99-6352. North Dakota Regulatory Program  

  • [Federal Register Volume 64, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 16, 1999)]
    [Rules and Regulations]
    [Pages 12896-12900]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 99-6352]
    
    
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    DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
    
    Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
    
    30 CFR Part 934
    
    [ND-035-FOR, Amendment No. XXV]
    
    
    North Dakota Regulatory Program
    
    AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.
    
    ACTION: Final rule; approval of amendment.
    
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    SUMMARY: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) 
    is approving a proposed amendment to the North Dakota regulatory 
    program (hereinafter, the ``North Dakota program'') under the Surface 
    Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). North Dakota 
    proposed revisions to rules pertaining to a proposal to eliminate the 
    requirement for companies to submit a copy of the Federal Coal 
    Production and Reclamation Fee Report, changes to revegetation success 
    standards, and a new rule on inspection frequency for inactive mines. 
    The amendment revised the State program to improve operational 
    efficiency.
    
    EFFECTIVE DATE: March 16, 1999.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Guy Padgett, Telephone: 307/261-6550, 
    Internet address: [email protected]
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    
    I. Background on the North Dakota Program
    
        On December 15, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally 
    approved the North Dakota program. General background information on 
    the North Dakota program, including the Secretary's findings, the 
    disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval of the North 
    Dakota program can be found in the December 15, 1980, Federal Register 
    (45 FR 82214). Subsequent actions concerning North Dakota's program and 
    program amendments can be found at 30 CFR 934.15 and 934.16.
    
    II. Proposed Amendment
    
        By letter dated August 29, 1997, North Dakota submitted a proposed 
    amendment to its program (Amendment No. XXV, administrative record No. 
    ND-Z-01) pursuant to SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). North Dakota 
    submitted the proposed amendment at its own initiative. The provisions 
    of the North Dakota Administrative Code (NDAC) that North Dakota 
    proposed to revise were: NDAC 69-05.2-13-01, concerning its coal 
    production and reclamation fee report; NDAC 69-05.2-22-07, concerning 
    revegetation success standards; and the addition of NDAC 69-05.2-28-18, 
    concerning inspections of inactive surface coal mining operations.
        OSM announced receipt of the proposed amendment in the September 
    17, 1997 Federal Register (62 FR 48807), provided an opportunity for a 
    public hearing or meeting on its substantive adequacy, and invited 
    public comment on its adequacy (administrative record No. ND-Z-13). The 
    public comment period ended at 4 p.m., m.d.t. on October 17, 1997.
        During its review of the amendment, OSM identified concerns with 
    NDAC 69-05.2-22-07.4.1, pertaining to the time frame for demonstrating 
    revegetation success. OSM notified North Dakota of the concerns in a 
    telephone conversation on March 11,
    
    [[Page 12897]]
    
    1998 (administrative record No. ND-Z-09).
        North Dakota responded in a letter dated April 23, 1998, by 
    submitting additional explanatory information pertaining to NDAC 69-
    05.2-22-07.4.1 (administrative record No. ND-Z-10).
        Based upon the additional explanatory information for the proposed 
    program amendment submitted by North Dakota, OSM reopened the public 
    comment period in the June 17, 1998 Federal Register (63 FR 33022; 
    administrative record No. ND-Z-12). The public comment period ended on 
    July 2, 1998.
    
    III. Director's Findings
    
        As discussed below, the Director, in accordance with SMCRA and 30 
    CFR 732.15 and 732.17, finds that the proposed program amendment 
    submitted by North Dakota on August 29, 1997, and as supplemented with 
    additional explanatory information on April 23, 1998, is no less 
    effective than the corresponding Federal regulations. Accordingly, the 
    Director approves the proposed amendment.
    
    1. NDAC 69-05.2-13-01, Deletion of North Dakota's Requirement for Coal 
    Production and Reclamation Fee Report
    
        North Dakota proposed to delete at NDAC 69-05.2-13-01 the 
    requirement that a copy of the Coal Production and Reclamation Fee 
    Report (that is prepared by mining companies and submitted to OSM) also 
    be furnished to the North Dakota Public Service Commission.
        The Federal regulations at 30 CFR 870.15(c) requires, in part, that
    
        All operators who receive a Coal Sales and Reclamation Fee 
    Report (Form OSM-1), including those with zero sales, uses or 
    transfers, must submit a completed Form OSM-1, as well as any fee 
    payment due [to OSM].
    
