[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 48 (Monday, March 12, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10647-10648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-04911]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 938

[PA-166-FOR, Docket ID: OSM-2017-0008; S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000 
189A180110 S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 18XS501520]


Pennsylvania Regulatory Program

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment period and opportunity for public 
hearing on proposed amendment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 
(OSMRE), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the 
Pennsylvania program under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation 
Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Through this proposed amendment, 
Pennsylvania seeks to revise its Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land 
Conversation Act to include language clarifying the circumstances where 
a finding of presumptive evidence of pollution is warranted under the 
Commonwealth's Clean Streams Law.
    This document gives the locations and times where the Pennsylvania 
program documents and this proposed amendment to that program are 
available for your inspection, establishes the comment period during 
which you may submit written comments on the amendment, and describes 
the procedures 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., Eastern Standard Time (e.s.t.), April 11, 2018. If requested, we 
will hold a public hearing on the amendment on April 6, 2018. We will 
accept requests to speak at a hearing until 4:00 p.m., e.s.t. on March 
27, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. PA-166-FOR; 
Docket ID: OSM-2017-0008 by any of the following methods:
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Mr. Ben Owens, Chief, Pittsburgh Field 
Division, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 3 
Parkway Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15220.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: 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: In addition to obtaining copies of documents at 
www.regulations.gov, you may receive one free copy of the amendment by 
contacting OSMRE's Pittsburgh Field Division. To access the docket to 
review copies of the Pennsylvania program, this amendment, a listing of 
any scheduled public hearings, and all written comments received in 
response to this document, you may visit the address listed below 
during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding 
holidays.
    Mr. Ben Owens, Chief, Pittsburgh Field Division, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 3 Parkway Center, Pittsburgh, PA 
15220, Telephone: (412) 937-2827, Email: [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, PA 
17105-8461, Telephone: (717) 787-5015, E-Mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ben Owens, Chief, Pittsburgh Field 
Division, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 3 
Parkway Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15220; Telephone: (412) 937-2827; Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background on the Pennsylvania Program
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
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 State program includes, among other things, State laws and 
regulations that govern surface coal mining and reclamation operations 
in accordance with the Act and consistent with the Federal regulations. 
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, effective July 31, 1982.
    You can find additional background information on the Pennsylvania 
program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of 
comments, and conditions of approval in the July 30, 1982, Federal 
Register, at 47 FR 33050. You can also find later actions concerning 
Pennsylvania's program and program amendments at 30 CFR 938.11, 938.12, 
938.13, 938.15 and 938.16.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated August 4, 2017 (Administrative Record No. PA 
899.00), Pennsylvania sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA 
(30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). The Pennsylvania General Assembly recently 
amended the BMSLCA to include language clarifying the circumstances 
where a finding of presumptive evidence of pollution is warranted under 
the Commonwealth's Clean Streams Law.
    A. By way of State Bill 624, Pennsylvania proposes additional 
language to the BMSLCA, Section 5 (i) that states:

    In a permit application to conduct bituminous coal mining 
operations, subject to this act, planned subsidence in a predictable 
and controlled manner which is not predicted to result in the 
permanent disruption of premining existing or designated uses of 
surface waters of the Commonwealth shall not be considered 
presumptive evidence that the proposed bituminous coal mining 
operations have the potential to cause pollution as defined in 
section 1 of the act of June 22, 1937 (P.L. 1987, No. 394), known as 
`The Clean Streams Law.

    B. Further, Pennsylvania proposes additional language to BMSLCA, 
Section 5 (j) as follows:

    The provisions of subsection (i) shall only apply if: (1) A 
person submits an application to conduct bituminous mining 
operations subject to this act to the department that provides for 
the restoration of the premining range of flows and restoration of 
premining biological communities in any waters of this Commonwealth 
predicted to be adversely affected by subsidence. The restoration 
shall be consistent with the premining existing and designated uses 
of the waters of this Commonwealth; and (2) the application is 
approved by the department.

[[Page 10648]]

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.

Electronic or Written Comments

    If you submit written or electronic comments on the proposed rule 
during the 30-day comment period, 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 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., e.s.t. on 
March 27, 2018. 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

    Pursuant to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidance dated 
October 12, 1993, the approval of state program amendments is exempted 
from OMB review under Executive Order 12866.

Other Laws and Executive Orders Affecting Rulemaking

    When a State submits a program amendment to OSMRE 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: September 15, 2017.
Thomas D. Shope,
Regional Director, Appalachian Region.
[FR Doc. 2018-04911 Filed 3-9-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-05-P