![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Texas Regulatory Program
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: August 15, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 158)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 48844-48846]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15au03-19]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
30 CFR Part 943
[TX-050-FOR]
Texas 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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
(OSM), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the Texas
regulatory program (Texas program) under the Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). Texas proposes revisions to
its regulations regarding annual permit fees. Texas intends to revise
its program to improve operational efficiency.
This document gives the times and locations that the Texas 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 p.m.,
c.d.t., September 15, 2003. If requested, we will hold a public hearing
on the amendment on September 9, 2003. We will accept requests to speak
at a hearing until 4 p.m., c.d.t. on September 2, 2003.
ADDRESSES: You should mail or hand deliver written comments and
requests to speak at the hearing to Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa
Field Office, at the address listed below.
You may review copies of the Texas program, this amendment, a
listing of any scheduled public hearings, and all written comments
received in response to this document at the addresses listed below
during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding
holidays. You may receive one free copy of the amendment by contacting
OSM's Tulsa Field Office.
Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa Field Office, Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 5100 East Skelly Drive, Suite 470,
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135-6547, Telephone: (918) 581-6430, Internet
address: mwolfrom@osmre.gov
Surface Mining and Reclamation Division, Railroad Commission of Texas,
1701 North Congress Avenue, Capitol Station, P.O. Box 12967, Austin,
Texas 78711-2967, Telephone: (512) 463-6900
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael C. Wolfrom, Director, Tulsa
Field Office. Telephone: (918) 581-6430. Internet address:
mwolfrom@osmre.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background on the Texas Program
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
III. Public Comment Procedures
IV. Procedural Determinations
I. Background on the Texas 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 program includes, among other things, ``a State law which provides
for the regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations in
accordance with the requirements of this Act * * *; and rules and
regulations consistent with regulations issued by the Secretary
pursuant to this Act.'' See 30 U.S.C. 1253(a)(1) and (7). On the basis
of these criteria, the Secretary of the Interior conditionally approved
the Texas program effective February 16, 1980. You can find background
information on the Texas program, including the Secretary's findings,
the disposition of comments, and the conditions of approval of the
Texas program in the February 27, 1980, Federal Register (45 FR 12998).
You can also find later actions concerning the Texas program and
program amendments at 30 CFR 943.10, 943.15 and 943.16.
II. Description of the Proposed Amendment
By letter dated July 10, 2003 (Administrative Record No. TX-655),
Texas sent us an amendment to its program under SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1201
et seq.). Texas sent the amendment at its own initiative. Below is the
full text of the proposed revised regulation.
Sec. 12.108 Permit Fees.
(a) Each application for a surface coal mining and reclamation
permit or renewal or revision of a permit shall be accompanied by a
fee. The initial application fee and the application fee for renewal
of a permit may be paid in equal annual installments during the term
of the permit. The fee schedule is as follows:
(1) application for a permit''--$5,000.00
(2) application for revision of a permit--$500.00
(3) application for renewal of a permit--$3,000.00
(b) In addition to application fees required by this section,
each permittee shall pay to the Commission an annual fee in the
amount of $300 for each acre of land within the permit area on which
the permittee actually conducted operations for the removal of coal
and lignite during the calendar year. The total amount of this fee
is due and payable not later than March 15th of the year following
the year of removal operations. For calendar year 2003 only, the
annual fee shall be calculated as follows: for each acre of land on
which the permittee actually conducted operations for the removal of
coal and lignite during the period January 1, 2003 through August
31, 2003, the permittee shall pay to the Commission an annual fee of
$120 per acre. For each acre of land on which the permittee actually
conducted operations for the removal of coal and lignite during the
period September 1, 2003, through December 31, 2003, the permittee
shall pay to the Commission an annual fee of $300 per acre.
(c) Fees paid to the Commission under this section shall be
deposited in the State treasury and credited to the general revenue
fund.
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.
Written Comments
Send your written or electronic comments to OSM at the address
given above. Your written comments should be specific, pertain only to
the issues proposed in this rulemaking, and include explanations in
support of your recommendations. We will not consider or respond to
your comments when developing the final rule if they are received after
the close of the comment period (see DATES). We will make every
[[Page 48845]]
attempt to log all comments into the administrative record, but
comments delivered to an address other than the Tulsa Field Office may
not be logged in.
Electronic Comments
Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII or Word file avoiding
the use of special characters and any form of encryption. Please also
include ``Attn: TX-050-FOR'' and your name and return address in your
Internet message. If you do not receive a confirmation that we have
received your Internet message, contact the Tulsa Field Office at (918)
581-6430.
Availability of Comments
We will make comments, including names and addresses of
respondents, available for public review during normal business hours.