        North Dakota stated that it proposed to delete NDAC 69-05.2-13-01 
    because there is no Federal regulation requiring it and the information 
    contained in the report is readily available from OSM.
        Because the Federal regulations do not require a State to mandate 
    that an operator provide the State, as well as OSM, with a Form OSM-1, 
    the Director finds that the proposed deletion of NDAC 69-05.2-13-01 is 
    not inconsistent with the Federal regulations at 30 CFR 870.15(c). The 
    Director approves this proposed revision.
    
    2. NDAC 69-05.2-22-07.4.1, Time Frame for Demonstrating Reclamation 
    Success
    
        North Dakota proposed to add a new rule at NDAC 69-05.2-22-07.4.1, 
    which states that as an alternative to meeting revegetation success 
    standards for the last two consecutive growing seasons of the 
    responsibility period, an operator may demonstrate that the applicable 
    standards have been achieved in any three of five consecutive years 
    starting no sooner than the eighth year of the responsibility period. 
    North Dakota's proposed rule explicitly states that the alternative 
    does not apply to demonstration of success on prime farmlands.
        North Dakota submitted the following explanation for the proposed 
    rule:
    
        This language will give the mining companies more flexibility in 
    using vegetation data collected during a number of years near the 
    end of the revegetation liability period. The new provision will 
    allow mining companies to use data from any three of the last five 
    years of the responsibility period, starting in year eight, to 
    provide reclamation success. Occasionally hail storms, insect 
    damage, very localized droughts, or other factors cause reduced 
    yields in the last year or two of the liability period. Under 
    current rules this can result in the bond being held for at least 
    two more years. For example, assume a mining company meets cropland 
    yield standards during the eighth and ninth years of the ten year 
    responsibility period and, during the tenth year, a hail storm 
    destroys the crop on the reclaimed land. Under the present rule, the 
    company could not use any of the data from the eighth and ninth 
    years and would have to meet the standards in the eleventh and 
    twelfth years before final bond release could be granted. However, 
    under the new proposal, a company would be eligible for final bond 
    release in the eleventh year if success standards are met that year. 
    In this example, data from the eighth, ninth and eleventh years 
    would be used to achieve reclamation success for three out of five 
    consecutive years.
    
        North Dakota also clearly stated that separate standards apply to 
    reclaimed prime farmlands and that the new proposal would not affect 
    those standards.
        In response to an OSM concern that the proposal lacked sufficient 
    justification for situations in which the revegetation success standard 
    is a reference area, North Dakota submitted additional information on 
    daily precipitation, climatology of hail, grasshopper biology and 
    management, and reference area location. Use of reference areas 
    generally involves direct annual comparison of vegetative cover and 
    production between the reference area and the revegetated area. 
    Reference areas are used, in part, to account for the impact of 
    climatic variation on both undisturbed and reestablished plant 
    communities in the vicinity of the mine. North Dakota's original 
    supporting information failed to explain why reference areas, which are 
    located close to the revegetated areas, would not experience the same 
    climatic variability or insect damage as the revegetated areas.
        North Dakota provided four reasons that the proposed amendment 
    should be approved. First, the State has a semiarid climate where 
    vegetative growth is highly dependent upon rainfall during the growing 
    season. Precipitation records emphasize the localized nature of summer 
    rainfall events and amounts. For example, on May 22, 1997, Beulah 
    recorded 0.35 inch of rain, while Zap, located 7 miles away, received 
    0.57 inch. On July 11, 1997, Beulah received 1.50 inches while Zap 
    received 2.60 inches. As another example, on June 23, 1997, Underwood 
    received 0.73 inch, while Washburn, located 12 miles away, received 
    0.31 inch. On July 2, 1997, Underwood received 2.14 inches while 
    Washburn received 3.07 inches. Precipitation for the entire month of 
    May 1997 totaled 0.58 inch in Beulah, 0.97 inch in Zap, 1.02 inches in 
    Underwood, and 0.58 in Washburn. Because rainfall is the major limiting 
    factor in plant production in the Northern Great Plains, precipitation 
    differences could result in significant corresponding variations in 
    yield.
        Second, much of the rainfall during the summer months in North 
    Dakota occurs as thunderstorms that may contain hail. The size and 
    areal distribution of the hailstones, in combination with the timing of 
    the hailstorms, may substantially reduce yields or completely destroy a 
    crop for a particular growing season. Hail damage can vary greatly over 
    short distances. In a particular year, a hailstorm could destroy the 
    crop on the reclaimed area without damaging the undisturbed reference 
    area located a few miles away, or vice versa.
        Hailstorms are associated with the localized convective storms that 
    result in the variable precipitation amounts discussed above. In 
    general, areas with the most rainfall events also have the most hail 
    events. Of the hailstorms occurring in the coal mining regions of the 
    state (Regions 3 and 4) between 1976 and 1986, 19-24 percent were 
    severe or moderate. Both severe and moderate hailstorms are capable of 
    damaging crop production. Further, the most damaging hail occurred 
    during the months of July and August in Region 3 and June and July in 
    Region 4, key periods for plant growth and crop ripening.
    
