[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 25 (Monday, February 7, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 6587-6589]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-2601]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 938

[PA-159-FOR; OSM 2010-0017]


Pennsylvania Regulatory Program

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment period and opportunity for public 
hearing on removal of required amendment.

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SUMMARY: We are announcing receipt of a request to remove a required 
amendment to the Pennsylvania regulatory program (the ``Pennsylvania 
program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 
(SMCRA or the Act). In response to a required program amendment 
codified in the Federal regulations, Pennsylvania has submitted 
information that it believes demonstrates that sufficient funds exist 
to guarantee coverage of the full cost of land reclamation at all sites 
originally permitted and bonded under its now-defunct alternative 
bonding system. Pennsylvania requests that the program amendment be 
removed based on the information provided.
    This document gives the times and locations that the Pennsylvania 
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., local time March 
9, 2011. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on March 4, 2011. 
We will accept requests to speak until 4 p.m., local time on February 
22, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by ``PA-159-FOR; Docket 
ID: OSM-2010-0017'' by either of the following two methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. The 
proposed rule has been assigned Docket ID: OSM-2010-0017. 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/Courier: Mr. George Rieger, Chief, Pittsburgh 
Field Division, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 
Harrisburg Transportation Center, 415 Market St., Suite 304, 
Harrisburg, PA 17101.
    Instructions: 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: In addition to obtaining copies of documents at http://www.regulations.gov, information may also be obtained at the addresses 
listed

[[Page 6588]]

below during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding 
holidays. You may receive one free copy of the amendment by contacting 
OSM's Pittsburgh Field Division Office.

George Rieger, Chief, Pittsburgh Field Division, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Harrisburg Transportation Center, 
415 Market St., Suite 304, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17101, Telephone: 
(717) 782-4036, E-mail: [email protected].
Thomas Callaghan, P.G., Director, Bureau of Mining and Reclamation, 
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Rachel Carson 
State Office Building, P.O. Box 8461, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105-
8461, Telephone: (717) 787-5015, E-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George Rieger, Telephone: (717) 782-
4036. E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the Pennsylvania Program
II. Description of the Request
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations

I. Background on the Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania program on July 30, 1982. You can find background 
information on the Pennsylvania program, including the Secretary's 
findings, the disposition of comments, and conditions of approval of 
the Pennsylvania program in the July 30, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR 
33050). You can also find later actions concerning the Pennsylvania 
program and program amendments at 30 CFR 938.11, 938.12, 938.13, 
938.15, and 938.16.

II. Description of the Request

    By letter dated October 1, 2010, (Administrative Record Number PA 
802.72), Pennsylvania sent us a response to a program amendment that 
was required by OSMRE in a final rule notice published in the Federal 
Register on August 10, 2010, (75 FR 48526) and codified in the Federal 
Regulations at 30 CFR 938.16(h). The revised required amendment was in 
response to a previously required bonding amendment requirement 
codified at 30 CFR 938.16(h) and Pennsylvania's subsequent submission. 
After review of the amendment submission, we approved the majority of 
the submission but determined Pennsylvania had not provided guaranteed 
funding to cover the cost of the outstanding land reclamation 
liabilities at the Lehigh Coal and Navigation and Coal Contractors, 
Inc. sites in the event the bonds for these sites are forfeited. We 
revised the required amendment at 30 CFR 938.16(h) and required the 
PADEP to ensure its program provides suitable, enforceable funding 
mechanisms that are sufficient to guarantee coverage of the full cost 
of land reclamation at all sites originally permitted and bonded under 
the alternative bonding system.
    Pennsylvania provided information it believes demonstrates that 
available funds are more than sufficient to guarantee coverage of the 
full cost of land reclamation at these two sites. The supporting 
information, can be obtained from the locations listed under ADDRESSES, 
includes a Demonstration of Available Funding; Coal Contractors 2009 
Annual Bond Review; Lehigh Coal and Navigation Annual Bond Review; 
Updated Estimates for the Alternative Bonding System Bond Forfeiture 
Discharge Treatment Sites; and Updated Land Reclamation Estimates. 
Pennsylvania requests that we remove the condition found at 30 CFR 
938.16(h) based on this demonstration.

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 Pennsylvania program.

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 appreciate any and all comments, but 
those most useful and likely to influence decisions on the final 
regulations will be those that either involve personal experience or 
include citations to and analyses of SMCRA, its legislative history, 
its implementing regulations, case law, other pertinent Tribal or 
Federal laws or regulations, technical literature, or other relevant 
publications. 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.

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 will not consider anonymous comments.

Public Hearing

    If you wish to speak at the public hearing, contact the person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4 p.m., local time 
February 22, 2011. 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 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 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.

[[Page 6589]]

IV. Procedural Determinations

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.

Other Laws and Executive Orders Affecting Rulemaking

    When a State submits a program amendment to OSM for review, our 
regulations at 30 CFR 732.17(h) require us to publish a notice in the 
Federal Register indicating receipt of the proposed amendment, its text 
or a summary of its terms, and an opportunity for public comment. We 
conclude our review of the proposed amendment after the close of the 
public comment period and determine whether the amendment should be 
approved, approved in part, or not approved. At that time, we will also 
make the determinations and certifications required by the various laws 
and executive orders governing the rulemaking process and include them 
in the final rule.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 938

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: November 12, 2010.
Thomas D. Shope,
Regional Director, Appalachian Region.
[FR Doc. 2011-2601 Filed 2-4-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P