Department of the Interior December 6, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The plats of survey described below are scheduled to be officially filed in the New Mexico State Office, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Santa Fe, New Mexico, thirty (30) calendar days from the date of this publication.

We are announcing the receipt of revisions pertaining to a previously proposed amendment to the Colorado regulatory program (hereinafter, the ``Colorado program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (``SMCRA'' or ``the Act''). Colorado proposes additions of rules and revisions to Rules of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining, 2 CCR 407-2, concerning the protection and replacement of the hydrologic balance, subsidence, valid existing rights determinations, roads, requirements associated with annual reclamation reports, prime farmland determinations, various definitions, permit revisions, performance bonds, backfill placement methods and requirements, backfilling and grading, and revegetation. Colorado intends to revise its program to improve operational efficiency. This document gives the times and locations that the Colorado program and 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.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Arkansas regulatory program (Arkansas program) and the Arkansas abandoned mine land reclamation plan (Arkansas plan) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Arkansas proposes to revise substantial portions of their regulatory program and abandoned mine land plan, make grammatical changes, correct punctuation, revise dates, and add citations. The proposed amendment consists of substantive changes to Arkansas regulations regarding Subchapter A General Requirements; Subchapter GSurface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations Permits and Coal Exploration Procedures Systems; Subchapter JBond and Insurance Requirements for Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations; Subchapter KState Program Performance Standards; Subchapter MTraining Programs for Blasters and Members of Blasting Crews, and Certification Programs for Blasters; and Subchapter RAbandoned Mine Land Reclamation. This document provides the times and locations that the Arkansas program, Arkansas plan, and the proposed amendment 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.

In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Idaho Falls District Resource Advisory Council (RAC), will meet as indicated below.

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Federal joint lead agencies, and the State of California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), acting as the California Environmental Quality Act lead agency, have prepared the Suisun Marsh Habitat, Management, Preservation, and Restoration Plan (SMP) Final EIS/EIR. The SMP is a comprehensive plan designed to address the various conflicts regarding use of Suisun Marsh resources, with the focus on achieving an acceptable multi-stakeholder approach to the restoration of tidal wetlands and the management of managed wetlands and their functions.

This notice partially terminates the segregative effect of a proposed Alluvial Valley Floor (AVF) coal land exchange as to 961.09 acres of public land located in Big Horn County, Montana. This order opens 360 acres to settlement, sale, location, and entry under the public land laws and the mining and mineral leasing laws. This order also opens 601.09 acres to the mining and mineral leasing laws.