07-4824. Notice of Proposed Information Collection for 1029-0024 and 1029-0113

AGENCY:

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Department of the Interior.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is announcing that the information collection requests for 30 CFR 732—Procedures and Criteria for Approval or Disapproval of State Program Submissions; and 30 CFR 874—General Reclamation Requirements, have been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The information collection requests describe the nature of the information collections and their expected burden and cost.

DATES:

OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove the information collection but may respond after 30 days. Therefore, public comments should be submitted to OMB by October 31, 2007, in order to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES:

Submit comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Department of the Interior Desk Officer, by telefax at [phone] or via e-mail to [e-mail]. Also, please send a copy of your comments to John A. Trelease, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 1951 Constitution Ave., NW., Room 202-SIB, Washington, DC 20240, or electronically to [e-mail]. Please refer to OMB control numbers 1029-0024 and 1029-0113 in your correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request a copy of either information collection request contact John Trelease at [phone] or on-line at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB regulations at 5 CFR part 1320, which implement provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13), require that interested members of the public and affected agencies have an opportunity to comment on information collection and recordkeeping activities [see 5 CFR 1320.8(d)]. OSM has submitted two requests to OMB to renew its approval for the collections of information found at 30 CFR parts 732 and 874. OSM is requesting a 3-year term of approval for these information collection activities.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for these collections of information are 1029-0024 for part 732 and 1029-0013 for part 874, and may be found in OSM's regulations at 732.10 and 874.10.

As required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), a Federal Register notice soliciting comments on the collections of information for parts 732 and 874 was published on June 4, 2007 (72 FR 30830). No comments were received from that notice. This notice provides the public with an additional 30 days in which to comment on the following information collection activities:

Title: Procedures and Criteria for Approval or Disapproval of State Program Submissions, 30 CFR Part 732.

OMB Control Number: 1029-0024.

Summary: Part 732 establishes the procedures and criteria for approval and disapproval of State program submissions. The information submitted is used to evaluate whether State regulatory authorities are meeting the provisions of their approved programs.

Bureau Form Number: None.

Frequency of Collection: Once and annually.

Description of Respondents: 24 State regulatory authorities.

Total Annual Responses: 45.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 8,549.

Title: General Reclamation Requirements, 30 CFR Part 874.

OMB Control Number: 1029-0113.

Summary: Part 874 establishes land and water eligibility requirements, reclamation objectives and priorities and reclamation contractor responsibility. 30 CFR 874.17 requires consultation between the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) agency and the appropriate Title V regulatory authority on the likelihood of removing the coal under a Title V permit and concurrences between the AML agency and the appropriate Title V regulatory authority on the AML project boundary and the amount of coal that would be extracted under the AML reclamation project.

Bureau Form Number: None.

Frequency of Collection: Once.

Description of Respondents: 23 State regulatory authorities and Indian tribes.

Total Annual Responses: 23.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,610.

Send comments on the need for the collections of information for the performance of the functions of the agency; the accuracy of the agency's burden estimates; ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collections; and ways to minimize the information collection burden on respondents, such as use of automated means of collection of the information, to the following address. Please refer to the appropriate OMB control number in all correspondence.

Dated: September 24, 2007.

John A. Trelease,

Acting Chief, Division of Regulatory Support.