[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 66 (Friday, April 7, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 16975-16976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-06997]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 901

[SATS No. AL-080-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2016-0011; S1D1S SS08011000 
SX064A000 178S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 17XS501520]


Alabama Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Plan

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 
(OSMRE), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Alabama 
Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (AMLR) Plan (hereinafter, the Plan) 
under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or 
the Act). Alabama proposes revisions to modernize its Plan, which 
remains largely unchanged since its approval on May 20, 1982, and 
encompass the November 14, 2008, changes to the Federal regulations.
    This document gives the times and locations that the Alabama Plan 
and proposed amendment to that plan 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 4:00 
p.m., c.t., May 8, 2017. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on 
the amendment on May 2, 2017. We will accept requests to speak at a 
hearing until 4:00 p.m., c.t. on April 24, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. AL-080-FOR 
by any of the following methods:
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Sherry Wilson, Director, Birmingham 
Field Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 135 
Gemini Circle, Suite 215, Homewood, Alabama 35209.
     Fax: (205) 290-7280.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: The amendment has been 
assigned Docket ID OSM-2016-0008. If you would like to submit comments 
go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number for this rulemaking. 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: For access to the docket to review copies of the Alabama 
Plan, this amendment, a listing of any scheduled public hearings, and 
all written comments received in response to this document, you must go 
to the address listed below during normal business hours, Monday 
through Friday, excluding holidays. You may receive one free copy of 
the amendment by contacting OSMRE's Birmingham Field Office or the full 
text of the plan amendment is available for you to review at 
www.regulations.gov.
    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: 
[email protected].
    In addition, you may review a copy of the amendment during regular 
business hours at the following location:
    Alabama Department of Labor, Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation 
Program, 11 West Oxmoor Road, Suite 100, Birmingham, Alabama 35209, 
Telephone: (205) 945-8671.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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

I. Background on the Alabama Plan

    The Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program was established by 
Title IV of the Act, (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.) in response to concerns 
over extensive environmental damage caused by past coal mining 
activities. The program is funded by a reclamation fee collected on 
each ton of coal that is produced. The money collected is used to 
finance the reclamation of abandoned

[[Page 16976]]

coal mines and for other authorized activities. Section 405 of the Act 
allows States and Indian tribes to assume exclusive responsibility for 
reclamation activity within the State or on Indian lands if they 
develop and submit to the Secretary of the Interior for approval, a 
program (often referred to as a plan) for the reclamation of abandoned 
coal mines. On May 20, 1982, the Secretary of the Interior approved the 
Alabama Plan. You can find background information on the Alabama Plan, 
including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of comments, and 
the approval of the Plan in the May 20, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR 
22057). You can find later actions concerning the Alabama Plan and 
amendments to the Plan at 30 CFR 901.20 and 901.25.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By email dated June 07, 2016 (Administrative Record No. AL-0670), 
Alabama sent us an amendment to its Plan 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 Plan amendment is available for you to 
read at the locations listed above under ADDRESSES.

Code of Alabama Section 9-16-79 Hearing and Appeals; Procedures

    Alabama proposes to revise its Plan by modernizing it and 
encompassing the November 14, 2008, changes to the Federal regulations. 
The revised Plan addresses all the Federal requirements found in 30 CFR 
884.13 regarding content of proposed State reclamation plans.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    We are seeking your comments on whether the amendment satisfies the 
applicable plan approval criteria of 30 CFR 884.15. If we approve the 
amendment, it will become part of the State Plan.

Electronic or Written Comments

    If you submit written comments, they should be specific, confined 
to issues pertinent to the proposed Plan, 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 Plan 
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 State 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 (see ADDRESSES) will be included in the docket for this 
rulemaking and considered.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, email 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 4:00 p.m., c.t. on 
April 24, 2017. 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.
    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.

Public Meeting

    If only one person requests an opportunity to speak, 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 12866--Regulatory Planning and Review

    This rulemaking 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 plan amendment to OSMRE for review, our 
regulations at 30 CFR 884.14 and 884.15 require us to hold a public 
hearing on a plan amendment if it changes the objectives, scope or 
major policies followed, or make a finding that the State provided 
adequate notice and opportunity for public comment. Alabama has elected 
to have OSMRE publish a notice in the Federal Register indicating 
receipt of the proposed amendment and soliciting comments. We will 
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 901

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: March 22, 2017.
Alfred L. Clayborne,
Regional Director, Mid-Continent Region.
[FR Doc. 2017-06997 Filed 4-6-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-05-P