Kentucky Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Plan

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 917

Kentucky Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Plan

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 the receipt of a proposed amendment to the

Kentucky Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (AMLR) Plan (hereinafter

referred to as the Kentucky plan) under the Surface Mining Control and

Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The amendment deletes reference to the

Kentucky Advisory Committee for Abandoned land Reclamation and

establishes informal procedures for coordination of activities with the

Rural Abandoned Mine Program (RAMP) administered by the U.S. Department

of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service (SCS). The amendment is

intended to improve operational efficiency.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before 4 p.m., E.D.T.,

on July 5, 1994. If requested, a public hearing on the proposed

amendment will be held at 10 a.m. on June 28, 1994. Requests to speak

at the hearing must be received on or before 4 p.m., E.D.T., on June

20, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests to speak at the hearing should

be mailed or hand delivered to: William J. Kovacic, Director, Lexington

Field Office at the address listed below.

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.

Copies of the Kentucky plan, the proposed amendment, a listing of

any scheduled hearings, and all written comments received in response

to this document will be available for review at the addresses listed

below, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., E.D.T., excluding

holidays. Each requestor 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: (606) 233-2896.

Department of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, No. 2 Hudson

Hollow Complex, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, Telephone: (502) 564-6940.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:William J. Kovacic, Director, Lexington

Field Office, Telephone: (606) 233-2896.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Kentucky Plan

Title IV of SMCRA established an AMLR program for the purposes of

reclaiming and restoring lands and water resources adversely affected

by past mining. This program is funded by a reclamation fee imposed

upon the production of coal. As enacted in 1977, lands and waters

eligible for reclamation were those that were mined or affected by

mining and abandoned or left in an inadequate reclamation status prior

to August 3, 1977, and for which there was no continuing reclamation

responsibility under State or Federal law. The Abandoned Mine Land

(AML) Reclamation Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-508, Title VI, Subtitle A,

Nov. 5, 1990, effective October 1, 1991) amended SMCRA, 30 U.S.C. 1231

et seq., to provide changes in the eligibility of project sites for AML

expenditures. Title IV of SMCRA now provides for reclamation of certain

mine sites where the mining occurred after August 3, 1977. These

include interim program sites where bond forfeiture proceeds were

insufficient for adequate reclamation and sites affected any time

between August 4, 1977, and November 5, 1990, for which there were

insufficient funds for adequate reclamation due to the insolvency of

the bond surety. Title IV provides that a State with an approved AMLR

program has the responsibility and primary authority to implement the

program.

On May 18, 1982, the Secretary of the Interior approved the

Kentucky plan. Background information on the plan including the

Secretary's findings, the disposition of comments and a detailed

explanation of approval can be found in the May 18, 1982, Federal

Register (47 FR 21435). Subsequent actions concerning the conditions of

approval and amendments to the plan can be found at 30 CFR 917.21.

The Secretary adopted regulations at 30 CFR part 884 that specify

the content requirements of a State reclamation plan and the criteria

for plan approval. The regulations provide that a state may submit to

the Director proposed amendments or revisions to the approved

reclamation plan. If the amendments or revisions change the scope of

major policies followed by the State in the conduct of its reclamation

program, the Director must follow the procedures in 30 CFR 884.14 when

approving or disapproving an amendment or revision.

II. Discussion of Proposed Amendment

By letter dated May 5, 1994 (Administrative Record No. K-64),

Kentucky submitted a proposed amendment to revise procedures for

coordinating with the RAMP, Indian, and other reclamation programs

contained in Chapter 5 of the Kentucky Plan. This amendment was

initiated in part due to a finding by the Kentucky Auditor of Public

Accounts in the Statewide Audit for the period ended June 30, 1992,

that the Division of Abandoned lands (DAL) was not operating in

compliance with the Kentucky Plan. Chapter 5 of the plan establishes a

``Kentucky Advisory Committee for Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation'' to

facilitate coordination of program activities with the RAMP program

administered by the SCS. The Auditor determined that the processes

established for the Advisory Committee to coordinate with RAMP were not

being followed. The Advisory Committee had proven difficult to

assemble, was cumbersome in operation, and had been disbanded. The

proposed AMLR program amendment describes new, more informal

coordination procedures. The annual meeting of the Kentucky Advisory

Committee is to be replaced with an informal annual meeting between DAL

and SCS staffs. During the annual meeting, SCS will present overall

RAMP plans and goals, including scheduled reclamation sites, and

results of past reclamation with emphasis on experience with various

reclamation techniques. DAL will provide the SCS with its project

proposals through the Kentucky State Clearinghouse process. SCS will

provide DAL with copies of RAMP documentation provided to OSM. Contacts

between DAL and RAMP staff management will be initiated by either party

on an as needed basis.

III. Public Comment Procedures

In accordance with the provisions of 30 CFR 884.14 and 884.15(a),

OSM is seeking comment on whether the proposed amendment satisfies the

applicable plan approval criteria of 30 CFR 884.14. If the amendment is

deemed adequate, it will become part of the Kentucky plan.

Written Comments

Written comments should be specific, pertain only to the issues

proposed in this rulemaking, and include explanations in support of the

commentor's recommendations. Comments received after the time indicated

under DATES or at locations other than the Lexington Field Office will

not necessarily be considered in the final rulemaking or included in

the Administrative Record.

Public Hearing

Persons wishing to speak at the public hearing should contact the

person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m.,

E.D.T., on June 20, 1994. 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.

Filing of a written statement at the time of the hearing is

requested as it will greatly assist the transcriber. Submission of

written statements in advance of the hearing will allow OSM officials

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. Persons in the audience who

have not been scheduled to speak, and who wish to do so, will be heard

following those scheduled. The hearing will end 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. Persons

wishing to meet with OSM representatives to discuss the proposed

amendments 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

This rule is exempted from review by the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) under Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and

Review).

Executive Order 12778

The Department of the Interior has conducted the reviews required

by section 2 of Executive Order 12778 (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 and Tribal abandoned mine land reclamation plans and revisions

thereof since each such plan is drafted and adopted by a specific State

or Tribe, not by OSM. Decisions on proposed State AMLR plans and

revisions thereof submitted by a State are based on a determination of

whether the submittal meets the requirements of Title IV of SMCRA (30

U.S.C. 1231-1243) and the Federal regulations at 30 CFR Parts 884 and

888.

National Environmental Policy Act

No environmental impact statement is required for this rule since

agency decisions on proposed State AMLR plans and revisions thereof are

categorically excluded from compliance with the National Environmental

Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4332) by the Manual of the Department of the

Interior (516 DM 6, appendix 8, paragraph 8.4B(29)).

Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule does not contain information collection requirements that

require approval by the 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

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

established by SMCRA or 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 in the analyses for the

corresponding Federal regulations.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 917

Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

Dated: May 27, 1994.

Robert J. Biggi,

Acting Assistant Director, Eastern Support Center.

[FR Doc. 94-13504 Filed 6-2-94; 8:45 am]

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