[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 199 (Wednesday, October 15, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59352-59355]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-26081]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 914

[IN-153-FOR, State Program Amendment No. 02-034R]


Indiana 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: We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 
(OSM), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Indiana 
regulatory program (Indiana program) under the Surface Mining Control 
and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Indiana proposes 
revisions to and additions of rules concerning protection of ground 
water quality. Indiana intends to revise its program to provide 
additional safeguards for ground water.
    This document gives the times and locations that the Indiana 
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., November 14, 2003. If requested, we will hold a public hearing 
on the amendment on November 10, 2003. We will accept requests to speak 
at a hearing until 4 p.m., e.s.t. on October 30, 2003.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and 
requests to speak at the hearing to Andrew R. Gilmore, Director, 
Indianapolis Field Office, at the address listed below.
    You may review copies of the Indiana 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 Indianapolis Field Office.

Andrew R. Gilmore, Director, Indianapolis Field Office, Office of 
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Minton-Capehart Federal 
Building, 575 North Pennsylvania Street, Room 301, Indianapolis, 
Indiana 46204, Telephone: (317) 226-6700, Internet address: 
[email protected].
Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Mine Reclamation, 
402 West Washington Street, Room W-295, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204, 
Telephone: (317) 232-1291.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew R. Gilmore, Director, 
Indianapolis Field Office. Telephone: (317) 226-6700. Internet address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Indiana Program
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations

I. Background on the Indiana 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 this Act * * *; and rules and 
regulations consistent with regulations issued by the Secretary 
pursuant to this 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 Indiana program effective July 29, 1982. You can find background 
information on the Indiana program, including the Secretary's findings, 
the disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval of the 
Indiana program in the July 26, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR 32071). 
You can also find later actions concerning the Indiana program and 
program amendments at 30 CFR 914.10, 914.15, 914.16, and 914.17.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated September 3, 2003 (Administrative Record No. IND-
1719), Indiana sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 
U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). Indiana sent the amendment at its own initiative. 
Below is a summary of the changes proposed by Indiana. The full text of 
the program amendment is available for you to read at the locations 
listed above under ADDRESSES.

A. Definitions

    1. At 312 IAC 25-1-45.5, Indiana is adding the following definition 
for ``Drinking water well.''

    ``Drinking water well,'' for the purposes of 312 IAC 25-6-12.5 
and 312 IAC 25-6-76.5, means a bored, drilled, or driven shaft or a 
dug hole that meets each of the following:
    (1) Supplies ground water for human consumption.
    (2) Has a depth greater than its largest surface dimension.
    (3) Is not permanently abandoned under 312 IAC 13-10-2.

    2. At 312 IAC 25-1-60.5, Indiana is adding the following definition 
for ``Ground water management zone.''

    ``Ground water management zone'' means a three (3) dimensional 
region of ground water around a potential or existing contaminant 
source where a contaminant is or was managed to prevent or mitigate 
deterioration of ground water quality such that the criteria 
established in 312 IAC 25-6-12.5(a) or 312 IAC 25-6-76.5(a) are met 
at and beyond the boundary of the region.

    3. At 312 IAC 25-1-109.5, Indiana is adding the following 
definition for ``Property boundary.''

    ``Property boundary,'' for the purposes of 312 IAC 25-6-12.5 and 
312 IAC 25-6-76.5, means the edge of a contiguous parcel of land 
owned by or leased to the permittee. Contiguous land shall include 
land separated by a public right-of-way, if that land would 
otherwise be contiguous.

B. Surface Mining Permit Applications

    1. At 312 IAC 25-4-43, Indiana is adding subdivision (4). This new 
subdivision requires the maps and plans of the proposed permit and 
adjacent areas to include all monitoring locations used to demonstrate 
compliance with 312 IAC 25-6-12.5.
    2. At 312 IAC 25-4-47(b), protection of hydrologic balance, Indiana 
is adding subdivision (9). This new subdivision requires the 
reclamation plan to contain a description, with appropriate maps and 
cross section drawings, of a plan to demonstrate compliance with 312 
IAC 25-6-12.5.