    [[Page 12898]]
    
        Third, pests, such as grasshoppers, may have differential impacts 
    on lands only a few miles apart. Grasshopper survey information for 
    North Dakota demonstrates that grasshopper infestations are highly 
    erratic in distribution. In addition, North Dakota submitted a 
    publication, Grasshopper Biology and Management (Phillip A. Glogoza and 
    Michael J. Weiss, North Dakota State University Extension Service, 
    1997), stating that damage to small grains is generally concentrated 
    near field margins where grasses tend to be seeded. This damage pattern 
    may disproportionately impact reclaimed areas because only a part of 
    the field must be cultivated to prove productivity, the areas cropped 
    may be relatively narrow, and test plots are often surrounded by native 
    or tame pastureland or hayland seeded with a grass-legume mixture. 
    Conversely, the undisturbed reference area is frequently surrounded by 
    other cropland and thus may experience relatively little grasshopper 
    damage in comparison to the corresponding test plots in a reclaimed 
    area.
        Fourth, some mining companies in the State have difficulty locating 
    suitable reference (or control) areas close to reclaimed lands. To find 
    undisturbed areas with similar soils and topography, the mining 
    companies may have to locate reference areas several miles away from 
    the reclaimed areas. In addition, mining companies must use equivalent 
    management practices on both reclaimed and reference areas. For this 
    reason, the companies prefer to have the same person managing both the 
    reclaimed and undisturbed areas, which can also affect the location of 
    reference areas. The greater the distance between the reclaimed and 
    reference areas, the greater the likelihood of differences in 
    precipitation or pest damage, which may result in widely varying yields 
    between the two areas in a given year. The State encourages companies 
    to locate reference areas as close to reclaimed areas as possible. 
    However, some of the North Dakota mines will disturb many thousands of 
    acres in large blocks, which means that establishing a suitable 
    undisturbed reference area nearby is not always possible. The distance 
    between reclaimed areas and their corresponding reference areas 
    sometimes exceeds 10 miles. OSM accepts North Dakota's rationale 
    justifying its proposed alternative to the current method for 
    determining revegetation success.
        The Federal rules at 30 CFR 816.116(c)(3) require that revegetation 
    success standards be met during the last two consecutive years of the 
    10-year revegetation responsibility period in areas in which the 
    average annual precipitation is equal to or less than 26 inches. On 
    September 7, 1988, OSM revised 30 CFR 816.116(c)(2) to provide that in 
    areas with more than 26 inches of average annual precipitation the 
    vegetation parameters identified in 30 CFR 816.116(b) for grazing land, 
    pasture land, or cropland must equal to exceed the approved success 
    standards during the growing seasons of any two years of the 5-year 
    responsibility period, excluding the first year. This change eliminated 
    the requirement to measure revegetation success during the last two 
    years of the responsibility period in areas with more than 26 inches of 
    average annual precipitation.
        North Dakota's proposal, which provides an option to demonstrate 
    revegetation success using measurements from any three of five 
    consecutive years, starting with the eighth years of the revegetation 
    responsibility period, affords greater flexibility than 30 CFR 
    816.116(c)(3) but less flexibility than 30 CFR 816.116(c)(2). The 
    amendment provides an additional safeguard by requiring that 
    revegetation success standards be met during at least three years of 
    the applicable portion of the revegetation responsibility period, 
    rather than just two as in 30 CFR 816.116(c)(2) and (c)(3). 
    Furthermore, it prohibits the inclusion of measurements taken during 
    the first seven years of the responsibility period. Hence, like 30 CFR 
    816.116(c)(3), the North Dakota proposal requires that revegetation 
    success standards be met during at least two years after the eighth 
    year of the revegetation responsibility period. This restriction 
    minimizes any potential impacts that augmentative practices, such as 
    fertilization or irrigation, might have on the productivity and 
    permanence of the reestablished plant communities.
        For these reasons, the Director finds that the proposed North 
    Dakota rule allowing the use of data from any three of the last five 
    years of the responsibility period, starting in year eight, to 
    demonstrate achievement of revegetation success is no less effective 
    than the corresponding Federal regulation at 30 CFR 816.116(c)(3) in 
    achieving the revegetation requirements of sections 515(b)(19) and 
    (b)(20) of SMCRA.
    
