[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 159 (Friday, August 16, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53539-53542]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-20820]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 917

[KY-241-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 receipt of 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 rules about sedimentation ponds and 
intends to revise its program to be consistent with the corresponding 
Federal regulations. This document gives the times and locations that 
the Kentucky program and proposed amendment to that

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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. September 16, 2002. If requested, we will hold a public hearing 
on the amendment on September 10, 2002. We will accept requests to 
speak at a hearing until 4 p.m., e.s.t. on September 3, 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.

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 June 25, 2002 (Administrative Record No. KY-1544), 
Kentucky sent us a proposed amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 
U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). Kentucky sent the amendment in response to our 
request for additional information in a letter dated February 23, 2001 
(Administrative Record No. KY-1503). Kentucky added a new section to 
its sedimentation pond regulations at 405 Kentucky Administrative 
Regulations (KAR) 16:090 and 18:090 to establish performance standards 
for ``other treatment facilities.'' New section 6 follows in its 
entirety:
    ``(1)(a) This section applies to ``other treatment facilities'' as 
defined in 405 KAR 16:001 (or 18:001).
    (b) Other treatment facilities may be used in conjunction with 
sedimentation ponds.
    (c) Other treatment facilities may be used in place of 
sedimentation ponds, if specifically approved by the cabinet for that 
purpose on a case by case basis.
    (2) Other treatment facilities shall be designed to treat the 10-
year, 24-hour precipitation event unless a lesser design event is 
approved by the cabinet based on terrain, climate, other site-specific 
conditions and a demonstration by the permittee that the effluent 
limitations of 405 KAR 16:070 (or 18:070) section 1(1)(g) will be met.
    (3) Other treatment facilities shall meet all requirements for 
sedimentation ponds, if the requirements can be appropriately applied 
to other treatment facilities. The cabinet shall determine the 
applicable requirements on a case by case basis depending upon the type 
of other treatment facilities. In every case, the other treatment 
facilities shall be designed, constructed, and maintained to: (a) Be 
located as near as possible to the disturbed area and out of perennial 
streams unless approved by the cabinet; (b) provide adequate sediment 
storage volume, as approved on a case by case basis by the cabinet 
based upon the anticipated volume of sediment to be collected during 
the design precipitation event and a feasible plan for clean-out 
operations; (c) provide adequate detention time so that the discharges 
shall meet the requirements of 405 KAR 16:070 (or 18:070) section 1 
(1)(g); (d) minimize short circuiting to the extent possible; and (e) 
provide periodic sediment removal sufficient to maintain adequate 
volume for the design event. The proposed plan for clean-out operations 
shall be included in the design and shall be approved if the cabinet 
determines it is feasible. The plan shall include a time schedule or 
clean-out elevations, or an appropriate combination thereof, sufficient 
to maintain adequate volume for the sediment to be collected during the 
design precipitation event.''

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-241-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

[[Page 53541]]

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. 
September 3, 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 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.

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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: July 15, 2002.
Allen D. Klein,
Regional Director, Appalachian Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 02-20820 Filed 8-15-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P