99-23489. Louisiana Regulatory Program  

  • [Federal Register Volume 64, Number 175 (Friday, September 10, 1999)]
    [Proposed Rules]
    [Pages 49118-49120]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 99-23489]
    
    
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    DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
    
    Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
    
    30 CFR Part 918
    
    [SPATS No. LA-018-FOR]
    
    
    Louisiana Regulatory Program
    
    AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.
    
    ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment period and opportunity for public 
    hearing.
    
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    SUMMARY: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) 
    is announcing receipt of an amendment to the Louisiana regulatory 
    program (Louisiana program) under the Surface Mining Control and 
    Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Louisiana proposes revisions to and 
    additions of statutes concerning requirements for permit applications, 
    eligibility requirements for the Small Operator Assistance Program 
    (SOAP), and permit exemptions. Louisiana intends to revise the 
    Louisiana program to be consistent with SMCRA and the Louisiana Surface 
    Mining Regulations.
        This document gives the times and locations that the Louisiana 
    program and the amendment to that program are available for your 
    inspection, the comment period during which you may submit written 
    comments on the amendment, and the procedures that we will follow for 
    the public hearing, if one is requested.
    
    DATES: We will accept written comments until 4:00 p.m., c.d.t., October 
    12, 1999. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on the amendment 
    on October 5, 1999. We will accept requests to speak at the hearing 
    until 4:00 p.m., c.d.t. on September 27, 1999.
    
    ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and 
    requests to speak at the hearing to Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa 
    Field Office, at the address listed below.
        You may review copies of the Louisiana 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 one free copy of the amendment by contacting 
    OSM's Tulsa Field Office. Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa Field 
    Office, Office of Surface Mining, 5100 East Skelly Drive, Suite 470, 
    Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135-6547, Telephone: (918) 581-6430.
        Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Office of Conservation, 
    Injection and Mining Division, 625 N . 4th Street, P. O. Box 94275, 
    Baton Rouge, LA 70804, Telephone: (504) 342-5540.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa 
    Field Office. Telephone: (918) 581-6430. Internet: 
    mwolfrom@tokgw.osmre.gov.
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    
    I. Background on the Louisiana Program
    
        On October 10, 1980, the Secretary of the Interior approved the 
    Louisiana program. You can find background information on the Louisiana 
    program, including the Secretary's findings and the disposition of 
    comments in the October 10, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 67340). You 
    can find later actions concerning the Louisiana program at 30 CFR 
    918.15 and 918.16.
    
    II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
    
        By letter dated August 23, 1999 (Administrative Record No. LA-364), 
    Louisiana sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA. Louisiana 
    sent the amendment at its own initiative. Louisiana proposes to amend 
    the Louisiana Surface Mining Act. Below is a summary of the changes 
    proposed by Louisiana. The full text of the program amendment is 
    available for your inspection at the locations listed above under 
    ADDRESSES.
    
    A. Section 907, Application Requirements
    
        1. Louisiana proposes to remove the provision at paragraph B(16) 
    that requires an applicant to make information about coal seams, test 
    borings, core samplings, or soil samples available to any person with 
    an interest which is or may be adversely affected. Louisiana then 
    proposes to add this removed provision at new paragraph B(17).
        2. Louisiana also proposes to add new paragraph B(18) to require an 
    applicant to submit with his or her permit application a description of 
    the nature of cultural, historical, and archeological
    
    [[Page 49119]]
    
    resources listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of 
    Historic Places. This description must be based on all available 
    information, and include a plan that describes the measures the 
    applicant will take to prevent or minimize any adverse impacts the 
    mining operation might have on the resources.
        3. Louisiana further proposes to add new paragraph B(19) to require 
    an applicant to submit with his or her permit application a description 
    of fish and wildlife resource information for the permit area and 
    adjacent area. The scope and level of detail for such information will 
    be determined by the office of conservation. However, site specific 
    resource information will be required when the permit area or adjacent 
    area is likely to include endangered or threatened species of plants or 
    animals or their habitats.
        4. Louisiana proposes to add new paragraph B(20) to require an 
    applicant to submit with his or her permit application a description of 
    how the operator will minimize disturbances and adverse impacts on 
    fish, wildlife, and related environmental values. The description will 
    apply to the species and habitats identified in new paragraph B(19) and 
    must include the protective measures that the operator will use during 
    the active mining phase of the operation.
        5. Finally, Louisiana proposes to revise Subsection C of this 
    section to read as follows:
    
