West Virginia Regulatory Program, 33025-33026 [2023-10820]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 23, 2023 / Proposed Rules
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.
Thomas D. Shope,
Regional Director, North Atlantic—
Appalachian Region.
[FR Doc. 2023–10819 Filed 5–22–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–05–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation
and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 948
[SATS No. WV–128–FOR; Docket ID: OSM–
2022–0004; S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000
222S180110; S2D2S SS08011000
SX064A000 22S501520]
West Virginia Regulatory Program
Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement, 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 West
Virginia regulatory program (hereinafter,
the West Virginia program) under the
Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the
Act). The West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection (WVDEP)
seeks to amend its statutory provisions
to develop and maintain a database to
track reclamation liabilities in the
WVDEP Special Reclamation Program.
This document gives the times and
locations that the West Virginia 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 Daylight Time (EDT), June
22, 2023. If requested, we may hold a
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SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:26 May 22, 2023
Jkt 259001
public hearing or meeting on the
amendment on June 20, 2023. We will
accept requests to speak at a hearing
until 4 p.m., EDT on June 7, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by SATS No. WV–128–FOR,
by any of the following methods:
• Mail/Hand Delivery: Mr. Ben
Owens, Acting Field Office Director,
Charleston Field Office, Office of
Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement, 1027 Virginia Street East,
Charleston, West Virginia 25301.
• Fax: (304) 347–7170.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: The
amendment has been assigned Docket
ID: OSM–2022–0004. If you would like
to submit comments, go to 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 West Virginia
program, this amendment, a listing of
any scheduled public hearings or
meetings, 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
Charleston Field Office or the full text
of the program amendment is available
for you to read at www.regulations.gov.
Mr. Ben Owens, Acting Field Office
Director, Charleston Field Office, Office
of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement, 1027 Virginia Street, East
Charleston, West Virginia 25301,
Telephone: (304) 347–7158, Email: osmchfo@osmre.gov.
In addition, you may review a copy of
the amendment during regular business
hours at the following location: West
Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection, 601 57th Street, SE,
Charleston, West Virginia 25304,
Telephone: (304) 926–0490.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Ben Owens, Acting Field Office
Director, Charleston Field Office
Telephone: (304) 347–7158. Email: osmchfo@osmre.gov
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the West Virginia Program
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
PO 00000
Frm 00048
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
33025
I. Background on the West Virginia
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 approved 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 West
Virginia program on January 21, 1981.
You can find additional background
information on the West Virginia
program, including the Secretary’s
findings, the disposition of comments,
and conditions of approval of the West
Virginia program in the January 21,
1981, Federal Register (46 FR 5915–
5956). You can also find later actions
concerning West Virginia’s program and
program amendments at 30 CFR 948.10,
948.12, 948.13, 948.15, and 948.16.
II. Description of the Proposed
Amendment
By letter dated August 23, 2021
(Administrative Record No. 1658), we
required WVDEP to submit a program
amendment to ensure appropriate
tracking of existing reclamation
liabilities (including water treatment) at
coal mining operations. This tracking
must ensure that reclamation liabilities
are accurate and up-to-date. Tracking
will enable an accurate assessment of
West Virginia’s alternative bonding
system’s reclamation liabilities so that
solvency of the State’s Special
Reclamation Fund and the Special
Reclamation Water Trust Fund can be
determined. To comply with our
request, West Virginia, by letter dated
March 29, 2022 (Administrative Record
No. 1666), sent us an amendment to its
program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201
et seq.). The State seeks to amend its
statutory program to develop and
maintain a database to track reclamation
liabilities in the WVDEP Special
Reclamation Program.
House Bill 4758 (HB 4758) was signed
by the Governor on March 28, 2022, and
will become effective under State Law
on June 6, 2022. HB 4758 amends
WVSMCRA at WV 22–3–11(i)(2) and
proposes to develop and maintain a
database to track existing reclamation
liabilities, including water treatment, at
coal mining operation in the state of
West Virginia that were permitted after
August 3, 1977. This information is to
E:\FR\FM\23MYP1.SGM
23MYP1
33026
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 23, 2023 / Proposed Rules
be updated on a quarterly basis
beginning July 2022, to ensure that
actuarial studies of the special
reclamation fund and special
reclamation water trust fund are
informed by current data.
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 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.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
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
p.m., EDT on June 7, 2023. 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
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:36 May 22, 2023
Jkt 259001
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.
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 948
Intergovernmental relations, Surface
mining, Underground mining.
Thomas D. Shope,
Regional Director, Regional Director, North
Atlantic—Appalachian Region.
[FR Doc. 2023–10820 Filed 5–22–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–05–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
Coast Guard
33 CFR Part 149
46 CFR Parts 2, 31, 32, 34, 35, 39, 56,
76, 77, 95, 96, 105, 107, 108, 109, 115,
116, 118, 132, 147, 159, 160, 161, 162,
163, 164, 167, 169, 181, 195, and 199
[Docket No. USCG–2020–0519]
RIN 1625–AC76
Marine Equipment on Board Vessels
and Offshore Units or Facilities
Coast Guard, DHS.
