04-1781. Notice of Proposed Information Collection for 1029-0080 and 1029-0089

AGENCY:

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 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 Part 702, Exemption for Coal Extraction Incidental to the Extraction of Other Minerals; and 30 CFR Part 850, Permanent Regulatory Program Requirements—Standards for Certification of Blasters, have been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. 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 February 27, 2004, in order to be assured of consideration.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request a copy of either information collection request, explanatory information and related form, contact John A. Trelease at [phone]. You may also contact Mr. Trelease at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB regulations at 5 CFR 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 702 and 850. 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 1029-0089 for part 702 and 1029-0080 for part 850, and may be found in OSM's regulations at 702.10 and 850.10.

As required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), Federal Register notices soliciting comments on these collections of information was published on October 30, 2003 (68 FR 61828). No comments were received. This notice provides the public with an additional 30 days in which to comment on the following information collection activities:

Title: Exemption for Coal Extraction Incidental to the Extraction of Other Minerals, 30 CFR Part 702.

OMB Control Number: 1029-0089.

Summary: This part implements the requirement in section 701(28) of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), which grants an exemption from the requirements of SMCRA to operators extracting not more than 162/3 percentage tonnage of coal incidental to the extraction of other minerals. This information will be used by the regulatory authorities to make that determination.

Bureau Form Number: None.

Frequency of Collection: Once and annually thereafter.

Description of Respondents: Producers of coal and other minerals and the State regulatory authorities.

Total Annual Responses: 90.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 581.

Title: Permanent regulatory program requirements—standards for certification of blasters, 30 CFR 850.

OMB Control Number: 1029-0080.

Summary: This part establishes the requirements and procedures applicable to the development of regulatory programs for the training, examination, and certification of persons engaging in or directly responsible for the use of explosives in surface coal mining operations.

Bureau Form Number: None.

Frequency of Collection: Once.

Description of Respondents: State regulatory authorities.

Total Annual Responses: 1.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 173.

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.

ADDRESSES:

Submit comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Department of 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 210-SIB, Washington, DC 20240, or electronically to [e-mail].

Dated: January 6, 2004.

Sarah E. Donnelly,

Acting Chief, Division of Regulatory Support.