[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 43 (Monday, March 5, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13275-13277]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5225]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 917

[KY-229-FOR]


Kentucky Regulatory Program

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

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

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SUMMARY: OSM is announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the 
Kentucky regulatory program (Kentucky program) under the Surface Mining 
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The proposed amendment 
consists of revisions to the Kentucky regulations pertaining to 
subsidence control. The amendment is intended to revise the Kentucky 
program to be consistent with the corresponding Federal regulations.

DATES: If you submit written comments, they must be received by 4:00 
p.m., [E.D.T.], April 4, 2001. If requested, a public hearing on the 
proposed amendment will be held on March 30, 2001. Requests to speak at 
the hearing must be received by 4:00 p.m., [E.D.T.], on March 20, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand-deliver your written comments and requests to 
speak at the hearing to William J. Kovacic, Field Office Director, at 
the address listed below.
    You may review copies of the Kentucky 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 proposed amendment by 
contacting OSM's Lexington Field Office.

William J. Kovacic, Director, Lexington Field Office, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 2675 Regency Road, Lexington, 
Kentucky 40503, Telephone: (859) 260-8400, E-Mail: [email protected]
Department of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 2 Hudson 
Hollow Complex, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, Telephone: (502) 564-6940

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William J. Kovacic, Director, 
Lexington Field Office, Telephone: (859) 260-8400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Kentucky Program

    On May 18, 1982, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally 
approved the Kentucky program. You can find background information on 
the Kentucky program, including the Secretary's findings, the 
disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval in the May 18, 
1982, Federal Register (47 FR 21404). You can find subsequent actions 
concerning the conditions of approval and program amendments at 30 CFR 
917.11, 917.13, 917.15, 917.16, and 917.17.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated January 25, 2001 (Administrative Record No. KY-
1502), Kentucky submitted a proposed amendment to its program 
consisting of changes to the Kentucky Administrative Regulations (KAR) 
at 405 KAR 18:210--Subsidence Control. Kentucky is responding to OSM's 
suspension of regulations pertaining to presubsidence surveys of 
structures and rebuttable presumption of causation of subsidence damage 
(64 FR 71652, December 22, 1999).
    Specifically, Kentucky proposes to: (a) delete the requirement for 
presubsidence surveys of structures at Section 1(4); (b) amend Section 
2(2) to change the minimum period of prior notice by the permittee to 
surface owners prior to undermining their property from 10 days to 30 
days in emergency conditions; and (c) delete the rebuttable presumption 
of causation of subsidence damage in Section 3(4).

III. Public Comment Procedures

    In accordance with the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), OSM is 
seeking comments on whether the proposed amendment satisfies the 
applicable program approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If the amendment 
is deemed adequate, it will become part of the Kentucky program.
    Written Comments: If you submit written or electronic comments on 
the proposed rule during the 30-day comment period, they should be 
specific, be confined to issues pertinent to the notice, and 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 and avoid using special characters and any 
form of encryption. Please also include ``Attn:

[[Page 13276]]

SPATS No. KY-229-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 Lexington Field Office at 
(859) 260-8400.
    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 the OSM Administrative Record 
Room (see ADDRESSES). Individual respondents may request that we 
withhold their home address from the rulemaking record, which we will 
honor to the extent allowable by law. There may also be circumstances 
in which we would withhold from the rulemaking record a respondent's 
identity, as allowable by law. If you want 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 want to speak at the public hearing, you 
should contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
by 4:00 p.m. (local time), on March 20, 2001. The location and time of 
the hearing will be arranged 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 testifies 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 who 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.
    Any disabled individual who has need for a special accommodation to 
attend a public hearing should contact the individual 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 OSM representatives to discuss the 
proposed amendment, you may 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, notices of meetings will be posted 
at the locations listed under ADDRESSES. A written summary of each 
meeting will be made 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 regulation.

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 pursuant to 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 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 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

[[Page 13277]]

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 917

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: February 21, 2001.
Allen D. Klein,
Regional Director, Appalachian Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 01-5225 Filed 3-2-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P