[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 12, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 31571-31573]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-14713]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 920

[MD-050-FOR]


Maryland 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 
Maryland regulatory program (Maryland program) under the Surface Mining 
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The proposed amendment 
consists of a revision to the Maryland statutes pertaining to the use 
of financial disclosure forms by the Land Reclamation Committee to 
satisfy a required program amendment at 30 CFR 920.16(l). The amendment 
is intended to revise the Maryland program to be no less effective than 
the corresponding Federal regulations.

DATES: If you submit written comments, they must be received by 4 p.m., 
E.D.T., July 12, 2001. If requested, a public hearing on the proposed 
amendment will be held on July 9, 2001. Requests to speak at the 
hearing must be received by 4:00 p.m., E.D.T., on June 27, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand-deliver your written comments and requests to 
speak at the hearing to Mr. George Rieger, Manager, Oversight and 
Inspection Office, at the address listed below. You may review copies 
of the Maryland 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 
Appalachian Regional Coordinating Center.

George Rieger, Manager, Oversight and Inspection Office
Appalachian Regional Coordinating Center
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 3 Parkway Center, 
Pittsburgh PA 15220
Telephone: (412) 937-2153
E-mail: [email protected]
Maryland Bureau of Mines
160 South Water Street
Frostburg, Maryland 21532

[[Page 31572]]

Telephone: (301) 689-4136

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George Rieger, Manager, Oversight and 
Inspection Office, Appalachian Regional Coordinating Center, Telephone: 
(412) 937-2153.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Maryland Program

    On February 18, 1982, the Secretary of the Interior approved the 
Maryland program. You can find background information on the Maryland 
program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of 
comments, and the conditions of approval in the February 18, 1982, 
Federal Register (47 FR 7214). You can find subsequent actions 
concerning the conditions of approval and program amendments at 30 CFR 
920.15 and 920.16.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By an undated letter received by OSM on May 7, 2001 (Administrative 
Record No. 578-12), Maryland submitted a copy of House Bill 984 as a 
formal proposed amendment to its program. The House Bill was enacted to 
require members of the Land Reclamation Committee to file a United 
States Department of Interior State Employee Statement of Employment 
and Financial Interests. Maryland submitted the formal amendment to 
satisfy a required amendment at 30 CFR 920.16(l).
    Maryland proposes to add new paragraph 4. to Section 15-204 of the 
Annotated Code of the Public General Laws of Maryland, Environment, as 
follows:
    (4) Members of the Land Reclamation Committee shall file a United 
States Department of Interior State Employee Statement of Employment 
and Financial Interests.
    As a result of the proposed addition above, existing paragraph (4) 
is re-numbered as paragraph (5).

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 Maryland 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. MD-050-
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 Appalachian Regional Coordinating Center at (412) 
937-2153.
    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 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., E.D.T. on June 27, 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, 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 (OMB) 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

[[Page 31573]]

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 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 920

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: May 22, 2001.
Allen D. Klein,
Regional Director, Appalachian Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 01-14713 Filed 6-11-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P