[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 172 (Thursday, September 5, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46703-46705]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19163]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 935
[OH-262-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2019-0006 S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000
190S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 19XS501520]
Ohio Regulatory Program
AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE),
Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment period and opportunity for public
hearing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
(OSMRE), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Ohio
regulatory program, hereinafter the Ohio program, under the Surface
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Ohio
seeks to amend its program by revising a definition involving the
transfer, assignment, or sale of permit rights. This document gives the
times and locations that the Ohio program and this proposed amendment
to that program 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 request until 4:00 p.m.,
Eastern Standard Time (e.s.t.), October 7, 2019. If requested, we will
hold a public hearing on the request on September 30, 2019. We will
accept requests to speak at a hearing until 4:00 p.m., e.s.t. on
September 20, 2019.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. OH-262-FOR,
Docket ID: OSM-2019-0006, 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.
[[Page 46704]]
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: For access to the docket to review copies of the Ohio
program, this request, 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 request by contacting OSMRE's Pittsburgh Field Division or the full
text of the request is available for you to read at
www.regulations.gov.
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].
In addition, you may review a copy of the request during regular
business hours at the following location:
Mr. Larry E. Erdos, Chief, Division of Mineral Resources Management,
Ohio Department of Natural Resources, 2045 Morse Rd., Building H-2,
Columbus, OH 43229-6693, Telephone: (614) 265-6633, Email:
[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 Ohio Program
II. Description of the Request
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations
I. Background on the Ohio 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 Ohio program on
August 16, 1982. You can find additional background information on the
Ohio program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of
comments, and conditions of approval in the August 10, 1982, Federal
Register, 47 FR 34688. You can also find later actions concerning
Ohio's program and program amendments at 30 CFR 935.11 and 935.15.
II. Description of the Request
By letter dated April 11, 2019, Ohio sent us an amendment to its
program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.) that involves the
regulatory definition of ``transfer, assignment, or sale of permit
rights'' related to coal mining operations (Administrative Record No.
OH-2198). Ohio seeks to add regulatory language at Chapter 1501:13-1-
02, Definitions, section (VVVVVV) of the Ohio Administrative Code,
which currently defines the term as ``a change of a permittee,
including, but not limited to, any fundamental legal change in the
structure or nature of a permittee, or a name change.'' With this
amendment, Ohio seeks to expand the definition to include a change in
the ownership and operational control of a permittee to a person who
has not held a permit issued under Chapter 1513, Coal Surface Mining,
of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) for a period of not less than five years
where the existence and name of the permittee remain the same. Ohio
states that this change is intended to prevent a person who is not
eligible to participate in the bond pool under section 1513.08(C)(2) of
the ORC from gaining access to the bond pool through a change of
ownership and operational control that does not change the existence
and name of the permittee. Ohio states that requiring such a person to
apply for a transfer, assignment, or sale of permit rights will assure
that all performance security requirements are met.
The full text of the amendment is available for you to read at the
locations listed above under ADDRESSES or at www.regulations.gov.
III. Public Comment Procedures
Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are seeking your
comments on whether this 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 request during
the 30-day comment period, they should be specific, confined to issues
pertinent to the request, and explain the reason for any recommended
change(s). We appreciate any and all comments, but those most useful
and likely to influence our decision 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
September 20, 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.
[[Page 46705]]
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 and Executive
Order 13563--Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
Executive Order 12866 provides that the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will
review all significant rules. Pursuant to OMB guidance, dated October
12, 1993, the approval of State program amendments is exempted from OMB
review under Executive Order 12866. Executive Order 13563, which
reaffirms and supplements Executive Order 12866, retains this
exemption.
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 935
Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
Dated: June 4, 2019.
Thomas D. Shope,
Regional Director, Appalachian Region.
[FR Doc. 2019-19163 Filed 9-4-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P