Proposed Rule2023-10491
Alaska 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
May 19, 2023
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 Alaska regulatory program (hereinafter, the Alaska program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). This amendment proposes to change the Alaska Administrative Code by revising and adding provisions pertaining to Valid Existing Rights. Alaska intends to revise its program to be consistent with the corresponding Federal regulations and SMCRA, clarify ambiguities, and improve operational efficiency. This document gives the times and locations that the Alaska 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 97 (Friday, May 19, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 97 (Friday, May 19, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32158-32159]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10491]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 902
[SATS No. AK-009-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2022-0007; S1D1S
S08011000SX064A000 222S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 22XS501520]
Alaska 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 Alaska
regulatory program (hereinafter, the Alaska program) under the Surface
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). This
amendment proposes to change the Alaska Administrative Code by revising
and adding provisions pertaining to Valid Existing Rights. Alaska
intends to revise its program to be consistent with the corresponding
Federal regulations and SMCRA, clarify ambiguities, and improve
operational efficiency. This document gives the times and locations
that the Alaska 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 p.m.,
MDT June 20, 2023. If requested, we may hold a public hearing or
meeting on the amendment on June 13, 2023. We will accept requests to
speak at a hearing until 4 p.m., MDT on June 5, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. AK-009-FOR,
by any of the following methods:
Mail/Hand Delivery: OSMRE, Attn: Howard Strand, Denver Field Branch
Manager; Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement; One
Denver Federal Center, Building 41, P.O. Box 25065, Lakewood, Colorado
80225-0065.
Fax: 303-236-6056.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: The amendment has been assigned Docket
ID: OSM-2022-0007. If you would like to submit comments go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://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 Alaska
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 Denver
Field Office or the full text of the program amendment is available for
you to read at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>.
Attn: Howard Strand, Denver Field Branch Manager, Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, One Denver Federal Center--Building
41, Lakewood, Colorado 80225-0065, Telephone: (303) 236-2931, Email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#137b606761727d77537c607e61763d747c65"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e28a919690838c86a28d918f9087cc858d94">[email protected]</span></a>
In addition, you may review a copy of the amendment during regular
business hours at the following location:
Attn: Russell Kirkham, Alaska Coal Regulatory Program Manager, Division
of Mining, Land and Water, Department of Natural Resources, 550 West
7th Avenue, Suite 900D, Anchorage, Alaska 99501-3577, Telephone: (907)
269-8650, Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#34464147475158581a5f5d465f5c555974555855475f551a535b42"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d4a6a1a7a7b1b8b8fabfbda6bfbcb5b994b5b8b5a7bfb5fab3bba2">[email protected]</span></a>
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Fleischman, Field Office
Director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Dick
Cheney Federal Building, P.O. Box 11018, 100 East B Street, Casper,
Wyoming 82601-1018. Telephone: (307) 261-6550. Email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7d171b1118140e1e15101c133d120e100f18531a120b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4c262a2029253f2f24212d220c233f213e29622b233a">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the Alaska Program
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations
Background on the Alaska 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
[[Page 32159]]
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 Alaska program on May 2, 1983.
You can find background information on the Alaska program, including
the Secretary's findings, the disposition of comments, and conditions
of approval of the Alaska program in the March 23, 1983, Federal
Register (48 FR 12274). You can also find later actions concerning the
program and program amendments at 30 CFR 902.10.
Description of the Proposed Amendment
By letter dated June 27, 2022 (Administrative Record No. OSM-2022-
0019-001), Alaska sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30
U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). OSMRE received the amendment on June 28, 2022 and
found it administratively complete on June 29, 2022.
Alaska submitted the amendment to implement the required changes
identified in OSMRE's April 2, 2001 and February 4, 2008 letters and
conform with the State of Alaska ``Drafting Manual for Administrative
Regulation.'' The amendment proposes to change the Alaska
Administrative Code by revising and adding provisions pertaining to
Valid Existing Rights. Specifically, Alaska proposes to add a
definition of ``valid existing rights,'' changes to areas where mining
may be limited or occurs in an area designated unsuitable for surface
coal mining, and to formalize the process to request valid existing
rights. 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">www.regulations.gov</a>.
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 p.m., MDT on June 5,
2023. 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. Procedural Determinations
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 902
State regulatory program approval, State-federal cooperative
agreement, required program amendments.
David A. Berry,
Regional Director, Unified Regions 5, 7-11.
[FR Doc. 2023-10491 Filed 5-18-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P
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