[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 91 (Friday, May 10, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 20597-20599]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09558]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 925

[SATS No. MO-049-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2019-0004; S1D1S SS08011000 
SX064A000 190S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 19XS501520]


Missouri 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 Missouri 
Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund and Abandoned Mine Reclamation and 
Restoration regulations (hereinafter, the Plan) under the Surface 
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). As a 
result of Missouri's Red Tape Reduction Initiative (Executive Order 17-
03), Missouri proposes amendments to its Plan in order to reduce the 
volume of these regulations without reducing the Plan's requirements. 
Missouri also proposes revisions to several sections of its Plan to 
align with the 2006 amendments to SMCRA and the

[[Page 20598]]

subsequent November 14, 2008, changes to the Federal regulations.
    This document gives the times and locations where the Missouri Plan 
and this proposed amendment to that Plan 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, June 10, 2019. If requested, we will hold a public hearing 
on the amendment on June 4, 2019. We will accept requests to speak at a 
hearing until 4:00 p.m., CST on May 28, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. MO-049-FOR, 
by any of the following methods:
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Joy Schieferstein, Senior Program 
Specialist, Alton Field Division, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation 
and Enforcement, 501 Belle Street, Suite 216, Alton, Illinois 62002-
6169.
     Fax: (618) 463-6470.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: The amendment has been 
assigned Docket ID OSM-2019-0004. 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 Missouri 
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 Alton Field Division, or the full 
text of the Plan amendment is available for you to review at 
www.regulations.gov.

Joy Schieferstein, Senior Program Specialist, Alton Field Division, 
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 501 Belle Street, 
Suite 216, Alton, Illinois 62002-6169, Telephone: (618) 463-6460, 
Email: [email protected]

    In addition, you may review a copy of the amendment during regular 
business hours at the following location:, Land Reclamation Program, 
Missouri Department of Natural Resources, 1101 Riverside Drive, 
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176, Telephone: (573) 751-4041.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joy Schieferstein, Senior Program 
Specialist, Alton Field Division. Telephone: (618) 463-6460, Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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

I. Background on the Missouri 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 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 the basis of 
these criteria, the Secretary of the Interior approved the Missouri 
Plan effective January 29, 1982. You can find background information on 
the Missouri Plan, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition 
of comments, and the conditions of approval of the Missouri Plan in the 
January 29, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR 4253). You can also find 
later actions concerning the Missouri Plan and amendments to the Plan 
at 30 CFR 925.20 and 925.25.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated March 6, 2019 (Administrative Record No. MO-685), 
Missouri 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 Missouri. The full text of the Plan amendment is available 
for you to read at the locations listed above under ADDRESSES.
    Missouri proposes to amend the following sections of its Abandoned 
Mine Land Reclamation Fund and Abandoned Mine Reclamation and 
Restoration regulations to conform to the requirements of Missouri 
Executive Order 17-03 and to align with the 2006 amendments to SMCRA 
and the subsequent November 14, 2018, changes to the Federal 
regulations:

10 CSR 40-9.010--Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund
10 CSR 40-9.020--General Requirements
10 CSR 40-9.030--Rights of Entry
10 CSR 40-9.040--Acquisition of Land and Water for Reclamation
10 CSR 40-9.050--Management and Disposition of Land and Water
10 CSR 40-9.060--Reclamation on Private Lands

III. Public Comment Procedures

    We are seeking your comments on whether the amendment satisfies the 
applicable plan approval criteria of 30 CFR 884.14 and 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., CST on May 
28, 2019. If you are disabled and need reasonable accommodations to 
attend a public hearing, contact the person listed under

[[Page 20599]]

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 Plan amendment to OSMRE for review, our 
regulations at 30 CFR 884.14 and 884.15, and agency policy require 
public notification and an opportunity for public comment. We 
accomplish this by publishing a notice in the Federal Register 
indicating receipt of the proposed amendment and its text or a summary 
of its terms. 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 925

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: March 19, 2019.
Alfred L. Clayborne,
Regional Director, Mid-Continent Region.
[FR Doc. 2019-09558 Filed 5-9-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-05-P