Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office March 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are approving an amendment to the Colorado regulatory program (the ``Colorado program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Colorado proposed revisions to its rules concerning prime farmland, revegetation, hydrology, enforcement, topsoil, historic properties, bond release and permit requirements. The State intends to revise its program to be consistent with the corresponding Federal regulations, provide additional safeguards, clarify ambiguities, and improve operational efficiency.

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are proposing minor changes to our regulations that govern topsoil replacement and revegetation success standards. These revisions would: Encourage species diversity on reclaimed lands; provide flexibility to States in using new vegetative success standards and sampling techniques; define success standards for undeveloped land; remove shelter belts from the list of postmining land uses subject to success standards; remove what we believe is an impediment to reforestation of mined lands and provide practical means of measuring woody shrubs commonly planted on arid lands in the West; and make the timing of revegetation success measurements in areas receiving 26 inches of annual precipitation or less consistent with those in areas receiving more than 26 inches of annual precipitation.

This final rule removes a suspension notation from our regulations pertaining to the Kentucky regulatory program (the ``Kentucky program''). The suspension prohibited the issuance of new financial guarantees by the Kentucky Bond Pool because of insufficient funds that had resulted from the transfer of funds out of the bond pool. Kentucky has reimbursed its bond pool and the suspension notation concerning that issue is being removed because it is no longer necessary.