Colorado Regulatory Program

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 906

Colorado Regulatory Program

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM),

Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening and extension of public comment period

on proposed amendment.

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SUMMARY: OSM is announcing receipt of revisions and additional

explanatory information pertaining to a previously proposed amendment

to the Colorado regulatory program (hereinafter, the ``Colorado

program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977

(SMCRA). The revisions and additional explanatory information for

Colorado's proposed rules pertain to criteria for release of

performance bonds on prime farmland; requirements for the demonstration

of success of productivity on prime farmland; and a waiver from the

requirement for vegetative ground cover on lands with both a premining

and postmining land use of industrial or commercial. The amendment is

intended to revise the Colorado program to be consistent with the

corresponding Federal regulations.

DATES: Written comments must be received by 4:00 a.m., m.d.t. September

16, 1994. 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.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed or hand delivered to

Thomas E. Ehmett at the address listed below.

Copies of the Colorado program, the proposed amendment, and all

written comments received in response to this document will be

available for public review at the addresses listed below during normal

business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Each

requester may received one free copy of the proposed amendment by

contacting OSM's Albuquerque Field Office.

Thomas E. Ehmett, Acting Director, Albuquerque Field Office, Office of

Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 505 Marquette Avenue, NW.,

Suite 1200, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102. Telephone (505) 766-1486.

Division of Minerals and Geology, Department of Natural Resources,

Centennial Building, 1313 Sherman Street, Denver, Colorado 80203,

Telephone: (303) 866-3567

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas E. Ehmett, Telephone: (505)

766-1486.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Colorado Program

On December 15, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally

approved the Colorado program. General background information on the

Colorado program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition

of comments, and the conditions of approval of the Colorado program can

be found in the December 15, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 82173).

Subsequent actions concerning Colorado's program and program amendments

can be found at 30 CFR 906.11, 906.15, 906.16, and 906.30.

II. Proposed Amendment

By letter dated April 18, 1994, Colorado submitted a proposed

amendment to its program pursuant to SMCRA (administrative record No.

CO-611). Colorado submitted the proposed amendment in response to the

May 7, 1986, and March 22, 1990, letters (administrative record Nos.

CO-282 and CO-496) that OSM sent to Colorado in accordance with 30 CFR

732.17(c), and at its own initiative. The provisions of 2 Code of

Colorado Regulations 407-2, the rules and regulations of the Colorado

Mined Land Reclamation Board, that Colorado proposed to revise were:

Rule 1.04, definitions; Rule 3.02, performance bond requirements for

surface coal mining and reclamation operations; Rule 3.03, release of

performance bonds; Rule 3.06, special bonding requirements for

construction of mine drainage control facilities; and Rule 4.15.10,

revegetation success criteria for areas to be developed for industrial,

commercial, or residential use.

OSM announced receipt of the proposed amendment in the May 13, 1994

Federal Register (59 FR 24998), provided an opportunity for a public

hearing or meeting on its substantive adequacy, and invited public

comment on its adequacy (administrative record No. CO-617). Because no

one requested a public hearing or meeting, none was held. The public

comment period ended on June 13, 1994.

During its review of the amendment, OSM identified concerns

relating to (1) Rule 3.03.1(2)(b), requirements for Phase II bond

release on prime farmlands, and (2) Rule 4.15.10(3), retention of mine

support facilities on lands reclaimed for use as commercial or

industrial. OSM notified Colorado of the concerns by letter dated July

12, 1994 (administrative record No. CO-631). Colorado responded in a

letter dated July 28, 1994, by submitting additional revisions and

explanatory information (administrative record No. CO-635).

Colorado proposes revisions and additional explanatory information

for Rule 3.03.1(3)(b), concerning criteria for release of performance

bonds on prime farmlands; Rule 4.25.5(3)(a), concerning the

requirements for the demonstration of success of productivity on prime

farmlands for bond release; and Rule 4.15.10(3), concerning a waiver

from the requirement for vegetative ground cover on lands with both a

premining and postmining land use designation of industrial or

commercial.

Specifically, Colorado proposes to revise (1) Rule 3.03.1(3)(b) to

require that no more than 60 percent of the bond amount on prime

farmland may be released until revegetation success required by Rule

4.25.5(3)(a) has been demonstrated; (2) Rule 4.25.5(3)(a) to specify,

for both Phase II or Phase III bond release, that the demonstration for

success of productivity on prime farmland must be based on an average

of three successive crop years; and (3) Rule 4.15.10(3) to clarify

that, before a waiver from the vegetative ground cover requirements of

Rule 4.15.10(2) can be approved on lands with a premining and

postmining land use of commercial or industrial, the permittee must

demonstrate that the mine support facilities proposed for retention

will support the approved postmining land use.

III. Public Comment Procedures

OSM is reopening the comment period on the proposed Colorado

program amendment to provide the public an opportunity to reconsider

the adequacy of the proposed amendment in light of the additional

materials submitted. 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 Colorado

program.

Written comments should be specific, pertain only to the issues

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

commenter's recommendations. Comments received after the time indicated

under DATES or at locations other than the Albuquerque Field Office

will not necessarily be considered in the final rulemaking or included

in the administrative record.

IV. Procedural Determinations

1. 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).

2. 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 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 12550) 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 its implementing Federal regulations and

whether the other requirements of 30 CFR Parts 730, 731, and 732 have

been met.

3. 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)).

4. 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.).

5. 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.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 906

Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

Dated: August 23, 1994.

Russell F. Price,

Acting Assistant Director, Western Support Center.

[FR Doc. 94-21584 Filed 8-31-94; 8:45 am]

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