Louisiana Regulatory Program

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 918

[SPATS No. LA-018-FOR]

Louisiana 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 Louisiana regulatory

program (Louisiana program) under the Surface Mining Control and

Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Louisiana proposes revisions to and

additions of statutes concerning requirements for permit applications,

eligibility requirements for the Small Operator Assistance Program

(SOAP), and permit exemptions. Louisiana intends to revise the

Louisiana program to be consistent with SMCRA and the Louisiana Surface

Mining Regulations.

This document gives the times and locations that the Louisiana

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 we will follow for

the public hearing, if one is requested.

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

12, 1999. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on the amendment

on October 5, 1999. We will accept requests to speak at the hearing

until 4:00 p.m., c.d.t. on September 27, 1999.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and

requests to speak at the hearing to Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa

Field Office, at the address listed below.

You may review copies of the Louisiana 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 Tulsa Field Office. Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa Field

Office, Office of Surface Mining, 5100 East Skelly Drive, Suite 470,

Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135-6547, Telephone: (918) 581-6430.

Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Office of Conservation,

Injection and Mining Division, 625 N . 4th Street, P. O. Box 94275,

Baton Rouge, LA 70804, Telephone: (504) 342-5540.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa

Field Office. Telephone: (918) 581-6430. Internet:

[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Louisiana Program

On October 10, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior approved the

Louisiana program. You can find background information on the Louisiana

program, including the Secretary's findings and the disposition of

comments in the October 10, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 67340). You

can find later actions concerning the Louisiana program at 30 CFR

918.15 and 918.16.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

By letter dated August 23, 1999 (Administrative Record No. LA-364),

Louisiana sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA. Louisiana

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

the Louisiana Surface Mining Act. Below is a summary of the changes

proposed by Louisiana. The full text of the program amendment is

available for your inspection at the locations listed above under

ADDRESSES.

A. Section 907, Application Requirements

1. Louisiana proposes to remove the provision at paragraph B(16)

that requires an applicant to make information about coal seams, test

borings, core samplings, or soil samples available to any person with

an interest which is or may be adversely affected. Louisiana then

proposes to add this removed provision at new paragraph B(17).

2. Louisiana also proposes to add new paragraph B(18) to require an

applicant to submit with his or her permit application a description of

the nature of cultural, historical, and archeological

[[Page 49119]]

resources listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of

Historic Places. This description must be based on all available

information, and include a plan that describes the measures the

applicant will take to prevent or minimize any adverse impacts the

mining operation might have on the resources.

3. Louisiana further proposes to add new paragraph B(19) to require

an applicant to submit with his or her permit application a description

of fish and wildlife resource information for the permit area and

adjacent area. The scope and level of detail for such information will

be determined by the office of conservation. However, site specific

resource information will be required when the permit area or adjacent

area is likely to include endangered or threatened species of plants or

animals or their habitats.

4. Louisiana proposes to add new paragraph B(20) to require an

applicant to submit with his or her permit application a description of

how the operator will minimize disturbances and adverse impacts on

fish, wildlife, and related environmental values. The description will

apply to the species and habitats identified in new paragraph B(19) and

must include the protective measures that the operator will use during

the active mining phase of the operation.

5. Finally, Louisiana proposes to revise Subsection C of this

section to read as follows:

C. If the commissioner finds that the probable total annual

production at all locations of any coal surface mining operator will

not exceed three hundred thousand tons, the determination of

probable hydrologic consequences, including the engineering analyses

and designs necessary for the determination, required by Paragraph

B(11) of this Section, cross-section maps and plans required by

Paragraph B(14) of this Section, the drilling and statement of the

result of test borings or core samplings required by Paragraph B(15)

of this Section, the collection of archaeological and historical

information and related plans required by Paragraph B(18) of this

Section, the collection of site-specific resources information

required by Paragraph B(19) of this Section, the production of

protection and enhancement plans for fish and wildlife habitats

required by Paragraph B(20) of this Section, and information and

plans for any other environmental values required by the office of

conservation and this Chapter, and pre-blast surveys required by

R.S. 30:915(B)(15) shall, upon the written request of the operator,

be performed by a qualified public or private laboratory designated

by the commissioner and the cost of the preparation of such

determination and statement shall be assumed by the commissioner.

B. Section 927, Surface Coal Mining Operations Not Subject to This

Chapter.

Louisiana proposes to revise paragraph (2) whereby the requirements

of Chapter 9 do not apply to the extraction of coal where coal does not

exceed sixteen and two-thirds percent of the total tonnage of coal and

other minerals removed for purposes of commercial use or sale.

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 Louisiana 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 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 Tulsa 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. LA-018-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 Tulsa Field Office at (918)

581-6430.

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 27, 1999. We will arrange the location and time of the

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

and need special accommodation 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 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),

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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 918

Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

Dated: September 1, 1999.

Ervin J. Barchenger,

Acting Regional Director, Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.

[FR Doc. 99-23489 Filed 9-9-99; 8:45 am]

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