Alabama Regulatory Program

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 901

[SPATS No. AL-070-FOR]

Alabama Regulatory Program

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment period and opportunity for public

hearing.

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

is announcing receipt of an amendment to the Alabama regulatory program

(Alabama program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act

of 1977 (SMCRA). Alabama proposes revisions to statutes concerning the

repair or compensation for material damage caused by subsidence,

resulting from underground coal mining operations, to any occupied

residential dwelling and related structures or any noncommercial

building. Alabama proposed to revise its program at its own initiative.

This document gives the times and locations that the Alabama

program and the amendment to that program are available for your

inspection, the comment period during which you may submit written

comments on the amendment, and the procedures that will be followed for

the public hearing, if one is requested.

DATES: We will accept written comments until 4:00 p.m., c.d.t., October

7, 1999. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on the amendment

on October 4, 1999. We will accept requests to speak at the hearing

until 4:00 p.m., c.d.t. on September 22, 1999.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and

requests to speak at the hearing to Arthur W. Abbs, Director,

Birmingham Field Office, at the address listed below.

You may review copies of the Alabama program, the amendment, a

listing of any scheduled public hearings, and all written comments

received in response to this document at the addresses listed below

during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding

holidays. You may receive one free copy of the amendment by contacting

OSM's Birmingham Field Office.

Arthur W. Abbs, Director, Birmingham Field Office, Office of Surface

Mining, 135 Gemini Circle, Suite 215, Homewood, Alabama 35209,

Telephone: (205) 290-7282.

Alabama Surface Mining Commission, 1811 Second Avenue, P.O. Box 2390,

Jasper, Alabama 35502-2390, Telephone (205) 221-4130.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Arthur W. Abbs, Director, Birmingham

Field Office. Telephone: (205) 290-7282. Internet:

[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Alabama Program

On May 20, 1982, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally

approved the Alabama program. You can find background information on

the Alabama program, including the Secretary's findings, the

disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval in the May 20,

1982, Federal Register (47 FR 22062). You can find later actions on the

Alabama program at 30 CFR 901.15 and 901.16.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

By letter dated August 17, 1999 (Administrative Record No. AL-

0589), Alabama sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA. Alabama

sent the amendment at its own initiative. Alabama proposes to amend the

Alabama Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. Below is a summary

of the changes proposed by Alabama. The full text of the program

amendment is available for your inspection at the locations listed

above under ADDRESSES.

A. Alabama proposes to revise section 9-16-91(e)(1) to read as

follows:

(1) Promptly repair or compensate for material damage to any

occupied residential dwelling and related structures or any

noncommercial building caused by surface subsidence resulting from

underground coal mining operations. Repair of damage shall include

rehabilitation, restoration, or replacement of the damaged occupied

residential dwelling and related structures or noncommercial

building. Compensation shall be provided to the owner of the damaged

occupied residential dwelling and related structures or

noncommercial building which shall be in the full amount of the

diminution in value resulting from subsidence caused damage.

Compensation may be accomplished by the purchase, prior to mining,

of a non-cancelable premium-prepaid insurance policy.

B. Alabama proposes to revise section 9-16-91(e)(3) to read as

follows:

(3) Promptly correct any material damage resulting from

subsidence caused to surface lands, to the extent technologically

and economically feasible, by restoring the land to a condition

capable of maintaining the value and reasonably foreseeable uses

that it was capable of supporting before subsidence.

C. Alabama proposes to revise section 9-16-91(e)(4) to read as

follows:

(4) The regulatory authority shall issue such notices or orders

and take such actions as necessary to compel compliance with these

requirements.

