[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 203 (Monday, October 23, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 72699-72701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23034]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
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 

  Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 203 / Monday, October 23, 2023 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 72699]]



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 926

[SATS No. MT-044-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2023-0009; S1D1S SS08011000 
SX064A000 231S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 23XS501520]


Montana 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 Montana 
regulatory program (hereinafter, the Montana program) under the Surface 
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Montana 
submitted this proposed amendment to us, on its own initiative, 
following the passage of a Montana House Bill during the 2023 
legislative session. Montana proposes several changes to the Montana 
Code Annotated (MCA). Montana adds a new section detailing the 
procedures a permittee must follow when applying for a ``minor 
revision'' to its permit. Montana adds several new definitions and 
removes the current procedures for a permit revision application. 
Furthermore, Montana adds clarifying language regarding ``minor 
revisions'' of permits. Lastly, Montana adds contingencies that will 
not be codified into law but that will apply to the proposed amendment: 
``Codification Instructions'' and ``Contingent Termination.'' This 
document gives the times and locations that the Montana 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 (M.D.T.) November 22, 2023. If requested, we may 
hold a public hearing or meeting on the amendment on November 17, 2023. 
We will accept requests to speak at a hearing until 4 p.m., M.D.T. on 
November 7, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. MT-042-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: The amendment has been 
assigned Docket ID: OSM-2023-0009. If you would like to submit 
comments, go to https://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 Montana 
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: Dan Walsh, Mining Bureau Chief, Coal and Opencut Mining Bureau, 
Department of Environmental Quality, P.O. Box 200901, Helena, MT 59601-
0901, Telephone: (406) 444-6791, Email: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
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].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

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

I. Background on the Montana Program

    Subject to OSMRE's oversight, 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 
approved the Montana program on October 24, 1980. You can find 
background information on the Montana program, including the 
Secretary's findings, the disposition of comments, and conditions of 
approval of the Montana program in the October 24, 1980, Federal 
Register (45 FR 70445). You can also find later actions concerning the 
Montana program and program amendments at 30 CFR 926.25.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated July 13, 2023 (Administrative Record No. MT-044-
01), Montana sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 
1201 et seq.). We found Montana's proposed amendment to be 
administratively complete on July 14, 2023. Montana submitted this 
proposed amendment to us, on its own initiative, following the passage 
of Montana House Bill 656 (HB 656) during the 2023 legislative session.

[[Page 72700]]

    Montana proposes several changes to title 82, chapter 4, part 2 of 
the MCA. First, Montana proposes to add a new section titled ``Minor 
Revisions--application--exemptions,'' which tells a permittee what must 
be included in minor permit revision applications and provides a 
timeline for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ) 
review of said applications.
    Second, Montana proposes to add four new entries to 82-4-203 MCA--
Definitions: (5) Amendment, (28) Incidental Boundary Revision, (33) 
Major Revision, and (39) Minor Revision. Due to the new definitions, 
Montana also proposes to update the numbers listed for existing 
definitions.
    Third, Montana proposes to amend 82-4-221 MCA--Mining Permit 
Required. Here, Montana proposes to remove language that gives 
direction to a permittee when it files an application to revise its 
permit. It also removes language that outlines DEQ's timeline for 
reviewing minor revision applications.
    Fourth, Montana proposes to amend 82-4-225 MCA--Application for 
increase or reduction in permit area amendment. Montana amends the 
title of this section to be ``Application for permit amendment.'' 
Montana then removes two occurrences of the phrase ``area of land 
affected,'' replacing one with ``permit area'' and the other with 
``permit boundary.'' Montana also removes language that allows a 
permittee to apply to ``reduce'' its permit area, and removes language 
that allows an operator to apply, at any time, to increase or reduce 
its area of land affected. Lastly, Montana adds ``minor revisions'' to 
the list of permit revision applications that do not follow the same 
procedures as original permit applications.
    Finally, HB 656 adds two contingencies that affect the amended 
sections above, but that are not codified into the MCA. Section 5 of HB 
656 states that the changes proposed through HB 656 are intended to be 
codified into title 82, chapter 4, part 2 of the MCA. Section 6 of HB 
656 states that HB 656 will terminate if OSMRE disapproves the proposed 
changes made in the bill. The date of termination would be the date DEQ 
certifies to the Montana code commissioner that OSMRE disapproved the 
proposed 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.

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 p.m., M.D.T. on 
November 7, 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. Procedural Determinations

Executive Order 12866--Regulatory Planning and Review, Executive Order 
13563--Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review, and 14094--
Modernizing Regulatory Review

    Executive Order (E.O.) 12866, as amended by E.O. 14094, 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, as amended by E.O. 14094. 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 72701]]

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 926

    State regulatory program approval, State-Federal cooperative 
agreement, Required program amendments.

David A. Berry,
Regional Director, Unified Regions 5, 7-11.
[FR Doc. 2023-23034 Filed 10-20-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P