[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 97 (Friday, May 19, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32163-32165]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10493]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 934

[SATS No. ND-057-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2022-0011; S1D1S SS08011000 
SX064A000 234S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 23XS501520]


North Dakota Regulatory Program

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule/Opening; 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 North 
Dakota regulatory program (hereinafter, the North Dakota program) under 
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the 
Act). North Dakota proposes changes to the North Dakota Century Code 
and North Dakota Administrative Code resulting from actions initiated 
during both the 2017 and 2021 Legislative Sessions. Changes include 
altering the time required for scheduling and applying for select 
permit related actions, creation of the North Dakota Department of 
Environmental Quality and a transfer of select responsibilities from 
the Department of Health, establishment of the Department of Water 
Resources, and the powers and duties of that agency and the state 
engineer. This document gives the times and locations that the North 
Dakota 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 p.m., 
Mountain Daylight Time (MDT), June 20, 2023. If requested, we may hold 
a public hearing or meeting on the amendment on June 13, 2023. We will 
accept requests to speak at a hearing until 4 p.m., MDT on June 5, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. ND-057-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 82601-1018.
    Fax: (307) 261-6552.
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: The amendment has been assigned Docket 
ID: OSM-2022-0011. If you would like to submit comments go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    We cannot ensure that comments received after the close of the 
comment period (see DATES) or sent to an address other than the ones 
listed above will be included in the docket for this rulemaking and 
considered.
    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 North 
Dakota 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 
Area Office or the full text of the program amendment is available for 
you to read at www.regulations.gov.
Attn: Jeffrey Fleischman, Denver Field Division Chief, Office of 
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Casper Area Office, P.O. 
Box 11018, 100 East B Street, Room 4100, Casper, Wyoming 82601-1018. 
Telephone: (307) 261-6555, Email: [email protected].

    In addition, you may review a copy of the amendment during regular 
business hours at the following location:

Attn: Zanna Brinkman, Reclamation Division Director, North Dakota 
Public Service Commission, 600 East Boulevard, Dept. 408, Bismarck, 
North Dakota 58505-0480. Telephone: (701) 328-2400, Email: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
Jeffrey Fleischman, Denver Field Division Chief, Office of Surface 
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Casper Area Office, P.O. Box 11018, 
100 East B Street Casper, Wyoming 82601-1018. Telephone: (307) 261-
6555, Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
I. Background on the North Dakota Program
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations

[[Page 32164]]

Background on the North Dakota 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 North Dakota program on December 15, 1980. 
You can find background information on the North Dakota program, 
including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of comments, and 
conditions of approval of the North Dakota program in the December 15, 
1980, Federal Register (45 FR 82214). You can also find later actions 
concerning the North Dakota program and program amendments at 30 CFR 
934.15 and 934.30.

Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated November 30, 2022 (Administrative Record No. ND-SS-
01), North Dakota sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 
U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). North Dakota sent the amendment at its own 
initiative to include changes made to both the North Dakota Century 
Code (NDCC) and the North Dakota Administrative Code (NDAC). House Bill 
No. 1061, from the 2021 Legislative Session, increased the time for 
scheduling an informal conference on a permit, significant permit 
revision, or permit renewal application from 30 days to 45 days. It 
also changes the time a mining company is required to apply for a 
permit renewal from 120 days to 180 days prior to permit expiration. 
Senate Bill No. 2327, from the 2017 Legislative Session, created the 
North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality and transferred duties 
from the North Dakota Department of Health related to environmental 
quality. House Bill No. 1353, from the 2021 Legislative Session, 
established the North Dakota Department of Water Resources and 
identifies the powers and responsibilities of the agency and the state 
engineer. North Dakota law and rules must be updated to reflect these 
changes. 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.

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 p.m., MDT on June 5, 
2023. 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. 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.

[[Page 32165]]

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 934

    Surface mining, Underground mining.

David Berry,
Regional Director, Unified Interior Regions 5, 7-11.
[FR Doc. 2023-10493 Filed 5-18-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P