[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 66 (Friday, April 5, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16435-16437]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-8232]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement


Proposed Construction of City of Riverton Water Treatment Plant

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

ACTION: Notice of application for grant funding; public comment period 
on request to fund the City of Riverton Water Treatment Plant.

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SUMMARY: OSM is announcing its receipt of a grant application from the 
Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Abandoned Mine Land 
Division (AMLD). Wyoming is requesting $745,000 from the Abandoned Mine 
Land Reclamation Fund to pay 50 percent of the cost of building a City 
of Riverton Water Treatment Plant. In its application, the State 
proposes paying for part of the construction cost as a public facility 
project that will benefit a community impacted by mineral mining.
    This notice describes when and where you may read the grant 
application for funding the City of Riverton Water Treatment Plant. It 
also sets the time period during which you may send written comments on 
the request to us.

DATES: We will accept written comments until 4 p.m., m.s.t., May 6, 
2002.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand-deliver written comments to Guy V. 
Padgett, Casper Field Office Director, at the address shown below. You 
may read Wyoming's grant application for this proposed project during 
normal business hours Monday through Friday (excluding holidays) at the 
same address. Also, we will send one free copy of the grant application 
to you if you contact OSM's Casper Field Office.
    Guy V. Padgett, Director, Casper Field Office, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Federal Building, Rm. 2403, 100 
East ``B'' Street, Casper, Wyoming 82601-1918.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Guy V. Padgett, Telephone: (307) 261-
6555.
    Our practice is to make comments, including names and home 
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular 
business hours. Individual respondents may request that

[[Page 16436]]

we withhold their home address from the rulemaking [or administrative] 
record, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also 
may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the rulemaking [or 
administrative] 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 take all submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
business, available for public inspection in their entirety.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on Title IV of SMCRA

    Title IV of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) 
established an Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (AMLR) program. The 
purpose of the AMLR program is to reclaim and restore lands and waters 
that were adversely affected by past mining. The program is funded by a 
reclamation fee paid by active coaling mining operations. Lands and 
waters eligible for reclamation under Title IV are primarily those that 
were mined or affected by mining, and abandoned or inadequately 
reclaimed before August 3, 1977, and for which there is no continuing 
reclamation responsibility under state, Federal, or other laws.
    Title IV of SMCRA allows States to submit AMLR plans to us. We, on 
behalf of the Secretary review those plans and consider any public 
comments were receive about them. If we determine that a State has the 
ability and necessary legislation to operate an AMLR program, the 
Secretary can approve it. The Secretary's approval gives a State 
exclusive authority to put its AMLR plan into effect.
    Once the Secretary approves a State's AMLR plan, the State may 
apply to us for money to fund specific projects that will achieve the 
goals of its approved plan. We follow the requirements of the Federal 
regulations at 30 CFR Parts 874, 875, and 886 when we review and 
approve such applications.

II. Background on the Wyoming AMLR Plan

    The Secretary of the Interior approved Wyoming's AMLR plan on 
February 14, 1983. You can find background information on the Wyoming 
AML program, including the Secretary's findings and our responses to 
comments, in the February 14, 1983 Federal Register (48 FR 6536). 
Wyoming changed its plan a number of times since the Secretary first 
approved it. In 1984, we accepted the State's certification that it had 
addressed all known coal-related impacts in Wyoming that were eligible 
for funding under its program. As a result, the State may now reclaim 
low priority on-coal reclamation projects. You can reads about the 
certification and OSM's acceptance in the May 25, 1984, Federal 
Register (49 FR 22139). At the same time, we also accepted Wyoming's 
proposal that it will ask us for funds to reclaim any additional coal-
related problems that occur during the life of the AML program as soon 
as it becomes aware of them. In the April 13, 1992, Federal Register 
(57 FR 12731), we announced our decision to accept other changes in 
Wyoming's plan that describe how it will rank eligible coal, non-coal, 
and public facility projects for fundings. Those changes also 
authorized the Governor of Wyoming to elevate the priority of a project 
based upon the Governor's determination of need and urgency. They also 
expanded the State's ability to construct public facilities under 
section 411 of SMCRA. We approved additional changes in Wyoming's plan 
concerning non-coal lien authority and contractor eligibility that 
improved the efficiency of the State's AML program. That approval is 
described in the February 21, 1996, Federal Register (61 FR 6537).
    Once a State certifies that it has addressed all remaining 
abandoned coal mine problems and the Secretary concurs, then it may 
request funds to undertake abandoned non-coal mine reclamation, 
community impact assistance, and public facilities projects under 
section 411(b), (e), and (f), of SMCRA.
    State law and regulations that apply to the proposed Abandoned Coal 
Mine Land Program City of Riverton Water Treatment plan funding request 
include Wyoming Statute 35-11-1202 and Wyoming Abandoned Mine Land 
Regulations, Chapter VII, of the Wyoming Abandoned Mine Program.

