North Dakota Regulatory Program

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is approving a proposed amendment to the North Dakota regulatory program (hereinafter, the "North Dakota program") under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The amendment consists of changes to North Dakota's revegetation policy document, Standards for Evaluation of Revegetation Success and Recommended Procedures for Pre- and Postmining Vegetation Assessments. Many of the changes are the result of rule changes that were submitted as amendments to the North Dakota regulatory program and approved by OSM in the April 28, 1997, and March 16, 1999, Federal Registers (62 FR 22889, and 64 FR 12896), giving mining companies options for proving reclamation success and revising requirements for tree and shrub standards. The corresponding changes are now being incorporated into the policy document. Other changes include clarifications, adjusting crop yield data, adding factors for adjusting yield standards, requiring plant species to be predominantly native, providing consistency for diversity and seasonality, prescribing the number of species for tame pastureland and clarifying sampling procedures. North Dakota intended to revise its policy document to reflect changes to its statute and regulations and make it consistent with corresponding Federal regulations and SMCRA.