[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 193 (Wednesday, October 4, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59152-59154]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-25403]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 946
[VA-119-FOR]
Virginia Regulatory Program
AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM),
Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment period and opportunity for public
hearing.
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SUMMARY: OSM is announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the
Virginia regulatory program under the Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The program amendment consists of
changes to the Virginia Surface Mining Reclamation Regulations
concerning letters of credit. The amendment is intended to revise the
Virginia program to be consistent with the corresponding Federal
regulations.
DATES: If you submit written comments, they must be received on or
before 4 p.m. (local time), on November 3, 2000. If requested, a public
hearing on the proposed amendment will be held on October 30, 2000.
Requests to speak at the hearing must be received by 4:00 p.m. (local
time), on October 19, 2000.
ADDRESSES: Mail or hand-deliver your written comments and requests to
speak at the hearing to Mr. Robert A. Penn, Director, Big Stone Gap
Field Office at the address listed below.
You may review copies of the Virginia program, the proposed
amendment, a listing of any scheduled hearings, and all written
comments received in response to this document at the addresses below
during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding
holidays. You may receive one free copy of the proposed amendment by
contacting OSM's Big Stone Gap Field Office.
Mr. Robert A. Penn, Director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement, Big Stone Gap Field Office, 1941 Neeley Road, Suite 201,
Compartment 116,
Big Stone Gap, Virginia 24219, Telephone: (540) 523-4303, E-mail:
[email protected].
Virginia Division of Mined Land Reclamation, P. O. Drawer 900, Big
Stone Gap, Virginia 24219, Telephone: (540) 523-8100, E-mail:
[email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert A. Penn, Director, Big
Stone Gap Field Office; Telephone: (540) 523-4303.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the Virginia Program
On December 15, 1981, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally
approved the Virginia program. You can find background information on
the Virginia program, including the Secretary's findings, the
disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval in the December
15, 1981, Federal Register (46 FR 61085-61115). You can find later
actions concerning the conditions of approval and program amendments at
30 CFR 946.12, 946.13, 946.15, and 946.16.
II. Discussion of the Proposed Amendment
By letter dated September 22, 2000 (Administrative Record Number
VA-1008) the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME)
submitted an amendment to the Virginia program. In its letter, the DMME
stated that the program amendment changes the Virginia program rules at
4 VAC 25-130-700.5 and 4 VAC 25-130-800.21 in response to amendments
required by OSM in the May 3, 1999, Federal Register (64 FR 23542).
On May 3, 1999, OSM approved an amendment to the Virginia program
which amended the Virginia Coal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation
Act by adding ``letter of credit'' as an acceptable form of collateral
bond to satisfy the performance bonding requirements of the Virginia
Act. In our approval of the Virginia amendment, we required that the
Virginia program regulations be
[[Page 59153]]
revised to be no less effective than the Federal regulations at 30 CFR
800.5(b), and 30 CFR 800.21(b)(2) concerning letters of credit. We
codified this requirement at 30 CFR 946.16(a).
The amendment submitted by the DMME is described below.
4 VAC 25-130-700.5. Definitions.
The definition of ``Collateral bond'' is amended by adding a new
paragraph (d) to read as follows.
(d) An irrevocable letter of credit of any bank organized or
authorized to transact business in the United States, payable only to
the Department at sight prepared in accordance with the Uniform Customs
and Practices for Documentary Credits (1993 revision or the UCP
revision current at the time of issuance of the letter of credit)
International Chamber of Commerce (Publication No. 500).
4 VAC 25-130-800.21. Collateral bonds.
This provision is amended by revising paragraph (a) by adding the
words ``except for letters of credit'' in the introductory sentence,
adding a new paragraph (c), and re-lettering existing paragraph (c) as
paragraph (d).
As amended, 4 VAC 25-130-800.21(a) reads as follows.
(a) Collateral bonds, except for letters of credit, shall be
subject to the following conditions: The division shall. * * *
As amended, subsections 4 VAC 25-130-800.21(c) and (d) read as
follows.
(c) Letters of credit shall be subject to the following conditions:
(1) The letter may be issued only by a bank organized or authorized
to do business in the United States and must conform to the Uniform
Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (1993 Revision or revision
current at the time of issuance of the letter of credit) International
Chamber of Commerce (Publication No. 500);
(2) Letters of credit shall be irrevocable during their terms. A
letter of credit used as security in areas requiring continuous bond
coverage shall be forfeited and shall be collected by the division if
not replaced by other suitable bond or letter of credit at least 30
days before its expiration date; and
(3) The letter of credit shall be payable to the Department at
sight, in part or in full, upon receipt from the division of a notice
of forfeiture issued in accordance with 4 VAC 25-130-800.50.
