[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 243 (Thursday, December 17, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 81862-81864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-27544]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 926

[SATS No. MT-039-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2020-0004; S1D1S SS08011000 
SX064A000 212S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 21XS501520]


Montana AML 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 Montana 
Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Plan (Montana Plan) under the Surface 
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). The 
State submitted this proposal in response to OSMRE's request to update 
the Montana Plan. Montana also seeks to make changes that will improve 
the Plan's readability and operational efficiency. This document gives 
the times and locations that the Montana Plan and this proposed 
amendment to that Plan 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., M.D.T., January 19, 2021. If requested, we will hold a public 
hearing on the amendment on January 11, 2021. We will accept requests 
to speak at a hearing until 4:00 p.m., M.D.T. on January 4, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. MT-039-FOR, 
by any of the following methods:
     Mail/Hand Delivery: OSMRE, Attn: Jeffrey Fleischman, P.O. 
Box 11018, Dick Cheney Federal Building, 100 East B Street, Casper, WY 
82601-7032.
     Fax: (307) 261-6552.
     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 Montana 
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 Casper Field Office or the 
full text of the program amendment is available for you to read at 
www.regulations.gov.
    Attn: Jeffrey Fleischman, Division Manager, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, OSMRE, Dick Cheney Federal 
Building, 150 East B Street, Casper, WY 82601-7032. Telephone: 307-261-
6550. Email: [email protected].
    In addition, you may review a copy of the amendment during regular 
business hours at the following location: Montana Department of 
Environmental Quality, 1225 Cedar Street, Helena, MT 59601.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Fleischman, Office of Surface

[[Page 81863]]

Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Dick Cheney Federal Building, 150 
East B Street, Casper, WY 82601-7032. Telephone: (307) 261-6550. Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background on the Montana Plan
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background on the Montana 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 October 24, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior approved the 
Montana Plan. You can find general background information on the 
Montana Plan, including the Secretary's findings and the disposition of 
comments, in the October 24, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 70445). 
OSMRE announced in the July 9, 1990, Federal Register (55 FR 28022), 
the Director's decision accepting certification by Montana that it had 
addressed all known coal-related impacts in the State that were 
eligible for funding under the Montana Plan. You can also find later 
actions concerning Montana's Plan and Plan amendments at 30 CFR 926.25.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    In a letter dated March 6, 2019 (Document ID No. OSM-2020-0004-
0003), OSMRE, under the authority of 30 CFR 884.15, directed the State 
to update the Montana Plan. OSMRE requested that Montana update its 
Plan to meet the requirements of SMCRA, as revised on December 20, 2006 
as part of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109-
432), and in response to changes made to the implementing federal 
regulations as revised on November 14, 2008 (73 FR 67576) and February 
5, 2015 (80 FR 6435). By letter dated August 4, 2020 (Administrative 
Record No. OSM-2020-0004-0002), Montana sent us an amendment to its 
State Plan under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). This amendment is 
intended to address the required amendments identified in OSMRE's 
letter dated March 6, 2019. The State has also proposed additional 
changes as part of the State's initiative to improve the Plan's 
readability and operational efficiency. This amendment will essentially 
repeal and replace Montana's existing AML Plan. A summary of the 
proposed changes is provided below.
    Through this amendment, Montana proposes to include an updated 
legal opinion from the State indicating the Department of Environmental 
Quality (DEQ) has legal authority to conduct the AML Program under 
SMCRA as required under 30 CFR 884.13(a)(2). The State also proposes to 
omit historical documents regarding approval of previous changes to the 
Montana Plan; reference statutory sections rather than incorporating 
statutory language; reference rather than incorporating other relevant 
State laws such as personnel and procurement policies; clarify how AML 
hazards are classified into priority ranks and selected for funding; 
indicate how coal versus non-coal projects will be selected; clarify 
the Authorization to Proceed process prior to beginning reclamation 
projects; clarify historic set-aside fund and acid mine drainage 
treatment accounts, remove the Emergency Program section; and make 
general editorial changes for brevity and structural alignment with the 
Federal AML Plan requirements under 30 CFR 884.13. Montana's amendment 
submittal package also proposes a change to statutory language at MCA 
82-4-1006 enacted by the State Legislature in 2007 regarding 
establishment, management, and use of funds in the State's Abandoned 
Mine Reclamation Account.
    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

    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.

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 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., M.D.T. on 
January 4, 2021. 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

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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 and 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 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, 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 926

    Abandoned mine reclamation programs, Intergovernmental relations, 
Surface mining, Underground mining.

David A. Berry,
Regional Director, Unified Regions 5, 7-11.
[FR Doc. 2020-27544 Filed 12-16-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P