Notice of proposed rulemaking.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order
Reviews
AGENCY:
Executive Order 12866—Regulatory
Planning and Review and Executive
Order 13563—Improving Regulation
and Regulatory Review
The Coast Guard proposes to
revise regulations associated with the
approval, carriage, and maintenance of
certain safety equipment required on
board vessels and offshore units or
facilities. We are taking this action to
align the regulations with the current
industry practice and provide more
transparent regulations for the regulated
industry. These proposed revisions
would eliminate outdated requirements,
reduce inspection and testing
requirements, and update standards
incorporated by reference. Additionally,
this project would remove obsolete
sections and align conflicting sections
with the International Convention for
the Safety of Life at Sea.
DATES: Comments and related material
must be received by the Coast Guard on
or before July 24, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
identified by docket number USCG–
2020–0519 using the Federal Decision
Making Portal at www.regulations.gov.
See the ‘‘Public Participation and
Request for Comments’’ portion of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for
further instructions on submitting
comments.
Executive Order 12866 provides that
the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs in the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) will review all significant
rules. Pursuant to OMB guidance, dated
October 12, 1993, the approval of State
program and is exempted from OMB
review under Executive Order 12866.
Executive Order 13563, which reaffirms
and supplements Executive Order
12866, retains this exemption.
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,
PO 00000
Frm 00049
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
ACTION:
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\23MYP1.SGM
23MYP1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 23, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33025-33026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10820]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 948
[SATS No. WV-128-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2022-0004; S1D1S SS08011000
SX064A000 222S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 22S501520]
West Virginia Regulatory Program
AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 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 West
Virginia regulatory program (hereinafter, the West Virginia program)
under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or
the Act). The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
(WVDEP) seeks to amend its statutory provisions to develop and maintain
a database to track reclamation liabilities in the WVDEP Special
Reclamation Program. This document gives the times and locations that
the West Virginia 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 Daylight Time (EDT), June 22, 2023. If requested, we may hold a
public hearing or meeting on the amendment on June 20, 2023. We will
accept requests to speak at a hearing until 4 p.m., EDT on June 7,
2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. WV-128-FOR,
by any of the following methods:
Mail/Hand Delivery: Mr. Ben Owens, Acting Field Office
Director, Charleston Field Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation
and Enforcement, 1027 Virginia Street East, Charleston, West Virginia
25301.
Fax: (304) 347-7170.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: The amendment has been
assigned Docket ID: OSM-2022-0004. If you would like to submit
comments, go to 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 West
Virginia program, this amendment, a listing of any scheduled public
hearings or meetings, 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 Charleston
Field Office or the full text of the program amendment is available for
you to read at www.regulations.gov.
Mr. Ben Owens, Acting Field Office Director, Charleston Field
Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 1027
Virginia Street, East Charleston, West Virginia 25301, Telephone: (304)
347-7158, Email: [email protected].
In addition, you may review a copy of the amendment during regular
business hours at the following location: West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection, 601 57th Street, SE, Charleston, West
Virginia 25304, Telephone: (304) 926-0490.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ben Owens, Acting Field Office
Director, Charleston Field Office Telephone: (304) 347-7158. Email:
[email protected]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the West Virginia Program
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background on the West Virginia 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 approved 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 West Virginia
program on January 21, 1981. You can find additional background
information on the West Virginia program, including the Secretary's
findings, the disposition of comments, and conditions of approval of
the West Virginia program in the January 21, 1981, Federal Register (46
FR 5915-5956). You can also find later actions concerning West
Virginia's program and program amendments at 30 CFR 948.10, 948.12,
948.13, 948.15, and 948.16.
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
By letter dated August 23, 2021 (Administrative Record No. 1658),
we required WVDEP to submit a program amendment to ensure appropriate
tracking of existing reclamation liabilities (including water
treatment) at coal mining operations. This tracking must ensure that
reclamation liabilities are accurate and up-to-date. Tracking will
enable an accurate assessment of West Virginia's alternative bonding
system's reclamation liabilities so that solvency of the State's
Special Reclamation Fund and the Special Reclamation Water Trust Fund
can be determined. To comply with our request, West Virginia, by letter
dated March 29, 2022 (Administrative Record No. 1666), sent us an
amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). The
State seeks to amend its statutory program to develop and maintain a
database to track reclamation liabilities in the WVDEP Special
Reclamation Program.
House Bill 4758 (HB 4758) was signed by the Governor on March 28,
2022, and will become effective under State Law on June 6, 2022. HB
4758 amends WVSMCRA at WV 22-3-11(i)(2) and proposes to develop and
maintain a database to track existing reclamation liabilities,
including water treatment, at coal mining operation in the state of
West Virginia that were permitted after August 3, 1977. This
information is to
[[Page 33026]]
be updated on a quarterly basis beginning July 2022, to ensure that
actuarial studies of the special reclamation fund and special
reclamation water trust fund are informed by current data.
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 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 p.m., EDT on June 7,
2023. 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. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Executive Order 12866--Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive
Order 13563--Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
Executive Order 12866 provides that the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will
review all significant rules. Pursuant to OMB guidance, dated October
12, 1993, the approval of State program and is exempted from OMB review
under Executive Order 12866. Executive Order 13563, which reaffirms and
supplements Executive Order 12866, retains this exemption.
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 948
Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
Thomas D. Shope,
Regional Director, Regional Director, North Atlantic--Appalachian
Region.
[FR Doc. 2023-10820 Filed 5-22-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P