Pennsylvania Regulatory Program, 13268-13269 [2017-04747]
Download as PDF
13268
Proposed Rules
Federal Register
Vol. 82, No. 46
Friday, March 10, 2017
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains notices to the public of the proposed
issuance of rules and regulations. The
purpose of these notices is to give interested
persons an opportunity to participate in the
rule making prior to the adoption of the final
rules.
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation
and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 938
[PA–164–FOR, Docket ID: OSM–2016–0013;
S1D1S SS08011000 DX064A000
178S180110; S2D2S SS08011000
SX064A000 17X501520]
Pennsylvania Regulatory Program
Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE),
Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment
period and opportunity for public
hearing on proposed amendment.
AGENCY:
We, the Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
(OSMRE), are announcing receipt of a
proposed amendment to the
Pennsylvania program under the
Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the
Act). Through this proposed
amendment, Pennsylvania seeks to
revise its program to further define the
implementation process for the
reclamation of alternative bonding
system (ABS) ‘‘Legacy Sites’’, and to
clearly identify the current list of Legacy
Sites, as well as sites that may qualify
in the future as Legacy Sites.
This document gives the times and
locations that the Pennsylvania program
and this proposed 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 on this amendment until 4
p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST),
April 10, 2017. If requested, we will
hold a public hearing on the
amendment on April 4, 2017. We will
accept requests to speak at a hearing
until 4 p.m., EST. on March 27, 2017.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by SATS No. PA–164–FOR;
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:00 Mar 09, 2017
Jkt 241001
Docket ID: OSM–2016–0013 by any of
the following methods:
• Mail/Hand Delivery: Mr. Ben
Owens, Chief, Pittsburgh Field Division,
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation
and Enforcement, 3 Parkway Center,
Pittsburgh, PA 15220.
• 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: In addition to obtaining
copies of documents at
www.regulations.gov, you may receive
one free copy of the amendment by
contacting OSMRE’s Pittsburgh Field
Division. For access to the docket to
review copies of the Pennsylvania
program, this amendment, a listing of
any scheduled public hearings, and all
written comments received in response
to this document, you may go to the
address listed below during normal
business hours, Monday through Friday,
excluding holidays.
Mr. Ben Owens, Chief, Pittsburgh
Field Division, Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement, 3
Parkway Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15220,
Telephone: (412) 937–2827, Email:
bowens@osmre.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Ben Owens, Chief, Pittsburgh Field
Division, Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement, 3
Parkway Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15220,
Telephone: (412) 937–2827, Email:
bowens@osmre.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the Pennsylvania Program
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations
I. Background on the Pennsylvania
Program
Section 503(a) of the Act permits a
State to assume primacy for the
regulation of surface coal mining and
reclamation operations on non-Federal
and non-Indian lands within its borders
by demonstrating that its State program
includes, among other things, State laws
and regulations that govern surface coal
mining and reclamation operations in
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
accordance with the Act and consistent
with the Federal regulations. See 30
U.S.C. 1253(a)(1) and (7). On the basis
of these criteria, the Secretary of the
Interior conditionally approved the
Pennsylvania program on July 30, 1982.
You can find additional background
information on the Pennsylvania
program, including the Secretary’s
findings, the disposition of comments,
and conditions of approval in the July
30, 1982, Federal Register, at 47 FR
33050. You can also find later actions
concerning Pennsylvania’s program and
program amendments at 30 CFR 938.11,
938.12, 938.13, 938.15 and 938.16.
By letter dated August 1, 2008
(Administrative Record Number PA
802.43), Pennsylvania sent us a
proposed program amendment that was
intended to satisfy a required
amendment that was imposed by
OSMRE in a final rule published in the
Federal Register on May 31, 1991, at 56
FR 24687, and codified in the Federal
Regulations at 30 CFR 938.16(h). This
proposed program amendment,
hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘ABS
Program Amendment,’’ was also
intended to satisfy requirements of an
October 1, 1991, letter sent to the state
pursuant to the Federal regulations at 30
CFR 732.17. (the ‘‘732 letter’’). Among
other things, the August 1, 2008,
amendment proposed significant
changes to the State’s revenue raising
mechanism for the treatment of
pollutional discharges at ABS Legacy
Sites. The term ‘‘Legacy Sites’’ is
defined in Section II, below. On August
10, 2010, we published a Federal
Register notice announcing our partial
approval of the ABS program
amendment. See 75 FR 48526.
II. Description of the Proposed
Amendment
By letter dated November 14, 2016
(Administrative Record No. PA 897.00),
Pennsylvania sent us an amendment to
its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C.
1201 et seq.).
Pennsylvania is providing this
program amendment to further define
how the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection
(‘‘Department’’) will implement its
obligation under the approved ABS
Program Amendment consistent with
OSMRE oversight. As defined in 25 Pa.
