[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 175 (Friday, September 10, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49118-49120]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23489]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 918
[SPATS No. LA-018-FOR]
Louisiana Regulatory Program
AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment period and opportunity for public
hearing.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM)
is announcing receipt of an amendment to the Louisiana regulatory
program (Louisiana program) under the Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Louisiana proposes revisions to and
additions of statutes concerning requirements for permit applications,
eligibility requirements for the Small Operator Assistance Program
(SOAP), and permit exemptions. Louisiana intends to revise the
Louisiana program to be consistent with SMCRA and the Louisiana Surface
Mining Regulations.
This document gives the times and locations that the Louisiana
program and the 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 until 4:00 p.m., c.d.t., October
12, 1999. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on the amendment
on October 5, 1999. We will accept requests to speak at the hearing
until 4:00 p.m., c.d.t. on September 27, 1999.
ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and
requests to speak at the hearing to Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa
Field Office, at the address listed below.
You may review copies of the Louisiana program, the amendment, a
listing of any scheduled public hearings, and all written comments
received in response to this document at the addresses listed below
during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding
holidays. You may receive one free copy of the amendment by contacting
OSM's Tulsa Field Office. Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa Field
Office, Office of Surface Mining, 5100 East Skelly Drive, Suite 470,
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135-6547, Telephone: (918) 581-6430.
Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Office of Conservation,
Injection and Mining Division, 625 N . 4th Street, P. O. Box 94275,
Baton Rouge, LA 70804, Telephone: (504) 342-5540.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa
Field Office. Telephone: (918) 581-6430. Internet:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the Louisiana Program
On October 10, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior approved the
Louisiana program. You can find background information on the Louisiana
program, including the Secretary's findings and the disposition of
comments in the October 10, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 67340). You
can find later actions concerning the Louisiana program at 30 CFR
918.15 and 918.16.
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
By letter dated August 23, 1999 (Administrative Record No. LA-364),
Louisiana sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA. Louisiana
sent the amendment at its own initiative. Louisiana proposes to amend
the Louisiana Surface Mining Act. Below is a summary of the changes
proposed by Louisiana. The full text of the program amendment is
available for your inspection at the locations listed above under
ADDRESSES.
A. Section 907, Application Requirements
1. Louisiana proposes to remove the provision at paragraph B(16)
that requires an applicant to make information about coal seams, test
borings, core samplings, or soil samples available to any person with
an interest which is or may be adversely affected. Louisiana then
proposes to add this removed provision at new paragraph B(17).
2. Louisiana also proposes to add new paragraph B(18) to require an
applicant to submit with his or her permit application a description of
the nature of cultural, historical, and archeological
[[Page 49119]]
resources listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of
Historic Places. This description must be based on all available
information, and include a plan that describes the measures the
applicant will take to prevent or minimize any adverse impacts the
mining operation might have on the resources.
3. Louisiana further proposes to add new paragraph B(19) to require
an applicant to submit with his or her permit application a description
of fish and wildlife resource information for the permit area and
adjacent area. The scope and level of detail for such information will
be determined by the office of conservation. However, site specific
resource information will be required when the permit area or adjacent
area is likely to include endangered or threatened species of plants or
animals or their habitats.
4. Louisiana proposes to add new paragraph B(20) to require an
applicant to submit with his or her permit application a description of
how the operator will minimize disturbances and adverse impacts on
fish, wildlife, and related environmental values. The description will
apply to the species and habitats identified in new paragraph B(19) and
must include the protective measures that the operator will use during
the active mining phase of the operation.
5. Finally, Louisiana proposes to revise Subsection C of this
section to read as follows:
C. If the commissioner finds that the probable total annual
production at all locations of any coal surface mining operator will
not exceed three hundred thousand tons, the determination of
probable hydrologic consequences, including the engineering analyses
and designs necessary for the determination, required by Paragraph
B(11) of this Section, cross-section maps and plans required by
Paragraph B(14) of this Section, the drilling and statement of the
result of test borings or core samplings required by Paragraph B(15)
of this Section, the collection of archaeological and historical
information and related plans required by Paragraph B(18) of this
Section, the collection of site-specific resources information
required by Paragraph B(19) of this Section, the production of
protection and enhancement plans for fish and wildlife habitats
required by Paragraph B(20) of this Section, and information and
plans for any other environmental values required by the office of
conservation and this Chapter, and pre-blast surveys required by
R.S. 30:915(B)(15) shall, upon the written request of the operator,
be performed by a qualified public or private laboratory designated
by the commissioner and the cost of the preparation of such
determination and statement shall be assumed by the commissioner.
