Proposed Rock Springs Stormwater Drainage Channel Project in Wyoming

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

Proposed Rock Springs Stormwater Drainage Channel Project in

Wyoming

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

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of application for grant funding; Public comment period

on request to fund the Rock Springs Stormwater Drainage Channel

project.

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SUMMARY: OSM is announcing its receipt of a grant application from the

Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Abandoned Mine Land

Division (AMLD). Wyoming is requesting $10,000 from the Abandoned Mine

Reclamation Fund to pay approximately 51 percent of the cost of

building the Rock Springs Stormwater Drainage Channel Project in

Sweetwater County, Wyoming. In its application, the State proposes

paying for part of the reconstruction cost as a public facility project

that will benefit a community impacted by coal mining activities.

This notice describes when and where the Wyoming abandoned mine

land (AML) program and the grant application for funding the Rock

Springs Stormwater Drainage Channel project are available for you to

read. It also sets the time period during which

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you may send written comment on the request to us.

DATES: We will accept written comments until 4 p.m., m.s.t., July 23,

1999.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand-deliver written comments to Guy V.

Padgett, Casper Field Office Director, at the address shown below. You

may read Wyoming's grant application for this proposed project during

normal business hours Monday through Friday (excluding holidays) at the

same address. Also, we will send one free copy of the grant application

to you if you contact OSM's Casper Field Office.

Guy V. Padgett, Director, Casper Field Office, Office of Surface Mining

Reclamation and Enforcement, Federal Building, Rm. 2403, 100 East ``B''

Street, Casper, Wyoming 82601-1918

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Guy V. Padgett, Telephone: (307) 261-

6555.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on Title IV of SMCRA

Title IV of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA)

established an Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (AMLR) program. The

purpose of the AMLR program is to reclaim and restore lands and waters

that were adversely affected by past mining. The program is funded by a

reclamation fee paid by active coal mining operations. Lands and waters

eligible for reclamation under Title IV are primarily those that were

mined, or affected by mining, and abandoned or inadequately reclaimed

before August 3, 1977, and for which there is no continuing reclamation

responsibility under State, Federal, or other laws.

Title IV of SMCRA allows States to submit AMLR plans to us. We, on

behalf of the Secretary, review those plans and consider any public

comments we receive about them. If we determine that a State has the

ability and necessary legislation to operate an AMLR program, the

Secretary can approve it. The Secretary's approval gives a State

exclusive authority to put its AMLR plan into effect.

Once the Secretary approves a State's AMLR plan, the State may

annually apply to us for money to fund specific projects that will

achieve the goals of its approved plan. We follow the requirements of

the Federal regulations at 30 CFR parts 874, 875, and 886 when we

review and approve such applications.

II. Background on the Wyoming AMLR Plan

The Secretary of the Interior approved Wyoming's AMLR plan on

February 14, 1983.

You can find background information on the Wyoming AML program,

including the Secretary's findings and our responses to comments, in

the February 14, 1983, Federal Register (48 FR 6536). Wyoming changed

its plan a number of times since the Secretary first approved it. In

1984, we accepted the State's certification that it addressed all known

coal-related impacts in Wyoming that were eligible for funding under

its program. As a result, the State may now reclaim low priority non-

coal reclamation projects. You can read about the certification and

OSM's acceptance in the May 25, 1984, Federal Register (48 FR 22139).

At the same time, we also accepted Wyoming's proposal that it will ask

us for funds to reclaim any additional coal-related problems that occur

during the life of the Wyoming AML program as soon as it becomes aware

of them. In the April 13, 1992, Federal Register (57 FR 12731), we

announced our decision to accept other changes in Wyoming's plan that

describe how it will rank eligible coal, non-coal, and facility

projects for funding. Those changes also authorized the Governor of

Wyoming to elevate the priority of a project based upon the Governor's

determination of need and urgency. They also expanded the State's

ability to construct public facilities under section 411 of SMCRA. We

approved additional changes in Wyoming's plan concerning noncoal lien

authority and contractor eligibility that improve the efficiency of the

State's AML program. That approval is described in the February 21,

1996, Federal Register (61 FR 6537).

