[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10638-10640]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-03750]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 935

[SATS No. OH-256-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2017-0004; S1D1S SS08011000 
SX064A000 201S180110 S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 20XS501520]


Ohio 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 Ohio 
regulatory program (the Ohio program) under the Surface Mining Control 
and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Through this proposed 
amendment, Ohio seeks to revise its program to require that an 
applicant acquire legal right to enter during the term of the permit, 
in addition Ohio is asking for approval of the implementation of 
offsite mitigation guidelines.
    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 amendment until 4:00 
p.m., Eastern Standard Time (e.s.t.), March 26, 2020. If requested, we 
will hold a public hearing on the amendment on March 23, 2020. We will 
accept requests to speak at a hearing until 4:00 p.m., e.s.t. on March 
11, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. OH-256-FOR, 
by any of the following methods:
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Mr. Ben Owens, Field Office Director, 
Pittsburgh Field Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and 
Enforcement, 3 Parkway Center, Pittsburgh, Pa 15220.
     Fax: (412) 937-2177.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: The amendment has been 
assigned Docket ID: OSM-2017-004. 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 Ohio 
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 Pittsburgh Field Office, or 
the full text of the program amendment is available for you to read at 
www.regulations.gov.

Mr. Ben Owens, Field Office Director, Pittsburgh Field Office, 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 amendment during regular 
business hours at the following location:

Mr. Dave Crow, Acting Chief, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, 
Division of Mineral Resources Management, 2045 Morse Road, Building H2, 
Telephone: (614) 265-1020, Email: [email protected]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ben Owens, Field Office Director, 
Pittsburgh Field Office, 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 Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

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

[[Page 10639]]

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 Ohio 
program on August 16, 1982. You can find background information on the 
Ohio program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of 
comments, and conditions of approval of the Ohio program in the August 
10, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR 34717). You can also find later 
actions concerning the Ohio program and program amendments at 30 CFR 
935.10, 935.11, and 935.15.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated October 5, 2015 (Administrative Record No. OH-2193-
01), Ohio sent us an amendment to its program, known as Ohio Program 
Amendment No. 84, which includes statutory changes to its Ohio Revised 
Code (ORC). The statutory revision in Ohio House Bill 64 of the 131st 
General Assemble was signed and became effective September 29, 2015. 
The proposed amendment included changes to Section 1513.06 to allow the 
off-site mitigation of the unavoidable loss of streams and wetlands 
which cannot be restored on site. Section 1513.07 includes two changes 
to the Right of Entry (ROE) requirements: (1) To change the mapping 
section which currently requires maps to identify lands to be affected, 
lands where applicants has legal ROE, and adds a section for lands for 
which the applicant will acquire ROE during the term of the permit, and 
(2) to allow acceptance of an application as administratively complete 
as long as the applicant has ROE for at least 67% of the area for which 
coal mining operations are proposed.
    By letter dated November 20, 2017 (Administrative Record No. OH-
2193-06), Ohio sent OSMRE an addendum to its program, known by Ohio as 
Program Amendment No. 84, which includes statutory changes to its Ohio 
Revised Code (ORC). The statutory revision in Ohio House Bill 49 of the 
132nd General Assemble was signed and became effective June 20, 2017. 
The proposed addendum includes changes Section 1501:13-4-03(D)(1) 
changing the word description to Notarized statement; (D)(2) is added 
to require that the application include a notarized statement 
identifying the specific land for which the applicant is negotiating to 
acquire the legal right to enter and begin coal mining in the permit 
area, for surface mining operations, or in the permit and shadow areas, 
for underground mining operations, during the term of the permit.
    Section 1501:13-5-01 (A)(1)(g) is proposed to be added to state 
that if the application for a coal mining permit, permit renewal, or 
permit revision includes a request for restoration off the permit area 
by means of mitigation, this must be specified in the public notice; 
(G)(3) is revised to add a provision from Section 1513.07(I)(4) enacted 
by HB 64, effective September 29, 2015: The permit shall contain a 
specific condition to prohibit the commencement of coal mining 
operations on any land that is located within the permit area or the 
shadow area if the permittee has not provided to the chief documents 
that form the basis of the permittee's legal right to enter and conduct 
coal mining operations on that land.
    Section 1501:13-9-04 (E)(1) is proposed to clarify how to measure 
the distance from the stream: ``measured horizontally.'' (E)(1)(c) is 
proposed to add a provision regarding restoration off the permit area 
by means of mitigation. (F)(2)(d) is proposed to be add a new paragraph 
to mirror a requirement of 30 CFR 816.43(b)(4). (H)(1)(a) is proposed 
to update addresses.
    Section 1501:13-13-08 is proposed to be added to implement and 
amplify ORC Section 1513.16(A)(25), enacted by HB 64 of the 131st 
General Assembly, effective September 29, 2015.
    The full text of the program 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 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.

Electric or Written Comments

    If you submit written or electronic comments on the proposed rule 
during the 30-day comment period, 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 
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.s.t. on 
March 11, 2020. 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.

[[Page 10640]]

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

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: November 14, 2019.
Thomas D. Shope,
Regional Director, North Atlantic--Appalachian Region.

    Editorial Note:  The Office of the Federal Register received 
this document on February 20, 2020.
[FR Doc. 2020-03750 Filed 2-24-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-05-P