    3. NDAC 69-05.2-28-19, Inspection and Enforcement--Inspection of 
    Inactive Surface Coal Mining Operations
    
        a. NDAC 69-05.2-28-19, Inspection Frequency. North Dakota proposed 
    at NDAC 69-05.2-28-19 one complete inspection per quarter and partial 
    inspections as necessary. This proposed rule is substantially identical 
    to the counterpart provisions in the Federal regulations at 30 CFR 
    840.11(a) and (b). Therefore the Director finds that NDAC 69-05.2-28-19 
    is no less effective than 30 CFR 840.11(a) and (b), and approves it.
        b. NDAC 69-05.2-28-19.1, Definition of Inactive Coal Mining 
    Operations. North Dakota proposed at NDAC 69-05.2-28-19.1 the first of 
    two alternative definitions of inactive coal mining operations. 
    Proposed NDAC 69-05.2-28-19.1 requires that surface coal mining 
    operations have permanently ceased, and all disturbed areas have been 
    reclaimed, and vegetation has been established in accordance with the 
    approved reclamation plan, and the lands are not contributing suspended 
    solids to streamflow or runoff outside the permit area in excess of the 
    requirements set by section 69-05.2-16-04. The Federal regulations at 
    30 CFR 840.11(f) state that an inactive surface coal mining and 
    reclamation operation is one for which: (1) the State regulatory 
    authority has secured from the permittee the written notice under 
    816.116(b) or 817.131(b) of this chapter for temporary cessation or (2) 
    Reclamation Phase II or defined at 800.40 has been completed and 
    liability of the permittee has been reduced by the State regulatory 
    authority. The Federal regulations at 30 CFR 800.40(c)(2) require, 
    prior to Phase II bond release (North Dakota's Third Stage bond 
    release), vegetation establishment and no contributions of suspended 
    solids to streamflow or runoff outside the permit area in excess of the 
    requirements set by Section 515(b)(10) of SMCRA and by subchapter K.
        With the exception that NDAC 69-05.2-28-19 does not (1) require 
    that the liability of the permittee has been reduced by the regulatory 
    authority (RA) or (2) provide a definition of inactive surface coal 
    mining which requires a written notice from the permittee provided for 
    under 30 CFR 816.131(b) or 817.131(b), the proposed rule is identical 
    to the Federal regulation at 30 CFR 842.11(c)(2).
        In a January 30, 1997 telephone conversation (administrative record 
    No. ND-Z-15) between OSM and North Dakota, North Dakota provided the 
    following four reasons for North Dakota's lack of a requirement that 
    the liability of the permittee has been reduced by the RA for 
    determining when a coal mining operation is inactive and therefore 
    subject to fewer inspections:
    
    [[Page 12899]]
    
