[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 63 (Friday, March 31, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17211-17213]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-8011]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 934
[SPATS No. ND-040-FOR; ND State Program Amendment XXIX]
North Dakota 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: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is
announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the North Dakota
regulatory program (hereinafter, the ``State program'') under the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). North
Dakota proposes revisions to its revegetation policy document,
``Standards for Evaluation of Revegetation Success and Recommended
Procedures for Pre- and Postmining Vegetation Assessments,'' as
discussed in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, II. Proposed Amendment. It
intends to revise its program to improve operational efficiency.
DATES: We will accept written comments on this amendment until 4:00
p.m., m.s.t. May 1, 2000. If requested, we will hold a public hearing
on the amendment on April 25, 2000. We will accept requests to speak
until 4:00 p.m., m.s.t. on April 17, 2000.
ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and
requests to speak at the hearing to Guy Padgett at the address listed
below.
You may review copies of the North Dakota program, this 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 Casper Field Office.
Guy Padgett, Director, Casper Field Office, Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement, 100 East ``B'' Street, Casper, Wyoming
82601-1918
[[Page 17212]]
James R. Deutsch, Director, Reclamation Division, Pubic Service
Commission, 600 E. Boulevard Avenue, Bismarck, North Dakota 58505-0480,
Telephone: 701/328-2400
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Guy Padgett, Telephone: 307/261-6550.
Internet: [email protected]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the North Dakota Program
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations
I. Background on the North Dakota Program
North Dakota: On December 15, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior
conditionally approved the North Dakota program. 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
North Dakota's program and program amendments at 30 CFR 934.15 and
934.16.
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
By letter dated March 16, 2000, North Dakota sent to us a proposed
amendment to its program (Amendment number XXIX), administrative record
No. ND-DD-01 under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). North Dakota sent
the amendment to include changes made at its own initiative. The full
text of the program amendment is available for you to read at the
locations listed above under ADDRESSES.
Specifically, North Dakota proposes to revise its revegetation
policy document to reflect changes in its approved State Program as
follows: (1) to give mining companies the option of proving reclamation
success for three out of five consecutive years, starting no sooner
than the eighth year of the responsibility period; (2) that the time-
in-place requirement for tree and shrub standards will be deemed
satisfied if the mine operator demonstrates that no tree, shrub or
half-shrub replanting has occurred during the last six years of the
responsibility period; (3) to clarify the objectives section; (4) to
add new provisions for adjusting North Dakota Agricultural Statistical
Service crop yield to reflect certain management practices; (5) to
include other factors, in addition to precipitation and temperature, in
developing a cropland and/or tame pastureland regression equation to
clinically adjust yield standards; (6) to add a statement to the native
grassland section that established plant species must be predominantly
native; (7) to provide more consistency for the standards on native
grassland diversity and seasonality, (8) to clarify sampling procedures
regarding when plant growth forms must be weighed separately; and (9)
miscellaneous minor changes and additions.
III. Public Comment Procedures
Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are requesting 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 North Dakota program.
Written Comments
Send your written comments to OSM at the address given above. We
will make comments, including names and addresses of respondents,
available for public review during normal business hours. We will not
consider anonymous comments. If Individual respondents request
confidentiality, we will honor their request to the extent allowable by
law. Individual respondents who wish to withhold their name or address
from public review, except for the city or town, must state this
prominently at the beginning of their comments. We will make all
submissions form organizations or businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations
or businesses, available for public review in their entirety.
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. ND-040-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 Casper Field Office at 307/
261-6555.
Your written comments should be specific and pertain only to the
issues proposed in this rulemaking, and include explanations in support
of your recommendations. 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 Casper Field office.
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.s.t. on
April 17, 2000. If you are disabled and need special 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. We will not hold the
public hearing if no one requests an opportunity to speak.
To assist the transcriber and ensure an accurate record, we
request, if possible, that each person who speaks at a 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 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 contracting
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
This rule is exempted from review by the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) 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 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 the Federal regulations at 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
[[Page 17213]]
its implementing Federal regulations and whether the other requirements
of 30 CFR Parts 730, 731, and 732 have been met.
National Environmental Policy Act
No environmental impact statement is required for this rule since
section 702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1292(d)) provides that agency
decisions on proposed 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 that 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 regulations.
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 934
Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
Dated: March 24, 2000.
Brent Wahlquist,
Regional Director, Western Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 00-8011 Filed 3-30-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M