Proposed Converse County Road 37 Project in Wyoming

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

Proposed Converse County Road 37 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 Converse County Road 37 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 $261,000 from the Abandoned Mine

Reclamation Fund to pay approximately 50 percent of the cost of

rebuilding Converse County Road 37 in Converse 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 Converse

County Road 37 project are available for you to read. It also sets the

time period during which you may send written comments 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 (49 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

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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 Converse

County Road 37 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 Rebuilding

Converse County Road 37

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality submitted to us a

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

asked for $261,000 that it will use to pay for part of the cost of

rebuilding Converse County Road 37 in Converse County, Wyoming. This

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

activities. The requested funding is 50 percent of the project's total

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

County's general fund (25 percent), Powder River Coal Company and

Kennecott Energy Company (25 percent). The Governor of Wyoming

certified the need and urgency to fund the Converse County Road 37

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 the rebuilding and paving of 3 miles of County

Road 37. This road is one of the busiest roads in the County. The road

directly serves the employees of three coal mines. Employees commute

daily to these mines by personal vehicles and company buses. A mine

employee bus accident on the road indicates the need for improving the

road.

The project will mitigate the impacts of safety hazards associated

with the present condition of County Road 37. The Governor's

certification states that safety hazards impacting coal mine employees

warrant funding of this project before the remaining inventory of non-

coal projects are completed.

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 Sec. 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 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 Converse County

Road 37 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

Sec. 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 rebuilding Converse County Road 37. 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. 99-15937 Filed 6-22-99; 8:45 am]

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