Utah Regulatory Program and Utah Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Plan

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is approving a proposed amendment to the Utah regulatory program and Utah abandoned mine land reclamation (AMLR) plan (hereinafter, the ``Utah program and plan'') under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Utah proposed revisions to and additions of statutes pertaining to the definition for ``adjudicative proceeding''; schedule of applicant's mining law violations and remining operation violations resulting from unanticipated events or conditions; location of informal conferences; performance standards for all coal mining and reclamation operations and approximate original contour variances for surface coal mining operations; requirements regarding surface effects of underground coal mining, repair or compensation for damage, replacement of water, suspension of underground mining upon finding of immediate danger to inhabitants at the surface, and applicability to other chapters; contest of violation or amount of civil penalty; and lands and waters eligible for expenditure of AMLR funds. The amendment was intended to revise the Utah program and plan to be consistent with SMCRA and to improve operational efficiency.