        C. If the commissioner finds that the probable total annual 
    production at all locations of any coal surface mining operator will 
    not exceed three hundred thousand tons, the determination of 
    probable hydrologic consequences, including the engineering analyses 
    and designs necessary for the determination, required by Paragraph 
    B(11) of this Section, cross-section maps and plans required by 
    Paragraph B(14) of this Section, the drilling and statement of the 
    result of test borings or core samplings required by Paragraph B(15) 
    of this Section, the collection of archaeological and historical 
    information and related plans required by Paragraph B(18) of this 
    Section, the collection of site-specific resources information 
    required by Paragraph B(19) of this Section, the production of 
    protection and enhancement plans for fish and wildlife habitats 
    required by Paragraph B(20) of this Section, and information and 
    plans for any other environmental values required by the office of 
    conservation and this Chapter, and pre-blast surveys required by 
    R.S. 30:915(B)(15) shall, upon the written request of the operator, 
    be performed by a qualified public or private laboratory designated 
    by the commissioner and the cost of the preparation of such 
    determination and statement shall be assumed by the commissioner.
    
    B. Section 927, Surface Coal Mining Operations Not Subject to This 
    Chapter.
    
        Louisiana proposes to revise paragraph (2) whereby the requirements 
    of Chapter 9 do not apply to the extraction of coal where coal does not 
    exceed sixteen and two-thirds percent of the total tonnage of coal and 
    other minerals removed for purposes of commercial use or sale.
    
    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 Louisiana program.
    
    Written Comments
    
        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 administrative record, which we will honor 
    to the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in 
    which we would withhold from the 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 for public inspection in their 
    entirety.
        Your written comments should be specific and pertain only to the 
    issues proposed in this rulemaking. You should explain the reason for 
    any recommended change. 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 Tulsa Field Office.
        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. LA-018-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 Tulsa Field Office at (918) 
    581-6430.
    
    Public Hearing
    
        If you wish to speak at the public hearing, contact the person 
    listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m., c.d.t. on 
    September 27, 1999. We will arrange the location and time of the 
    hearing with those persons requesting the hearing. If you are disabled 
    and need special accommodation to attend a public hearing, contact the 
    individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. The hearing 
    will not be held if no one requests an opportunity to speak at the 
    public hearing.
        You should file a written statement at the time you request the 
    hearing. This will allow us to prepare adequate responses and 
    appropriate questions. 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.
    
    Public Meeting
    
        If only one person requests an opportunity to speak at a hearing, a 
    public meeting, rather than a public hearing, may be held. If you wish 
    to meet with us to discuss the amendment, request a meeting by 
    contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. All 
    such meetings are open to the public and, if possible, we will post 
    notices of meetings at the locations listed under ADDRESSES. We also 
    make a written summary of each meeting a part of the Administrative 
    Record.
    
    IV. Procedural Determinations
    
    Executive Order 12866
    
        The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) exempts this rule from 
    review under Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review).
    
    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, 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 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),
    
    [[Page 49120]]
    
    decisions on State regulatory programs and program amendments 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
    
        This rule does not require an environmental impact statement since 
    section 702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1292(d)) provides that agency 
    decisions on 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 
    corresponding 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. Therefore, this rule will ensure that existing requirements 
    previously published 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 corresponding Federal regulations.
    
    Unfunded Mandates
    
        OSM has determined and certifies under the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
    Act (2 U.S.C. 1502 et seq.) that this rule will not impose a cost of 
    $100 million or more in any given year on local, state, or tribal 
    governments or private entities.
    
    List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 918
    
        Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
    
        Dated: September 1, 1999.
    Ervin J. Barchenger,
    Acting Regional Director, Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.
    [FR Doc. 99-23489 Filed 9-9-99; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 4310-05-P
    
    
    

Document Information

Published:
09/10/1999
Department:
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office
Entry Type:
Proposed Rule
Action:
Proposed rule; public comment period and opportunity for public hearing.
Document Number:
99-23489
Dates:
We will accept written comments until 4:00 p.m., c.d.t., October 12, 1999. If requested, we will hold a public hearing on the amendment on October 5, 1999. We will accept requests to speak at the hearing until 4:00 p.m., c.d.t. on September 27, 1999.
Pages:
49118-49120 (3 pages)
Docket Numbers:
SPATS No. LA-018-FOR
PDF File:
99-23489.pdf
CFR: (1)
30 CFR 918