[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 137 (Monday, July 17, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44015-44017]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18009]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 934

[SPATS No. ND-041-FOR; North Dakota State Program Amendment No. XXX]


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.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) 
is announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the North Dakota 
regulatory program (hereinafter, the ``North Dakota program'') under 
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). North 
Dakota proposes revisions of rules about: Rulemaking notices; prime 
farmland reclamation plans; permit approval and denial criteria; 
performance bond liability period; bond release applications; surface 
water monitoring; revegetation success standards; prime farmland 
reclamation standards; and small operator assistance.
    North Dakota intends to revise its program to be consistent with 
the corresponding Federal regulations, clarify ambiguities, and improve 
operational efficiency.

DATES: We will accept written comments on this amendment until 4:00 
p.m., m.d.t. August 16, 2000. If requested, we will hold a public 
hearing on the amendment on August 11, 2000. We will accept requests to 
speak until 4:00 p.m., m.d.t. on August 1, 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, Chief, Casper Field Office, Office of Surface Mining 
Reclamation and Enforcement, 100 East ``B'' Street, Federal Building, 
Room 2128, Casper, Wyoming 82601-1918
James R. Deutsch, Director, Reclamation Division, North Dakota Public 
Service Commission, Capitol Building, Bismarck, North Dakota 58505, 
Telephone: 701-328-2251.

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

    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 June 20, 2000, North Dakota sent us a proposed 
amendment to its program (Amendment number XXX, administrative record 
No. ND-EE-01) under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et

[[Page 44016]]

seq.). North Dakota sent the amendment in response to a July 17, 1997 
letter (administrative record No. ND-EE-02) that we sent to it in 
accordance with 30 CFR 732.17(c) and, in addition, 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.
    The provisions of the North Dakota Administrative Code that North 
Dakota proposes to revise are: (1) NDAC 69-05.2-01-03, Rulemaking 
notices; (2) NDAC 69-05.2-09-15, Prime farmland reclamation plans; (3) 
NDAC 69-05.2-10-03(6)(c), Permit approval or denial criteria; (4) NDAC 
69-05.2-12-09, Period of performance bond liability; (5) NDAC 69-05.2-
12(2), Bond release applications; (6) NDAC 69-05.2-16-05, Surface water 
monitoring; (7) NDAC 69-05.2-22-07, Revegetation success standards; (8) 
NDAC 69-05.2-26-05, Prime farmland revegetation requirements; and (9) 
NDAC 69-05.2-29-03, Small operator assistance.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we request 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 us at the address given above. Your 
written comments should be specific, 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.

Electronic Comments

    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-041-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/
261-6550.

Availability of 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.

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.d.t. on 
August 1, 2000. If you are disabled and need special accommdations 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. If no one requests 
an opportunity to speak, we will not hold the hearing.
    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 contacting 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 12630--Takings

    This rule does not have takings implications. This determination is 
based on the analysis performed for the counterpart Federal 
regulations.

Executive Order 12866--Regulatory Planning and Review

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

Executive Order 12988--Civil Justice Reform

    The Department of the Interior has conducted the reviews required 
by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 and has determined that, to the 
extent allowable by law, 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.

Executive Order 13132--Federalism

    This rule does not have Federalism implications. SMCRA delineates 
the roles of the Federal and State governments with regard to the 
regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations. One of 
the purposes of SMCRA is to ``establish a nationwide program to protect 
society and the environment from the adverse effects of surface coal 
mining operations.'' Section 503(a)(1) of SMCRA requires that State 
laws regulating surface coal mining and reclamation operations be ``in 
accordance with'' the requirements of SMCRA. Section 503(a)(7) requires 
that State programs contain rules and regulations ``consistent with'' 
regulations issued by the Secretary pursuant to SMCRA.

National Environmental Policy Act

    Section 702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1292(d)) provides that a 
decision on a proposed State regulatory program provision does not 
constitute a major Federal action within the meaning of section 
102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 
4332(2)(C)). A determination has been made that such decisions are 
categorically excluded from the NEPA process (516 DM 8.4.A).

[[Page 44017]]

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 relief upon the data and 
assumptions for the counterpart Federal regulations.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act

    This rule is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 804(2), the Small 
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act. This rule: (a) Does not 
have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million; (b) Will not 
cause a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual 
industries, geographic regions, or Federal, State or local governmental 
agencies; and (c) Does not have significant adverse effects on 
competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the 
ability of U.S. based enterprises to compete with foreign-based 
enterprises. This determination is based upon the fact that the State 
submittal which is the subject of this rule is based upon counterpart 
Federal regulations for which an analysis was prepared and a 
determination made that the Federal regulation was not considered a 
major rule.

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: July 7, 2000.
Brent Wahlquist,
Regional Director, Western Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 00-18009 Filed 7-14-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M