Code § 86.1, ‘‘ABS Legacy Sites’’ are
‘‘[m]ine sites, permitted under the
Primacy Alternate Bonding System
E:\FR\FM\10MRP1.SGM
10MRP1
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 46 / Friday, March 10, 2017 / Proposed Rules
[ABS], that have a postmining
pollutional discharge where the
operator has defaulted on its obligation
to adequately treat the discharge and,
either the bond posted for the site is
insufficient to cover the cost of treating
the discharge, or a trust to cover the
costs of treating the discharge was not
fully funded and is insufficient to cover
the cost of treating the discharge.’’
A. The proposed program amendment
contains a current list of ABS Legacy
Sites.
B. The proposed program amendment
provides a process for moving sites from
the list of potential ABS Legacy Sites to
the list of ABS Legacy Sites.
C. The proposed program amendment
includes the mechanisms by which a
site can be added to the list of ABS
Legacy Sites if bond release was
improperly granted.
D. The proposed amendment provides
the criteria that must be met in order for
a mine to be removed from the list of
ABS Legacy Sites.
E. The proposed program amendment
requires the Department to request
concurrence from OSMRE consistent
with its oversight authority when sites
are being added or removed from the list
of ABS Legacy Sites or from the list of
potential ABS Legacy Sites. This
concurrence will be requested in writing
through a letter or email message to the
Pittsburgh Field Division, Harrisburg
Area Office. The concurrence request
will include a justification of the action.
After the concurrence is received, the
Department will initiate the notice in
the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
The full text of the program
amendment is available for you to read
at the locations listed above under
ADDRESSES or at www.regulations.gov.
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
III. Public Comment Procedures
Under the provisions of 30 CFR
732.17(h), we are seeking your
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 Pennsylvania’s State
Program.
Electronic or Written Comments
If you submit written or electronic
comments on the proposed rule during
the 30-day comment period, 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
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:00 Mar 09, 2017
Jkt 241001
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., e.s.t. on March 27, 2017. 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
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
13269
a written summary of each meeting a
part of the administrative record.
IV. Procedural Determinations
Executive Order 12866—Regulatory
Planning and Review
This rule 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 program
amendment to OSMRE for review, our
regulations at 30 CFR 732.17(h) require
us to publish a notice in the Federal
Register indicating receipt of the
proposed amendment, its text or a
summary of its terms, and an
opportunity for public comment. We
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 938
Intergovernmental relations, Surface
mining, Underground mining.
Dated: February 24, 2017.
Glenda H. Owens,
Acting Director, Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2017–04747 Filed 3–9–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–05–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R09–OAR–2015–0399; FRL–9958–09–
Region 9]
Air Plan Approval; Nevada, Lake
Tahoe; Second 10-Year Carbon
Monoxide Limited Maintenance Plan
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is proposing approval of
a State Implementation Plan (SIP)
revision submitted by the State of
Nevada (‘‘State’’). On December 15,
2003, the EPA redesignated the Lake
Tahoe, Nevada area (area), consisting of
the Nevada portion of the Lake Tahoe
basin in Nevada’s Washoe, Carson City
and Douglas counties, from
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\10MRP1.SGM
10MRP1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 46 (Friday, March 10, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13268-13269]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-04747]
========================================================================
Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 46 / Friday, March 10, 2017 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 13268]]
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 938
[PA-164-FOR, Docket ID: OSM-2016-0013; S1D1S SS08011000 DX064A000
178S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 17X501520]
Pennsylvania Regulatory Program
AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE),
Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; public comment period and opportunity for public
hearing on proposed amendment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
(OSMRE), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the
Pennsylvania program under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation
Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Through this proposed amendment,
Pennsylvania seeks to revise its program to further define the
implementation process for the reclamation of alternative bonding
system (ABS) ``Legacy Sites'', and to clearly identify the current list
of Legacy Sites, as well as sites that may qualify in the future as
Legacy Sites.
This document gives the times and locations that the Pennsylvania
program and this proposed 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 on this amendment until 4 p.m.,
Eastern Standard Time (EST), April 10, 2017. If requested, we will hold
a public hearing on the amendment on April 4, 2017. We will accept
requests to speak at a hearing until 4 p.m., EST. on March 27, 2017.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. PA-164-FOR;
Docket ID: OSM-2016-0013 by any of the following methods:
Mail/Hand Delivery: Mr. Ben Owens, Chief, Pittsburgh Field
Division, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 3
Parkway Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15220.
