Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement February 20, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Kentucky regulatory program (``the Kentucky program'') for surface coal mining and reclamation operations under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Kentucky has revised its bonding regulations to satisfy, in part, the concerns included in a letter from OSM dated May 1, 2012, regarding bonding inadequacies. On May 4, 2012, Kentucky adopted the revisions as emergency regulations to avoid possible loss of its authority to enforce the part of the Kentucky program that pertains to establishment of reclamation bond amounts. Also on May 4, 2012, identical proposed revisions started the normal review process in Kentucky for changes to administrative regulations. On September 28, 2012, the Department for Natural Resources (DNR), which is a part of Kentucky's Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC), submitted to OSM the administrative bonding regulations as proposed amendments to its approved permanent regulatory program.