Rule2026-06196
General Reclamation Requirements
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
March 31, 2026
Effective
March 30, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentSurface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office
Abstract
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is confirming the effective date of March 30, 2026, for the direct final rule entitled, "General Reclamation Requirements," which was published in the Federal Register on November 28, 2025. The direct final rule revised the Federal regulations to rescind obsolete language requiring compliance with the regulations when funding reclamation projects with prior balance replacement funds, which are moneys from the United States Treasury's General Fund that replaced State or Tribal share funds that were allocated before October 1, 2007, but were never appropriated by Congress. During the comment period, OSM received comments that required further review and consideration to determine whether the comments warranted a response, or the withdrawal or modification of the final rule. After further review and consideration, OSM determined that these comments were not significant adverse comments and is confirming the effective date.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 61 (Tuesday, March 31, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 61 (Tuesday, March 31, 2026)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15885-15886]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-06196]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 874
[Docket No. OSM-2025-0015; S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000 256S180110; S2D2S
SS08011000 SX064A000 25XS501520]
RIN 1029-AC99
General Reclamation Requirements
AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior
ACTION: Direct final rule; confirmation of effective date.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM)
is confirming the effective date of March 30, 2026, for the direct
final rule entitled, ``General Reclamation Requirements,'' which was
published in the Federal Register on November 28, 2025. The direct
final rule revised the Federal regulations to rescind obsolete language
requiring compliance with the regulations when funding reclamation
projects with prior balance replacement funds, which are moneys from
the United States Treasury's General Fund that replaced State or Tribal
share funds that were allocated before October 1, 2007, but were never
appropriated by Congress. During the comment period, OSM received
comments that required further review and consideration to determine
whether the comments warranted a response, or the withdrawal or
modification of the final rule. After further review and consideration,
OSM determined that these comments were not significant adverse
comments and is confirming the effective date.
DATES: The effective date of March 30, 2026, for the direct final rule
published at 90 FR 54582 (Nov. 28, 2025), delayed at 91 FR 3374 (Jan.
27, 2026), is confirmed.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Tyree, Chief, Division of
Regulatory Support, (202) 208-4479, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7c1608050e19193c130f110e19521b130a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="177d636e6572725778647a657239707861">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals in
the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services offered within their country to
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The direct final rule, which was published
at 90 FR 54582 (Nov. 28, 2025), included a 30-day public comment period
that ended on December 29, 2025. The original effective date of the
direct final rule was January 27, 2026; however, OSM received four
timely comments on the rule, and OSM extended the original effective
date to allow for sufficient time to review and consider those comments
to determine whether they were significant adverse comments that might
warrant a response or withdrawal or modification of the final rule.
Consequently, on January 27, 2026, OSM published a document in the
Federal Register (91 FR 3374) delaying the effective date of the rule
for 60 days, until March 30, 2026.
The four timely comments were generally generic and discussed
broad, mostly non-germane themes related to reclamation, coal mining,
and funding to Indian tribes. One comment, submitted anonymously, did
raise some questions related to prior balance replacement funds in an
effort to seek administrative clarity. No commenter expressly disagreed
with the rule. In addition to receiving the four timely comments, in
March 2026, long after the close of the comment period, OSM received
one additional comment that purported to make comments on this
[[Page 15886]]
rule; due to the untimely nature of this comment, it was not
considered.
After careful review of the timely comments, and discussed in
greater detail below, OSM has determined that the comments were not
significant adverse comments that warrant withdrawal or modification of
the final rule because the commenters did not effectively challenge the
rule's underlying premise or approach or explain why the rule would be
ineffective or inappropriate without a revision.
One commenter asked a series of questions related to prior balance
replacement funds, such as the amount unspent by grantees and
requesting a crosswalk that identifies the applicable Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) edition and key conditions for any remaining awards
and a simple table showing remaining balances and project status by
State and Tribe. While OSM appreciates the commenter's interest in
clarity, neither a crosswalk nor a table of funding is necessary.
Wyoming is the only State or Tribe that received prior balance
replacement funds and that still has an unspent balance (less than $1
million). While we agree that this State should have clarity about how
its prior balance replacement funds can be spent, the statutory
framework has not changed, and Wyoming has operated under these
requirements for many years and will continue to do so because Wyoming
must continue to comply with the terms and conditions of its existing
grant agreement, including the regulations in place at the time of the
grant award. Because those requirements remain in effect, the direct
final rule does not alter how the State obligates or expends its
remaining funds, including for SMCRA's contractor responsibility,
eligibility, and priority requirements. Likewise, Tribes with approved
SMCRA reclamation programs are unaffected because they have already
expended their prior balance replacement funds. Thus, the suggestions
for additional information, to the extent they are even appropriate in
a regulation, do not render the direct final rule, without such
addition, ineffective.
Moreover, as OSM made clear in the preamble to the rule, iOSM had
good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to forgo notice-and-comment
rulemaking because the rule is noncontroversial, makes only minor and
technical updates, involves little agency discretion, and is unlikely
to generate significant adverse comments. See 90 FR 54582. OSM also
committed to withdrawing the rule or issuing a new rule if significant
adverse comments were received. For the reasons stated above, OSM
determined that the comments received on this rule are not significant
adverse comments and that they do not justify making any modifications
to the rule or withdrawing the final rule. Moreover, even if OSM had no
good cause to forgo notice-and-comment rulemaking, the direct final
rule itself provided notice and an opportunity for comment and the
commenters availed themselves of that opportunity. On that basis, the
direct final rule complies with the APA.
As such, this notice confirms that this final rule will be
effective on March 30, 2026.
Lanny E. Erdos,
Director, Office of Surface Mining Exercising the Authority of the
Assistant Secretary--Land and Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. 2026-06196 Filed 3-30-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P
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