Comment on FR Doc # E7-16629

Regarding Docket #: 1029-AC04 To whom it may concern: I was recently made aware of proposed changes to the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement's rules regarding the buffer zone surrounding streams. If these changes go through, coal companies would no longer be required to maintain a buffer zone between the valleys that feed streams, and that in fact they would be permitted to create valley fills and slurry ponds within valleys themselves. This is unacceptable. As a Kentuckian, I am too aware of damage to the local environment and economy carried out consistently by coal companies for the benefit of distant people; I am also well aware of the increasing importance our water resources have, as demaned in parts of Kentucky has begun to outstrip supply. The proposed changes to this rule will effectively kill many streams, as the valleys, though dry to an untrained eye, actually feed and create the streams in the first place. I urge all involved to deny the proposed changes and maintain a minimum of 100 feet between streams and the valleys and hollows that create them and any remnants of mining, whether fill dirty, spoils, or slurry. Sincerely, William Randall