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: In addition to obtaining copies of documents at
www.regulations.gov, you may receive one free copy of the amendment by
contacting OSMRE's Pittsburgh Field Division. For access to the docket
to review copies of the Pennsylvania program, this amendment, a listing
of any scheduled public hearings, and all written comments received in
response to this document, you may go to the address listed below
during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding
holidays.
Mr. Ben Owens, Chief, Pittsburgh Field Division, Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 3 Parkway Center, Pittsburgh, PA
15220, Telephone: (412) 937-2827, Email: bowens@osmre.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ben Owens, Chief, Pittsburgh Field
Division, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 3
Parkway Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15220, Telephone: (412) 937-2827, Email:
bowens@osmre.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the Pennsylvania Program
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations
I. Background on the Pennsylvania Program
Section 503(a) of the Act permits a State to assume primacy for the
regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations on non-
Federal and non-Indian lands within its borders by demonstrating that
its State program includes, among other things, State laws and
regulations that govern surface coal mining and reclamation operations
in accordance with the Act and consistent with the Federal regulations.
See 30 U.S.C. 1253(a)(1) and (7). On the basis of these criteria, the
Secretary of the Interior conditionally approved the Pennsylvania
program on July 30, 1982.
You can find additional background information on the Pennsylvania
program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of
comments, and conditions of approval in the July 30, 1982, Federal
Register, at 47 FR 33050. You can also find later actions concerning
Pennsylvania's program and program amendments at 30 CFR 938.11, 938.12,
938.13, 938.15 and 938.16.
By letter dated August 1, 2008 (Administrative Record Number PA
802.43), Pennsylvania sent us a proposed program amendment that was
intended to satisfy a required amendment that was imposed by OSMRE in a
final rule published in the Federal Register on May 31, 1991, at 56 FR
24687, and codified in the Federal Regulations at 30 CFR 938.16(h).
This proposed program amendment, hereinafter referred to as the ``ABS
Program Amendment,'' was also intended to satisfy requirements of an
October 1, 1991, letter sent to the state pursuant to the Federal
regulations at 30 CFR 732.17. (the ``732 letter''). Among other things,
the August 1, 2008, amendment proposed significant changes to the
State's revenue raising mechanism for the treatment of pollutional
discharges at ABS Legacy Sites. The term ``Legacy Sites'' is defined in
Section II, below. On August 10, 2010, we published a Federal Register
notice announcing our partial approval of the ABS program amendment.
See 75 FR 48526.
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
By letter dated November 14, 2016 (Administrative Record No. PA
897.00), Pennsylvania sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA
(30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.).
Pennsylvania is providing this program amendment to further define
how the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
(``Department'') will implement its obligation under the approved ABS
Program Amendment consistent with OSMRE oversight. As defined in 25 Pa.
Code Sec. 86.1, ``ABS Legacy Sites'' are ``[m]ine sites, permitted
under the Primacy Alternate Bonding System
[[Page 13269]]
[ABS], that have a postmining pollutional discharge where the operator
has defaulted on its obligation to adequately treat the discharge and,
either the bond posted for the site is insufficient to cover the cost
of treating the discharge, or a trust to cover the costs of treating
the discharge was not fully funded and is insufficient to cover the
cost of treating the discharge.''
A. The proposed program amendment contains a current list of ABS
Legacy Sites.
B. The proposed program amendment provides a process for moving
sites from the list of potential ABS Legacy Sites to the list of ABS
Legacy Sites.
C. The proposed program amendment includes the mechanisms by which
a site can be added to the list of ABS Legacy Sites if bond release was
improperly granted.
D. The proposed amendment provides the criteria that must be met in
order for a mine to be removed from the list of ABS Legacy Sites.
E. The proposed program amendment requires the Department to
request concurrence from OSMRE consistent with its oversight authority
when sites are being added or removed from the list of ABS Legacy Sites
or from the list of potential ABS Legacy Sites. This concurrence will
be requested in writing through a letter or email message to the
Pittsburgh Field Division, Harrisburg Area Office. The concurrence
request will include a justification of the action. After the
concurrence is received, the Department will initiate the notice in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin.
The full text of the program amendment is available for you to read
at the locations listed above under ADDRESSES or at
www.regulations.gov.
III. Public Comment Procedures
Under the provisions of 30 CFR 732.17(h), we are seeking your
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 Pennsylvania's State Program.
Electronic or Written Comments
If you submit written or electronic comments on the proposed rule
during the 30-day comment period, 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., e.s.t. on
March 27, 2017. 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 rule 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 program amendment to OSMRE for review, our
regulations at 30 CFR 732.17(h) require us to publish a notice in the
Federal Register indicating receipt of the proposed amendment, its text
or a summary of its terms, and an opportunity for public comment. We
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 938
Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
Dated: February 24, 2017.
Glenda H. Owens,
Acting Director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2017-04747 Filed 3-9-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P