New Mexico Regulatory Program

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 931

[SPATS No. NM-040-FOR]

New Mexico Regulatory Program

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

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

hearing on proposed amendment.

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

announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the New Mexico regulatory

program (hereinafter, the ``New Mexico program'') under this Surface

Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The proposed

amendment consists of revisions to rules pertaining to revegetation

success standards and sampling techniques. The amendment is intended to

revise the New Mexico program to be consistent with the corresponding

Federal regulations.

DATES: Written comments must be received by 4 p.m., m.s.t., January 21,

2000. If requested, a public hearing on the proposed amendment will be

held on January 18, 2000. Requests to present oral testimony at the

hearing must be received by 4 p.m., m.s.t., on January 6, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and

requests to speak at the hearing to Willis L. Gainer at the address

listed below.

You may review copies of the New Mexico 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

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one free copy of the amendment by contracting OSM's Albuquerque Field

Office.

Willis L. Gainer, Director, Albuquerque Field Office, Office of Surface

Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 505 Marquette Avenue, NW., Suite

1200, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.

Mining and Minerals Division, New Mexico Energy & Minerals Department,

2040 South Pacheco Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505, telephone: (505)

827-5970.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Willis L. Gainer, Telephone: (505)

248-5096, Internet address: [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the New Mexico Program

On December 31, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally

approved the New Mexico Program. General background information on the

New Mexico program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition

of comments, and the conditions of approval of the New Mexico program

can be found in the December 31, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 86459).

Subsequent actions concerning New Mexico's program and program

amendments can be found at 30 CFR 931.11, 931.15, 931.16, and 931.30.

II. Proposed Amendment

By letter dated December 1, 1999 (administrative record No. NM-

816), New Mexico submitted a proposed amendment to its program pursuant

to SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). New Mexico submitted the proposed

amendment in response to the required program amendments at 30 CFR

931.16(m), (n), and (z). The provisions of New Mexico Annotated Code

(NMAC) that New Mexico proposed to revise were: 19 NMAC 8.2 2065.A,

sampling techniques used to measure success of revegetation; and 19

NMAC 2065.B(1), success standards for ground cover and productivity of

living plants on revegetated areas.

Specifically, New Mexico proposes to revise:

(1) 19 NMAC 8.2 2065(A) to reference a guidance document entitled

Coal Mine Reclamation Program Vegetation Standards for the sampling

techniques that can be used to measure success of revegetation and to

allow for the comparison of ground cover and productivity to be made

using technical standards developed using an historic record of

premining conditions rather than a reference area; and

(2) 19 NMAC 2065.B(1), to allow the success standards for ground

cover and productivity to be developed using the technical standards

set forth in the guidance document entitled Coal Mine Reclamation

Program Vegetation Standards rather than by comparison to a reference

area.

In addition, New Mexico submitted a copy of the guidance document

entitled Coal Mine Reclamation Program Vegetation Standards and

requested OSM's approval of it as part of the New Mexico program. This

document established methods and acceptable techniques of measurement

that are approved and recommended when conducting vegetation baseline

inventories in accordance with 19 NMAC Subpart 808 and when assessing

revegetation success in accordance with 19 NMAC Subparts 2065 and 2066.

Additional standards are provided regarding the selection and use of

reference areas and technical standards, approved normal husbandry

practices, and the demonstration of postmine suitability for livestock

grazing.

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 New Mexico program.

1. Written Comments

We will make comments, including names and addresses of

respondents, available for public review during normal business hours.

We will not consider anonymous comments. If individual respondents

request confidentiality, we will honor their request to the extent

allowable by law. Individual respondents who wish to withhold their

name or address from public review, except for the city or town, must

state this prominently at the beginning of their 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 review in their entirety.

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. NM-040-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 Albuquerque Field Office at

(505) 248-5096.

Your written comments should be specific and pertain only to the

issues proposed in this rulemaking, and include explanations in support

of the commenter's recommendations. 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 Albuquerque Field Office.

In accordance with the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are

requesting comments on whether the proposed amendment satisfies the

applicable program approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If we approve

the amendment, it will become part of the New Mexico program.

Comments received after the time indicated under DATES or at

locations other than the Albuquerque Field Office will not necessarily

be considered in the final rulemaking or included in the administrative

record.

2. Public Hearing

Persons wishing to testify at the public hearing should contact the

person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m.,

m.s.t., on January 6, 2000. Any disabled individual who has need for a

special accommodation to attend a public hearing should contact the

individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. The location

and time of the hearing will be arranged with those persons requesting

the hearing. If no one requests an opportunity to testify at the public

hearing, the hearing will not be held.

To assist the transcriber and ensure an accurate record, we

request, if possible, that each person who testifies at a public

hearing provide us with a written copy of his or her testimony. 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.

3. Public Meeting

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

a public meeting, rather than a public hearing, may be held. Persons

wishing to meet with OSM representatives to discuss the proposed

amendment may request a meeting by contacting the person listed under

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. All such meetings will be open to the

public and, if possible, notices of meetings will be posted at the

locations listed under

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ADDRESSES. A written summary of each meeting will be made a part of the

administrative record.

IV. Procedural Determinations

1. Executive Order 12866

This rule is exempted from review by the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) under Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and

Review).

2. Executive Order 12988

The Department of the Interior has conducted the reviews required

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

has determined that 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 the Federal regulations at 30 CFR 730.11,

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

programs and program amendments submitted by the States 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.

3. National Environmental Policy Act

No environmental impact statement is required for this rule since

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

decisions on proposed 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)).

4. 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.).

5. 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 that is the subject of this rule is based upon

counterpart 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. Accordingly, this rule will ensure that existing requirements

previously promulgated 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 counterpart Federal regulations.

6. Unfunded Mandates

This rule will not impose a cost of $100 million or more in any

given year on any governmental entity or the private sector.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 931

Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.

Dated: December 13, 1999.

Brent T. Wahlquist,

Regional Director, Western Regional Coordinating Center.

[FR Doc. 99-33139 Filed 12-21-99; 8:45 am]

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