[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 28, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 16893-16895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-7532]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 756

[SPATS No. NA-004-FOR]


Navajo 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: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is 
announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Navajo abandoned mine 
land reclamation (AMLR) plan (hereinafter, the ``Navajo plan'') under 
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The 
Navajo Nation proposes to remove existing rules pertaining to noncoal 
reclamation after certification and exclusion of certain noncoal sites 
in view of rules it proposes to add elsewhere in its plan. The Navajo 
Nation proposes to add rules that will authorize it to: Restore lands 
and water adversely affected by past mineral mining, providing they 
reflect certain objectives and priorities; protect, repair, replace, 
construct, or enhance utilities; construct public facilities in 
communities impacted by coal and other mineral mining and processing 
practices; and, following specific criteria for grant applications to 
meet, request funds for activities or construction of specific public 
facilities related to the coal or minerals industry on Navajo Nation 
lands impacted by coal or mineral development. The Navajo Nation also 
proposes to add new provisions that will: Exclude certain noncoal 
reclamation sites; apply provisions in its Plan for land acquisition 
and liens to its noncoal program; establish limited liability 
provisions; and require every successful bidder for an AML contract to 
be eligible, as confirmed by OSM's Applicant Violator System, to 
receive a mining permit at the time of contract award. The Navajo 
nation intends to revise its plan to be consistent with the 
corresponding Federal regulations and to authorize it to undertake 
projects under section 411(f) of the Navajo Abandoned Mine Lands 
Reclamation Code.

DATES: We will accept written comments on this amendment until 4:00 
p.m., Mountain Standard Time April 27, 2001. If requested, we will hold 
a public hearing on the amendment on April 23, 2001. We will accept 
requests to speak until 4:00 p.m., Mountain Standard Time April 12, 
2001.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and 
requests to speak at the hearing to Willis Gainer, Albuquerque Field 
Office Director, at the address listed below.
    You may review copies of the Navajo 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 Albuquerque 
Field Office.

Mr. Willis Gainer, Director, Albuquerque Field Office, Office of 
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 505 Marquette Avenue, N.W., 
Suite 1200, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102
Ms. Madeline Roanhorse, Director, Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation 
Department, The Navajo Nation, P.O. Box 1910, Window Rock, Arizona 
86515, Telephone: 520-871-7593

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Willis Gainer, Albuquerque Field 
Office Director; telephone: 505-248-5096; e-mail address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the Navajo Plan
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations

I. Background on the Navajo Plan

    On May 16, 1988, the Secretary of the Interior approved the Navajo 
plan. You

[[Page 16894]]

