[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 67 (Monday, April 8, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13853-13855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06826]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 948
[WV-125-FOR; Docket ID: OSMRE-2017-0003 S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000
190S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 19XS501520]
West Virginia Regulatory Program
AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule with 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 West
Virginia regulatory program (the West Virginia program) under the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act).
On May 3, 2017, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
(WVDEP) submitted a program amendment to OSMRE to modify its pre-
blasting survey requirements, bond release and bonding requirements,
and to modify disbursements from the Water Reclamation Trust Fund.
This document gives the times and locations that the West Virginia
program and this proposed amendment 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., Eastern Daylight Time (e.d.t.), May 8, 2019. If requested, we
will hold a public hearing on the amendment on May 3, 2019. We will
accept requests to speak at a hearing until 4:00 p.m., e.d.t. on April
23, 2019.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments, identified by WV-125-FOR;
OSM-2017-0003, by any of the following methods:
Mail/Hand Delivery: Mr. Roger W. Calhoun, Director,
Charleston Field Office Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement, 1027 Virginia Street, East Charleston, West Virginia 25301
Fax: (304) 347-7170.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: The amendment has been
assigned the Docket ID OSM-2017-0003. 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 ID 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 West
Virginia 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 Charleston
Field Office or the full text of the program amendment is available for
you to read at www.regulations.gov.
Charleston Field Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
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Enforcement, 1027 Virginia Street, East, Charleston, West Virginia
25301, Email: [email protected].
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, 601 57th
Street SE, Charleston, WV 25304, Telephone: (304) 926-0490.
In addition, you may review a copy of the amendment during regular
business hours at the following locations:
Morgantown Area Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement, 604 Cheat Road, Suite 150, Morgantown, West Virginia
26508, Telephone: (304) 291-4004 (By Appointment Only).
Beckley Area Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement, 313 Harper Park Drive, Suite 3, Beckley, West Virginia
25801, Telephone: (304) 255-5265.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Roger W. Calhoun, Director,
Charleston Field Office, Telephone: (304) 347-7158. Email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the West Virginia Program
II. Description and Submission of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations
I. Background on the West Virginia 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 West Virginia
program on January 21, 1981. You can find background information on the
West Virginia program, including the Secretary's findings, the
disposition of comments, and conditions of approval of the West
Virginia program in the January 21, 1981, Federal Register (46 FR
5915). You can also find later actions concerning the West Virginia
program and program amendments at 30 CFR 948.10, 948.12, 948.13,
948.15, and 948.16.
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
By letter (Administrative Record No. 1608) dated May 3, 2017, the
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) sent us an
amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). The full
text of the program amendment is available for you to read at the
locations listed above under ADDRESSES.
Enrolled Senate Bill 687 seeks to modify bond releases and bonding
requirements and to modify the requirements for how money is to be paid
from the Special Reclamation Water Trust Fund to assure a reliable
source of capital and operating expenses for the treatment of
discharges from bond-forfeited sites. Senate Bill 687 was adopted by
the West Virginia Legislature on April 8, 2017, and approved by the
Governor on April 26, 2017. These changes cannot take effect for the
purposes of the State program until approved as an amendment by OSMRE
pursuant to 30 CFR 732.17(g). WVDEP requests that we approve the
following changes to the approved State program:
1. W.VA. Code 22-3-11(g)(1) and (g)(2)--Bonds; amount and method
of bonding; bonding requirements; special reclamation tax and funds;
prohibited acts; period of bond liability.
The State seeks to continue the Special Reclamation Fund and, at
subsection (g)(1), allow moneys in the Special Reclamation Water
Trust Fund to be used to assure a reliable source of capital and
operating expenses for the treatment of water discharges from
forfeited sites where the Secretary has obtained or applied for an
NPDES permit.
At revised subsection (g)(2), the State proposes to delete
provisions that require the Secretary to develop a long-range
planning process for selection and prioritization of sites to be
reclaimed so as to avoid inordinate short term obligations of the
assets in both funds of such magnitude that the solvency of either
fund is jeopardized. In addition, the State proposes to delete the
provision that provides the Secretary may use both funds for the
purpose of designing, constructing and maintaining water treatment
systems when they are required for a complete reclamation of the
affected lands described in this subsection.
This proposed revision falls under the Federal provisions at 30
CFR 800.11(e) and section 509(c) of SMCRA.
2. W.VA. Code 22-3-11(g)(3)(A)--Bonds; amount and method of
bonding; bonding requirements; special reclamation tax and funds;
prohibited acts; period of bond liability.
Previously, subsection 22-3-11(g)(2) was revised by the State to
provide a tax credit to any mine operator who performs reclamation
or remediation at a bond forfeiture site within the State. Under the
proposed amendment, former subsection (g)(2)(A) was renumbered
(g)(3)(A) to allow for the revision of (g)(2).
3. W.VA. Code 22-3-23(c) and (i)--Release of bond or deposits;
application; notice; duties of Secretary; public hearings; final
maps on grade release.
WVDEP proposes to amend subsection 23(c) by adding new bond
release requirements at subdivisions (2) and (3). Subdivision (2)
provides that the bond or deposit in whole or in part, may be
released after revegetation has been established on the regraded
mined lands in accordance with the approved reclamation plan. When
determining the amount of bond to be released after successful
revegetation has been established, the Secretary shall retain that
amount of bond for the revegetated area which would be sufficient
for a third party to cover the cost of reestablishing revegetation
and for the period specified for operator responsibility in section
thirteen of this article. This revision also includes specific
provisions with respect to when the bond can be released and under
what circumstances.
Subdivision (3) provides that when the operator has successfully
completed all surface coal mining and reclamation activities, the
remaining portion of the bond may be released, but not before the
expiration of the period specified for operator responsibility in
section thirteen of this article provided that no bond shall be
fully released until all reclamation requirements are complied with.
The State proposes to delete the requirement of the minimum
$10,000 bond after grading, seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, and
other associated reclamation activities. Also included in this
proposed revision are provisions relating to conditions that have to
be met prior to the Secretary releasing all or part of the bond.
Finally, WVDEP proposed to add subdivision (i) to its bonding
requirements which authorizes the Secretary to propose rules for
legislative approval during the 2018 regular session of the
Legislature in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of the code and revisions to the Legislative
Rule entitled West Virginia Surface Mining Reclamation Rule, Title
38, Series 2 of the West Virginia Code of State Rules, to implement
the revisions to this article made during the 2017 legislative
session. In addition, the Secretary is to specifically consider the
adoption of corresponding federal standards codified at 30 C. F. R.
700 et. seq.
These revisions fall under the Federal bond release requirements
at 30 CFR 800.11, 800.13, 800.14, 800.15, 800.16, 800.17, 800.30 and
800.40 and sections 509 and 519 of SMCRA.
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,
they should be specific, confined to issues pertinent to the proposed
regulations, and explain the reason for any
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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.d.t. on
April 23, 2019. 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 948
Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
Dated: October 11, 2018.
Thomas D. Shope,
Regional Director, Appalachian Region.
[FR Doc. 2019-06826 Filed 4-5-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P