[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 223 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63330-63331]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-30255]
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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]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M
