[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 186 (Monday, September 25, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57581-57583]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-24581]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 926

[SPATS No. MT-021-FOR]


Montana Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Plan

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 Montana abandoned 
mine land reclamation (AMLR) plan (hereinafter, the ``Montana plan'') 
under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). 
Montana proposes revisions to a statute about AMLR reclamation, 
proposes deletion of the AMLR rules in the Administrative Rules of 
Montana (ARM), and proposes a plan of reorganization of the AMLR 
program. Montana intends to revise its AMLR plan to be consistent with 
SMCRA, meet the requirements of the Federal regulations, and improve 
operational efficiency.

DATES: We will accept written comments on this amendment until 4 p.m., 
m.d.t., October 25, 2000. If requested, we will hold a public hearing 
on the amendment on October 20, 2000. We will accept requests to speak 
until 4 p.m., m.d.t., October 10, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You should mail, hand deliver, or e-mail written comments 
and requests to speak at the hearing to Guy Padgett at the address 
listed below.
    You may review copies of the Montana plan, 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, Federal Building, 
Room 2128, Casper, Wyoming 82601-1918, Telephone: (307) 261-6550.
Vic Anderson, Chief, Mine Waste Cleanup Bureau, Remediation Division, 
Montana Department of Environmental Quality, 1520 E. Sixth Ave., P.O. 
Box 20091, Helena, MT 59620-0901, Telephone: (406) 444-4972.
Steve Welch, Chief, Industrial and Energy Minerals Bureau, Montana 
Department of Environment Quality, 1520 E. Sixth Ave., P.O. Box 200901, 
Telena, MT 59620-0901, Telephone: (406) 444-4964.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Montana Plan.
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment.
III. Public Comment Procedures.
IV. Procedural Determinations.

I. Background on the Montana Plan

    On November 24, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally 
approved the Montana plan as administered by the Department of State 
Lands. You can find general background information on the Montana plan, 
including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of comments, and 
the conditions of approval of the Montana plan in the October 24, 1980, 
Federal Register (45 FR 70445). You can also find later actions 
concerning Montana's plan and plan amendments at 30 CFR 926.21 and 
926.25.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated August 15, 2000, Montana sent us a proposed 
amendment to its plan (SPATS No. MT-021-FOR, Administrative Record No. 
MT-18-01) under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). Montana sent the 
amendment in response to the required plan amendment at 30 CFR 
926.21(a) and at its own initiative. The full text of the plan 
amendment is available for you to read at the locations listed above 
under ADDRESSES.
    Montana proposes to delete its AMLR rule definitions of ``abandoned 
mine land reclamation fund,'' ``emergency,'' and ``extreme danger'' at 
ARM 26.4.301 and its definitions of ``abandoned mine land reclamation 
fund,'' ``emergency,'' ``expended,'' ``extreme danger,'' ``fund,'' 
``left or abandoned in either an unreclaimed or inadequately reclaimed 
condition,'' ``Montana abandoned mine reclamation program,'' and 
``reclamation activities'' at ARM 26.4.1231.
    Montana proposes to delete the AMLR rules at ARM 26.41232 through 
26.41242, which concern the AMLR fund, eligible lands and water, 
reclamation objectives and priorities, reclamation project evaluation, 
consent to enter lands, land eligible for acquisition, procedures for 
acquisition, acceptance of gifts of land, management of acquired lands, 
disposition of reclaimed lands, and reclamation on private land.
    In lieu of the deleted rules, Montana intends to rely on the 
requirements of its AMLR plan and on the statutory provisions at 
Montana Code Annotated (MCA) 82-4-239, 82-4-371, and 82-4-445. Montana 
proposes to revise MCA 82-4-239 to reflect the reorganized duties of 
the Board of Environmental Review and Department of Environmental 
Quality. Montana has changed the wording to delete ``Board'' and insert 
``Department'' as approporiate. These proposed revisions are the same 
as those proposed by Montana on May 16, 1995 (SPATS No. MT-017-FOR, 
Administrative Record No. MT-14-01). At that time, OSM found no 
problems with the revisions to MCA 82-4-239 but deferred a decision on 
it due to a lack of information concerning the 1995 Montana 
reorganization and its impact on the AMLR plan. (For more information, 
see final rule Federal Register notice, 64 FR 3604, dated January 22, 
1999.)
    Lastly, in this amendment, Montana presents its 1995 reorganization 
moving the AMLR program from the Department of State Lands to the 
Department of Environmental Quality.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    Under the provisions of 30 CFR 884.15(a), OSM requests your 
comments on whether the amendment satisfies the applicable State 
reclamation plan approval criteria of 30 CFR 884.14. If we approve the 
amendment, it will become part of the Montana plan.

Written Comments

    Send your written comments to OSM 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 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.

[[Page 57582]]

Electronic Comments

    Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII or WordPerfect file 
avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption. 
Please also include ``Attn: SPATS No. MT-021-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 p.m., m.d.t., October 
10, 2000. If you are disabled and need special accommodations to attend 
a public hearing, please 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 
will be 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 Determination

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 Montana AMLR plans and 
revisions thereof since each such plan is drafted and promulgated by 
Montana, not by OSM. Decisions on proposed Montana AMLR plans and 
revisions thereof submitted by a Montana AMLR are based on a 
determination of whether the submittal meets the requirements of Title 
IV of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1231-1243) and the applicable Federal 
regulations at 30 CFR Parts 884 and 888.

Executive Order 13132--Federalism

    This rule does not have Federalism implications within the meaning 
of Executive Order 13132. 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 
405 of SMCRA authorized the creation of State AMLR programs for the 
purpose of reclaiming and restoring land and water resources adversely 
affected by past coal mining operations. Section 405(d) of SMCRA 
specifies the criteria for the approval and disapproval of these State 
abandoned mine reclamation programs which are funded at 100 percent by 
grants from the Federal government.

National Environmental Policy Act

    No environmental impact statement is required for this rule since 
agency decisions on proposed Montana AMLR plans and revisions thereof 
are categorically excluded from compliance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4332) by the Manual of the 
Department of the Interior (516 DM 6, appendix 8, paragraph 8.4B(29)).

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 Montana submittal which 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 
established by SMCRA or previously promulgated by OSM will be 
implemented by Montana. In making the determination as to whether this 
rule would have a significant economic impact, the Department relied 
upon the data and assumptions in the analyses for the corresponding 
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 Montana 
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

[[Page 57583]]

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 926

    Abandoned mine reclamation programs, Intergovernmental relations, 
Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: September 18, 2000.
Brent Wahlquist,
Regional Director, Western Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 00-24581 Filed 9-22-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M