[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 206 (Thursday, October 28, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59674-59675]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23314]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 950

[SATS No. WY-050-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2021-0004; S1D1S SS08011000 
SX064A000 212S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 21XS501520]


Wyoming 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 regulatory and statutory 
amendment to the Wyoming coal program (Wyoming program) under the 
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). 
On March 2, 2016 the Wyoming Environmental Quality Council approved a 
number of revisions to the rules governing coal exploration by drilling 
under the Wyoming program. Specifically, the proposed revisions include 
more detailed instructions for plugging and sealing drill holes, 
incorporate best management practices, and make additional formatting 
and organizational changes. Additionally, between 1978 and 2007 the 
Wyoming state legislature enacted a number of revisions to the statutes 
governing coal exploration by drilling. The proposed statutory 
revisions reflect organizational updates at the Wyoming Land Quality 
Division, correct a typographical error, provide more detailed 
instructions for plugging and sealing drill holes, incorporate 
provisions for the awarding of attorney fees and other litigation 
costs, and include more detailed instructions for bond release. 
Accordingly, the State submitted this proposal to OSMRE at its own 
initiative. This document gives the times and locations that the 
Wyoming 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., M.D.T., November 29, 2021. If requested, we may hold a public 
hearing or meeting on the amendment on November 22, 2021. We will 
accept requests to speak at a hearing until 4:00 p.m., M.D.T., on 
November 12, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. WY-050-FOR, 
by any of the following methods:
     Mail/Hand Delivery: OSMRE, Attn: Jeffrey Fleischman, P.O. 
Box 11018, 100 East B Street, Room 4100, Casper, Wyoming 82602.
     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 Wyoming 
program, this amendment, a listing of any scheduled public hearings or 
meetings, 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, Field Office Director, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 100 East B Street, Casper, Wyoming 
82602. 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: Attn: Kyle Wendtland, 
Administrator, Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Land 
Quality Division, 200 West 17th Street, Suite 10, Cheyenne, Wyoming 
82002. Telephone: (307) 777-7046. Email: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Fleischman, Field Office 
Director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 100 
East B Street, Casper, Wyoming 82602, Telephone: (307) 261-6550. Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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

I. Background on the Wyoming 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 approved 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 Wyoming program on 
November 26, 1980. You can find background information on the Wyoming 
program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of 
comments, and conditions of approval of the Wyoming program in the 
November 26, 1980 Federal Register 45 FR 78637. You can also find later 
actions concerning the Wyoming program and program amendments at 30 CFR 
950.10.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated June 4, 2021 (Document ID No. OSM-2021-0004), 
Wyoming sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 
et seq.). We found Wyoming's proposed amendment administratively 
complete on July 13, 2021.
    Between 1978 and 2007 the Wyoming state legislature enacted a 
number of revisions to the statutes governing coal exploration by 
drilling. Additionally, on March 2, 2016 the Wyoming Environmental 
Quality Council approved a number of revisions to the rules governing 
coal exploration by

[[Page 59675]]

drilling under the Wyoming program. The proposed amendment is a state 
initiative intended to update Chapter 14, which was last revised in 
1998. The revised rules were updated to include more detailed 
directions for plugging and sealing requirements for drill holes. The 
rules were also updated to include best management practices and 
standards adopted by the Wyoming State Engineer's Office which conform 
with accepted practices by the American Society for Testing and 
Materials, American Water Works Association, and Wyoming DEQ, Water 
Quality Division regulations. Other revisions include a list of 
acceptable grout materials requirements to plug the entire hole and 
immediate capping of drill holes, and adding identification numbers to 
facilitate inspections. Additional formatting and organizational 
changes were also made to Chapter 14.
    The proposed statutory revisions reflect organizational updates at 
the Wyoming Land Quality Division, correct a typographical error, 
provide more detailed instructions for plugging and sealing drill 
holes, incorporate provisions for the awarding of attorney fees and 
other litigation costs, and include more detailed instructions for bond 
release. The full text of the program and/or plan 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.

Electronic 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., M.D.T. on 
November 12, 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 and/or AML plan 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 950

    State regulatory program approval, state-federal cooperative 
agreement, required program amendments.

David A. Berry,
Regional Director, Unified Regions 5, 7-11.
[FR Doc. 2021-23314 Filed 10-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P