Montana 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 926 [SATS No. MT-047-FOR; Docket No. OSM-2025-0007; S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000 256S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 25XS501520] AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior. ACTION: Final rule; approving. SUMMARY: We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are approving an amendment to the Montana regulatory program under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Montana submitted this proposed amendment to OSM on its own initiative in response to a State law passed by the Montana Legislature—House Bill 616 (HB 616). The amendment to the Montana coal program regulations proposed that predictive modeling, along with monitoring data, may be included in a permittee's bond release application to prove compliance with their approved reclamation plans. Furthermore, Montana proposed that it may retain a portion of a bond for areas that are contributing suspended solids. HB 616 also included contingencies that apply to the proposed amendment but are not codified into the Montana Code Annotated (MCA): a severability clause, a contingent voidness clause, and an effective date clause. DATES: The effective date is August 14, 2026. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Attn: Jeffrey Fleischman, Field Office Director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 100 East B Street, Casper, Wyoming 82602, Telephone: (…