Notice of Public Meeting and Request for Public Comments

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

Notice of Public Meeting and Request for Public Comments

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.

SUMMARY: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM

or we) of the U.S. Department of the Interior is developing its

recommendations to the President for the FY 1997 budget. As part of

OSM's effort to be customer-driven, we are providing the public (you)

with a chance to give us your recommendations on how much money we

should ask for and how we should set our priorities to serve your

needs. You can send us written comments. We will also hold a public

meeting to give you and OSM's Management Council a chance to talk about

FY 1997 priorities and funding levels. You can also let us know your

views on other issues, but we prefer the focus to be on your priorities

for FY 1997. The public meeting will be interactive, and will include

several pre-selected roundtables. OSM will not respond directly to

written comments or to the points raised in the public meeting. All

points will be considered in the Management Council's deliberations.

This is an experimental effort. If it works, we will use it in the

future.

DATES: Written comments: We will accept written comments on the

priority of our business lines and the program activities for fiscal

year 1997 until 4:00 p.m. local time on November 1, 1995.

Public meeting: We will hold a public meeting in an interactive

forum on our business lines and program activities for fiscal year 1997

in Washington, D.C. on October 31, 1995, beginning at 9:00 a.m. If more

time is needed we will continue the meeting on November 1, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Written comments: Mail or hand-deliver to Victor J.

Christiansen at the address provided under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT.

Public meeting: The public meeting will be held at the South

Interior Building's Auditorium, 1951 Constitution Ave., N.W.,

Washington, D.C.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victor J. Christiansen. Mr.

Christiansen can supply information on our FY 1995-1996 budget for

those interested, and may be reached at: Office of Surface Mining

Reclamation and Enforcement, Room 244, 1951 Constitution Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20240; Telephone: 202-7851; E-Mail address on the

internet; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OSM has decided to request public comments

and to hold a public meeting where we hope to gain your input into our

recommendations to the President on OSM's FY 1997 budget. To better

enable you to prepare comments, we have included our mission and vision

statements and a list of our business functions below. We would like

you to prioritize the business lines and program activities, keeping in

mind the mission and vision of OSM.

Mission

Our mission is to carry out the requirements of the Surface Mining

Control and Reclamation Act in cooperation with States and Tribes. Our

primary objectives are to ensure that coal mines are operated in a

manner that protects citizens and the environment during mining and

assures that the land is restored to beneficial use following mining,

and to mitigate the effects of past mining by aggressively pursuing

reclamation of abandoned coal mines.

Vision

In regulating active coal mining, we will maintain compliance at

high levels and ensure that all mines are properly operated and

promptly reclaimed to the standards established under the Act. We will

emphasize prevention and ensure that long-term environmental problems

do not occur. We will ensure that the premining productivity of the

land is restored.

In reclaiming abandoned mine lands, we will aggressively pursue

reclamation with a primary emphasis on correcting the most serious

problems related to public health, safety, and the general welfare. We

will ensure maximum public benefit through the prompt and fair

distribution of public funds.

In cooperating with State regulatory authorities, the primary

enforcers of SMCRA, and with Tribes, we will promote a shared

commitment to the goals of the Act. We will develop

[[Page 52413]]

comprehensive understandings about the fairness, effectiveness, and

efficiency of SMCRA programs. We will provide constructive program

reviews, oversight monitoring, and technical assistance that focus on

results. We will act independently to protect the public interest in

situations of imminent harm or when a State does not implement an

approved regulatory program.

In dealing with those who are affected by mining and reclamation,

we will ensure the protection of citizens from abusive mining

practices, be responsive to their concerns, and allow them full access

to information needed to evaluate the effect of mining on their health,

safety, general welfare, and property.

In our relations with the coal industry, we will have clear, fair,

and consistently applied policies and will respect the importance of

coal production as a source of our Nation's energy supply.

In all communications, we will maintain open, courteous,

constructive, and timely dialogue and will use information to

understand and improve our programs and those of our State and Tribal

partners.

In demonstrating leadership in mining and reclamation, we will

promote the development of the highest quality technical information

and research and will seek the transfer of technology to those who

would benefit.

In meeting our responsibilities, we will be a diverse, competent,

innovative, and highly-trained work force. We will serve with

integrity, and demonstrate technical, legal, administrative, and

professional excellence at all times. We will constantly strive to

create a more responsive, efficient, and effective process for

achieving SMCA's objectives.

Business Lines and Program Activities

Financial Management involves the functions of collecting managing

and disbursing the funds received from coal operators. This business

line includes the costs of collecting, managing, disbursing and

investing abandoned mine land reclamation fees. It also includes the

full range of the audit, billing, and collection process. This line

also finances the costs of collecting civil penalties from operators

who violate any mining permit condition or any Title V SMCRA provision,

as well as other administrative collections. It provides funds for

protecting the environment, property and public.

Revenue Management--This program activity involves the

identification, notification and collection of civil penalties and

associated interest and bond forfeiture collections.

Fee Compliance--This program activity's primary purpose is to

identify, notify, audit and collect fees from operators for the AML

Fund. It is the AML Fund that provides monies for the reclamation of

abandoned mine lands.

Financial Management--This program activity includes the

programmatic accounting functions, such as AML and excluding

administrative functions such as payroll. This also includes the fiscal

responsibility and accounting for grants.

Environmental Restoration involves all those functions that

contribute to reclaiming lands affected by past coal mining practices.

This business line provides for the use of AML funds to protect public

health, safety, and general welfare from extreme danger and adverse

effects of coal mining practices. It also restores land and water

resources and the environment previously degraded by these practices.

In addition, OSM will finance the Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative

in this business line.