We will not consider anonymous comments. If individual respondents
request confidentiality, we will honor their request to the extent
allowable by law. Individual respondents who wish to withhold their
name or address from public review, except for the city or town, must
state this prominently at the beginning of their comments. We will make
all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations
or businesses, available for public review in their entirety.
Public Hearing
If you wish to speak at the public hearing, contact the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4 p.m., c.d.t. on
September 2, 2003. If you are disabled and need special 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 12630--Takings
This rule does not have takings implications. This determination is
based on the analysis performed for the counterpart Federal regulation.
Executive Order 12866--Regulatory Planning and Review
This rule is exempted from review by the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) under Executive Order 12866.
Executive Order 12988--Civil Justice Reform
The Department of the Interior has conducted the reviews required
by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 and has determined that this rule
meets the applicable standards of subsections (a) and (b) of that
section. However, these standards are not applicable to the actual
language of State regulatory programs and program amendments because
each program is drafted and promulgated by a specific State, not by
OSM. Under sections 503 and 505 of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1253 and 1255) and
the Federal regulations at 30 CFR 730.11, 732.15, and 732.17(h)(10),
decisions on proposed State regulatory programs and program amendments
submitted by the States must be based solely on a determination of
whether the submittal is consistent with SMCRA and its implementing
Federal regulations and whether the other requirements of 30 CFR Parts
730, 731, and 732 have been met.
Executive Order 13132--Federalism
This rule does not have Federalism implications. SMCRA delineates
the roles of the Federal and State governments with regard to the
regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations. One of
the purposes of SMCRA is to ``establish a nationwide program to protect
society and the environment from the adverse effects of surface coal
mining operations.'' Section 503(a)(1) of SMCRA requires that State
laws regulating surface coal mining and reclamation operations be ``in
accordance with'' the requirements of SMCRA, and section 503(a)(7)
requires that State programs contain rules and regulations ``consistent
with'' regulations issued by the Secretary pursuant to SMCRA.
Executive Order 13175--Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal
Governments
In accordance with Executive Order 13175, we have evaluated the
potential effects of this rule on Federally-recognized Indian tribes
and have determined that the rule does not have substantial direct
effects on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the
Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power
and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes.
This determination is based on the fact that the Texas program does not
regulate coal exploration and surface coal mining and reclamation
operations on Indian lands. Therefore, the Texas program has no effect
on Federally-recognized Indian tribes.
Executive Order 13211--Regulations That Significantly Affect The
Supply, Distribution, or Use of Energy
On May 18, 2001, the President issued Executive Order 13211 which
requires agencies to prepare a Statement of Energy Effects for a rule
that is (1) considered significant under Executive Order 12866, and (2)
likely to have a significant adverse effect on the supply,
distribution, or use of energy. Because this rule is exempt from review
under Executive Order 12866 and is not expected to have a significant
adverse effect on the supply, distribution, or use of energy, a
Statement of Energy Effects is not required.
National Environmental Policy Act
This rule does not require an environmental impact statement
because section 702(d) of SMCRA (30 U.S.C. 1292(d)) provides that
agency decisions on proposed State regulatory program provisions do not
constitute major Federal actions within the meaning of section
102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C.
4332(2)(C)).
Paperwork Reduction Act
This rule does not contain information collection requirements that
require approval by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
3507 et seq.).
[[Page 48846]]
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Department of the Interior certifies that this rule will not
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
The State submittal, which is the subject of this rule, is based upon
counterpart Federal regulations for which an economic analysis was
prepared and certification made that such regulations would not have a
significant economic effect upon a substantial number of small
entities. In making the determination as to whether this rule would
have a significant economic impact, the Department relied upon the data
and assumptions for the counterpart Federal regulations.
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
This rule is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 804(2), the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act. This rule: (a) Does not
have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million; (b) Will not
cause a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual
industries, Federal, State, or local government agencies, or geographic
regions; and (c) Does not have significant adverse effects on
competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the
ability of U.S.-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based
enterprises. This determination is based upon the fact that the State
submittal, which is the subject of this rule, is based upon counterpart
Federal regulations for which an analysis was prepared and a
determination made that the Federal regulation was not considered a
major rule.
Unfunded Mandates
This rule will not impose an unfunded mandate on State, local, or
tribal governments or the private sector of $100 million or more in any
given year. This determination is based upon the fact that the State
submittal, which is the subject of this rule, is based upon counterpart
Federal regulations for which an analysis was prepared and a
determination made that the Federal regulation did not impose an
unfunded mandate.
List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 943
Intergovernmental relations, Surface mining, Underground mining.
Dated: July 25, 2003.
Nancy L. Shaw,
Acting Regional Director, Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.
[FR Doc. 03-20915 Filed 8-14-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P