[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 8, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 6606-6608]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-2410]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 915

[Docket No. IA-014-FOR]


Iowa 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 Iowa 
regulatory program (Iowa program) under the Surface Mining Control and 
Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Iowa proposes revisions to 
its April 1999 revegetation success guidelines titled, ``Revegetation 
Success Standards and Statistically Valid Sampling Techniques.'' Iowa 
intends to revise its program in response to required program 
amendments.
    This document gives the times and locations that the Iowa 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., 
c.s.t., March 10, 2005. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on 
the amendment on March 7, 2005. We will accept requests to speak at a 
hearing until 4 p.m., c.s.t. on February 23, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. IA-014-
FOR, by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include Docket No. IA-014-
FOR in the subject line of the message.
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Andrew R. Gilmore, Chief, Alton Field 
Division, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 501 
Belle Street, Alton, Illinois 62002.
     Fax: (618) 463-6470.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number for this rulemaking. For detailed instructions on 
submitting comments and additional information on the rulemaking 
process, see the ``Public Comment Procedures'' heading of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
    Docket: For access to the docket to review copies of the Iowa 
program, this amendment, and all written comments received in response 
to this document, you must go to the address listed below during normal 
business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. You may 
receive one free copy of the amendment by contacting OSM's Alton Field 
Division.
    Andrew R. Gilmore, Chief, Alton Field Division, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 501 Belle Street, Alton, Illinois 
62002, telephone: (618) 463-6460, e-mail: [email protected].
    In addition, you may review a copy of the amendment during regular 
business hours at the following location: Iowa Department of 
Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Division of Soil Conservation, Henry 
A. Wallace Building, Des Moines, Iowa 50319, telephone: (515) 281-6147.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew R. Gilmore, Chief, Alton Field 
Division. Telephone: (618) 463-6460. E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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

I. Background on the Iowa 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 Iowa program effective April 10, 1981. You can find background 
information on the Iowa program, including the Secretary's findings, 
the disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval, in the 
January 21, 1981, Federal Register (46 FR 5885). You can also find 
later actions concerning the Iowa program and program amendments at 30 
CFR 915.10, 915.15, and 915.16.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated December 27, 2004 (Administrative Record No. IA-
449), Iowa sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 
1201 et seq.). Iowa sent the amendment in response to required program 
amendments codified at 30 CFR 915.16(a) and (c). Below is a summary of 
the changes proposed by Iowa. The full text of the program amendment is 
available for you to read at the locations listed above under 
ADDRESSES.
    The required program amendment codified at 30 CFR 915.16(a) calls 
for Iowa to submit for our approval evidence that the U.S. Natural 
Resources Conservation Service concurs with its provisions to allow the 
use of reference areas for determining success of productivity on prime 
farmland as proposed at Section III., Part F and Section IV., Part A.2 
of its revegetation success guidelines. At 30 CFR 915.16(c), Iowa is 
required to either remove Section IV., Part G from its revegetation 
success guidelines or submit for our approval evidence that the U.S. 
Natural Resources Conservation Service concurs with the provisions in 
Part G. Part G, pertaining to control areas, contains the requirements 
and methods for making climate-based adjustments to the prime farmland 
average yields shown in the County Soil Map Unit Yield Data tables.
    In response to the above two required program amendments, Iowa 
proposes to amend Section III., Part F and Section IV., Parts A and G 
of its April 1999 revegetation success guidelines titled, 
``Revegetation Success Standards and Statistically Valid Sampling 
Techniques,'' by removing all text related to prime farmland reference 
areas and all text related to control area adjustments of prime 
farmland and revegetation success standards.

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

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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 Alton Field 
Division may not be logged in.

Electronic Comments

    Please submit e-mail comments as an ASCII or Word file avoiding the 
use of special characters and any form of encryption. Please also 
include ``Attn: Docket No. IA-014-FOR'' and your name and return 
address in your e-mail message. If you do not receive a confirmation 
that we have received your e-mail message, contact the Alton Field 
Division at (618) 463-6460.

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., c.s.t. on 
February 23, 2005. 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 (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 Iowa program does not 
regulate coal exploration and surface coal mining and reclamation 
operations on Indian lands. Therefore, the Iowa 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.).

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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 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 
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 915

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: January 14, 2005.
Charles E. Sandberg,
Regional Director, Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 05-2410 Filed 2-7-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-C