Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office November 2005 – 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 Texas regulatory program (Texas program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Texas proposes revisions to and additions of regulations and statutes regarding the State's annual fees that are required from coal mining permit holders. In addition to the current annual fee, Texas proposes to add two new annual fees. Texas intends to revise its program to reduce the economic cost to the coal mining industry as a whole and to require coal mining permit holders that have ceased mining to pay annual fees. This document gives the times and locations that the Texas 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 are approving a proposed amendment to the Alaska regulatory program (the ``Alaska program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Alaska proposed revisions to and additions of rules about the description of geology; probable hydrologic consequences; application requirements for underground mining; requirements for a subsidence control plan; bonding; replacement of water supplies; design requirements for other treatment facilities; design requirements for impoundments; discharges into underground mines; performance standards for disposal of excess spoil or coal mine waste; inspections of excess spoil, underground development waste, or coal processing waste disposal areas; performance standards for mining operations that have thin or thick overburden; sealing requirements for auger holes; as-built plans of underground workings; damage to protected structures caused by subsidence from underground mining; inspections of abandoned sites; administrative procedures and provisions for civil penalties; definitions and provisions governing coal extraction incidental to the extraction of other minerals; exemption from provisions governing coal exploration and surface coal mining and reclamation operations for removal of coal incidental to the extraction of other minerals if the coal is 16\2/3\ percent or less of the total tonnage of minerals removed; definitions; prime farmlands; western alkaline mine initiative; designs, inspections, and certifications by registered professional engineers or other qualified professional specialist experienced or trained in the construction of impoundments and primary roads; coal exploration; reference to ``Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater'; requirements concerning topsoil; requirements for surface and ground water monitoring; placement of coal mine waste disposal in excess spoil fills; policy statements; small operator assistance program; blasting; cumulative hydrologic impact assessment; fish and wildlife and the protection and enhancement plan; design and construction requirements for the temporary and permanent diversion of miscellaneous flows; design and construction requirements for both temporary and permanent stream channel diversions; the design and construction requirements for the spillways; drainage control for valley fills and coal waste dams and embankments; petitions for designating lands unsuitable for mining; and roads and low-water crossings. Alaska revised its program to be consistent with the corresponding Federal regulations, clarify ambiguities and improve operational efficiency.

We are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Montana regulatory program (hereinafter, the ``Montana program'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Montana proposes revisions to, additions of, and deletions of rules about: Definitions; permit application requirements; application processing and public participation; application review, findings, and issuance; permit conditions; permit renewal; performance standards; prospecting permits and notices of intent; bonding and insurance; protection of parks and historic sites; lands where mining is prohibited; inspection and enforcement; civil penalties; small operator assistance program (SOAP); restrictions on employee financial interests; blasters license; and revision of permits. Montana intends to revise its program to be consistent with the corresponding Federal regulations and SMCRA, and to clarify ambiguities. This document gives the times and locations that the Montana 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.

This rule adjusts the penalty amount of certain civil monetary penalties authorized by the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The rule implements the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 which requires that civil monetary penalties be adjusted for inflation at least once every four years.

We are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the West Virginia regulatory program (the West Virginia program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). West Virginia proposes to revise its Code of State Regulations (CSR) concerning surety bonds. The amendment is intended to provide the State with an alternative source of reliable financial information about the surety, and to allow sureties that are licensed and in good financial condition but are not currently listed with the U.S. Department of the Treasury as an acceptable surety of Federal bonds to provide surety bonds to the coal industry in West Virginia. The proposed amendment was authorized by the West Virginia Secretary of State as an emergency rule under the State's Administrative Procedures Act.