Proposed Rule2026-06892
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
April 9, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentSurface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office
Abstract
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is announcing receipt of a proposed regulatory amendment to the Wyoming coal program (Wyoming program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Wyoming submitted this proposed amendment to us, on its own initiative, following the Wyoming Environmental Quality Council's (EQC) and Wyoming Governor's approval of the proposed changes to its Land Quality Division (LQD)--Coal Rules on September 17, 2025, and October 29, 2025, respectively. Through this amendment, Wyoming is proposing to recognize a specific type of reclamation bond estimate adjustment that would not be considered a bond release request.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 68 (Thursday, April 9, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 68 (Thursday, April 9, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17912-17913]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-06892]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 950
[SATS No. WY-052-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2026-0001;S1D1S SS08011000
SX064A000 266S180110;S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 26XS501520]
Wyoming 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: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM)
is announcing receipt of a proposed regulatory amendment to the Wyoming
coal program (Wyoming program) under the Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Wyoming submitted this
proposed amendment to us, on its own initiative, following the Wyoming
Environmental Quality Council's (EQC) and Wyoming Governor's approval
of the proposed changes to its Land Quality Division (LQD)--Coal Rules
on September 17, 2025, and October 29, 2025, respectively. Through this
amendment, Wyoming is proposing to recognize a specific type of
reclamation bond estimate adjustment that would not be considered a
bond release request.
DATES: We will accept written comments on this amendment until 4:00
p.m., Mountain Time (M.T.) May 11, 2026. If requested, we may hold a
public hearing or meeting on the amendment on May 4, 2026. We will
accept requests to speak at a hearing until 4:00 p.m., M.T. on April
24, 2026.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by SATS No. WY-052-FOR,
by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Mail/Hand Delivery: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation
and Enforcement, Attn: Jeffrey Fleischman, P.O. Box 11018, 100 East B
Street, Room 4100, Casper, Wyoming 82602.
<bullet> Fax: (307) 261-6552.
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: The amendment has been
assigned Docket ID: OSM-2026-0001. 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 received submissions 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.
Attn: Jeffrey Fleischman, Field Office Director, Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 100 East B Street, Casper, Wyoming
82602. Telephone: (307) 261-6550. Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#056f6369606c76666d68646b456a766877602b626a73"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b1dbd7ddd4d8c2d2d9dcd0dff1dec2dcc3d49fd6dec7">[email protected]</span></a>.
You may receive one free copy of the amendment by contacting
OSMRE's Casper Field Office, or read the full text of the program
amendment at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>.
In addition, you may review a copy of the amendment during regular
business hours at the following location: Attn: Brandi O'Brien,
Administrator, Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Land
Quality Division, 200 West 17th Street, Suite 10 Cheyenne, Wyoming
82002. Telephone: (307) 777-7757. Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e98b9b88878d80c7868b9b808c87a99e9086c78e869f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4d2f3f2c23292463222f3f2428230d3a3422632a223b">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Fleischman, Field Office
Director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 100
East B Street, Casper, Wyoming 82602. Telephone: (307) 261-6550. Email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3359555f565a40505b5e525d735c405e41561d545c45"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3359555f565a40505b5e525d735c405e41561d545c45">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the Wyoming Program
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations
I. Background on the Wyoming Program
Subject to OSM's oversight, 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 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 of the Wyoming program in the
[[Page 17913]]
November 26, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 78637). You can also find
later actions concerning the Wyoming program and program amendments at
30 CFR 950.10.
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
By letter dated January 15, 2026 (Administrative Record No. WY-052-
01), Wyoming sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C.
1201 et seq.). We found Wyoming's proposed amendment administratively
complete on January 20, 2026. Wyoming submitted this proposed amendment
to us, on its own initiative, following the Wyoming Environmental
Quality Council's (EQC) and Wyoming Governor's approval of the proposed
changes to its Land Quality Division (LQD)--Coal Rules on September 17,
2025, and October 29, 2025, respectively.
At Wyoming Code of Wyoming Rules (WCWR) 20-0006-12, Section 2(e),
which dictates Wyoming's requirements for bond adjustments, Wyoming
first proposed to add ``operational parameters'' to its list of actions
or circumstances that reduce the estimated reclamation cost for an
operation. Second, Wyoming proposed to add another situation to its
list of what would be considered a ``bond adjustment'' as opposed to a
``bond release.'' Wyoming's proposed language would allow a decrease in
the volume of material required to reclaim a final cut, pit, or void
created at a surface mining operation by the permit holder or their
designated entities to be considered a ``bond adjustment.''
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>.
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 Wyoming 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 a public hearing, contact the person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4:00 p.m. M.T. on April 24,
2026. 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 their comments. The public hearing will
continue 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 (OMB Memo M-94-3), the approval of State program amendments is
exempted from OMB review under Executive Order 12866.
Other Laws and Executive Orders Affecting Rulemaking
When a State submits a program amendment to OSM 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.
Marcelo Calle,
Acting Regional Director, Unified Regions 5, 7-11.
[FR Doc. 2026-06892 Filed 4-8-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P
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