[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 106 (Friday, June 1, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 29744-29746]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-13802]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 926

[SPATS No. MT-021-FOR]


Montana Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Plan

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening and extension of public comment period 
and opportunity for public hearing on proposed amendment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is 
announcing receipt of revisions and additional explanatory information 
pertaining to a previously proposed amendment to the Montana abandoned 
mine land reclamation (AMLR) plan (hereinafter, the ``Montana plan'') 
under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). 
Montana proposes revisions and additional explanatory information about 
the Department of Environmental Quality, its authority, organization, 
personnel staffing policies, and purchasing and procurement policies. 
Montana also provides information about the AMLR plan, the goals and 
objectives of the emergency program, reclamation project ranking and 
selection, the coordination among agencies, policies and procedures for 
land acquisition, reclamation of private land, consent for entry, the 
accounting system, and a new appendix concerning the abandoned inactive 
mines scoring system (AIMSS). Montana intends to revise its plan to 
meet the requirements of the corresponding Federal regulations and to 
be consistent with SMCRA, to clarify ambiguities, and to improve 
operational efficiency.

DATES: We will accept written comments on this amendment until 4 p.m., 
[m.d.t.], on July 2, 2001. If requested, we will hold a public hearing 
on the amendment on June 26, 2001. We will accept requests to speak 
until 4 p.m., [m.d.t.], on June 18, 2001.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and 
requests to speak at the hearing to Guy Padgett at the address listed 
below. You may review copies of the Montana plan, this amendment, 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 Casper Field Office.

Guy Padgett, Director, Casper Field Office, Office of Surface Mining 
Reclamation and Enforcement, 100 East ``B'' Street, Federal Building, 
Room 2128, Casper, Wyoming 82601-1918
Vic Anderson, Chief, Mine Waste Cleanup Bureau, Remediation Division, 
Montana Department of Environmental Quality, P.O. Box 200901, Helena, 
MT 59620-0901, Telephone: (406) 444-2544

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Guy Padgett, Telephone: (307) 261-
6550, Internet address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Montana Plan
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations

I. Background on the Montana Plan

    On November 24, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior approved the 
Montana plan. You can find general background information on the 
Montana plan, including the Secretary's findings and the disposition of 
comments, in the October 24, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 70445). You 
can also find later

[[Page 29745]]

actions concerning Montana's plan and plan amendments at 30 CFR 926.21 
and 926.25.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated August 15, 2000, Montana sent to us a proposed 
amendment to its plan (SPATS No. MT-021-FOR, Administrative Record No. 
MT-18-01) under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). Montana sent the 
amendment in response to the required plan amendment at 30 CFR 
926.21(a) and at its own initiative. The full text of the plan 
amendment is available for you to read at the locations listed above 
under ADDRESSES.
    Montana proposed to delete its AMLR rule definitions of ``abandoned 
mine land reclamation fund,'' ``emergency,'' and ``extreme danger,'' at 
ARM 26.4.301 and its definitions of ``abandoned mine land reclamation 
fund,'' ``emergency,'' ``expended,'' ``extreme danger,'' ``fund,'' 
``left or abandoned in either an unreclaimed or inadequately reclaimed 
condition,'' ``Montana abandoned mine reclamation program,'' and 
``reclamation activities'' at ARM 26.4.1231. Montana also proposed to 
delete the AMLR rules at ARM 26.4.1232 through 26.4.1242 and to rely 
instead on its AMLR plan and on the statutory provisions at MCA 82-4-
239, 82-4-371, and 82-4-445. Montana proposed revisions to MCA 82-4-239 
to reflect the reorganized duties of the Board of Environmental Review 
and the Department of Environmental Quality. Lastly, Montana presented 
its 1995 reorganization plan abolishing the Department of State Lands 
and creating the Department of Environmental Quality.
    We announced receipt of the proposed amendment in the September 25, 
2000, Federal Register (65 FR 57581), provided an opportunity for a 
public hearing or meeting on its substantive adequacy, and invited 
public comment on its adequacy (Administrative Record No. MT-18-06). 
Because no one requested a public hearing or meeting, none was held. 
The public comment period ended on October 25,2000.
    During our review of the amendment, we identified concerns relating 
to the deletion of Montana's rules concerning non-emergency AML 
reclamation, the deletion of Montana's rules concerning emergency 
reclamation, the statutes relating to Montana's AMLR plan, cross-
references and quotes in the Montana plan which cited the deleted 
rules, and the reference to the former Department of State Lands, now 
the Department of Environmental Quality. We notified Montana of our 
concerns by letter dated January 24, 2001 (Administrative Record No. 
MT-18-08). Montana responded in a letter dated April 30, 2001, by 
submitting additional explanatory information to OSM's concerns and a 
revised 2001 plan amendment (Administrative Record No. MT-18-11).
    Specifically, Montana proposes explanatory information in a letter 
dated April 30, 2001 to address each of OSM's concerns, in particular 
to explain where Montana believes it retains authority to implement its 
approved AMLR program (both emergency and non-emergency reclamation 
activities) for each deleted rule, where Montana intends to rely upon 
Federal authority, that the 2001 plan amendment supercedes anything 
contained in earlier plans which may conflict with subsequent 
revisions, and to list additional statutes which provide AMLR 
authority. Montana has also revised the AMLR plan to provide 2001 
updated information, delete obsolete cites, change the State agency 
name to the Department of Environmental Quality, provide missing pages, 
provide an organization chart for the Department of Environmental 
Quality, and make other editorial changes.

III. Public Comment Procedures

Written Comments

    Send your written comments to us 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 Casper 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. MT-021-FOR, 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 Casper Field 
Office at (307) 261-6550.

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 
request 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 of organizations 
or businesses, available for public review in their entirety.

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.

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 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 State AMLR plans and revisions 
thereof since each such plan is drafted and promulgated by a specific 
State, not by OSM. Decisions on proposed State AMLR plans and revisions 
thereof submitted by a State 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 Part 884.

Executive Order 13132--Federalism

    This rule does not have Federalism implications within the meaning 
of Executive Order 13132. 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 405 
of SMCRA authorized the creation of State abandoned mine reclamation 
programs for the purpose of reclaiming and restoring land and water 
resources adversely affected by past coal mining operations. Section 
405(d) of SMCRA specifies the criteria for the approval and disapproval 
of these State abandoned mine reclamation programs

[[Page 29746]]

which are funded at 100% by grants from the Federal government.

National Environmental Policy Act

    No environmental impact statement is required for this rule because 
agency decisions on proposed State AMLR plans and revisions thereof 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 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 on 
Federal regulations for which an economic analysis was prepared and 
certification made that such regulations would not have a significant 
economic effect on 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 State. 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(2), the Small 
Business Regulatory Enforcement 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, 
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 on the fact that the State submittal which is 
the subject of this rule is based on 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 926

    Abandoned mine reclamation programs, Intergovernmental relations, 
Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: May 21, 2001.
Brent Wahlquist,
Regional Director, Western Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 01-13802 Filed 5-31-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P