Kansas Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Plan, 45426-45428 [2016-16657]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 135 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45426-45428]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-16657]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Part 916

[SATS No. KS-029-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2016-0003; S1D1S SS08011000 
SX064A000 167S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 16XS501520]


Kansas Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Plan

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment period and opportunity for public 
hearing on proposed amendment.

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SUMMARY: We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 
(OSMRE), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Kansas 
Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (AMLR) Plan (hereinafter, the Plan) 
under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or 
the Act). Kansas proposes revisions to modernize its Plan, which 
remains largely unchanged since its approval on February 1, 1982, and 
encompasses the November 14, 2008, changes to the Federal regulations.
    This document gives the times and locations that the Kansas Plan 
and proposed amendment to that Plan 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 on this amendment until 4:00 
p.m., c.t., August 15, 2016. If requested, we will hold a public 
hearing on the amendment on August 8, 2016. We will accept requests to 
speak at a hearing until 4:00 p.m., c.t. on July 29, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. KS-029-FOR, 
by any of the following methods:
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Director, Tulsa Field Office, Office 
of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 1645 South 101st East 
Avenue, Suite 145, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74128-4629.
     Fax: (918) 581-6419.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number for this rulemaking. For detailed instructions on 
submitting comments and additional information on the rulemaking 
process, see the ``Public Comment Procedures'' heading of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
    Docket: For access to the docket to review copies of the Kansas 
Plan, this amendment, a listing of any scheduled public hearings, and 
all written comments received in response to this document, you must go 
to the address listed below during normal business hours, Monday 
through Friday, excluding holidays. You may receive one free copy of 
the amendment by contacting OSMRE's Tulsa Field Office or going to 
www.regulations.gov.

Director
Tulsa Field Office
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
1645 South 101st East Avenue, Suite 145
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74128-4629

[[Page 45427]]

Telephone: (918) 581-6430
    In addition, you may review a copy of the amendment during regular 
business hours at the following location:

Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Surface Mining Section
4033 Parkview Drive
Frontenac, Kansas 66763
Telephone: (316) 231-8540.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Tulsa Field Office. 
Telephone: (918) 581-6430. Email: William L. Joseph at 
bjoseph@osmre.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the Kansas Plan
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations

I. Background on the Kansas Plan

    The Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program was established by 
Title IV of the Act, (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.) in response to concerns 
over extensive environmental damage caused by past coal mining 
activities. The program is funded by a reclamation fee collected on 
each ton of coal that is produced. The money collected is used to 
finance the reclamation of abandoned coal mines and for other 
authorized activities. Section 405 of the Act allows States and Indian 
tribes to assume exclusive responsibility for reclamation activity 
within the State or on Indian lands if they develop and submit to the 
Secretary of the Interior for approval, a program (often referred to as 
a Plan) for the reclamation of abandoned coal mines. On February 1, 
1982, the Secretary of the Interior approved the Kansas Plan. You can 
find background information on the Kansas Plan, including the 
Secretary's findings, the disposition of comments, and the approval of 
the Plan in the February 1, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR 4513). You 
can find later actions concerning the Kansas AMLR Plan and amendments 
to the Plan at 30 CFR 916.20 and 916.25.

II. Description of the Proposed Amendment

    By letter dated February 23, 2016 (Administrative Record No. KS-
628), Kansas sent us an amendment to its AMLR Plan under SMCRA (30 
U.S.C. 1201 et seq.) at its own initiative. Below is a summary of the 
changes proposed by Kansas. The full text of the Plan amendment is 
available for you to read at the locations listed above under 
ADDRESSES.
    Kansas proposes to revise its Plan by modernizing it and 
encompassing the November 14, 2008, changes to the Federal regulations. 
The revised Plan addresses all the Federal requirements found in 30 CFR 
884.13 regarding content of proposed State reclamation plans.

III. Public Comment Procedures

    We are seeking your comments on whether the amendment satisfies the 
applicable Plan approval criteria of 30 CFR 884.15. If we approve the 
amendment, it will become part of the State Plan.

Electronic or Written Comments

    If you submit written comments, they should be specific, confined 
to issues pertinent to the proposed regulations, and explain the reason 
for any recommended change(s). We appreciate any and all comments, but 
those most useful and likely to influence decisions on the final 
regulations will be those that either involve personal experience or 
include citations to and analyses of SMCRA, its legislative history, 
its implementing regulations, case law, other pertinent State or 
Federal laws or regulations, technical literature, or other relevant 
publications.
    We cannot ensure that comments received after the close of the 
comment period (see DATES) or sent to an address other than those 
listed (see ADDRESSES) will be included in the docket for this 
rulemaking and considered.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

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.t. on July 
29, 2016. If you are disabled and need reasonable accommodations to 
attend a public hearing, contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT. We will arrange the location and time of the 
hearing with those persons requesting the hearing. If no one requests 
an opportunity to speak, we will not hold a hearing.
    To assist the transcriber and ensure an accurate record, we 
request, if possible, that each person who speaks at the public hearing 
provide us with a written copy of his or her comments. The public 
hearing will continue on the specified date until everyone scheduled to 
speak has been given an opportunity to be 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 everyone scheduled to speak and others present in 
the audience who wish to speak, have been heard.

Public Meeting

    If only one person requests an opportunity to speak, we may hold a 
public meeting rather than a public hearing. If you wish to meet with 
us to discuss the amendment, please 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 will make a 
written summary of each meeting a part of the administrative record.

IV. Procedural Determinations

Executive Order 12866--Regulatory Planning and Review

    This rulemaking is exempted from review by the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) under Executive Order 12866.

Other Laws and Executive Orders Affecting Rulemaking

    When a State submits a Plan amendment to OSMRE for review, our 
regulations at 30 CFR 884.14 and 884.15 require us to hold a public 
hearing on a Plan amendment if it changes the objectives, scope or 
major policies followed, or make a finding that the State provided 
adequate notice and opportunity for public comment. Kansas has elected 
to have OSMRE publish a notice in the Federal Register indicating 
receipt of the proposed amendment and soliciting comments. We will 
conclude our review of the proposed amendment after the close of the 
public comment period and determine whether the amendment should be 
approved, approved in part, or not approved. At that time, we will also 
make the determinations and certifications required by the various laws 
and executive orders governing the rulemaking process and include them 
in the final rule.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 916

    Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.


[[Page 45428]]


    Dated: May 10, 2016.
Sterling Rideout, Acting Regional Director,
Mid-Continent Region.
[FR Doc. 2016-16657 Filed 7-13-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-05-P