[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 118 (Wednesday, June 19, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41653-41655]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-15484]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 917

[KY-238-FOR]


Kentucky Regulatory Program

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

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

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SUMMARY: We are announcing a proposed amendment to the Kentucky 
regulatory program (the ``Kentucky program'') under the Surface Mining 
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Kentucky 
proposes additions to its statutes about permittees' access to land to 
abate violations and intends to revise its program to be consistent 
with SMCRA. This document gives the times and locations that the 
Kentucky program and proposed amendment to that program are available 
for your inspection, the comment period during which you may submit 
written comments on the amendment, and the procedures that we will 
follow for the public hearing, if one is requested.

DATES: We will accept written comments on this amendment until 4 p.m., 
e.s.t. July 19, 2002. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on 
the amendment on July 15, 2002. We will accept requests to speak at a 
hearing until 4 p.m., e.s.t. on July 5, 2002.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and 
requests to speak at the hearing to William J. Kovacic at the address 
listed below.
    You may review copies of the Kentucky 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 Lexington Field Office.

William J. Kovacic, Lexington Field Office, Office of Surface Mining 
Reclamation and Enforcement, 2675 Regency Road, Lexington, Kentucky 
40503, Telephone: (859) 260-8400. E-mail: [email protected].
Department of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 2 Hudson 
Hollow Complex, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, Telephone: (502) 564-6940.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William J. Kovacic, Telephone: (859) 
260-8400. Internet: [email protected].

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

I. Background on the Kentucky Program

    Section 503(a) of 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 consistent with regulations issued by the Secretary 
pursuant to the Act * * * See 30 U.S.C. 1253(a)(1) and (7). On the 
basis of these criteria, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally 
approved the Kentucky program on May 18, 1982. You can find background 
information on the Kentucky program, including the Secretary's 
findings, the disposition of comments, and conditions of approval of 
the Kentucky program in the May 18, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR 
21404). You can also find later actions concerning Kentucky's program 
and program amendments at 30 CFR 917.11, 917.12, 917.13, 917.15, 
917.16, and 917.17.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated April 25, 2002 (Administrative Record No. KY-1530), 
Kentucky sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 
1201 et seq.). Kentucky sent the amendment at its own initiative. A 
summary of the amended language follows. It amends the Kentucky Revised 
Statutes (KRS) at 350.280 and is referenced as Kentucky House Bill 809.
    Emergencies: If Kentucky issues a cessation order requiring the 
immediate abatement of a violation based on imminent danger to the 
health and safety of the public or significant environmental harm, and 
the order requires access to property for which the permittee does not 
have legal right of entry and has been denied access to abate the 
violation, an easement of necessity is recognized on behalf of the 
permittee for the limited purpose of abating the violation. The 
easement becomes effective and the permittee is authorized to enter the 
property to undertake immediate action to abate the violation if he/she 
concurrently: (a) Provides to the property owner or legal occupant a 
copy of the cessation order; (b) provides to the owner an affadivit 
that the permittee has been denied access to the property; and (c) 
provides to the owner a statement that within three days of his entry 
to the property the permittee will obtain a qualified appraisal of the 
property damages, including loss of use, that will result from the 
violation as abated and those that are likely to result from the 
permittee's entry to abate the violation, and that the permittee will, 
at that time, pay the owner the amount of the damages specified in the 
appraisal.
    The permittee must deliver the appraisal as promised, and the owner 
has three days to accept or reject it in writing. If the owner does not 
accept or reject the permittee's appraisal and offer, the permittee 
must pay the appraised damages to the County Circuit Clerk within three 
business days of the non-acceptance. The funds will be placed in an 
interest-bearing bank account until the issue is resolved.
    If the owner rejects the permittee's appraisal, he/she may obtain 
his/her own appraisal and provide it to the permittee within seven days 
after receipt of the permittee's appraisal. The permittee must pay for 
the owner's appraisal, up to the amount the permittee paid for his/her 
own appraisal. If the owner's appraised damages are greater than the 
permittee's and agreement is not reached, the permittee must pay the 
owner the amount of the permittee's appraised damages and pay the 
difference to the County Circuit Clerk. The funds will be placed in an 
interest-bearing bank account until the issue is resolved.
    Non-emergencies: The procedures are generally the same as those 
described above for emergencies. However, the easement of necessity is 
initially recognized only for the limited purpose of allowing the 
permittee's appraiser to enter the property to conduct the appraisal, 
which the permittee must provide within seven days instead of three. 
After the required procedures and payments are satisfied, the permittee 
may enter the property to abate the violation.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are seeking 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 State program.

Written Comments

    Send your written or electronic 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. We will not consider or respond to 
your comments when developing the final rule if they are received after 
the close of the comment period (see DATES). We will make every attempt 
to log all comments into the administrative record, but comments 
delivered to an address other than the Lexington Field Office may not 
be logged in.

Electronic Comments

    Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII or Word file avoiding 
the use of special characters and any form of encryption. Please also 
include ``Attn: SPATS No.KY-231-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 Lexington Field Office 
at (859) 260-8400.

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 p.m., e.s.t. July 5, 
2002. 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 a hearing.
    To assist the transcriber and ensure an accurate record, we 
request, if possible, that each person who speaks at the

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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 an 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 regulation.

Executive Order 12866--Regulatory Planning and Review

    This rule is exempted from review by the Office of Management and 
Budget 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 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 because 
each 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 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. Because 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

    This rule does not require an environmental impact statement 
because section 702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1292(d)) provides that 
agency decisions on proposed State regulatory program provisions do not 
constitute major Federal actions within the meaning of section 
102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 
4332(2)(C).

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 certifies 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. 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 governmental agencies or 
geographic regions; 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 an unfunded mandate on State, local, or 
tribal governments or the private sector of $100 million or more in any 
given year. 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 did not impose an 
unfunded mandate.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 917

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: May 15, 2002.
Allen D. Klein,
Regional Director, Appalachian Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 02-15484 Filed 6-18-02; 8:45 am]
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