Pennsylvania Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program; Pennsylvania Regulatory Program

OSM is approving, with certain exceptions, a proposed amendment to the Pennsylvania Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (AMLR) Plan (hereinafter referred to as the AMLR Plan) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), 30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq., as amended. The proposed amendment adds a new section ``F'' entitled Government Financed Construction Contracts (GFCC) to authorize the incidental removal of coal and coal refuse at Abandoned Mine Land (AML) sites that would not otherwise be mined and reclaimed under the Title V program, along with relevant statutory provisions authorizing the AMLR Plan amendments. The proposed amendment also includes the Program Requirements and Monitoring Requirements related to the use of GFCC for that purpose. The proposed amendment is intended to improve the efficiency of the Pennsylvania program by allowing the government- financed construction exemption in Section 528 of SMCRA to be applied in cases involving less than 50% financing only in the limited situation where the construction constitutes a government approved and administered abandoned mine land reclamation project under Title IV of SMCRA. The amendment is also intended to authorize the use of excess spoil from a valid, permitted coal mining operation for the reclamation of an abandoned unreclaimed area outside of the permit area.