[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 129 (Friday, July 5, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32109-32110]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14334]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 916

[SATS No. KS-030-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2019-0002; S1D1S SS08011000 
SX064A000 190S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 19XS501520]


Kansas 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 Kansas 
regulatory program (Kansas program) under the Surface Mining Control 
and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Kansas proposes 
revisions to its Ownership and Control rules, and additional revisions 
made for organizational clarity. Kansas intends to revise its program 
to be as effective as the Federal regulations. This document gives the 
times and locations where the Kansas 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 p.m., 
CST, August 5, 2019. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on the 
amendment on July 30, 2019. We will accept requests to speak at a 
hearing until 4 p.m., CST on July 22, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. KS-030-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-2019-0002. 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 Kansas 
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: Kansas Department of Health 
and Environment, Surface Mining Section, 4033 Parkview Drive, 
Frontenac, KS 66763, Telephone: (316) 231-8540.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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

I. Background on the Kansas 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 fully approved the Kansas program, as 
amended, effective April 14, 1982. You can find background information 
on the Kansas program, including the Secretary's findings, the 
disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval of the Kansas 
program in the April 14, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR 16012). You can 
also find later actions concerning the Kansas

[[Page 32110]]

program and program amendments at 30 CFR 916.10, 916.12, and 916.15.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated February 6, 2019 (Administrative Record No. KS-
629), Kansas sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 
1201 et seq.). Kansas submitted the proposed amendment in response to a 
September 30, 2009, letter (Administrative Record No. KS-627) that 
OSMRE sent to Kansas in accordance with 30 CFR 732.17(c). OSMRE 
requested additional information from Kansas in order to complete the 
initial review of the proposed amendment, which was received on March 
11, 2019. Because additional information was required, this March date 
will be used as the proposed amendment submission date for OSMRE's 
review. Below is a summary of the changes proposed by Kansas. The full 
text of the program amendment is available for you to read at the 
locations listed above under ADDRESSES.
    In the September 30, 2009, letter (Administrative Record No. KS-
627), OSMRE notified Kansas that the Kansas program was determined to 
be less effective than the Federal regulations in the following 
ownership and control areas:
     30 CFR 773.8--General provisions for review of permit 
application information and entry of information into AVS.
     30 CFR 773.9--Review of applicant and operator 
information.
     30 CFR 773.12--Permit eligibility determination.
     30 CFR 773.25--Who may challenge ownership or control 
listings and findings.
     30 CFR 774.11--Post-permit issuance requirements for 
regulatory authorities and other actions based on ownership, control, 
and violation information.
     30 CFR 774.17--Transfer, assignment, or sale of permit 
rights.
     30 CFR 778.11--Providing applicant and operator 
information.
     30 CFR 847.2--General provisions.
     30 CFR 847.11--Criminal penalties.
     30 CFR 847.16--Civil actions for relief.
    Kansas proposes to amend its Kansas Administrative Regulations 
(K.A.R.) to address these deficiencies in the following sections:
     K.A.R. 47-3-42(a)(4), (5), (8), (17), and (22).
     K.A.R. 47-6-4(b).
     K.A.R. 47-6-11(a)(1).
     K.A.R. 47-5-5a(a)(14), (15), and (16).
    The remaining changes proposed by Kansas are organizational in 
nature.

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.

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 p.m., CST on July 22, 
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 916

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

    Dated: April 16, 2019.
Alfred L. Clayborne,
Regional Director, Mid-Continent Region.
[FR Doc. 2019-14334 Filed 7-3-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-05-P