[[Page 59353]]

C. Underground Mining Permit Applications

    1. At 312 IAC 25-4-85(b), protection of hydrologic balance, Indiana 
is adding subdivision (8). This new subdivision requires the 
reclamation plan to contain a description, with appropriate maps and 
cross section drawings, of a plan to demonstrate compliance with 312 
IAC 25-6-76.5.
    2. At 312 IAC 25-4-93, Indiana is adding subdivision (4). This new 
subdivision requires the maps and plans of the proposed permit and 
adjacent areas to include all monitoring locations used to demonstrate 
compliance with 312 IAC 25-6-76.5.
    C. Indiana is adding a new rule at 312 IAC 25-6-12.5 to read as 
follows:

    312 IAC 25-6-12.5 Hydrologic balance; application of ground 
water quality standards at surface coal mining and reclamation 
operations permitted under IC 14-34 on which coal extraction, 
including augering, coal processing, coal processing waste disposal, 
or spoil deposition, occurs after the effective date of this 
section, or on which disposal activity subject to IC 13-19-3-3 has 
occurred and the area is not fully released from the performance 
bond required by IC 14-34-6.
    (a) Ground water is classified under 327 IAC 2-11 to determine 
appropriate criteria that shall be applied to ground water.
    (b) Surface coal mining and reclamation operations must be 
planned and conducted to prevent violations of ground water quality 
standards under 327 IAC 2-11.
    (c) Surface coal mining and reclamation operations must be 
planned and conducted to prevent impacts to the ground water in a 
drinking water well or a nondrinking water supply well, including an 
industrial, commercial, or agricultural supply well, that result in 
a contaminant concentration that, based on best scientific 
information, renders the well unusable for its current use. If a 
drinking water well or a nondrinking water supply well is affected 
by contamination, diminution, or interruption proximately resulting 
from surface mining activities, 312 IAC 25-4-33 and 312 IAC 25-6-25 
govern water replacement.
    (d) The ground water management zone described in 327 IAC 2-11-9 
must be established as follows:
    (1) At each drinking water well that is within three hundred 
(300) feet from the edge of any of the following:
    (A) A coal extraction area.
    (B) A coal mine processing waste disposal site if not within a 
coal extraction area.
    (C) An area where coal is extracted by auger mining methods.
    (D) A location at which coal is crushed, washed, screened, 
stored, and loaded at or near the mine site unless the location is 
within the coal extraction area.
    (E) A spoil deposition area.
    (2) Within three hundred (300) feet from the edge of an area or 
site described in subdivision (1) where there is no drinking water 
well that is within three hundred (300) feet from the edge of an 
area or site described in subdivision (1). If the property boundary 
or permit boundary is located within three hundred (300) feet from 
the edge of an area or site described in subdivision (1), the 
director shall require that a monitoring well be placed at a 
location approved by the director between the property boundary or 
permit boundary and the edge of an area or site described in 
subdivision (1). If a standard listed in 327 IAC 2-11 is exceeded at 
a monitoring well described in subdivision (2) that the director 
determines was caused by an activity under subdivision (1), the 
permittee must submit to the director a plan describing, in detail, 
the steps to be taken to prevent material damage to the hydrologic 
balance beyond the permit boundary and a timetable for 
implementation. This plan must be submitted within thirty (30) days 
of the discovery of an exceedance and include information relative 
to access, additional monitoring, and any measures to be taken to 
minimize changes to the prevailing hydrologic balance and to prevent 
material damage to the hydrologic balance beyond the permit 
boundary.
    (3) If a drinking water well is located within three hundred 
(300) feet of an area or site described in subdivision (1) and it is 
determined that there is a substantial likelihood of impact, the 
director may require that a monitoring well be placed at a location 
approved by the director between the drinking water well and the 
edge of an area or site described in subdivision (1). If a standard 
listed in 327 IAC 2-11 is exceeded at a monitoring well described in 
subdivision (3) that the director determines was caused by an 
activity under subdivision (1), the permittee shall submit to the 
director a plan describing, in detail, the steps to be taken and a 
timetable for taking the action that takes into account site-
specific conditions to provide protection for the drinking water 
well. This plan must be submitted within thirty (30) days of the 
discovery of an exceedance and include information relative to 
access, additional monitoring, and any measures to be taken to 
minimize changes to the prevailing hydrologic balance and to prevent 
material damage to the hydrologic balance beyond the permit 
boundary.
    (e) The criteria established in subsection (a) must be met at 
and beyond the boundary of the ground water management zone.

