[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 154 (Friday, August 8, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46213-46215]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-18297]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 901

[SATS No. AL-074-FOR; Docket No. OSM-2008-0015]


Alabama 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 Alabama 
regulatory program (Alabama program) under the Surface Mining Control 
and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Alabama proposes 
revisions to its regulations regarding permit fees and civil penalties. 
Alabama intends to revise its program to improve operational 
efficiency.
    This document gives the times and locations that the Alabama 
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: Comments on the proposed rule must be received on or before 4 
p.m., c.t., September 8, 2008, to ensure our consideration. If 
requested, we will hold a public hearing on the amendment on September 
2, 2008. We will accept requests to speak at a hearing until 4 p.m., 
c.t. on August 25, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following two 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
The proposed rule is listed under the agency name ``OFFICE OF SURFACE 
MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT'' and has been assigned Docket ID: 
OSM-2008-0015. 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 the Docket ID OSM-2008-0015 and click the submit button 
at the bottom of the page. The next screen will display the Docket 
Search Results for the rulemaking. If you click on OSM-2008-0015, you 
can view the proposed rule and submit a comment. You can also view 
supporting material and any comments submitted by others.
     Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Sherry Wilson, Director, 
Birmingham Field Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and 
Enforcement, 135 Gemini Circle, Suite 215, Homewood, Alabama 35209. 
Please include the Docket ID (OSM-2008-0015) with your comments.
    We cannot ensure that comments received after the close of the 
comment period (see DATES) or sent to an address other than the two 
listed above will be included in the docket for this rulemaking and 
considered.
    For additional information on the rulemaking process and the public 
availability of comments, see ``III. Public Comment Procedures'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
    You may receive one free copy of the amendment by contacting OSM's 
Birmingham Field Office. See below FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    You may review a copy of the amendment during regular business 
hours at the following locations:
    Sherry Wilson, Director, Birmingham Field Office, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 135 Gemini Circle, Suite 215, 
Homewood, Alabama 35209, Telephone: (205) 290-7282, [email protected].
    Randall C. Johnson, Director, Alabama Surface Mining Commission, 
1811 Second Avenue, P.O. Box 2390, Jasper, Alabama 35502-2390, 
Telephone: (205) 221-4130.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sherry Wilson, Director, Birmingham 
Field Office. Telephone: (205) 290-7282. E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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

I. Background on the Alabama 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

[[Page 46214]]

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 (Secretary) conditionally 
approved the Alabama program on May 20, 1982. You can find background 
information on the Alabama program, including the Secretary's findings, 
the disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval in the May 
20, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR 22030). You can also find later 
actions concerning the Alabama program and program amendments at 30 CFR 
901.10, 901.15, and 901.16.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated July 18, 2008 (Administrative Record No. AL-0658), 
Alabama sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 
et seq.) at its own initiative. Below is a summary of the changes 
proposed by Alabama. The full text of the program amendment is 
available for you to read at the locations listed above under 
ADDRESSES.
    Alabama proposes to revise its regulations at Alabama Rule 880-X-
8B-.07 regarding permit fees by:
    (1) Increasing the acreage fee,
    (2) Requiring an acreage fee on all bonded acreage covered in a 
permit renewal, and
    (3) Increasing the basic fees for the following types of 
applications: permit; coal exploration; permit renewal; permit 
transfer; permit revision involving only an incidental boundary 
revision; permit revision involving an insignificant alteration to the 
mining and reclamation plan; and permit revision involving a 
significant alteration to the mining and reclamation plan.
    Alabama also proposes to revise its regulations at Alabama Rule 
880-X-11D-.06 regarding civil penalty amounts by increasing the dollar 
amounts of the penalties.

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 comments to us by one of the two methods specified 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 cannot ensure that comments received after the 
close of the comment period (see DATES) or sent to an address other 
than the two listed above (see ADDRESSES) will be included in the 
docket for this rulemaking and considered.

Public 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 review, 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., c.t. on August 
25, 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 a hearing. If there is only 
limited interest in participating at a public hearing, a public meeting 
or teleconference rather than a hearing may be held. If we hold a 
public meeting or teleconference, a notice of the event will be posted 
to the docket for this rulemaking at www.regulations.gov, and a summary 
of the event will be included in the docket for this rulemaking.
    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.

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

[[Page 46215]]

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 Alabama program does not regulate coal 
exploration and surface coal mining and reclamation operations on 
Indian lands. Therefore, the Alabama 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 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 901

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: July 23, 2008.
Len Meier,
Acting Regional Director, Mid-Continent Region.
[FR Doc. E8-18297 Filed 8-7-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P