[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 96 (Thursday, May 19, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-12265]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: May 19, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 917
Kentucky Permanent Regulatory Program; Disposal of Coal Fly Ash,
Bottom Ash, and Scrubber Sludge
AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM),
Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: OSM is announcing the receipt of a proposed amendment to the
Kentucky permanent regulatory program (hereinafter referred to as the
Kentucky program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
of 1977 (SMCRA). By letter of April 18, 1994 (Administrative Record No.
KY-1276), Kentucky submitted a proposal program amendment that replaces
a previous proposed program amendment dated November 17, 1993
(Administrative Record No. KY-1260). The amendment consists of proposed
new and amended statutes to Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) relating to
disposal of coal combustion fly ash, bottom ash, and scrubber sludge
under special waste permit-by-rule at KRS chapter 224. The proposed
amendment, known as Senate Bill 266, was passed by Kentucky's General
Assembly during the 1994 regular session.
This document sets forth the times and locations that the Kentucky
program and the proposed amendment are available for public inspection,
the comment period during which interested persons may submit written
comments on the proposed amendment, and the procedures that will be
followed regarding a public hearing if one is requested.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before 4 p.m., [e.s.t]
on June 20, 1994. If requested, a public hearing on the proposed
amendment will be held at 10 a.m., [e.s.t] on June 13, 1994. Requests
to present oral testimony at the hearing must be received on or before
4 p.m., [e.s.t] on June 3, 1994. Any disabled individual who has need
for a special accomendation to attend a public hearing should contact
the individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests to testify at the hearing
should be mailed or hand delivered to: William J. Kovacic, Director,
Lexington Field Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement, 2675 Regency Road, Lexington, Kentucky 40503.
Copies of the Kentucky program, the proposed amendment, and all
written comments received in response to this document will be
available for review at the addresses listed below, Monday through
Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding holidays. Each requestor may
receive, free of charge, one copy of the proposed amendment by
contacting OSM's Lexington Field Office.
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Lexington
Field Office, 2675 Regency Road, Lexington, Kentucky 40503,
Telephone: (606) 233-2896
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Eastern
Support Center, Ten Parkway Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220,
Telephone: (412) 937-2828
Department of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, No. 2
Hudson Hollow Complex, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, Telephone: (502)
564-6940
If a public hearing is held, its location will be: The Harley
Hotel, 2143 North Broadway, Lexington, Kentucky 40505.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William J. Kovacic, Director,
Lexington Field Office, Telephone (606) 233-2896.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On May 18, 1982, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally
approved the Kentucky program. Information pertinent to the general
background, revisions, modifications, and amendments to the proposed
permanent program submission, as well as the Secretary's findings, the
disposition of comments, and a detailed explanation of the conditions
of approval can be found in the May 18, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR
21404-21435). Subsequent actions concerning the conditions of approval
and program amendments are identified at 30 CFR 917.11, 917.15, 917.16,
and 917.17.
II. Discussion of Amendment
By letter of April 18, 1994 (Administrative Record No. KY-1276),
Kentucky submitted a proposed program amendment that replaces a
previous proposed program amendment dated November 17, 1993
(Administrative Record No. KY-1260). The amendment consists of proposed
new and amended statutes to KRS relating to disposal of coal combustion
fly ash, bottom ash, and scrubber sludge under special waste permit-by-
rule at KRS chapter 224. The proposed amendment, known as Senate Bill
266, was passed by Kentucky's General Assembly during the 1994 regular
session.
These proposed statutes offer surface coal mining permittees the
option to dispose of coal combustion waste on the permit area under the
special waste permit-by-rule established at KRS Chapter 224. Applicants
who obtain a permit from the Cabinet's Department for Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement under these proposed revised statutes are
deemed to have received a permit from the Cabinet's Department for
Environmental Protection, Division of Waste Management, without having
applied separately to the Division Of Waste Management. A person who
wishes to dispose of coal combustion waste on a surface mining permit
area in a manner that is not authorized in Senate Bill 266 may, as at
present, apply separately to the Division of Waste Management for a
special waste formal permit under KRS Chapter 224.
