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated March 16, 2000, North Dakota sent to us a proposed 
amendment to its program (Amendment number XXIX), administrative record 
No. ND-DD-01 under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). North Dakota sent 
the amendment to include changes made at its own initiative. The full 
text of the program amendment is available for you to read at the 
locations listed above under ADDRESSES.
    Specifically, North Dakota proposes to revise its revegetation 
policy document to reflect changes in its approved State Program as 
follows: (1) to give mining companies the option of proving reclamation 
success for three out of five consecutive years, starting no sooner 
than the eighth year of the responsibility period; (2) that the time-
in-place requirement for tree and shrub standards will be deemed 
satisfied if the mine operator demonstrates that no tree, shrub or 
half-shrub replanting has occurred during the last six years of the 
responsibility period; (3) to clarify the objectives section; (4) to 
add new provisions for adjusting North Dakota Agricultural Statistical 
Service crop yield to reflect certain management practices; (5) to 
include other factors, in addition to precipitation and temperature, in 
developing a cropland and/or tame pastureland regression equation to 
clinically adjust yield standards; (6) to add a statement to the native 
grassland section that established plant species must be predominantly 
native; (7) to provide more consistency for the standards on native 
grassland diversity and seasonality, (8) to clarify sampling procedures 
regarding when plant growth forms must be weighed separately; and (9) 
miscellaneous minor changes and additions.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are requesting your 
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 North Dakota program.

Written Comments

    Send your written comments to OSM at the address given above. 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 form 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. ND-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 Casper Field Office at 307/
261-6555.
    Your written comments should be specific and pertain only to the 
issues proposed in this rulemaking, and include explanations in support 
of your 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 Casper Field office.

Public Hearing

    If you wish to speak at the public hearing, contact the person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m., m.s.t. on 
April 17, 2000. If you are disabled and need special accommodations to 
attend a public hearing, contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT. We will arrange the location and time of the 
hearing with those persons requesting the hearing. We will not hold the 
public hearing if no one requests an opportunity to speak.
    To assist the transcriber and ensure an accurate record, we 
request, if possible, that each person who speaks at a public hearing 
provide us with a written copy of his or her comments. The public 
hearing will continue on the specified date until everyone scheduled to 
speak has 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 
everyone scheduled to speak and others present in the audience who wish 
to speak, have been heard.

Public Meeting

    If only one person requests an opportunity to speak, we may hold a 
public meeting rather than a public hearing. If you wish to meet with 
us to discuss the amendment, please request a meeting by contracting 
the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. All such 
meetings are open to the public and, if possible, we will post notices 
of meetings at the locations listed under ADDRESSES. We will make a 
written summary of each meeting a part of the administrative record.

 IV. Procedural Determinations

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).

Executive Order 12988

    The Department of the Interior has conducted the reviews required 
by section 3 of 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

[[Page 17213]]

its implementing Federal regulations and whether the other requirements 
of 30 CFR Parts 730, 731, and 732 have been met.

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)).

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.).

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.

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 934

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: March 24, 2000.
Brent Wahlquist,
Regional Director, Western Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 00-8011 Filed 3-30-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M