Proposed Rule2025-23264
North Dakota Reclamation Plan
Primary source
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Published
December 18, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentSurface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office
Abstract
We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), announce receipt of a proposed amendment to the North Dakota abandoned mine land (AML) reclamation plan (the North Dakota plan) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). The proposed amendment updates the purposes for which the North Dakota abandoned mine reclamation fund may be used and creates a set-aside trust account in the State treasury. The definition of eligible lands and water and project priorities are also revised.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 241 (Thursday, December 18, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 241 (Thursday, December 18, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59084-59086]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23264]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 934
[SATS No. ND-058-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2025-0038; S1D1S SS08011000
SX064A000 256S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 25XS501520]
North Dakota Reclamation Plan
AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule and notice 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), announce receipt of a proposed amendment to the North Dakota
abandoned mine land (AML) reclamation plan (the North Dakota plan)
under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or
the Act). The proposed amendment updates the purposes for which the
[[Page 59085]]
North Dakota abandoned mine reclamation fund may be used and creates a
set-aside trust account in the State treasury. The definition of
eligible lands and water and project priorities are also revised.
DATES: We will accept written comments on this amendment until 4:00
p.m., Mountain Daylight Time (M.T.), January 20, 2026. If requested, we
may hold a public hearing or meeting on the amendment on January 12,
2026. We will accept requests to speak at a hearing until 4:00 p.m.,
M.T. on January 2, 2026.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by State Amendment
Tracking System (SATS) No. ND-058-FOR, by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Mail/Hand Delivery: OSMRE, Attn: Jeffrey Fleischman, P.O.
Box 11018, 100 East B Street, Room 4100, Casper, Wyoming 82601-1018.
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: The amendment has been
assigned Docket ID: OSM-2025-0038. 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.
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 North
Dakota plan, 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 plan amendment is available for you
to read at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Attn: Jeffrey Fleischman, Denver Field
Division Chief, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement,
Casper Area Office, P.O. Box 11018, 100 East B Street, Room 4100,
Casper, Wyoming 82601-1018. Telephone: (307) 204-4397. Email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#066c606a636f75656e6b67684669756b746328616970"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="650f0309000c16060d08040b250a160817004b020a13">[email protected]</span></a>.
In addition, you may review a copy of the proposed amendment during
regular business hours at the following location: Attn: Jonathan Emmer,
AML Division Director, North Dakota Public Service Commission, 600 East
Boulevard, Dept. 408, Bismarck, North Dakota 58505-0480. Telephone:
(701) 328-4094. Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5e343b33333b2c1e303a70393128"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bdd7d8d0d0d8cffdd3d993dad2cb">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Fleischman, Denver Field
Division Chief, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement,
Casper Area Office, P.O. Box 11018, 100 East B Street Casper, Wyoming
82601-1018. Telephone: (307) 204-4397. Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#98f2fef4fdf1ebfbf0f5f9f6d8f7ebf5eafdb6fff7ee"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2248444e474b51414a4f434c624d514f50470c454d54">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the North Dakota Reclamation Plan
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Review
I. Background on the North Dakota Reclamation Plan
OSMRE's Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program was established by
title IV of the Act (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.), in response to concerns
over extensive environmental damage caused by coal mining activities
prior to the enactment of SMCRA. Traditionally, this program has been
funded primarily by a reclamation fee collected by OSMRE on each ton of
coal that is produced. The money is placed in the Federal Abandoned
Mine Reclamation Fund and is distributed to States and Tribes with
approved reclamation plans as grants to be used to finance the
reclamation of coal mines abandoned before the enactment of SMCRA and
left in an unreclaimed or inadequately reclaimed condition and for
certain other purposes.
Section 405 of the Act (30 U.S.C. 1235) allows States and Tribes to
assume exclusive responsibility for AML reclamation activity on lands
within their jurisdiction if they develop and submit to the Secretary
of the Interior for approval, a reclamation plan for the reclamation of
abandoned coal mines. On the basis of these criteria, the Secretary of
the Interior conditionally approved the North Dakota Abandoned Mine
Plan on July 27, 1992. You can find background information on the North
Dakota plan, including the Secretary's findings, the disposition of
comments, and conditions of approval of the North Dakota program in the
July 27, 1992, Federal Register (57 FR 33116).
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
By letter dated September 10, 2025 (Administrative Record No. ND-
058-01), North Dakota sent us an amendment to its plan under SMCRA (30
U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). Through Senate bill 2117 (SB 2117), North Dakota
proposed changes to chapter 38-14.2 of the North Dakota Century Code
(NDCC) in response to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub.
L. 117-58), the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Pub. L. 117-
328), and changes to title 30, chapter VII, subchapter R of the Code of
Federal Regulations.
This proposed amendment updates the purposes for which the North
Dakota abandoned mine reclamation fund may be used and creates a set-
aside trust account in the State treasury. The definition of eligible
lands and water and project priorities are also revised. The full text
of the plan 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>.
III. Public Comment Procedures
We are seeking your comments on whether the amendment satisfies the
applicable plan approval criteria of 30 CFR 884.14 and 884.15. If we
approve the amendment, it will become part of the North Dakota
reclamation plan.
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. We appreciate any and all relevant
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.T. on
January 2, 2026. If
[[Page 59086]]
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 Review
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 (OMB Memo M-94-3), the approval of reclamation plan amendments
is exempted from OMB review under Executive Order 12866.
Other Laws and Executive Orders Affecting Rulemaking
When a State submits a plan amendment to OSMRE for review, our
regulations at 30 CFR 884.14 and 884.15, and agency policy require
public notification and an opportunity for public comment. We
accomplish this by publishing a notice in the Federal Register
indicating receipt of the proposed amendment and its text or a summary
of its terms.
We will conclude our review of the proposed amendment after the
close of the public comment period and will 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 934
Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
Marcelo Calle,
Acting Regional Director, Unified Interior Regions 5, 7-11.
[FR Doc. 2025-23264 Filed 12-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P
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