Sections 515 and 516 of SMCRA (30 USC
1201 et. seq.) provide that permittees conducting coal mining
operations shall meet all applicable performance standards of the
Act. The information collected is used by the regulatory authority
in monitoring and inspecting surface coal mining activities to
ensure that they are conducted in compliance with the requirements
of the Act.
US Code:
30 USC 1201 et. seq. Name of Law: The Surface Mining Control
and Reclamation Act of 1977
OSMRE proposed the Stream
Protection Rule (SPR) on July 27, 2015, (80 FR 44436) which
proposed to modify the collection requirements in 30 CFR Parts 816
and 817. This proposed rule sought comments from the public
comments on the burden estimates we identified, the availability of
data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and
recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format, and on the data
elements to be recorded, disclosed, and reported for the entire
part associated with the information collections approved by the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 1029-0047. OSMRE
received over 94,000 comments on the proposed rule, many of which
had information collection ramifications. These comments were
reviewed and the final SPR has incorporated changes, where
appropriate, to reflect the comments. Likewise, this information
collection request has been modified from the original request to
OMB to incorporate those final rule changes and the public comments
which affect this information collection request. This information
collection request will increase respondent burden by 136,578 hours
and $10,513,667 in non-wage costs due to program changes under the
Stream Protection Rule. This information collection request also
demonstrates adjustments of -321,142 hours and an increase of
$14,376,924 in non-wage costs for a total of 1,742,514 hours and
$33,364,075.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
816 & 817.56 What additional performance standards apply to mining activities conducted in or through an ephemeral stream? (SRAs)