[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 29, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44012-44014]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-18705]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 943

[SATS No. TX-068-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2018-0002; S1D1S SS08011000 
SX064A000 189S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 18XS501520]


Texas Regulatory Program

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 Texas 
regulatory program (Texas program) under the Surface Mining Control and 
Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Texas proposes revisions to 
its regulations regarding annual permit fees

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for calendar years 2017 and 2018. Texas also proposes to remove a 
restriction in its rules that conflicts with the United States 
Bankruptcy Code.
    This document gives the times and locations where the Texas 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 
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., CST, September 28, 2018. If requested, we will hold a public 
hearing on the amendment on September 24, 2018. We will accept requests 
to speak at a hearing until 4:00 p.m., CST on September 13, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. TX-068-FOR, 
by any of the following methods:
     Mail/Hand Delivery: William Joseph, Director, Tulsa Field 
Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 1645 
South 101st East Avenue, Suite 145, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74128-4629.
     Fax: (918) 581-6419.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: The amendment has been 
assigned Docket ID OSM-2018-0002. 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 Texas 
program, 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 Tulsa Field Office, or the 
full text of the program amendment is available for you to review at 
www.regulations.gov.

William Joseph, Director, Tulsa Field Office, Office of Surface Mining 
Reclamation and Enforcement, 1645 South 101st East Avenue, Suite 145, 
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74128-4629, Telephone: (918) 581-6430, Email: 
[email protected]

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

Surface Mining and Reclamation Division, Railroad Commission of Texas, 
1701 North Congress Avenue, P.O. Box 12967, Austin, Texas 78711-2967, 
Telephone: (512) 463-6900

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Joseph, Director, Tulsa Field 
Office. Telephone: (918) 581-6430, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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

I. Background on the Texas 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, 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 Texas program 
effective February 16, 1980. You can find background information on the 
Texas program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of 
comments, and the conditions of approval of the Texas program in the 
February 27, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 12998). You can also find 
later actions concerning the Texas program and program amendments at 30 
CFR 943.10, 943.15, and 943.16.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated February 7, 2018 (Administrative Record No. TX-
706), Texas sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 
1201 et seq.) at its own initiative. Below is a summary of the changes 
proposed by Texas. The full text of the program amendment is available 
for you to read at the locations listed above under ADDRESSES.

Sec.  12.108. Permit Fees.

    Texas proposes to revise its regulation at 16 Texas Administrative 
Code (TAC) section 12.108(b) regarding annual permit fees by:
    (1) Amending the calendar years specified in paragraph (b) to 
calendar year 2017 and 2018;
    (2) Decreasing the amount of the fee, from $13.05 to $12.85, for 
each acre of land within a permit area covered by a reclamation bond on 
December 31st of the year; and
    (3) Decreasing the amount of the fee, from $6,600 to $6,170, for 
each permit in effect on December 31st of the year.
    Texas fully funds its share of costs to regulate the coal mining 
industry with fees paid by the coal industry. To meet these costs, 
Texas charges a permit application fee and two annual fees, as 
mentioned above. The proposed fee revisions are intended to provide 
adequate funding to pay the State's cost of operating its regulatory 
program, and provide incentives for industry to accomplish reclamation 
and achieve bond release as quickly as possible.

Sec.  12.309. Terms and Conditions of the Bond.

    Texas proposes to revise its regulation at 16 Texas Administrative 
Code (TAC) section 12.309(j)(2)(B) by:
    (1) Removing the condition that self-bond applicants not have been 
subject to bankruptcy proceedings during the 5-year period immediately 
preceding the date of application.
    Texas proposes this revision to conform with the United States 
Bankruptcy Code at 11 U.S.C. 525(a) and 30 CFR 800.23(b)(2).

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 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 
program 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.

[[Page 44014]]

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., CST on 
September 13, 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 and 
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 943

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: August 14, 2018.
Alfred L. Clayborne,
Regional Director, Mid-Continent Region.
[FR Doc. 2018-18705 Filed 8-28-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-05-P