[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 197 (Thursday, October 11, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 51891-51893]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-25542]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 950

[WY-029-FOR]


Wyoming Regulatory Program

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: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) 
is announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Wyoming regulatory 
program (hereinafter, the ``Wyoming program'') under the Surface Mining 
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Wyoming proposes revisions 
to rules about surface water hydrology, coal mine waste impoundments, 
alluvial valley floors, and Threatened and Endangered Plant Species. 
Wyoming intends to revise its program to be consistent with the 
corresponding Federal regulations, and improve operational efficiency.

DATES: We will accept written comments on this amendment until 4:00 
p.m., m.d.t. November 13, 2001. If requested, we will hold a public 
hearing on the amendment on November 8, 2001. We will accept requests 
to speak until 4:00 p.m., m.d.t. on October 26, 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 Wyoming program, 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 Casper Field Office.

Guy Padgett, Director
Casper Field Office
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
100 East ``B'' Street, Room 2128
Casper, WY 82601-1918

Dennis Hemmer, Director
Department of Environmental Quality
Herschler Building
122 West 25th Street
Cheyenne, WY 82002
Telephone: 307/777-7682

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

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

I. Background on the Wyoming Program

    Section 503(a) of the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (the Act) 
permits a State to assume primacy for the regulation of surface coal 
mining and reclamation operations on non-Federal and non-Indian lands 
within its borders by demonstrating that its program includes, among 
other things, ``a State law which provides for the regulation of 
surface coal mining and reclamation operations in accordance with the 
requirements of the Act * * * '' and ``rules and regulations issued by 
the Secretary'' pursuant to the Act. 30 U.S.C. 1253(a)(1) and (7). On 
the basis of these criteria, the Secretary of the Interior 
conditionally approved the Wyoming program on November 26, 1980. You 
can find background information on the Wyoming program,

[[Page 51892]]

including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of comments, and 
the conditions of approval of the Wyoming program in the November 26, 
1980, Federal Register (45 FR 78637). You can also find later actions 
concerning Wyoming's program and program amendments at 30 CFR 950.12, 
950.15, 950.16, and 950.20.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated July 20, 2001, Wyoming sent us a proposed amendment 
to its program, (administrative record No. WY-34-01) under SMCRA (30 
U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). Wyoming sent the amendment in response to a 
December 23, 1985, letter (WY-34-7) and a February 21, 1990, letter 
(WY-34-8) that we sent to Wyoming in accordance with 30 CFR 732.17, in 
response to the required program amendments at 30 CFR 950.16(d), (e), 
(h), (i), (ii)(2), (jj), and to include changes made at its own 
initiative. The full text of the program amendment is available for you 
to read at the locations listed above under ADDRESSES.
    The provisions of Wyoming's Coal Rules and Regulations that Wyoming 
proposes to revise are: Chapter 2, Section 2(a)(vi)(M)(III), Ground-
water information; Chapter 2, Sections 2(b)(xi)(D)(II)(1) and (2), 
Groundwater monitoring plan; and Chapter 4, Section 2(w), Hydrologic-
balance protection. In addition, Wyoming has submitted rationale 
supporting its existing policy and for not making the changes required 
in the codified program deficiencies at 30 CFR 950.12(a)(4), 30 CFR 
950.16(ii)(2), and 30 CFR 950.16(jj).

III. Public Comment Procedures

    Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), OSM requests your 
comments on whether the amendment satisfies the applicable program 
approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If we approve the amendment, it 
will become part of the Wyoming 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 necessarily 
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. WY-029-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 
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.

Public Hearing

    If you wish to speak at the public hearing, contact the person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m., m.d.t. on 
October 26, 2001. If you are disabled and need special accommodations 
to attend a public hearing, 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, 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 given the opportunity to be 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 
are 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.

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 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 the Federal regulations at 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.

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. Section 503(a)(7) requires 
that

[[Page 51893]]

State programs contain rules and regulations ``consistent with'' 
regulations issued by the Secretary pursuant to SMCRA.

Executive Order 13211--Regulations That Significantly Affect the 
Supply, Distribution, or Use of Energy

    On May 18, 2001, the President issued Executive Order 13211 which 
requires agencies to prepare a Statement of Energy Effects for a rule 
that is (1) considered significant under Executive Order 12866, and (2) 
likely to have a significant adverse effect on the supply, 
distribution, or use of energy. Since this rule is exempt from review 
under Executive Order 12866 and is not expected to have a significant 
adverse effect on the supply, distribution, or use of energy, a 
Statement of Energy Effects is not required.

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 (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 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 that 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, 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 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 950

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: August 2, 2001.
Peter A. Rutledge,
Acting Regional Director, Western Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 01-25542 Filed 10-10-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P