    D. Indiana is adding a new rule at 312 IAC 25-6-76.5 to read as 
follows:

    312 IAC 25-6-76.5 Underground mining; hydrologic balance; 
application of ground water quality standards at underground coal 
mining and reclamation operations permitted under IC 14-34 on which 
coal extraction, coal processing, coal processing waste disposal, or 
underground development waste and spoil deposition occurs after the 
effective date of this section, or on which disposal activity 
subject to IC 13-19-3-3 has occurred and the area is not fully 
released from the performance bond required by IC 14-34-6.
    (a) Ground water is classified under 327 IAC 2-11 to determine 
appropriate criteria that shall be applied to ground water.
    (b) Underground coal mining and reclamation operations must be 
planned and conducted to prevent violations of ground water quality 
standards under 327 IAC 2-11.
    (c) Underground coal mining and reclamation operations must be 
planned and conducted to prevent impacts to the ground water in a 
drinking water well or a nondrinking water supply well, including an 
industrial, commercial, or agricultural supply well, that result in 
a contaminant concentration that, based on best scientific 
information, renders the well unusable for its current use. If a 
drinking water well or a nondrinking water supply well is affected 
by contamination, diminution, or interruption proximately resulting 
from surface mining activities, 312 IAC 25-4-74 and 312 IAC 25-6-88 
govern water replacement.
    (d) The ground water management zone described in 327 IAC 2-11-9 
must be established as follows:
    (1) At each drinking water well that is within three hundred 
(300) feet from the edge of any of the following:
    (A) A coal mine processing waste disposal site.
    (B) A location at which coal is crushed, washed, screened, 
stored, and loaded at or near the mine site.
    (C) An underground development waste and spoil deposition area.
    (2) Within three hundred (300) feet from the edge of an area or 
site described in subdivision (1) where there is no drinking water 
well that is within three hundred (300) feet from the edge of an 
area or site described in subdivision (1). If the property boundary 
or permit boundary is located within three hundred (300) feet from 
the edge of an area or site described in subdivision (1), the 
director shall require that a monitoring well be placed at a 
location approved by the director between the property boundary or 
permit boundary and the edge of an area or site described in 
subdivision (1). If a standard listed in 327 IAC 2-11 is exceeded at 
a monitoring well described in subdivision (2) that the director 
determines was caused by an activity under subdivision (1), the 
permittee must submit to the director a plan describing, in detail, 
the steps to be taken to prevent material damage to the hydrologic 
balance beyond the permit boundary and a timetable for 
implementation. This plan must be submitted within thirty (30) days 
of the discovery of an exceedance and include information relative 
to access, additional monitoring, and any measures to be taken to 
minimize changes to the prevailing hydrologic balance and to prevent 
material damage to the hydrologic balance beyond the permit 
boundary.
    (3) If a drinking water well is located within three hundred 
(300) feet of an area or site described in subdivision (1) and it is 
determined that there is a substantial likelihood of impact, the 
director may require that a monitoring well be placed at a location 
approved by the director between the drinking water well and the 
edge of an area or site described in subdivision (1). If a standard 
listed in 327 IAC 2-11 is exceeded at a monitoring well described in 
subdivision (3) that the director determines was caused by an 
activity under subdivision (1), the permittee shall submit to the 
director a plan describing, in detail, the steps to be taken

[[Page 59354]]

and a timetable for taking the action that takes into account site-
specific conditions to provide protection for the drinking water 
well. This plan must be submitted within thirty (30) days of the 
discovery of an exceedance and include information relative to 
access, additional monitoring, and any measures to be taken to 
minimize changes to the prevailing hydrologic balance and to prevent 
material damage to the hydrologic balance beyond the permit 
boundary.
    (e) The criteria established in subsection (a) must be met at 
and beyond the boundary of the ground water management zone.

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 Indianapolis 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: IN-153-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 Indianapolis Field Office 
at (317) 226-6700.

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. on 
October 30, 2003. 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

    The revisions made at the initiative of the State that do not have 
Federal counterparts have been reviewed and a determination made that 
they do not have takings implications. This determination is based on 
the fact that the provisions have no substantive effect on the 
regulated industry.

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 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, 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 13175--Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal 
Governments

    In accordance with Executive Order 13175, we have evaluated the 
potential effects of this rule on Federally-recognized Indian tribes 
and have determined that the rule does not have substantial direct 
effects on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the 
Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes. 
This determination is based on the fact that the Indiana program does 
not regulate coal exploration and surface coal mining and reclamation 
operations on Indian lands. Therefore, the Indiana

[[Page 59355]]

program has no effect on Federally-recognized Indian tribes.

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 the provisions in 
this rule that are not based upon counterpart Federal regulations 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.). 
This determination is based upon the fact that the provisions are not 
expected to have a substantive effect on the regulated industry.

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; 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 
provisions are not expected to have a substantive effect on the 
regulated industry.

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 
provisions are not expected to have a substantive effect on the 
regulated industry.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 914

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: September 26, 2003.
Charles E. Sandberg,
Acting Regional Director, Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 03-26081 Filed 10-14-03; 8:45 am]
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