D. Alabama proposes to revise section 9-16-91(f) to read as

follows:

(f) Notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter to the

contrary, the remedies prescribed in this section or any rule

promulgated under authority of this chapter pertaining to repair or

compensation for subsidence damage and replacement of water shall be

the sole and exclusive remedies available to the owner for such

damage and its effects. Neither punitive damages nor, except as

specifically prescribed in this section or any rule promulgated

under authority of this chapter pertaining to repair or compensation

for subsidence damage and replacement of water, compensatory damages

shall be awarded for subsidence damage caused by longwall mining or

other mining process employing a planned subsidence method and

conducted in substantial compliance with a permit issued under

authority of this chapter. Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit

agreements between the surface owner and the mineral owner or lessee

that establish the manner and means by which repair or compensation

for subsidence damage is to be provided. However, the remedies

prescribed for subsidence damage shall not be diminished or waived

by contrary provisions in deeds, leases, or documents (other than

such subsidence damage agreements) which leave the owner without

such prescribed remedies. Provided, however, the provisions of this

subsection do not apply to any actions brought for, and in which the

trier of the fact finds, intentional, willful, or wanton conduct;

provided further, that conduct in substantial compliance with

applicable mining permits may not be deemed to be intentional,

willful, or wanton.

III. Public Comment Procedures

Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are requesting

comments on whether the amendment satisfies the applicable program

approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If we approve the amendment, it

will become part of the Alabama program.

Written Comments

Our practice is to make comments, including names and home

addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular

business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold

their home address from the administrative record, which we will honor

to the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in

which we would withhold from the administrative record a respondent's

identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name

and/or address, you must state this

[[Page 48574]]

prominently at the beginning of your comment. However, we will not

consider anonymous comments. We will make all submissions from

organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying

themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or

businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.

Your written comments should be specific and pertain only to the

issues proposed in this rulemaking. You should explain the reason for

any recommended change. In the final rulemaking, we will not

necessarily consider or include in the Administrative Record any

comments received after the time indicated under DATES or at locations

other than the Birmingham Field Office.

Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII file avoiding the use

of special characters and any form of encryption. Please also include

``Attn: SPATS No. AL-070-FOR'' and your name and return address in your

Internet message. If you do not receive a confirmation that we have

received your Internet message, contact the Birmingham Field Office at

(205) 290-7282.

Public Hearing

If you wish to speak at the public hearing, contact the person

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m., c.d.t. on

September 22, 1999. We will arrange the location and time of the

hearing with those persons requesting the hearing. If you are disabled

and need special accommodations to attend a public hearing, contact the

individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. The hearing

will not be held if no one requests an opportunity to speak at the

public hearing.

You should file a written statement at the time you request the

hearing. This will allow us to prepare adequate responses and

appropriate questions. The public hearing will continue on the

specified date until all persons scheduled to speak have been heard. If

you are in the audience and have not been scheduled to speak and wish

to do so, you will be allowed to speak after those who have been

scheduled. We will end the hearing after all persons scheduled to speak

and persons present in the audience who wish to speak have been heard.

Public Meeting

If only one person requests an opportunity to speak at a hearing, a

public meeting, rather than a public hearing, may be held. If you wish

to meet with us to discuss the amendment, request a meeting by

contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. All

such meetings are open to the public and, if possible, we will post

notices of meetings at the locations listed under ADDRESSES. We also

make a written summary of each meeting a part of the Administrative

Record.

IV. Procedural Determinations

Executive Order 12866

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) exempts this rule from

review under Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review).

Executive Order 12988

The Department of the Interior has conducted the reviews required

by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (Civil Justice Reform) and has

determined that, to the extent allowed by law, 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 30

CFR 730.11, 732.15, and 732.17(h)(10), decisions on State regulatory

programs and program amendments 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.

National Environmental Policy Act

This rule does not require an environmental impact statement since

section 702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1292(d)) provides that agency

decisions on 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)).

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.).

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 which is the subject of this rule is based upon

corresponding 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. Therefore, this rule will ensure that existing requirements

previously published 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 corresponding Federal regulations.

Unfunded Mandates

OSM has determined and certifies under the Unfunded Mandates Reform

Act (2 U.S.C. 1502 et seq.) that this rule will not impose a cost of

$100 million or more in any given year on local, state, or tribal

governments or private entities.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 901

Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

Dated: August 30, 1999.

Brent Wahlquist,

Regional Director, Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.

[FR Doc. 99-23218 Filed 9-3-99; 8:45 am]

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