Kentucky Regulatory Program

Citation85 FR 10633
Record Number2020-03745
Published date25 February 2020
CourtSurface Mining Reclamation And Enforcement Office
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2020)]
                [Proposed Rules]
                [Pages 10633-10634]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2020-03745]
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                DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
                Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
                30 CFR Part 917
                [SATS No. KY-262-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2019-0014; S1D1S SS08011000
                SX064A000 201S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 20XS501520]
                Kentucky 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.
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                SUMMARY: We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
                (OSMRE), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Kentucky
                regulatory program (hereinafter, Kentucky program), under the Surface
                Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Through
                this program amendment, Kentucky seeks changes to its administrative
                regulations that involve definitions pertaining to bond and insurance
                requirements.
                 This document gives the times and locations that the Kentucky
                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 4:00
                p.m., Eastern Standard Time (e.s.t.), March 26, 2020. If requested, we
                may hold a public hearing or meeting on the amendment on March 23,
                2020. We will accept requests to speak at a hearing until 4:00 p.m.,
                e.s.t. on March 11, 2020.
                ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. KY-262-FOR,
                by any of the following methods:
                 Mail/Hand Delivery: Mr. Michael Castle, Field Office
                Director, Lexington Field Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation
                and Enforcement, 2675 Regency Road, Lexington, KY 40503.
                 Fax: (859) 260-8410.
                 Federal eRulemaking Portal: This amendment has been
                assigned Docket ID: OSM-2019-0014. 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 Kentucky
                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 Lexington
                Field Office or the full text of the program amendment is available for
                you to read at https://www.regulations.gov.
                 Mr. Michael Castle, Field Office Director, Lexington Field Office,
                Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 2675 Regency
                Road, Lexington, KY 40503, Telephone: (859) 260-3900, Email:
                [email protected].
                 In addition, you may review a copy of the amendment during regular
                business hours at the following location:
                 Mr. Michael Mullins, Regulation Coordinator, Department for Natural
                Resources, Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, 3000 Sower
                Boulevard, Frankfort, KY 40601, Telephone: (502) 782-6720, Email:
                [email protected].
                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael Castle, Office of Surface
                Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 2675 Regency Road, Lexington, KY
                40503. Telephone: (859) 260-3900; email: [email protected].
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                I. Background on the Kentucky Program
                II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
                III. Public Comment Procedures
                IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
                I. Background on the Kentucky 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 Kentucky program
                effective May 18, 1982. You can find background information on the
                Kentucky program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition
                of comments, and conditions of approval of the Kentucky program in the
                May 18, 1982, Federal Register (47 FR 21434). You can also find later
                actions concerning the Kentucky program and program amendments at 30
                CFR 917.11, 917.12, 917.13, 917.15, 917.16, and 917.17.
                II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
                 By letter dated November 25, 2019, (Administrative Record No. KY-
                2005), Kentucky sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30
                U.S.C. 1201 et seq.) at its own initiative. With this amendment,
                Kentucky seeks to revise its administrative regulations at Title 405 of
                the Kentucky Administrative Regulations (KAR), Chapter 10:001, Bond and
                Insurance Requirements, Definitions for 405 KAR Chapter 10, as
                summarized below.
                 A. Definition of ``Adjacent Area'': Kentucky seeks to revise
                Section 1, Definitions, subsection (4), definition of ``adjacent
                area,'' by adding ``surface water'' to the list of resources on land
                located outside the affected area or permit area that could be
                adversely impacted by surface coal mining and reclamation operations.
                 B. Definition of ``Long Term Treatment'': Kentucky seeks to add the
                definition of ``long term treatment'' at subsection (26) to mean:
                ``. . . the use of any active or passive water treatment necessary to
                meet water quality effluent standards at the time a permit or any
                affected permit increment attains phase one (1) bond release
                [[Page 10634]]
                standards as determined by the cabinet pursuant to 405 KAR 10:040.''
                 Other minor changes such as paragraph renumbering are also
                included. The full text of the program amendment is available for you
                to read at the locations listed above under ADDRESSES or at http://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 4:00 p.m., e.s.t. on
                March 11, 2020. 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 amendments 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 917
                 Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
                 Dated: January 30, 2020.
                Thomas D. Shope,
                Regional Director, North Atlantic-Appalachian Region.
                [FR Doc. 2020-03745 Filed 2-24-20; 8:45 am]
                 BILLING CODE 4310-05-P
                

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