[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 8 (Thursday, January 11, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 2374-2376]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-835]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 914

[SPATS No. IN-151-FOR]


Indiana Regulatory Program

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

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

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SUMMARY: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) 
is opening the public comment period for a previously submitted 
proposed amendment to the Indiana regulatory program (Indiana program) 
under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). 
Indiana proposes the addition of a statute concerning post mining land 
use changes as nonsignificant permit revisions. The amendment is 
intended to revise the Indiana program to improve operational 
efficiency. This document gives the times and locations that the 
Indiana program and proposed amendment to that program are available 
for your inspection, the comment period during which you may submit 
written comments on the amendment, and the procedures that we will 
follow for the public hearing, if one is requested.

DATES: We will accept written comments until 4:00 p.m., e.s.t., 
February 12, 2001. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on the 
amendment on February 5, 2001. We will accept requests to speak at the 
hearing until 4:00 p.m., e.s.t. on January 26, 2001.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and 
requests to speak at the hearing to Andrew R. Gilmore, Director, 
Indianapolis Field Office, at the address listed below.
    You may review copies of the Indiana 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 one free copy of the amendment by contacting 
OSM's Indianapolis Field Office.
Andrew R. Gilmore, Director, Indianapolis Field Office, Office of 
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Minton-Capehart Federal 
Building, 575 North Pennsylvania Street, Room 301,

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Indianapolis, IN 46204, Telephone: (317) 226-6700.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Mine Reclamation, 
402 West Washington Street, Room W-295, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204, 
Telephone: (317) 232-1291.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Reclamation, R.R. 
2, Box 129, Jasonville, Indiana 47438-9517, Telephone: (812) 665-2207.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew R. Gilmore, Director, 
Indianapolis Field Office. Telephone: (317) 226-6700. Internet: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Indiana Program

    On July 29, 1982, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally 
approved the Indiana program. You can find background information on 
the Indiana program, including the Secretary's findings, the 
disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval in the July 26, 
1982, Federal Register (47 FR 32107). You can find later actions on the 
Indiana program at 30 CFR 914.10, 914.15, and 914.16.
    By letter dated May 14, 1998 (Administrative Record No. IND-1606), 
Indiana submitted a proposed amendment to us accordance with SMCRA. The 
proposed amendment concerned revisions of and additions to the Indiana 
Code (IC) made by House Enrolled Act (HEA) No. 1074. Indiana intended 
to revise its program to incorporate the additional flexibility 
afforded by SMCRA and to provide the guidelines for permit revisions, 
including incidental boundary revisions. We announced receipt of the 
proposed amendment in the May 29, 1998, Federal Register (63 FR 29365), 
and invited public comment on its adequacy. The public comment period 
for the amendment closed June 29, 1998. During our review of the 
proposed amendment, we identified concerns relating to the proposed 
amendment. We notified Indiana of these concerns by letter dated 
September 15, 1998 (Administrative Record No. IND-1621). By letter 
dated December 21, 1998 (Administrative Record No. IND-1627), Indiana 
responded to our concerns by submitting additional explanatory 
information. Because Indiana did not make any substantive revisions to 
the amendment, we did not reopen the public comment period. On March 
16, 1999, we approved Indiana's proposed amendment, with three 
exceptions (64 FR 12890). Specifically, we did not approve the 
amendment at IC 14-34-5-7(a) concerning guidance for permit revisions; 
the amendment at IC 14-34-5-8.2(4) concerning postmining land use 
changes; and the amendment at IC 14-34-5-8.4(c)(2)(K) concerning minor 
field revisions for temporary cessation of mining. On May 26, 1999, at 
Indiana's request, we provided clarification of our decision on 
Indiana's amendment (64 FR 28362).
    On May 14, 1999, the Indiana Coal Council (ICC) filed a lawsuit 
against OSM for the disapproval of Indiana's amendment at IC 14-34-5-
7(a) and IC 14-34-5-8.2(4). On September 25, 2000, the U.S. District 
Court for the Southern District of Indiana handed down its decision on 
the ICC's lawsuit. The court found that, in the case of IC 14-34-5-7(a) 
concerning guidance for permit revisions, OSM had not acted arbitrary 
and capricious. Therefore, the court upheld our decision. However, in 
the case of IC 14-34-5-8.2(4) concerning postmining land use changes, 
the Court found that our decision was arbitrary and capricious, and 
remanded the matter to OSM for ``further consideration.'' In accordance 
with the Court's ruling, we are opening the public comment period for 
section 8.2(4) of Indiana's proposed amendment submitted on May 15, 
1998, so that we can properly consider whether the proposed amendment 
satisfies the applicable program approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    The full text of the proposed program amendment submitted by 
Indiana is available for public inspection at the locations listed 
above under ADDRESSES. A discussion of the proposed amendment is 
presented below.

IC 14-34-5-8.2(4), Nonsignificant Permit Revisions

    Indiana proposes to add language at IC 14-34-5-8.2(4) to provide 
that postmining land use changes other than residential, commercial or 
industrial, recreational, or developed water resources meeting MSHA 
requirements for a significant impoundment are nonsignificant permit 
revisions, and therefore are not subject to the notice and hearing 
requirements of IC 14-34.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are seeking 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 Indiana program.
    Written Comments: If you submit written or electronic comments on 
the proposed rule during the 30-day comment period, they should be 
specific, should be confined to issues pertinent to the notice, and 
should explain the reason for your recommendation(s). We may not be 
able to consider or include in the Administrative Record comments 
delivered to an address other than the one listed above (see 
ADDRESSES).
    Electronic Comments: Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII, 
WordPerfect, or Word file avoiding the use of special characters and 
any form of encryption. Please also include ``Attn: SPATS NO. IN-151-
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 Indianapolis Field Office at (317) 226-6700.
    Availability of Comments: Our practice is to make comments, 
including names and home addresses of respondents, available for public 
review during regular business hours at OSM's Indianapolis Field Office 
(see ADDRESSES). Individual respondents may request that we withhold 
their home address from the administrative record, which we will honor 
to the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in 
which we would withhold from the 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.
    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., 
e.s.t. on January 26, 2001. We will arrange the location and time of 
the hearing with those persons requesting the hearing. If no one 
requests an opportunity to speak 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 speaks 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

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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.
    If you are disabled and need a special accommodation to attend a 
public hearing, contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.
    Public Meeting: If only one person requests an opportunity to speak 
at a hearing, a public meeting, rather than a public hearing, may be 
held. If you wish to meet with us to discuss the proposed amendment, 
you may 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 also make a written summary of each 
meeting a part of the Administrative Record.

IV. Procedural Determinations

Executive Order 12866--Regulatory Planning and Review

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

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 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, and section 503(a)(7) 
requires that State programs contain rules and regulations ``consistent 
with'' regulations issued by the Secretary under SMCRA.

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 allowed 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 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 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.

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 (NEPA) (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).

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This rule does not contain information collection requirements that 
require approval by the Office of Management and Budget 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 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 
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.

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, federal, state, or local government 
agencies, or geographic regions.
    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 914

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: January 3, 2001.
Richard J. Seibel,
Acting Regional Director, Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 01-835 Filed 1-10-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P