        1. OSM's approval of a similar Ohio program amendment that OSM 
    approved on October 29, 1996 (Vol. 61, No. 210 FR 55748, 55749);
        2. Monthly inspections of North Dakota's reclaimed mines where 
    mining has ceased and vegetation has been established is a waste of 
    time and resources, especially during North Dakota winters where 
    reclaimed mine sites are covered with snow;
        3. OSM allows a lesser frequency for inspections at mines that have 
    temporarily ceased operations; and
        4. North Dakota would verify via an inspection prior to the 
    declaration of ``inactive'' that Phase III Reclamation (the same as 
    Phase II under SMCRA) had been completed.
        As North Dakota stated, OSM approved an amendment that allowed Ohio 
    to deem a coal mining operation inactive when Phase II reclamation 
    standards had been achieved that also deleted the requirement for the 
    release of phase II bond liability.
        In its rationale for approving Ohio's state program amendment, OSM 
    cities the preamble to the final Federal regulation at 30 CFR 842.11 
    published on August 16, 1982 (47 FR 35620). The rationale was contained 
    in OSM's response to four commenters on the proposed rule 30 CFR 
    842.11(c)(2)(iii)(B) (published on December 1, 1981 (46 FR 58464); OSM 
    stated
    
    the same policy considerations of efficiency in Federal programs 
    [should] apply to State programs (47 FR 35620, 35621; August 16, 
    1982).
    
        The Federal regulation at 30 CFR 842.11(c)(2)(iii)(B) requires that 
    an inactive surface coal mining and reclamation operation is one in 
    which reclamation Phase II as defined at 30 CFR 800.40 has been 
    completed. In the final rule OSM affirmed its agreement with the 
    commenters and stated that:
    
        The final rule allows States to distinguish between active and 
    inactive mines in the same manner as was proposed and is being 
    adopted for OSM when acting as the regulatory authority.
        OSM, in its discussion of 30 CFR 842.11 responded to commenters 
    that wanted the requirement for Phase II bond release deleted 
    because it could cause ``OSM to continue monthly inspections long 
    after Phase II reclamation is completed.'' 47 FR at 35627 (August 
    16, 1982), as follows:
        OSM agrees. In view of the broad discretion granted to OSM in 
    releasing a portion of the performance bond following completion of 
    Reclamation Phases I and II, the determination of a mine's status as 
    active or inactive should be based solely on the completion of 
    Reclamation Phase II.
    
        The aforementioned position OSM took on August 16, 1982 has not 
    been rescinded; OSM has not changed its regulations at 30 CFR 800.40 
    which applies when a state is the regulatory authority.
        The Director finds that proposed NDAC 69-05.2-28-19.1 is consistent 
    with and no less effective than the Federal regulations at 30 CFR 
    842.11(1)(c) and 800.40(c)(2) and approves it.
        c. NDAC 69-05.2-28-19.2, definition of inactive surface coal mining 
    operations. North Dakota proposed at NDAC 69-05.2-28-19.2 the second of 
    the two alternative definitions of inactive surface coal mining 
    operations, which requires that the regulatory authority has granted 
    partial bond release for the disturbed areas. It has the same 
    requirements as Federal regulations at 30 CFR 840.11(f)(2) in that the 
    NDAC reference describes its Third Stage bond release which is the same 
    as OSM's Reclamation Phase II bond release at 30 CFR 
    800.40(c)(establishment of vegetation on the regraded mined lands).
        Since this proposed rule is substantively identical to the 
    counterpart provision of the Federal regulations at 30 CFR 
    840.11(f)(2), the Director finds that proposed NDAC 69-05.2-28-18.2 is 
    no less effective than 30 CFR 840.11(f)(2) and approves it.
    
    IV. Summary and Disposition of Comments
    
        Following are summaries of all substantive written comments on the 
    proposed amendment that were received by OSM, and OSM's responses to 
    them.
    
    1. Public Comments
    
        OSM invited public comments on the proposed amendment, but none 
    were received.
    
    2. Federal Agency Comments
    
        Pursuant to 30 CFR 732.17(h)(11)(i), OSM solicited comments on the 
    proposed amendment from various Federal agencies with an actual or 
    potential interest in the North Dakota program.
        USDA Rural Development responded on September 25, 1997 that ``the 
    proposed changes are consistent with USDA Rural Development 
    construction policies (administrative record No. ND-Z-04).
        USDA Agriculture Research Service responded on October 2, 1997 and 
    stated that they believed the changes proposed in the amendment ``are 
    necessary and an improvement.'' The Agriculture Research Service also 
    suggested revising the wording of the proposed rule to read, ``three 
    out of five consecutive years,'' instead of the way it currently reads, 
    ``three out of consecutive five years'' (administrative record No. ND-
    Z-05). In a November 12, 1998 telephone conversation (administrative 
    record No. 14), Director of the Reclamation Division, North Dakota 
    Public Service Commission, Jim Deutsch, stated that he would revise the 
    final rule to be, ``three out of five consecutive years.''
        U.S. Army Corps of Engineers responded on October 16, 1997 that 
    ``our review of the proposed changes found them to be satisfactory to 
    our agency'' (administrative record No. ND-Z-06).
        U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service responded on December 17, 1997 and 
    stated that the ``proposed changes are logical and reasonable.'' The 
    letter also stated: ``I do not anticipate any significant impacts on 
    Fish and Wildlife Resources as a result of the proposed rules'' 
    (administrative record No. ND-Z-08).
    
