Pennsylvania Regulatory Program

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 30 CFR Part 938 [SATS No. PA-170-FOR; Docket ID: OSM-2108-0007; S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000 234S180110 S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 23XS501520] AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), are approving a request from Pennsylvania for the removal of a required amendment to the Pennsylvania regulatory program (hereinafter, the Pennsylvania program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). The required amendment directed Pennsylvania to submit regulations requiring that siltation structures ( e.g., sedimentation ponds) not be removed any sooner than two years after the last augmented seeding. DATES: The effective date is September 9, 2024. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Owens, Acting Field Office Director, Pittsburgh Field Office, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Telephone: (412) 937-2827. Email: bowens@osmre.gov . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background on the Pennsylvania Program II. Submission of the Amendment III. OSMRE's Findings IV. Summary and Disposition of Comments V. OSMRE's Decision VI. Procedural Determinations I. Background on the Pennsylvania Program Subject to OSMRE oversight, Section 503(a) of the Act permits a State to assume primacy for the regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation oper…