Once a State certifies that it has addressed all remaining

abandoned coal mine problems, and the Secretary concurs, then it may

request funds to undertake abandoned noncoal mine reclamation community

impact assistance, and public facilities projects under sections

411(b), (e), and (f), of SMCRA.

State law and regulations that apply to the proposed Rock Springs

funding request include Wyoming Statute 35-11-1202 and Wyoming

Abandoned Mine Land Regulations, Chapter VII, of the Wyoming Abandoned

Mine Program.

III. Wyoming's Request To Fund Part of the Cost of Building the

Rock Springs Stormwater Drainage Channel Project

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality submitted to us a

grant application dated December 21, 1998. In that application, Wyoming

asked for $210,000 that it will use to pay for part of the cost of

building the Rock Springs Stormwater Drainage Channel. This drainage

project is a public facility in a community impacted by coal mining

activitive. The requested funding is 51 percent of the project's total

cost. Money for the balance of the project will come from the city of

Rock Springs (49%). The Governor of Wyoming certified the need and

urgency to fund the Rock Springs Stormwater Drainage Channel project

prior to completing the State's remaining inventory of non-coal

reclamation, as allowed by section 411(f) of SMCRA. That certification

says the project is in a community impacted by coal mining activities.

The project involves providing flood control to a community that

supports a large coal and trona industry. The project is designed to

mitigate impacts resulting from historic boom and bust cycles of the

mining industry and the overall growth of the community from mining. An

extensive flood event in an adjacent area (White Mountain/Belmont area)

resulted in property loss (residential and business) and business

disruption in 1991.

This project will mitigate the impacts of flooding and damage to

property. The Governor's certification states that the threat to public

health and safety is as great at these locations as at unreclaimed non-

coal mines. The potential health risks warrant funding this project

before the remaining non-coal projects.

IV. How We Will Review Wyoming's Grant Application

We will review this grant application with respect to the

regulations at 30 CFR 875.15, specifically Secs. 875.15(e) (1) through

(7). As stated in those regulations, the application must include the

following information: (1) The need or urgency for the activity or the

construction of the public facility; (2) the expected impact the

project will have on Wyoming's coal or minerals industry; (3) the

availability of funding from other sources and, if other funding is

provided, its percentage of the total costs involved; (4) documentation

from other local, State, and Federal agencies with oversight for such

utilities or facilities describing what funding they have available and

why their agency is

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not fully funding this specific project; (5) the impact on the State,

the public, and the minerals industry if the facility is not funded;

(6) the reason why this project should be selected before a priority

project relating to the protection of the public health and safety or

the environment from the damages caused by past mining activities, and

(7) an analysis and review of the procedures Wyoming used to notify and

involve the public in this funding request, and a copy of all comments

received and their resolution by the State. Wyoming's application for

the Rock Springs Stormwater Drainage Channel Project contains the

information described in these seven subsections.

Section 875.15(f) requires us to evaluate all comments we receive

and determine whether the funding meets the requirements of

Secs. 875.15(e) (1) through (7) described above. It also requires us to

determine if the request is in the best interests of the State's AML

program. We will approve Wyoming's request to fund this project if we

conclude that it meets all the requirements of 30 CFR 875.15.

V. What To Do if You Want To Comment on the Proposed Project

We are asking for public comments on Wyoming's request for funds to

pay for part of the cost of building the Rock Springs Stormwater

Drainage Channel Project. You are welcome to comment on the project. If

you do, please send us written comments. Make sure your comments are

specific and pertain to Wyoming's funding request in the context of the

regulations at 30 CFR 875.15 and the provisions of section 411 of

SMCRA. You should explain any recommendations you make. If we receive

your comments after the time shown under DATES or at locations other

than the Casper Field Office, we will not necessarily consider them in

our final decision or include them in the administrative record.

Dated: June 11, 1999.

Guy Padgett,

Director, Casper Field Office.

[FR Doc. 99-15936 Filed 6-22-99; 8:45 am]

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