III. Wyoming's Request to Fund the Cost of the City of Riverton 
Water Treatment Plant

    The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality will submit to us a 
grant application in the fall of 2003. In that application, Wyoming 
will ask for $745,000 to pay for a part of the cost of constructing the 
city of Riverton water treatment plant. The Governor of Wyoming 
certified the need and urgency to fund this project prior to completing 
the State's remaining inventory of non-coal reclamation work, as 
allowed by section 411(f) of SMCRA. That certification says the project 
is in a community impacted by mineral mining activities. The requested 
funding in the 2003 grant is 50 percent of the project's total cost. 
Money for the balance of the project cost will come from the city of 
Riverton reserves.
    This project addresses the need for upgrades in the Riverton Water 
Treatment Plant to meet EPA standards for lead and copper, and insure a 
safe drinking water supply for the citizens of Riverton. The Governor's 
certification states that the safety hazards impacting the city of 
Riverton water users warrant funding of this project before the 
remaining inventory of non-coal projects are completed.

IV. How We Will Review Wyoming's Grant Application?

    We will review the grant application using regulations at 30 CFR 
875.15; specifically subsections 875.15(e) (1) through (7). As stated 
in those regulations, the application must include the following 
information: (1) The need or urgency for the activity or the 
construction of the public facility; (2) the expected impact the 
project will have on Wyoming's coal or minerals industry; (3) the 
availability of funding from other sources and, if other funding is 
provided, its percentage of the total cost involved; (4) documentation 
from other local, State, Federal agencies with oversight for such 
utilities or facilities describing what funding they have available and 
why their agency is not fully funding this specific project; (5) the 
impact on the State, the public, and the minerals industry if the 
facility is not funded; (6) the reason why this project should be 
selected before the priority projects relating to the protection of 
public health and safety or the environment from the damages caused by 
past mining activities, and (7) an analysis and review of the procedure 
Wyoming used to notify and involve the public in this request, and a 
copy of all comments received and their resolution by the State. 
Wyoming's application for the City of Riverton Water Treatment Plant 
project contains the information described in these seven subsections.
    Section 875.15(f) requires us to evaluate all comments we receive 
and determine whether the funding meets the requirements of section 
875.15(e) (1) through (7) described above. It also requires us to 
determine if the request is in the best interests of the State's AML 
program. We will approve Wyoming's request to fund this project if we 
conclude that it meets all the requirements of 30 CFR 875.15.

[[Page 16437]]

V. What To Do if You Want to Comment on the Proposed Project

    We are asking for public comments on Wyoming's request for funds to 
pay for part of the cost of constructing the city of Riverton water 
treatment plant. You are welcome to comment on the project. If you do, 
please send us written comments. Make sure your comments are specific 
and pertain to Wyoming's funding request in the context of the 
regulations at 30 CFR 875.15 and the provisions of section 411 of 
SMCRA. You should explain any recommendations you make. If we receive 
your comments after the time shown under DATES or at locations other 
than the Casper Field Office, we will not necessarily consider them in 
our final decision or include them in the administrative record.

    Dated: March 28, 2002.
Guy Padgett,
Director, Casper Field Office.
[FR Doc. 02-8232 Filed 4-4-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M