The preponderance of the funding requirement is devoted to AML

State reclamation funding. Also included in the grants area is funding

for State operated emergency projects and priority projects. This

business line also finances the costs of the Federal reclamation

program, including the Federal emergency program and for priority

projects in States that do not have a reclamation program. This

business line also funds the costs of AML program development by

providing resources for policy direction and program oversight.

State Funding--This program activity involves the funds allocated

to the States for their approved AML programs. This does not include

grant application processing or any other processes for administering

the grants.

State Performance Evaluation--This program activity provides for

monitoring the progress and quality of each approved State and Tribal

reclamation plan.

Emergencies--This program activity provides for immediate relief

from abandoned mine hazards that threaten public safety and health. It

provides for implementation of the emergency program in States and

Tribal lands without approved emergency reclamation programs.

Federal/Indian Lands--This program activity provides for the

management of AML projects in States and Tribal lands without approved

reclamation plans under the Federal Reclamation Program.

Program Development and Maintenance--The Program Development

activity provides for developing an allocation and distribution formula

for grants to the States and Indian Tribes; management and maintenance

of the National Abandoned Mine Land Inventory; development and

implementation of the Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative; and the

application and development of policies and regulations related to

Title IV of SMCRA.

Environmental Protection ecnompasses those functions that directly

contribute to ensuring that the environment is protected during surface

coal mining operations. It also assures that coal operators adequately

reclaim the land after the mining is complete.

This business line involved the oversight of State programs and the

operation of Federal and Indian programs. As with the Environmental

Restoration business line, the principal costs of delivering the

Environmental Protection line are devoted to providing regulatory

grants to the States. Other important responsibilities financed out of

this business line include State program oversight through the

inspection and evaluation processes and the operation of the Applicant

Violator System. OSM funds State regulatory program development in this

business line.

This business line also provides OSM with the resources needed to

oversee Federal and Indian programs. It includes direct inspection and

enforcement activities on Indian lands and in States not having

primacy, and in States who have not entered into cooperative agreements

to oversee Federal lands within their borders. It also provides for

OSM's costs for regulatory program development.

State Funding--This program activity involves the grant funds OSM

must allocate to each State with an approved regulatory program to fund

up to 50% of their programs. This program does not include processing

grant applications or any other processes necessary to disburse the

grants to the states.

State Performance Evaluation--Includes those program activities

associated with the assurance that the states are following the

approved regulatory and abandoned mine land programs.

Federal Programs--Includes those program activities associated with

establishing/maintaining a Federal presence to carry out the

requirements of SMCRA.

Federal Lands--Includes those program activities associated with

the negotiation and monitoring of cooperative agreements with primacy

states to regulate coal mining on Federal

[[Page 52414]]

lands in their states; also includes direct regulatory activities on

Federal lands in states without cooperative agreements.

Indian Lands--Includes direct regulatory activities on Indian lands

and initiatives in self-governance and self-determination.

Program Development and Maintenance--Includes those program

activities associated with the interpretation of SMCRA and its

implementing regulations, reviewing and processing amendments to state

programs and developing new program initiatives to meet changes in

regulatory policy.

Applicant Violator System (AVS)--This program activity provides

OSM, the states and tribes with the required information to fully meet

the requirements of Section 510(c) of the Surface Mining Act.

Technology Development and Transfer captures OSM efforts to enhance

the technical skills that States and Indian tribes need to operate

their regulatory and reclamation programs and to meet SMCRA

requirements. OSM wants to assure that States and Indian tribes have

the highest possible level of technical capabilities necessary to run

effective programs.

OSM provides technical outreach to States and Indian tribes in a

multi-disciplinary approach to solve problems related to the

environmental effects of coal mining. OSM provides daily informal

assistance to States and Indian tribes. It also conducts technical

studies on mining related problems and shares the results with them.

This business line provides the resources necessary to operate the

Technical Information Processing system. This business line also funds

OSM's technical training program by providing an ongoing formal

educational program to increase the technical competence of OSM, State

and Tribal personnel. It also funds COALEX, a computer assisted library

search service, used to aid regulatory authorities by providing legal

information on SMCRA, its implementing regulations and State regulatory

information.

Training--The training program activity provides technical

assistance to State, Tribal and OSM personnel by developing,

conducting, evaluating, and/or coordinating all OSM training

activities.

Technical Assistance--The technical assistance program activity

addresses technical problems which arise during implementing of SMCRA.

This includes assistance and advice to State, Tribal, and OSM personnel

on specific issues related to Titles IV and V of SMCRA, and current and

effective methodology on mining and reclamation. This program area also

includes the operation and maintenance of the Technical Information

Processing System (TIPS), technical input for State program evaluation,

assistance/testimony in court cases/hearings, preparation of technical

studies, and interaction/coordination with other agencies on technical

issues.

Technology Transfer--The technology transfer program activity

provides assistance to customers in the understanding of SMCRA and in

the dissemination of technical methods of achieve the requirements of

SMCRA. This includes participation in technical meetings, interactive

forums, and workshops; providing displays and speakers for conferences/

seminars; and providing access and maintenance to information systems

such as COALEX/LEXIS.

To assist us prioritize these business lines and program activities

we have scheduled a public meeting on the fiscal year 1997 budget in

Washington, D.C. Refer to DATES and ADDRESSES for the time, date and

location for the meeting. The meeting will continue until everyone has

had an opportunity to be heard. We will not prepare a formal transcript

of the meeting, nor do we plan to provide formal responses to the

written comments. We hope that this will facilitate dialogue in the

interactive forum.

Any disabled individual who needs special accommodation to attend

the public meeting should contact the individual listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Dated: September 29, 1995.

Robert Uram,

Director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.

[FR Doc. 95-24897 Filed 10-5-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-05-M