[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 25 (Monday, February 7, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 6589-6590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-1512]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 948

[WV-116-FOR; OSM-2009-0008]


West Virginia Regulatory Program

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: We are reopening the public comment period on the proposed 
West Virginia Regulatory Program rule published on October 21, 2009. 
The comment period is being reopened in order to afford the public the 
opportunity to comment on the proposed amendment to change a type of 
cropland postmining land use from ``bio oil'' to ``bio fuel.'' In the 
initial proposed rule announcing receipt of the amendment, the Office 
of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) characterized the 
change as non-substantive, and did not note where the changes occurred 
throughout the regulations. Concerns were raised about the use of 
``bio-fuel'' as a postmining land use (unrelated to this amendment) and 
OSM asked the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection 
(WVDEP) to clarify why the State was changing the term ``bio-oil'' to 
``bio-fuel.''

DATES: Comments on the proposed rule must be received on or before 4 
p.m., local time on February 22, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following two methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
The proposed rule has been assigned Docket ID: OSM-2009-0008. If you 
would like to submit comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal, 
go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the instructions.
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Mr. Roger W. Calhoun, Director, 
Charleston Field Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and 
Enforcement, 1027 Virginia Street, East, Charleston, West Virginia 
25301. Please include the rule identifier (WV-116-FOR) with your 
written comments. Instructions: All submissions received must include 
the agency Docket ID (OSM-2009-0008) for this rulemaking.
    For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of 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: The proposed rule and any comments that are submitted may 
be viewed over the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov. Look for 
Docket ID OSM-2009-0008. In addition, you may review copies of the West 
Virginia 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 also receive one 
free copy of this amendment by contacting OSM's Charleston Field Office 
listed below.

Mr. Roger W. Calhoun, Director, Charleston Field Office, Office of 
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 1027 Virginia Street, East, 
Charleston, West Virginia 25301, Telephone: (304) 347-7158. E-mail: 
[email protected].
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, 601 57th Street, 
SE., Charleston, WV 25304, Telephone: (304) 926-0490.

    In addition, you may review a copy of the amendment during regular 
business hours at the following locations:

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Morgantown Area 
Office, 604 Cheat Road, Suite 150, Morgantown, West Virginia 26508, 
Telephone: (304) 291-4004. (By appointment only).
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Beckley Area 
Office, 313 Harper Park Drive, Suite 3, Beckley, West Virginia 25801, 
Telephone: (304) 255-5265.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Roger W. Calhoun, Director, 
Charleston Field Office, Telephone: (304) 347-7158. E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 21, 2009 (74 FR 53972), we 
published a proposed rule that would revise the West Virginia surface 
mining regulatory program. The revisions would address various issues 
including, but not limited to, continued oversight by the Secretary of 
``approved'' persons who prepare, sign, or certify mining permit 
applications and related materials; regarding incidental boundary 
revisions to existing permits, clarifying that certain types of 
collateral activities are part of the primary mining operations and 
therefore subject to the same acreage limitations, while providing more 
relevant and exacting criteria for the Secretary to consider in 
evaluating an application for revision; deleting the bonding matrix 
form; changing term ``Bio-oil'' to ``Bio fuel''; and clarifying 
standards contained in subsection 9.3.f that pertain to areas developed 
for hayland or pasture use.
    In our announcement of the State's submission of the amendment, we 
stated that the ``changes regarding the term `Bio-oil' to `Bio-fuel' in 
the program amendments are non-substantive in nature.'' Subsequently, 
concerns within OSM arose regarding the definitions WVDEP was using for 
the terms and we asked them to clarify both definitions. In an e-mail 
to OSM dated July 26, 2010, WVDEP stated that ``Biofuels cover are 
[sic] a wide range of fuels which are derived from biomass. The term 
covers solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases while bio-oil 
was limited to biodiesel.'' Given these definitions, it appears that we 
inadvertently mischaracterized the change from ``bio-oil'' to ``bio-
fuel'' as non-substantive and the issue was not properly explained in 
the amendment.

[[Page 6590]]

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 West Virginia program.

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

Electronic or Written Comments

    If you submit written comments, they should be specific, confined 
to issues pertinent to the proposed regulations, and explain the reason 
for any recommended change(s). We would appreciate all comments 
relating to this specific issue, but those most useful and likely to 
influence decisions on the final rule will be those that either involve 
personal experience or include citations to and analysis of the Surface 
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, its legislative history, 
its implementing regulations, case law, other State or Federal laws and 
regulations, data, technical literature, or other relevant 
publications. Specifically, we are asking for comments solely on the 
State's proposed program amendments at subsection 7.8 to change the 
term ``bio-oil'' to ``bio-fuel.''

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 948

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: October 20, 2010.
Michael K. Robinson,
Acting Regional Director, Appalachian Region.
[FR Doc. 2011-1512 Filed 2-4-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P