[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 43 (Monday, March 5, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13277-13279]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5226]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 938

[PA-133-FOR]


Pennsylvania 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 
Pennsylvania regulatory program (Pennsylvania program) under the 
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The 
proposed amendment references Pennsylvania's anthracite coal mining 
regulations when describing conditions for meeting Stage 2 bond release 
where prime farmlands were present prior to mining. The amendment is 
intended to satisfy the conditions of the required regulatory program 
amendment at 30 CFR 938.16(p) and make the Pennsylvania program 
consistent with the corresponding federal regulations.

DATES: If you submit written comments, they must be received by 4:00 
p.m. (local time), 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. (local time), on March 20, 
2001.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand-deliver your written comments and requests to 
speak at the hearing to Mr. Robert J. Biggi, at the address listed 
below.
    You may review copies of the Pennsylvania 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 Harrisburg Field Office.

Robert J. Biggi, Director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and 
Enforcement, Harrisburg Field Office, Harrisburg Transportation Center, 
Third Floor, Suite 3C, 4th and Market Streets, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 
17101, Telephone: (717) 782-4036, e-mail: [email protected].
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Mining 
and Reclamation, Rachel Carson State Office Building, P.O. Box 8461, 
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105-8461, Telephone: (717) 787-5103.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert J. Biggi, Director, Harrisburg 
Field Office, Telephone: (717) 782-4036.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Pennsylvania Program

    On July 31, 1982, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally 
approved the Pennsylvania program. You can find background information 
on the Pennsylvania program, including the Secretary's findings, the 
disposition of comments, and the conditions of the approval in the July 
31, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR 33050). You can find subsequent 
actions concerning the conditions of approval and program amendments at 
30 CFR 938.11, 938.12, 938.15 and 938.16.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated January 3, 2001, (Administrative Record No. PA-
875.00), Pennsylvania submitted a proposed amendment to its program at 
25 PA Code 86.174(b)(3). The full text of this section as proposed is:

    If prime farmlands are present, the soil productivity has been 
returned to the required level when compared with nonmined prime 
farmland in the surrounding area, to be determined from the soil 
survey performed under the reclamation plan approved in Chapters 87-
90.

This amendment was submitted to satisfy a required regulatory program 
amendment at 30 CFR 938.16(p). The Director required this amendment in 
the May 31, 1991, Federal Register (56 FR 24687) as our review of 
Pennsylvania's proposed amendment submitted on December 22, 1989 
(Administrative Record Number PA 790.00) showed that Pennsylvania had 
inadvertently omitted the cross reference to Chapter 88 in section 
86.174(b)(3) dealing with prime farmlands. If prime farmlands are 
present, the soil productivity must be returned to the required level 
of yield when compared with nonmined prime farmland in the surrounding 
area as determined from the soil survey performed under the approved 
reclamation plan prior to approval for Stage II bond release. Through 
the required amendment, Pennsylvania was to amend its program to 
include the omitted cross reference to Chapter 88. In the current 
amendment, Pennsylvania believes it addressed the omitted cross 
reference by inserting the reference to Chapters 87-90 at 25 Pa Code 
86.174(b)(3).

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 Pennsylvania 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. PA-133-
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 Harrisburg Field Office at (717) 782-4036.
    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

[[Page 13278]]

record, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also 
may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the rulemaking 
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, 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 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.

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 regulation.

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

[[Page 13279]]

on any governmental entity or the private sector.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 938

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: February 21, 2001.
Allen D. Klein,
Regional Director, Appalachian Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 01-5226 Filed 3-2-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P