[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 76 (Thursday, April 22, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 21246-21248]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-08331]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 943

[SATS No. TX-072-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2020-0006; S1D1S SS08011000 
SX064A000 212S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 21XS501520]


Texas 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 Texas 
regulatory program (Texas program) under the Surface Mining Control and 
Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Texas proposes 
administrative revisions to its regulations to update, correct, and 
clarify existing rules. These proposals change language to gender 
neutral, update terms and definitions for consistency with existing 
Federal and

[[Page 21247]]

State regulations, and correct references internal and external to the 
document.
    This document gives the times and locations where the Texas 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 4:00 
p.m., CDT, May 24, 2021. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on 
the amendment on May 17, 2021. We will accept requests to speak at a 
hearing until 4:00 p.m., CDT on May 7, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. TX-072-FOR, 
by any of the following methods:
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Joseph R. Maki, 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-2020-0006. 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 Texas 
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.

Joseph R. Maki, 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:

Surface Mining and Reclamation Division, Railroad Commission of Texas, 
1701 North Congress Avenue, P.O. Box 12967, Austin, Texas 78711-2967, 
Telephone: (512) 463-6900

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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

I. Background on the Texas 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 conditionally approved the Texas program 
effective February 16, 1980. You can find background information on the 
Texas program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of 
comments, and the conditions of approval of the Texas program in the 
Federal Register, 45 FR 12998 (February 27, 1980). You can also find 
later actions concerning the Texas program and program amendments at 30 
CFR 943.10, 943.15, and 943.16.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated August 28, 2020 (Administrative Record No. TX-708), 
Texas sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 
et seq.) at its own initiative. Texas proposes to revise its 
regulations at 16 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) section 12 to update, 
clarify, and correct existing rules.
    1. Changes to Sec. Sec.  12.3(89), 12.3(122), and 12.679 make the 
language gender neutral.
    2. Twenty changes within the document were made to update terms for 
consistency with the relevant Texas licensing boards. ``Registered 
professional engineer'' and ``geologist'' are no longer used.
    3. Changes in Sec.  12.4 ensure that the regulation is consistent 
with the Texas Administrative Procedure Act (Texas Government Code 
Chapter 2001), which requires a written decision within 60 days from 
receipt of the petition, rather than 90 days as required by the 
Railroad Commission of Texas's current rule and the Federal 
counterpart.
    4. Changes to Sec.  12.106(b), so that an application for renewal 
is filed at least 120 days before the expiration of the permit and is 
better aligned with the Federal counterpart regulation and State 
statute.
    5. The clarifying change to Sec.  12.108 ensures that permits are 
updated to reflect current bonded acreage after a hearing to release 
acreage from reclamation.
    6. Changes to Sec. Sec.  12.121 and 12.161 add a requirement to 
provide the permit's expiration date.
    The full text of the program amendment is available for you to read 
at the locations listed above under ADDRESSES.

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 Texas 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

[[Page 21248]]

cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Public Hearing

    If you wish to request or speak at a public hearing, contact the 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m., CDT 
on May 7, 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 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 943

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

Alfred L. Clayborne,
Regional Director, Interior Regions 3, 4 and 6.
[FR Doc. 2021-08331 Filed 4-21-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P