North Dakota Regulatory Program

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), are announcing receipt of a proposed amendment to the North Dakota regulatory program (North Dakota program) under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). North Dakota proposes numerous rule changes to the North Dakota Administrative Code for surface coal mining and reclamation operations and reclamation law changes that were made during North Dakota's 2015 Legislative Session. The law changes added a definition of ``commercial leonardite'' and excluded oxidized lignite (leonardite) from the statutory definition of ``coal.'' The law changes also added the phrase ``or commercial leonardite'' to many other sections of the reclamation law. North Dakota intends to revise its program to improve operational efficiency. This document gives the times and locations that the North Dakota program and proposed amendment to that program are available for your inspection, the comment period during which you may submit written comments on the amendment, and the procedures that we will follow for the public hearing, if one is requested.