[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 115 (Friday, June 15, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33177-33180]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-11586]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 917

[KY-251-FOR]


Kentucky Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (AMLR) Plan

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 Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (AMLR) Plan under the Surface 
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). The 
amendment makes several revisions to Kentucky's AMLR Plan and is 
intended to update and improve the effectiveness of the AMLR plan. 
Kentucky submitted the amendment in response to the passage of the 
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act Amendments of 2006. This 
document gives the times and locations that the Kentucky program and 
this submittal are available for your inspection, the comment period 
during which you may submit written comments, and the procedures that 
we will follow for the public hearing, if one is requested.

DATES: We will accept written comments until 4 p.m., e.s.t., July 16, 
2007. If requested, we will hold a public

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hearing on July 10, 2007. We will accept requests to speak until 4 
p.m., e.s.t., on July 2, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by ``KY-251-FOR/
Administrative Record No. K-74'' by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Mail/Hand Delivery: William J. Kovacic, Lexington Field 
Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 2675 
Regency Road, Lexington, Kentucky 40503. Telephone: (859) 260-8400.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency 
docket number ``KY-251-FOR/Administrative Record No. K-74'' for this 
rulemaking. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and 
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the ``Public 
Comment Procedures'' section in this document. You may also request to 
speak at a public hearing by any of the methods listed above or by 
contacting the individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Docket: You may review copies of the Kentucky program, this 
submission, a listing of any scheduled public hearings, and all written 
comments received in response to this document at OSM's Lexington Field 
Office at the address listed above during normal business hours, Monday 
through Friday, excluding holidays. You may receive one free copy of 
the submission by contacting OSM's Lexington Field Office. In addition, 
you may receive a copy of the submission during regular business hours 
at the following location: Department for Natural Resources, 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 Submission
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations

I. Background on the Kentucky Program

    The Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation Program was established 
by Title IV of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.) in response to concerns 
over extensive environmental damage caused by past coal mining 
activities. The program is funded by a reclamation fee collected on 
each active coal mine to finance the reclamation of abandoned coal 
mines and for other authorized activities. Section 405 of the Act 
allows States and Indian Tribes to assume exclusive responsibility for 
reclamation activity within the State or on Indian lands if they 
develop and submit to the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) for 
approval, a program (often referred to as a plan) for the reclamation 
of abandoned coal mines. On the basis of these criteria, the Secretary 
approved the Kentucky AMLR Plan on May 18, 1982. You can find 
background information on the Plan, including the Secretary's findings, 
the disposition of comments, and the approval of the Plan in the May 
18, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR 21435). You can find later actions 
concerning the Kentucky AMLR Plan and amendments to the plan at 30 CFR 
917.20 and 917.21.

II. Description of the Submission

    By letter dated April 23, 2007, Kentucky sent us a proposed 
amendment to its AMLR Plan under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.) at its 
own initiative ([KY-251-FOR], Administrative Record No. K-74). With the 
passage of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, Public Law 109-
432 containing amendments to SMCRA, the Kentucky General Assembly 
enacted corresponding amendments to the Kentucky Revised Statutes at 
Chapter 350. The full text of the program amendment is available for 
you to read at the location listed above under ADDRESSES. A summary of 
the proposed changes follows.
    Kentucky enacted Senate Bill 187 on February 21, 2007, to create a 
new section of the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) Chapter 350 to allow 
the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet (Cabinet) to do the 
following: expend for reclamation projects which are of a lower 
priority, if done in conjunction with a project assigned a higher 
priority; amend KRS 350.550 to delete use of Abandoned Mine Land funds 
for studies conducted by state agencies; amend KRS 350.555 to allow for 
expenditure on a reclamation project located adjacent to one already 
assigned a priority by the cabinet; delete research and development, 
work on public facilities, and development of publicly owned lands as a 
priority; amend KRS 350.560 to delete restriction on the use of funds 
allocated to the Commonwealth by the Secretary of the Interior; amend 
KRS 350.575 to prohibit a lien filed against a property owner who did 
not consent to mining operations requiring reclamation; amend KRS 
350.597 to retain up to 30% of the funds allocated to Kentucky in a 
special trust fund; and to include the 2006 amendments to the Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Control Act in the citation.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are seeking your 
comments on whether the submission satisfies the applicable program 
approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If we approve the amendment, it 
will become part of the Kentucky AMLR Plan. We cannot ensure that 
comments received after the close of the comment period (see DATES) or 
at locations other than those listed above (see ADDRESSES) will be 
considered or included in the Administrative Record.

Written Comments

    Send your written 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.

Electronic Comments

    Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII file avoiding the use 
of special characters and any form of encryption. Please also include 
``Attn: KY-251-FOR/Administrative Record No. KY-74'' 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. on July 
2, 2007. If you are disabled and need special accommodations to attend 
a public hearing, contact the person listed under

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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 the hearing.
    To assist the transcriber and ensure an accurate record, we 
request, if possible, that each person who speaks at a 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 submission, 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 
regulations.

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, to the 
extent allowable by law, 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 since each such 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 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. 
The basis for this determination is that our decision is on a State 
regulatory program and does not involve a Federal program involving 
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 a major Federal action within the meaning of section 
102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.).

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 that is the subject of this rule is based on 
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, geographic regions, or Federal, State or local governmental 
agencies; 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

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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 4, 2007.
Michael K. Robinson,
Acting Regional Director.
 [FR Doc. E7-11586 Filed 6-14-07; 8:45 am]
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