New Mexico Regulatory Program

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 931

[SPATS No. NM-037-FOR]

New Mexico 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 New Mexico regulatory

program (hereinafter, the ``New Mexico program'') under the Surface

Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The proposed

amendment consists of revisions to or additions of rules pertaining to

permit application contents for contour maps of the permit area and

operations exclusively under reclamation, permit approval or denial,

contents of bond release applications, timeliness of backfilling and

grading, approval of small depressions, performance standards for all

roads and primary roads, and blaster examination and certification

requirements. The amendment is intended to revise the New Mexico

program to incorporate the additional flexibility afforded by the

revised Federal regulations, as

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amended, and improve operational efficiency.

DATES: Written comments must be received by 4:00 p.m., m.d.t., April

25, 1996. If requested, a public hearing on the proposed amendment will

be held on April 22, 1996. Requests to present oral testimony at the

hearing must be received by 4:00 p.m., m.d.t., on April 10, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed or hand delivered to Guy

Padgett at the address listed below.

Copies of the New Mexico 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 receive one free copy of the proposed amendment by

contacting OSM's Albuquerque Field Office.

Guy Padgett, Director, Albuquerque Field Office, Office of Surface

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

1200, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102

Mining and Minerals Division, New Mexico Energy and Minerals

Department, 2040 South Pacheco Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505,

Telephone: (505) 827-5970

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Guy Padgett, Telephone: (505) 248-

5081.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the New Mexico Program

On December 31, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally

approved the New Mexico program. General background information on the

New Mexico program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition

of comments, and the conditions of approval of the New Mexico program

can be found in the December 31, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 86459).

Subsequent actions concerning New Mexico's program and program

amendments can be found at 30 CFR 931.11, 931,15, 931.16, and 931.30.

II. Proposed Amendment

By letter dated March 11, 1996, New Mexico submitted a proposed

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

NM-773, 30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). New Mexico submitted the proposed

amendment at its own initiative. The provisions of the Coal Surface

Mining Commission (CSMC) rules that New Mexico proposes to revise or

add are:

CSMC Rule 80-1-5-23(a), concerning general requirements for permit

applications, by adding a reference to Part 15 for mines exclusively

under reclamation;

CSMC Rule 80-1-8-25(k), concerning contour maps with a maximum of 5

foot contour intervals in permit applications, by deleting specific

requirements at CSMC Rule 80-1-8-25(k) (1) through (3) for showing the

existing land surface configuration for the proposed affected areas and

adding the requirement that the existing land surface configuration be

shown for the proposed permit area;

CSMC Rule 80-1-11-19(c), concerning criteria for permit approval or

denial, by adding the word ``hydrological'' to the phrase ``probable

cumulative hydrological impacts'' and the acronym ``(CHIA)'' following

the phrase;

CSMC Rule 80-1-14-40(a), concerning bond release applications, by

adding a new paragraph (a)(2) which summarizes the minimum contents of

an application for a bond release and revising recodified paragraph

(a)(3) to delete a bond release application content requirement that is

now part of new paragraph (a)(2);

CSMC Rule 80-1-15, concerning minimum requirements for permit

applications for coal mining operations exclusively under reclamation,

by adding a new Part 15 which consists of requirements for: general

information at 15-11, information concerning identification of

interests at 15-12(a) through (j), compliance information at 15-13(a)

through (d), right of entry and operation information at 15-14(a) and

(b), permit term information at 15-15(a) and (b), personal injury and

property damage insurance information at 15-16, identification of other

licenses and permits at 15-17(a) through (d), identification of

location of public office for filing of application at 15-18, newspaper

advertisement and proof of publication at 15-19, general environmental

resources information at 15-20(a) through (f), the operation plan at

15-21(a) and (b), the fish and wildlife plan at 15-22(a) and (b), the

reclamation plan including protection of the hydrologic balance,

postmining land uses, and ponds, impoundments, banks, dams, and

embankments, at respectively, 15-23(a) and (b), 15-24(a) through (e),

15-25(a) and (b), and 15-26(a) through (e), and protection of public

parks and historic places at 15-27;

CSMC 80-1-20-101(a), concerning backfilling and grading

requirements for contour mining, open pit mining, and strip mining, by

deleting from 20-101(a)(1) through (3) all time limits by which

backfilling and grading must commence so that the existing distance

limits are the only measure of when backfilling and grading must

commence, and replacing the term ``area strip mining'' with the term

``strip mining'' at 20-101(a)(3);

CSMC 80-1-20-102(c), concerning backfilling and grading to create

small depressions, to add the allowance for New Mexico to approval

small depressions if they create and enhance wildlife habitat;

CSMC 80-1-20-150(b), concerning performance standards for all

roads, to delete the requirement at 20-150(b)(9) that all roads have,

at a minimum, a static safety factor of 1.3 for all embankments;

CSMC 80-1-20-151(a), concerning performance standards for primary

roads, to add at 20-151(a)(5) the requirement that all primary roads

have a static factor of safety of 1.3, at a minimum, for all

embankments; and

CSMC 80-1-33-14 and 80-1-33-15, concerning examination and

certification for blasters, by deleting the existing requirements and

replacing them with new requirements for (1) examination at 33-14(a)

and (b) that include a written exam to demonstrate competence and a

minimum of one year of practical field experience and (2) certification

at 33-15(a) through (e) that include requirements for certification

every four years, suspension and revocation of certification,

recertification (by reexamination, training, and demonstration),

protection of certification, and conditions for maintaining

certification.

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 New Mexico program.

1. Written Comments

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.

2. Public Hearing

Persons wishing to testify at the public hearing should contact the

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

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m.d.t., on April 10, 1996. 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. The location

and time of the hearing will be arranged with those persons requesting

the hearing. If no one requests an opportunity to testify 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 testify have been heard. Persons in the audience

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

heard following those who have been scheduled. The hearing will end

after all persons scheduled to testify and persons present in the

audience who wish to testify have been heard.

3. Public Meeting

If only one person requests an opportunity to testify 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

amendment 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

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 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 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 of 1969 (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 OMS 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 931

Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

Dated: March 19, 1996.

Russell F. Price,

Acting Regional Director, Western Regional Coordinating Center.

[FR Doc. 96-7288 Filed 3-25-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-05-M