[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 32 (Thursday, February 15, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10403-10405]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-3837]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 936

[SPATS No. OK-025-FOR]


Oklahoma 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 announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Oklahoma 
regulatory program (Oklahoma program) under the Surface Mining Control 
and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Oklahoma proposes revisions to its 
rules concerning permit revisions. Oklahoma intends to revise its 
program to be consistent with the corresponding Federal regulations.
    This document gives the times and locations that the Oklahoma 
program and the 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 p.m., c.s.t., March 19, 
2001. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on the amendment on 
March 12, 2001. We will accept requests to speak at the hearing until 4 
p.m., c.s.t. on March 2, 2001.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and 
requests to speak at the hearing to Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa 
Field Office, at the address listed below.
    You may review copies of the Oklahoma program, the proposed 
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 Tulsa Field Office.
    Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa Field Office, Office of Surface 
Mining, 5100 East Skelly Drive, Suite 470, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135-6547, 
Telephone: (918) 581-6430.
    Oklahoma Department of Mines, 4040 N. Lincoln Blvd., Suite 107, 
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105, Telephone: (405) 521-3859.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa 
Field Office. Telephone: (918) 581-6430. Internet: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Oklahoma Program

    On January 19, 1981, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally 
approved the Oklahoma program. You can find background information on 
the Oklahoma program, including the Secretary's findings, the 
disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval in the January 
19, 1981, Federal Register (46 FR 4902). You can find later actions 
concerning the Oklahoma program at 30 CFR 936.15 and 936.16.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated January 25, 2001 (Administrative Record No. OK-
990), the Oklahoma Department of Mines (Department) sent us an 
amendment to the Oklahoma program under SMCRA and the Federal 
regulations at 30 CFR 732.17(b). Oklahoma sent the amendment at its own 
initiative. Oklahoma is amending its rules at OAC 460:20-17-3 
concerning permit revisions by providing guidelines for determining 
when a permit revision is major/significant or minor and by specifying 
a time period for approval or disapproval of a permit revision 
application. Below is a summary of the changes proposed by Oklahoma.
    1. OAC 460:20-17-3(a) General. At Section 460:20-17-3(a) Oklahoma 
is adding the following provision:

    Any revision application to the approved mining or reclamation 
plan will be subject to review and approval by the Department. 
During the revision review, the revision will be classified as 
either: (1) Major or Significant; or (2) Minor.

    2. OAC 460:20-17-3(b) Application requirements and procedures. 
Oklahoma is removing the existing provisions in Section 460:20-17-3(b), 
and adding the following new provisions:

    (b) Application requirements and procedures. A permittee is 
required to submit any permit revision applications to the Chief of 
Technical Services for review. The Technical Service review shall 
determine:
    (1) Whether the permittee has provided all technical and public 
notice requirement information the Department deems necessary to 
adequately evaluate and find that the revision meets the 
requirements of the statutes and of this Chapter; and
    (2) Whether the revision application contains any deficiencies. 
The Department is required to send written notification to the 
permittee of any deficiencies along with a response date deadline 
for answering the deficiencies noted. Any deadline extension 
requests shall be in writing and are subject to the approval of the 
Chief of Technical Services. Failure of the permittee to file 
written responses within the required time frames, will result in 
the denial of the revision application.

    3. OAC 460:20-17-3(c) Significant revisions. Oklahoma is moving the 
existing provision in Section 460:20-17-3(c) to new Section 460:20-17-
3(f), and is adding the following provision to Section OAC 460:20-17-
3(c):

    A significant revision to the mining or reclamation plan will be 
subject to the permit application information requirements and 
procedures of this Subchapter, including notice, public 
participation, and notice of decision requirements of Sections 
460:20-15-5, 460:20-15-8(b)(1) and (3), and 460:20-23-9 prior to 
approval by the Department and implementation by the permittee.

    4. OAC 460:20-17-3(d) Departmental consideration. Oklahoma is 
moving the existing provision in Section 460:20-17-3(d) to new Section 
460:20-17-3(g), and is adding the following new provisions to Section 
OAC 460:20-17-3(d):

    (d) Departmental consideration. The Department will consider any 
proposed revision to be significant if its implementation could 
reasonably be expected, in the opinion of the Director, to result in 
any adverse impact to persons, property, or the environment outside 
the permit area. Revisions with impacts confined to the permit area 
will be evaluated on a case by case basis to determine if 
significant. While consideration will be given to the size, 
location, type and extent of impact in classifying a revision, the 
following will typically be considered significant:
    (1) Incidental boundary changes;
    (2) Hydrology plan changes which could have adverse impacts 
outside the permit acres, such as:
    (A) The addition or relocation of permanent impoundments;
    (B) The addition, deletion, or relocation of stream diversions; 
and
    (C) The addition or deletion of acid mine drainage treatment 
facilities;
    (3) The addition of a coal wash plant;
    (4) The addition of or changes to a non coal waste storage plan;
    (5) Construction or relocation of county roads;
    (6) Addition of blasting plans;
    (7) Postmining land use changes to residential, industrial or 
commercial (except for changes involving oil and gas wells and 
private roads), recreation, or developed water resources as 
discussed 460:20-27-14(a)(2);
    (8) Changes impacting historical or cultural areas, high value 
wildlife habitat, and parks and public places;
    (9) Permanent changes which could have a limiting or adverse 
effect on the long term future of the land; and
    (10) Other changes deemed significant by the Director which 
affect the landowner and or the public.


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    4. OAC 460:20-17-3(e) Minor revisions. Oklahoma is adding the 
following new provisions at OAC 460:20-17-3(e):

    (e) Minor revisions. The following revisions are typically 
considered minor revisions:
    (1) Changes to pond designs;
    (2) Addition or deletion of dewatering pipes on ponds;
    (3) Addition, deletion or changes to office facilities, 
explosive storage areas, temporary haul roads, and coal pads;
    (4) Changes to surface and groundwater monitoring plans;
    (5) Vegetation changes;
    (6) Change of operator without a change of permittee; and
    (7) Conversion to incremental bonding or change to bond 
increments, pursuant to the requirements of Subchapter 37 of this 
Chapter.

    5. OAC 460:20-17-3(h) Application decisions. Oklahoma is adding the 
following new provision at Section 460:20-17-3(h):

    The Department will make a decision of approval or denial of a 
revision application within six months of receipt of the application 
unless the application, or some aspect of the application, is under 
technical, administrative or judicial review.

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 Oklahoma 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. OK-025-
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 Tulsa Field Office at (918) 581-6430.
    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 Tulsa 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 p.m., 
c.s.t. on March 2, 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 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 this 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 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

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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).

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. Therefore, 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 936

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: February 6, 2001.
Charles E. Sandberg,
Acting Regional Director, Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 01-3837 Filed 2-14-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P