[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 76 (Friday, April 18, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 21087-21090]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-8408]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 930

[SATS No. ND-050-FOR; Docket ID OSM-2008-0004; North Dakota Amendment 
No. XXXVIII]


North Dakota 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 are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the North 
Dakota regulatory program (hereinafter, the North Dakota program) under 
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the 
Act). North Dakota proposes revisions to rules that would change self-
bonding requirements, update terminology used for describing native 
grasslands, and correct a cross reference error. At its own initiative, 
it intends to revise its program to improve operational efficiency.
    This document gives the times and locations that the North Dakota 
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., 
m.d.t. May 19, 2008. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on the 
amendment on May 13, 2008. We will

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accept requests to speak until 4 p.m., m.d.t. on May 5, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by ``SATS No. ND-050-
FOR'' and/or Docket ID OSM-2008-0004'' by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [[email protected]]. Include OSM-2008-0004 in 
the subject line of the message.
     Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Jeffrey W. Fleischman, 
Director, Casper Field Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and 
Enforcement, Federal Building, 150 East B Street, Room 1018, Casper, 
Wyoming 82601-1018, 307/261-6550, [email protected].
     Fax: 307/261-6552.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
The proposed rule has been assigned Docket ID: OSM-2008-0004. If you 
would like to submit comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal, 
go to www.regulations.gov and do the following. Click on the ``Advanced 
Docket Search'' button on the right side of the screen. Type in Docket 
ID OSM-2008-0004 and click the ``Submit'' button at the bottom of the 
page. The next screen will display Docket Search Results for the 
rulemaking. If you click on OSM-2008-0004 you can view the proposed 
rule and submit a comment. You can also view supporting material and 
any comments submitted by others.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and OSM-2008-0004. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and 
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the ``Public 
Comment Procedures'' heading in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 
of this document.
    Docket: In addition to viewing the Docket and obtaining copies of 
documents at http://www.regulations.gov, you may also review copies of 
the North Dakota 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 the Office of Surface Mining 
Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM's) Casper Field Office.

Jeffrey W. Fleischman, Director, Casper Field Office, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Federal Building, 150 East B 
Street, Room 1018, Casper, Wyoming 82601-1018, 307/261-6550, 
[email protected]
James R. Deutsch, North Dakota Public Service Commission, Capitol 
Building, Bismarck, North Dakota 58505, Tel: 701-328-2251, E-mail: 
[email protected]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey W. Fleischman, Telephone: 307-
261-6550. Internet: [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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

I. Background on the North Dakota 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 State 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 North Dakota program on December 15, 1980. 
You can find background information on the North Dakota program, 
including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of comments, and 
conditions of approval of the North Dakota program in the December 15, 
1980 Federal Register (45 FR 82214). You can also find later actions 
concerning North Dakota's program and program amendments at 30 CFR 
934.15, and 934.30.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated March 12, 2008, North Dakota sent us a proposed 
amendment (Amendment number North Dakota XXXVIII) to its program, under 
SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). The full text of the program amendment 
is available for you to read at the locations listed above under 
ADDRESSES.
    Specifically, North Dakota proposes to: (1) Revise its self bonding 
provisions under North Dakota Administrative Code (NDAC) Article 69-
5.2-12-05.1 to allow the North Dakota Public Service Commission to 
accept bond ratings from other nationally recognized rating 
organizations in addition to Moody's Investors Service and Standards 
and Poor's ratings, for companies that guarantee self bonds; (2) 
update, under NDAC 69-05.2-08-08, premine land use and vegetation 
requirements, and some terminology used for native grassland 
descriptions to reflect what is used by USDA's Natural Resource 
Conservation Service; and (3) correct a cross reference error in NDAC 
69-05.2-10-03.

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 North Dakota program.

Written Comments

    Send your written or electronic comments to OSM at the address 
given above. Your 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 
written 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 Casper Field Office, or 
http://www.regulations.gov, may not be logged in.

Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public view, we cannot guarantee that we will be able 
to do so.

Public Hearing

    If you wish to speak at the public hearing, contact the person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4 p.m., m.d.t. on May 
5, 2008. If you are disabled and need reasonable 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 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

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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 there is only limited interest in participating in a public 
hearing, 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 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 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 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 rule does not involve or affect Indian Tribes in any way.

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. 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. 
3501 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 Federal regulations.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act

    This rule is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 804(2), of 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.
    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 Federal regulations for 
which an analysis was prepared and a determination made that the 
Federal regulations were not considered major.

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 Federal 
regulations for which an analysis was prepared and a determination made 
that the Federal regulations did not impose an unfunded mandate.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 930

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.


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    Dated: April 2, 2008.
Billie E. Clark,
Acting Regional Director, Western Region.
[FR Doc. E8-8408 Filed 4-17-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P