(d) Persons with an interest in collateral posted as a bond, and
who desire notification of actions pursuant to the bond, shall request
the notification in writing to the division at the time collateral is
offered.
III. Public Comment Procedures
In accordance with the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), OSM is
seeking comments, on whether the proposed amendment satisfies the
applicable program approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If the amendment
is deemed adequate, it will become part of the Virginia program.
Written Comments
If you submit written or electronic comments on the proposed
amendment during the 30-day comment period, they should be specific,
should be confined to issues pertinent to the notice, and should
explain the reason for your recommendation(s). We may not be able to
consider or include in the Administrative Record comments delivered to
an address other than the one listed above (see ADDRESSES).
Electronic Comments
Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII, Word Perfect, or Word
file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption.
Please also include ``Attn: SPATS NO. VA-119-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
Big Stone Gap Field office at (540) 523-4303.
Availability of Comments
Our practice is to make comments, including names and home
addresses of respondents, available for public review during our
regular business hours at the OSM Administrative Record Room (see
ADDRESSES). Individual respondents may request that we withhold their
home address from the rulemaking record, which we will honor to the
extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in which we
would withhold from the rulemaking 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.
Public Hearing
If you wish to speak at the public hearing, you should contact the
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4 p.m. (local
time), on October 19, 2000. The location and time of the hearing will
be arranged with those persons requesting the hearing. If no one
requests an opportunity to speak at the public hearing, the hearing
will not be held.
To assist the transcriber and ensure an accurate record, we
request, if possible, that each person who testifies at a public
hearing provide us with a written copy of his or her testimony. 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.
Any disabled individual who has need for a special accommodation to
attend a public hearing should contact the individual listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
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 OSM representatives to discuss the proposed amendment, you
may request a meeting by contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT. All such meetings will be open to the public and,
if possible, notices of meetings will be posted at the locations listed
under ADDRESSES. A written summary of each meeting will be made a part
of the Administrative Record.
IV. Procedural Determinations
Executive Order 12866--Regulatory Planning and Review
This rule is exempted from review by the Office of Management and
Budget under Executive Order 12866.
Executive Order 12630--Takings
This rule does not have takings implications. This determination is
based on the analysis performed for the counterpart federal regulation.
Executive Order 13132--Federalism
This rule does not have federalism implications. SMCRA delineates
the roles of the federal and state governments with regard to the
regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations. One of
the purposes of SMCRA is to ``establish a nationwide program to protect
society and the environment from the adverse
[[Page 59154]]
effects of surface coal mining operations.'' Section 503(a)(1) of SMCRA
requires that state laws regulating surface coal mining and reclamation
operations be ``in accordance with'' the requirements of SMCRA, and
section 503(a)(7) requires that state programs contain rules and
regulations ``consistent with'' regulations issued by the Secretary
pursuant to SMCRA.
Executive Order 12988--Civil Justice Reform
The Department of the Interior has conducted the reviews required
by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 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 such 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),
decisions on proposed state regulatory programs and program amendments
submitted by the states 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
Section 702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1292(d)) provides that a
decision on a proposed state regulatory program provision does not
constitute a major federal action within the meaning of section
102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42 U.S.C.
4332(2)(C)). A determination has been made that such decisions are
categorically excluded from the NEPA process (516 DM 8.4.A).
Paperwork Reduction Act
This rule does not contain information collection requirements that
require approval by the Office of Management and Budget 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
counterpart 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. Accordingly, this rule will ensure that existing requirements
previously promulgated 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 counterpart federal regulation.
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
This rule is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 804(2), the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act. This rule:
a. Does not have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million.
b. Will not cause a major increase in costs or prices for
consumers, individual industries, federal, state, or local government
agencies, or geographic regions.
c. Does not have significant adverse effects on competition,
employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of
U.S. based enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises.
This determination is based upon the fact that the state submittal
which is the subject of this rule is based upon counterpart federal
regulations for which an analysis was prepared and a determination made
that the federal regulation was not considered a major rule.
Unfunded Mandates
This rule will not impose a cost of $100 million or more in any
given year on any governmental entity or the private sector.
List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 946
Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
Dated: September 26, 2000.
Michael K. Robinson,
Acting Regional Director, Appalachian Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 00-25403 Filed 10-3-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P