Proposed Replacement of Wright Water Distribution Looping Project

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

Proposed Replacement of Wright Water Distribution Looping Project

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 Wright Water Distribution Looping 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 $160,000 from the Abandoned Mine

Reclamation Fund to pay the cost of replacing the Wright Water

Distribution Looping Project. In its application, the State proposes

paying for the construction cost as a public facility project that will

benefit a community impacted by coal mining.

This notice describes when and where you may read the grant

application for funding the Wright Water Distribution Looping Project.

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 4:00 p.m., m.s.t.,

December 20, 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. 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 rulemaking (or administrative) record,

which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also may be

circumstances in which we would withhold from the rulemaking [or

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 from public inspection in their entirety.

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

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 response to

comments, in the February 14, 1983 Federal

[[Page 63331]]

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 had 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 non-coal 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 non-coal 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 Abandoned Coal

Mine Land Program Wright Water Distribution Looping project 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 the Cost of Wright Water

Distribution Looping Project

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality submitted to us a

grant application dated November 1, 1999. In that application, Wyoming

asked for $160,000 to pay for the cost of replacing the Wright Water

Distribution Project. The Governor of Wyoming certified the need and

urgency to fund this project prior to completing the State's remaining

inventory of non-coal reclamation work, as allowed by section 411(f) of

SMCRA. That certification says the project is in a community impacted

by coal mining activities.

This project will mitigate the impacts of safety hazards associated

with the present condition of the Wright Water Distribution Looping

project. The project will serve the community of Wright by reducing the

threat to surface water and public health and safety presented by

inadequate water pressure for fire suppression and consumption. The

Governor's certification states that safety hazards 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 using the regulations at 30

CFR 875.15; specifically subsections 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 cost 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 reasons why this project should be

selected before the 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

request, and a copy of all comments received and their resolution by

the State. Wyoming's application for the Wright 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 the cost of replacing the Wright Water Distribution Looping

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: November 3, 1999.

Guy Padgett,

Director, Casper Field Office.

[FR Doc. 99-30255 Filed 11-18-99; 8:45 am]

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