[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 47 (Thursday, March 10, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13112-13113]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-5375]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 920

[SATS No. MD-056-FOR; Docket ID: OSM 2010-0008]


Maryland Regulatory Program

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period and notice of public 
hearing.

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SUMMARY: We are reopening and extending the public comment period and 
will be holding a public hearing on the proposed amendment to the State 
of Maryland's approved regulatory program (the ``Maryland program'') 
published on January 28, 2011. The comment period is being reopened and 
extended in order to afford the public more time to comment and to 
allow enough time to hold a public hearing requested by a 
representative of the Sierra Club. We are also notifying the public of 
the date, time, and location for the public hearing. Maryland is 
proposing to add provisions to its program to regulate coal combustion 
byproducts (CCBs) and to establish requirements pertaining to the 
generation, storage, handling, processing, disposal, recycling, 
beneficial use, or other use of CCBs within the State.

DATES: We will accept written comments until 4 p.m., local time on 
March 28, 2011. The public hearing will be held on March 21, 2011, at 6 
p.m. local time.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by ``MD-056-FOR; Docket 
ID: OSM-2010-0008'' by either of the following two methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. The 
proposed rule has been assigned Docket ID: OSM-2010-0008. 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/Courier: Mr. George Rieger, Chief, Pittsburgh 
Field Division,Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 
Three Parkway Center, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, PA 15220.
    Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and 
additional information on the rulemaking process, see III. Public 
Comment Procedures in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of the 
proposed rule published on January 28, 2011.
    Public Hearing: The public hearing will be held at the Annapolis 
Marriot Waterfront Hotel, 80 Compromise Street, Annapolis, Maryland 
21401 on March 21, 2011, at 6 p.m. local time.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George Rieger, Chief, Pittsburgh Field 
Division,Telephone: (412) 937-2153. E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 28, 2011, (76 FR 5103) we 
published a proposed rule that would revise the Maryland program. The 
revisions would add regulations to the Maryland program to regulate 
coal combustion byproducts and to establish requirements pertaining to 
the generation, storage, handling, processing, disposal, recycling, 
beneficial use, or other use of coal combustion byproducts (CCB) within 
the State. In total, these regulations pertain to all CCB activities in 
the State, not just surface coal mining and reclamation operations. 
However, a section of the added regulations specifically pertains to 
surface coal mining and reclamation operations and is proposed to be 
part of Maryland's federally approved state program. The regulation 
specific to surface coal mining and reclamation operations has been 
added as a new regulation, Regulation .08 under COMAR 26.20.24, Special 
Performance Standards.
    Specifically, Maryland's Regulation .08 Utilization of Coal 
Combustion Byproducts, will include paragraphs A-H on the Purpose and 
Scope, Conditions for Utilization, and Testing and Monitoring. 
Additionally, Maryland is adding a Coal Combustion Byproducts 
Utilization Request requirement that will require a solids analysis of 
the CCBs and a Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP) 
leachate analysis of the CCBs. Maryland may also impose additional 
controls or conditions on the use of CCBs as it sees fit for the 
protection of human health and the environment.
    On February 14, 2011, (Administrative Record Number MD-588-010), we 
received a request from an attorney representing the Maryland Chapter 
of the Sierra Club to extend the comment period and to hold a public 
hearing on the amendment. We are granting the request to extend the 
public comment period to afford the public more time to comment on the 
amendment and to allow enough time to schedule and hold the hearing. 
The date, time and location for the public hearing may be found under 
DATES and ADDRESSES above.
    The hearings will be open to anyone who would like to attend and/or 
testify. The primary purpose of the public hearing is to obtain your 
comments on the proposed rule so that we can prepare a complete and 
objective analysis of the proposal. The purpose of the hearing officer 
is to conduct the hearing and receive the comments submitted. Comments 
submitted during the hearing will be responded to in the preamble to 
the final rule, not at the hearing. We appreciate all comments 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 analyses 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,

[[Page 13113]]

technical literature, or relevant publications.
    At the hearing, a court reporter will record and make a written 
record of the statements presented. This written record will be made 
part of the administrative record for the rule. If you have a written 
copy of your testimony, we encourage you to give us a copy. It will 
assist the court reporter in preparing the written record. Any disabled 
individual who needs reasonable accommodation to attend the public 
hearing is encouraged to contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

    Dated: February 18, 2011.
Thomas D. Shope,
Regional Director, Appalachian Region.
[FR Doc. 2011-5375 Filed 3-9-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P