B. Section 927, Surface Coal Mining Operations Not Subject to This
Chapter.
Louisiana proposes to revise paragraph (2) whereby the requirements
of Chapter 9 do not apply to the extraction of coal where coal does not
exceed sixteen and two-thirds percent of the total tonnage of coal and
other minerals removed for purposes of commercial use or sale.
III. Public Comment Procedures
Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are requesting
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 Louisiana program.
Written Comments
Our practice is to make comments, including names and home
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold
their home address from the administrative record, which we will honor
to the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in
which we would withhold from the administrative record a respondent's
identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name
and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of
your comment. However, we will not consider anonymous comments. We will
make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their
entirety.
Your written comments should be specific and pertain only to the
issues proposed in this rulemaking. You should explain the reason for
any recommended change. In the final rulemaking, we will not
necessarily consider or include in the Administrative Record any
comments received after the time indicated under DATES or at locations
other than the Tulsa Field Office.
Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII file avoiding the use
of special characters and any form of encryption. Please also include
``Attn: SPATS No. LA-018-FOR'' and your name and return address in your
Internet message. If you do not receive a confirmation that we have
received your Internet message, contact the Tulsa Field Office at (918)
581-6430.
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., c.d.t. on
September 27, 1999. We will arrange the location and time of the
hearing with those persons requesting the hearing. If you are disabled
and need special accommodation to attend a public hearing, contact the
individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. The hearing
will not be held if no one requests an opportunity to speak at the
public hearing.
You should file a written statement at the time you request the
hearing. This will allow us to prepare adequate responses and
appropriate questions. The public hearing will continue on the
specified date until all persons scheduled to speak have been 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 all persons scheduled to speak
and persons present in the audience who wish to speak have been heard.
Public Meeting
If only one person requests an opportunity to speak at a hearing, a
public meeting, rather than a public hearing, may be held. If you wish
to meet with us to discuss the amendment, 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 also
make a written summary of each meeting a part of the Administrative
Record.
IV. Procedural Determinations
Executive Order 12866
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) exempts this rule from
review under Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review).
Executive Order 12988
The Department of the Interior has conducted the reviews required
by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (Civil Justice Reform) and has
determined that, to the extent allowed by law, this rule meets the
applicable standards of subsections (a) and (b) of that section.
However, these standards are not applicable to the actual language of
State regulatory programs and program amendments since each program is
drafted and promulgated by a specific State, not by OSM. Under sections
503 and 505 of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1253 and 1255) and 30 CFR 730.11,
732.15, and 732.17(h)(10),
[[Page 49120]]
decisions on State regulatory programs and program amendments must be
based solely on a determination of whether the submittal is consistent
with SMCRA and its implementing Federal regulations and whether the
other requirements of 30 CFR Parts 730, 731, and 732 have been met.
National Environmental Policy Act
This rule does not require an environmental impact statement since
section 702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1292(d)) provides that agency
decisions on State regulatory program provisions do not constitute
major Federal actions within the meaning of section 102(2)(C) of the
National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)).
Paperwork Reduction Act
This rule does not contain information collection requirements that
require approval by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
3507 et seq.).
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Department of the Interior has determined that this rule will
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
The State submittal which is the subject of this rule is based upon
corresponding Federal regulations for which an economic analysis was
prepared and certification made that such regulations would not have a
significant economic effect upon a substantial number of small
entities. Therefore, this rule will ensure that existing requirements
previously published by OSM will be implemented by the State. In making
the determination as to whether this rule would have a significant
economic impact, the Department relied upon the data and assumptions
for the corresponding Federal regulations.
Unfunded Mandates
OSM has determined and certifies under the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act (2 U.S.C. 1502 et seq.) that this rule will not impose a cost of
$100 million or more in any given year on local, state, or tribal
governments or private entities.
List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 918
Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
Dated: September 1, 1999.
Ervin J. Barchenger,
Acting Regional Director, Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 99-23489 Filed 9-9-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P