Comment on FR Doc # E7-15930

This proposed rule change would increase the costs for the processing and review of federal surface coal mine permits for the state of Oklahoma. Our costs per federal permit application would increase by $600 to $800. We would have to recover those costs either from the applicant or through our federal cooperative agreement. Currently Oklahoma requires one original and five copies of an application, plus a copy that the applicant files directly in a courthouse or public building in the locale of the proposed mining operation. All of these copies are necessary and would have to be generated by either the Oklahoma Department of Mines or by the Office of Surface Mining. The largest cost would be to reproduce the maps that are in each application. The Oklahoma Department of Mines would have to contract with a private vendor to copy the maps - costs would be approximately $4 to $5 per map - more for color copies. Most federal permit applications contain at least 20 maps. Rhonda Dossett Administrator - Coal Program Oklahoma Dept. of Mines