Senate Bill 266 contains the following changes:
Amend KRS 350.010 to define coal combustion by-products; create new
sections of KRS 350 to allow the Department of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement to issue a permit authorizing the disposal
of coal combustion by-products at surface coal mining operations;
exclude from application of the Act, coal combustion by-products for
which a special waste formal permit or registered permit-by-rule is
required under Chapter 224, and coal combustion by-products that have
been mixed with hazardous or low volume waste; require an application
to modify an existing surface mining permit to initially include
disposal of coal combustion by-products to be a major amendment; in
other cases involving coal combustion by-products, allow for minor
revisions unless the cabinet determines otherwise; require removal of
other materials from coal combustion by-products before disposal;
confine disposal of coal combustion by-products to the pit or
extraction area from which coal was removed--except that disposal may
be allowed in other places within the permit area if the applicant
demonstrates that no adverse environmental impacts will occur; prohibit
disposal of any hazardous component of the coal combustion by-products
from being disposed of under the permit; require maps showing locations
and volumes of by-products disposed; require a lab analysis to
characterize the coal combustion by-products; require newspaper
advertisements stating that an application proposes disposal of coal
combustion by-products; require an application to demonstrate the legal
right to dispose to coal combustion by-products on the proposed
disposal area; require the application to identify the facility that
will generate the coal combustion by-products, a responsible official,
components of the by-products, and the coal combustion by-products
materials, weight, and volume; require analysis and a demonstration
that each component of the coal combustion by-products does not contain
any contaminant at a concentration that exceeds cabinet regulations;
require the application to include a determination of the probable
hydrologic consequences of disposal and measures to minimize
disturbances; require a description of measures to be taken to keep the
by-products from becoming airborne; require baseline ground and surface
water data and monitoring wells; require that performance bond required
under Chapter 350 cover disposal of coal combustion by-products when
applicable; require the permittee to comply with environmental
performance standards, to include placing the by-products at least four
feet above the seasonal high water table unless exempted, limiting the
volume of by-products disposed of on the permit area to the volume of
the marketable coal seams to be removed, limiting the thickness of the
disposed by-products to forty feet at any point, and requiring covering
the by-products as contemporaneously as practicable with at least four
feet of nonacid-forming spoil material; and require water quality
monitoring and reporting until final bond release.
III. Public Comment Procedures
In accordance with the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), OSM is now
seeking comment on whether the amendment proposed by Kentucky satisfies
the applicable approval criteria of 30 CFR 732.15. If the amendment is
deemed adequate, it will become part of the Kentucky program.
Written Comments
Written comments should be specific, pertain only to the issues
proposed in this rulemaking, and include explanations in support of the
commentor's recommendations. Comments received after the time indicated
under DATES or at locations other than the Lexington Field Officer will
not necessarily be considered in the final rulemaking or included in
the Administrative Record.
Public Hearing
Persons wishing to comment at the public hearing should contact the
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4 p.m., [e.s.t]
on June 3, 1994. If no one requests an opportunity to comment at a
public hearing, the hearing will not be held. Filing of a written
statement at the time of the hearing is requested as it will greatly
assist the transcriber. Submission of written statements in advance of
the hearing will allow OSM officials to prepare adequate responses and
appropriate questions.
The public hearing will continue on the specified date until all
persons scheduled to comment have been heard. Persons in the audience
who have not been scheduled to comment, and who wish to do so, will be
heard following those scheduled. The hearing will end after all persons
scheduled to comment and persons present in the audience who wish to
comment have been heard.
Public Meeting
If only one person requests an opportunity to comment 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 at the OSM, Lexington Field Office
listed under ADDRESSES 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 in advance
at the locations listed under ADDRESSES. A written summary of each
meeting will be made a part of the Administrative Record.
IV. Procedural Determinations
Executive Order 12866
This proposed rule is exempted from review by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) under Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory
Planning and Review).
Executive Order 12778
The Department of the Interior has conducted the reviews required
by section 2 of Executive Order 12778 (Civil Justice Reform) and has
determined that, to the extent allowed by law, 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 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.
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)).
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.).
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 which 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.
List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 917
Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
Dated: May 12, 1994.
Robert J. Biggi,
Acting Assistant Director, Eastern Support Center.
[FR Doc. 94-12265 Filed 5-18-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-M
