[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 43 (Monday, March 5, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13275-13277]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5225]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 917
[KY-229-FOR]
Kentucky 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
Kentucky regulatory program (Kentucky program) under the Surface Mining
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The proposed amendment
consists of revisions to the Kentucky regulations pertaining to
subsidence control. The amendment is intended to revise the Kentucky
program to be consistent with the corresponding Federal regulations.
DATES: If you submit written comments, they must be received by 4:00
p.m., [E.D.T.], April 4, 2001. If requested, a public hearing on the
proposed amendment will be held on March 30, 2001. Requests to speak at
the hearing must be received by 4:00 p.m., [E.D.T.], on March 20, 2001.
ADDRESSES: Mail or hand-deliver your written comments and requests to
speak at the hearing to William J. Kovacic, Field Office Director, at
the address listed below.
You may review copies of the Kentucky program, the proposed
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 proposed amendment by
contacting OSM's Lexington Field Office.
William J. Kovacic, Director, Lexington Field Office, Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 2675 Regency Road, Lexington,
Kentucky 40503, Telephone: (859) 260-8400, E-Mail: [email protected]
Department of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 2 Hudson
Hollow Complex, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, Telephone: (502) 564-6940
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William J. Kovacic, Director,
Lexington Field Office, Telephone: (859) 260-8400.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the Kentucky Program
On May 18, 1982, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally
approved the Kentucky program. You can find background information on
the Kentucky program, including the Secretary's findings, the
disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval in the May 18,
1982, Federal Register (47 FR 21404). You can find subsequent actions
concerning the conditions of approval and program amendments at 30 CFR
917.11, 917.13, 917.15, 917.16, and 917.17.
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
By letter dated January 25, 2001 (Administrative Record No. KY-
1502), Kentucky submitted a proposed amendment to its program
consisting of changes to the Kentucky Administrative Regulations (KAR)
at 405 KAR 18:210--Subsidence Control. Kentucky is responding to OSM's
suspension of regulations pertaining to presubsidence surveys of
structures and rebuttable presumption of causation of subsidence damage
(64 FR 71652, December 22, 1999).
Specifically, Kentucky proposes to: (a) delete the requirement for
presubsidence surveys of structures at Section 1(4); (b) amend Section
2(2) to change the minimum period of prior notice by the permittee to
surface owners prior to undermining their property from 10 days to 30
days in emergency conditions; and (c) delete the rebuttable presumption
of causation of subsidence damage in Section 3(4).
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 Kentucky program.
Written Comments: If you submit written or electronic comments on
the proposed rule during the 30-day comment period, they should be
specific, be confined to issues pertinent to the notice, and 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,
WordPerfect, or Word file and avoid using special characters and any
form of encryption. Please also include ``Attn:
[[Page 13276]]
SPATS No. KY-229-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 Lexington Field Office at
(859) 260-8400.
Availability of Comments: Our practice is to make comments,
including names and home addresses of respondents, available for public
review during 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 may also be circumstances
in which we would withhold from the rulemaking record a respondent's
identity, as allowable by law. If you want 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 want to speak at the public hearing, you
should contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
by 4:00 p.m. (local time), on March 20, 2001. 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 who 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 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 regulations.
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
[[Page 13277]]
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 917
Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
Dated: February 21, 2001.
Allen D. Klein,
Regional Director, Appalachian Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 01-5225 Filed 3-2-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P