    3. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Concurrence and Comments
    
        Pursuant to 30 CFR 732.17(h)(11)(ii), OSM is required to solicit 
    the written concurrence of EPA with respect to those provisions of the 
    proposed amendment that relate to air or water quality standards 
    promulgated under the authority of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 
    et seq.) or the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.).
        Pursuant to 30 CFR 732.17(h)(11)(i), OSM solicited comments on the 
    proposed amendment from EPA (administrative record No. ND-Z-03). It 
    responded to OSM's request on September 30, 1997, and stated that it 
    concurred with the proposed modifications (administrative record No. 
    ND-Z-07).
    
    4. State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) and the Advisory Council 
    on Historic Preservation (ACHP)
    
        Pursuant to 30 CFR 732.17(h)(4), OSM solicited comments on the 
    proposed amendment from the SHPO and ACHP (administrative record No. 
    ND-Z-03). Neither SHPO nor ACHP responded to OSM's request.
    
    V. Director's Decision
    
        Based on the above findings, the Director approves North Dakota's 
    proposed amendment as submitted on August 29, 1997, and as supplemented 
    with additional explanatory information on April 23, 1998.
        The Director approves, as discussed in:
        Finding No. 1, NDAC 69-05.2-13-01, concerning the deletion of North
    
    [[Page 12900]]
    
    Dakota's requirement for mining companies to send the Coal Production 
    and Reclamation Fee Report to the North Dakota Public Service 
    Commission;
        Finding No. 2, NDAC 69-05.2-22-07.4.1, concerning the time frame 
    for demonstrating reclamation success; and
        Finding No. 3, NDAC 69-05.2-28-19, concerning the inspection 
    frequency of inactive surface coal mining operations.
        The Federal regulations at 30 CFR Part 934, codifying decisions 
    concerning the North Dakota program, are being amended to implement 
    this decision. This final rule is being made effective immediately to 
    expedite the State program amendment process and to encourage States to 
    bring their programs into conformity with the Federal standards without 
    undue delay. Consistency of State and Federal standards is required by 
    SMCRA.
    
    VI. 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 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 934
    
        Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
    
        Dated: February 25, 1999.
    Brent Wahlquist,
    Regional Director, Western Regional Coordinating Center.
    
        For the reasons set out in the preamble, Title 30, Chapter VII, 
    Subchapter T of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as set forth 
    below:
    
    PART 934--NORTH DAKOTA
    
        1. The authority citation for part 934 continues to read as 
    follows:
    
        Authority: 30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.
    
        2. Section 934.15 is amended in the table by adding a new entry in 
    chronological order by ``Date of Final Publication'' to read as 
    follows:
    
    
    Sec. 934.15  Approval of North Dakota regulatory program amendments.
    
    * * * * *
    
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Original amendment submission date       Date of final publication              Citation/description
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     
     *                *                  *                  *                *                  *                  *
    August 29, 1997.......................  March 16, 1999................  Rules: NDAC 69-05.2-13-01; NDAC 69-05.2-
                                                                             22-07.4.1; NDAC 69-05.2-28-19.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    [FR Doc. 99-6352 Filed 3-15-99; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 4310-05-M
    
    
    

Document Information

Effective Date:
3/16/1999
Published:
03/16/1999
Department:
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office
Entry Type:
Rule
Action:
Final rule; approval of amendment.
Document Number:
99-6352
Dates:
March 16, 1999.
Pages:
12896-12900 (5 pages)
Docket Numbers:
ND-035-FOR, Amendment No. XXV
PDF File:
99-6352.pdf
CFR: (1)
30 CFR 934.15