Proposed Rule2021-16545
Wyoming Regulatory Program
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 4, 2021
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentSurface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office
Abstract
We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Wyoming regulatory program (hereinafter, the Wyoming program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Wyoming proposes revisions to its program, which includes rules regarding the disposal of decommissioned wind turbine blades and towers as backfill, in response to legislative changes made during the 2020 legislative session. In addition, revisions were made to Chapter 2: Permit Application Requirements for Surface Coal Mining Operations, to correct grammatical errors and provide consistency with the Secretary of State's Rules on Rules. The revised rules address several national, state, and local issues associated with wind energy generation, maintenance, and upgrades, as well as the resulting stockpile of decommissioned wind turbine blades and towers. This document gives the times and locations that the Wyoming 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 147 (Wednesday, August 4, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 147 (Wednesday, August 4, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41907-41909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16545]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 950
[SATS No. WY-049-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2021-0003; S1D1S SS08011000
SX064A000 212S180110; S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000 21XS501520]
Wyoming Regulatory Program
AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; opening of 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 Wyoming
regulatory program (hereinafter, the
[[Page 41908]]
Wyoming program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Wyoming proposes revisions to its program,
which includes rules regarding the disposal of decommissioned wind
turbine blades and towers as backfill, in response to legislative
changes made during the 2020 legislative session. In addition,
revisions were made to Chapter 2: Permit Application Requirements for
Surface Coal Mining Operations, to correct grammatical errors and
provide consistency with the Secretary of State's Rules on Rules. The
revised rules address several national, state, and local issues
associated with wind energy generation, maintenance, and upgrades, as
well as the resulting stockpile of decommissioned wind turbine blades
and towers.
This document gives the times and locations that the Wyoming
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.
DATES: We will accept written comments on this amendment until 4:00
p.m., m.d.t. September 3, 2021. If requested, we may hold a public
hearing or meeting on the amendment on August 30, 2021. We will accept
requests to speak at a hearing until 4:00 p.m., m.d.t. on August 19,
2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. WY-050-FOR,
by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Mail/Hand Delivery: Mr. Jeffrey Fleischman, Director,
Denver Field Division; Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement; Casper Area Office; 100 East ``B'' Street, Room 4100, P.O.
Box 11018, Casper, Wyoming 82601.
<bullet> Fax: (307) 261-6552.
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: The amendment has been
assigned Docket ID: OSM-2021-0003. If you would like to submit
comments, go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments.
We cannot ensure that comments received after the close of the
comment period (see DATES) or sent to an address other than the ones
listed above will be included in the docket for this rulemaking and
considered.
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 Wyoming
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 Casper
Area Office or the full text of the program amendment is available for
you to read at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Jeffrey Fleischman, Director Denver Field Division, Office of
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Dick Cheney Federal
Building, 150 East B Street, Room 1018, Casper, Wyoming 82601-1018.
Telephone: (307) 261-6550. Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a7cdc1cbc2ced4c4cfcac6c9e7c8d4cad5c289c0c8d1"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8de7ebe1e8e4feeee5e0ece3cde2fee0ffe8a3eae2fb">[email protected]</span></a>.
In addition, you may review a copy of the amendment during regular
business hours at the following location: Kyle Wendtland,
Administrator, Land Quality Division, Wyoming Department of
Environmental Quality, 200 West 17th Street, Suite 10, Cheyenne,
Wyoming 82002. Telephone: 307-777-7046. Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#753e0c19105b22101b110119141b1135020c1a5b121a03"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="03487a6f662d54666d67776f626d6743747a6c2d646c75">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Fleischman, Division Chief,
Casper Area Office. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement, Dick Cheney Federal Building, P.O. Box 11018, 150 East B
Street Casper, Wyoming 82601-1018. Telephone: (307) 261-6555. Email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8ae0ece6efe3f9e9e2e7ebe4cae5f9e7f8efa4ede5fc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="84eee2e8e1edf7e7ece9e5eac4ebf7e9f6e1aae3ebf2">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the Wyoming Program
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background on the Wyoming 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 approved the Wyoming program on
November 26, 1980. You can find background information on the Wyoming
program, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of
comments, and conditions of approval in the November 26, 1980, Federal
Register (45 FR 78637). You can also find later actions concerning
Wyoming's program and program amendments at 30 CFR 950.11, 950.12,
950.15, 950.16, and 950.20.
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
By letter dated June 4, 2021 (Administrative Record No. WY-054-01),
Wyoming sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201
et seq.). Wyoming submitted the amendment in response to legislative
changes made, through Wyoming House Bill HB0129 during the 2020
legislative session, to Wyoming Statute (W.S.) Sec. 35-11-
402(a)(xiii), which outlined rules regarding how decommissioned wind
turbine blades and towers could be used as backfill in open surface
coal mine pits in order to facilitate disposal. Due to the large volume
of decommissioned wind turbine blades and towers, a lack of scalable
recycling methods to facilitate their disposal, and the absence of
guidance in SMCRA regarding the disposal of non-mining-generated, solid
wastes at a coal mine, the Wyoming Legislature provided the Land
Quality Division with the authority to develop rules and regulations
regarding such disposal. The revised rules address local, state, and
national issues associated with the resulting stockpile of
decommissioned wind turbine blades and towers, as a result of wind
energy generation, upgrades, and routine maintenance.
In addition, revisions were made to Chapter 2: Permit Application
Requirements for Surface Coal Mining Operations, to provide consistency
with the Wyoming Secretary of State's Rules on Rules, as well as
correct grammatical errors. The full text of the program amendment is
available for you to read at the locations listed above under ADDRESSES
or at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
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
[[Page 41909]]
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., m.d.t. on
August 19, 2021. 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 950
Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
David Berry,
Regional Director, Western Region.
[FR Doc. 2021-16545 Filed 8-3-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P
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