can find general background information on the Navajo plan, including 
the Secretary's findings and the disposition of comments, in the May 
16, 1988, Federal Register (53 FR 17186). You can also find later 
actions concerning the Navajo Nation's plan and plan amendments at 30 
CFR 756.14.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letters dated March 2 and March 8, 2001, the Navajo Nation sent 
us a proposed amendment to its plan (NA-004-FOR, administrative records 
numbers NA-255 and NA-256) under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). The 
Navajo Nation sent the amendment at its own initiative. The full text 
of the plan amendment is available for you to read at the locations 
listed above under ADDRESSES.
    Specifically, the Navajo Nation proposes the following changes in 
its Plan:
    A. Subsection M.2, noncoal reclamation after certification: The 
Navajo Nation proposes to remove existing rules at subsection M.2, 
M.2(a) and M.2(a)(1) through (a)(3) concerning noncoal reclamation 
after certification. It proposes to remove these rules in view of 
similar rules it proposes to add at new subsection O.2 in its Plan;
    B. Subsection O.1, Exclusion of Noncoal Reclamation Sites: The 
Navajo Nation proposes to remove this existing rule that does not allow 
its AML program to fund reclamation of sites and areas designated for 
remedial action under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act 
of 1978 (UMTRCA) or that have been listed for remedial action under the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 
1980. It proposes to add an identical provision at subsection O.6 in 
its Plan;
    C. Subsection O, Noncoal Reclamation After Certification: The 
Navajo Nation proposes to remove the existing section heading, ``P. 
Reserved'' and replace it with ``O. NONCOAL RECLAMATION AFTER 
CERTIFICATION;''
    1. Proposed subsection O.1 notes that subsection O applies to: 
Projects that restore lands and water adversely affected by past 
mineral mining; projects that protect, repair, replace, construct, or 
enhance utilities or facilities; and construction of public facilities 
in communities impacted by coal and other mineral mining and processing 
practices;
    2. Proposed subsection O.2 establishes the three objectives and 
priorities that projects to restore lands and water adversely affected 
by past mineral mining must reflect;
    3. Proposed subsection O.3 provides that enhancement of facilities 
or utilities (as provided under the second clause of proposed 
subsection O.1) may include upgrading needed to meet local, State, or 
Federal public health or safety requirements but it may not include any 
service area expansion not needed to address a specific abandoned mine 
land problem;
    4. Proposed subsection O.4 authorizes the Navajo Nation to submit a 
grant application for funds to pay for activities for construction of 
specific public facilities related to the coal or minerals industry on 
Navajo Nation lands impacted by coal or mineral development if, 
notwithstanding the requirements of proposed subsection O.1, the Navajo 
Nation President (subject to applicable laws) determines they are 
needed;
    5. Proposed subsection O.5 through O.5(h) establish the criteria 
that the Navajo Nation's grant applications requesting funds under 
proposed subsection O.4 and section 411(f) of the Navajo Abandoned Mine 
Lands Reclamation Code must meet;
    6. Proposed subsection O.6 prohibits the Navajo Nation from 
spending AML program funds to reclaim sites and areas designated for 
remedial action under UMTRCA or listed for remedial action under 
CERCLA;
    7. Proposed subsection O.7 applies the requirements of subsections 
II.H (Acquisition, Management and Disposition of Lands and Water) and 
II.J (Rights of Entry) of the Plan to the Navajo Nation's noncoal 
program using the word ``noncoal'' in lieu of the word ``coal'';
    8. Proposed subsection O.8 applies the requirements of subsection 
II.I (Reclamation on Private Land) to the Navajo Nation's noncoal 
program using the word ``noncoal'' in lieu of the word ``coal'';
    9. Proposed subsection O.9 describes those conditions under which 
the Navajo Nation will, and will not, be liable under Federal, State, 
or Tribal law for costs or damages as a result of action taken or 
omitted in the course of carrying out its Plan; and
    10. Proposed subsection O.10 requires every successful bidder for a 
Navajo AML contract to be eligible at the time of contract award, under 
OSM's Applicant Violator System, to receive a permit or conditional 
permit to conduct surface coal mining operations.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we request your comments 
on whether the amendment satisfies the applicable program criteria of 
30 CFR 732.15. If we approve the amendment, it will become part of the 
Navajo program.

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 Albuquerque 
Field Office.

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. NA-004-FOR'' and your name and 
return address in your Internet message, contact the Albuquerque Field 
Office at 505-248-5096.

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 
requested 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 or 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 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m., Mountain Standard 
Time, April 12, 2001. 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,

[[Page 16895]]

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 Determinations

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, Regulatory Planning and 
Review.

Executive Order 12988--Civil Justice Reform

    The Department of the Interior conducted the reviews required by 
section 3 of Executive Order 12988 and 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 Tribal AMLR plans and 
revisions thereof since each such plan is drafted and promulgated by a 
specific Tribe, not by OSM. Decisions on proposed Tribal AMLR plans and 
revisions thereof submitted by a Tribe 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.

National Environmental Policy Act

    This rule does not require an environmental impact statement 
because agency decisions on proposed Tribal AMLR plans and plan 
revisions 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 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 Tribal submittal that is the subject of this rule is based on 
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 the Navajo Nation. In making the determination as to 
whether this rule would have a significant economic impact, the 
Department relied on 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(s), 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 of 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 Navajo 
Nation submittal that 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

    OSM determined and certifies under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 
(2 U.S.C. 1502 et seq.) that 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 756

    Abandoned mine reclamation programs, Indian lands, Surface mining, 
Underground mining.

    Dated: March 13, 2001.
Brent Wahlquist,
Regional Director, Western Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 01-7532 Filed 3-27-01; 8:45 am]
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