{"abstract":"We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are approving an amendment to the Montana regulatory program under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Montana submitted this proposed amendment to OSM on its own initiative in response to a State law passed by the Montana Legislature--House Bill 616 (HB 616). The amendment to the Montana coal program regulations proposed that predictive modeling, along with monitoring data, may be included in a permittee's bond release application to prove compliance with their approved reclamation plans. Furthermore, Montana proposed that it may retain a portion of a bond for areas that are contributing suspended solids. HB 616 also included contingencies that apply to the proposed amendment but are not codified into the Montana Code Annotated (MCA): a severability clause, a contingent voidness clause, and an effective date clause.","action":"Final rule; approving.","agencies":[{"raw_name":"DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR","name":"Interior Department","id":253,"url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/interior-department","json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/agencies/253","parent_id":null,"slug":"interior-department"},{"raw_name":"Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement","name":"Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office","id":480,"url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/surface-mining-reclamation-and-enforcement-office","json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/agencies/480","parent_id":253,"slug":"surface-mining-reclamation-and-enforcement-office"}],"body_html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/html/2026/07/15/2026-14245.html","cfr_references":[{"chapter":null,"citation_url":null,"part":"926","title":30}],"citation":"91 FR 43328","comment_url":null,"comments_close_on":null,"correction_of":null,"corrections":[],"dates":"The effective date is August 14, 2026.","disposition_notes":null,"docket_ids":["SATS No. MT-047-FOR","Docket No. OSM-2025-0007","S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000 256S180110","S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 25XS501520"],"dockets":[{"supporting_documents":[{"title":"MT-047-FOR-8-AdminRec-OFFICIALRECORD","document_id":"OSM-2025-0007-0009"}],"agency_name":"OSM","documents":[{"comment_count":0,"comment_start_date":"2026-07-15","updated_at":"2026-08-11T16:56:38.498-04:00","comment_url":"https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/OSM-2025-0007-0010","allow_late_comments":false,"id":"OSM-2025-0007-0010","comment_end_date":null,"regulations_dot_gov_open_for_comment":false}],"supporting_documents_count":1,"id":"OSM-2025-0007","title":"Montana Regulatory Program; MT-047-FOR"}],"document_number":"2026-14245","effective_on":"2026-08-14","end_page":43335,"executive_order_notes":null,"executive_order_number":null,"full_text_xml_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/xml/2026/07/15/2026-14245.xml","html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/15/2026-14245/montana-regulatory-program","images":{},"images_metadata":{},"json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents/2026-14245?publication_date=2026-07-15","mods_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/metadata/granule/FR-2026-07-15/2026-14245/mods.xml","not_received_for_publication":null,"page_length":8,"page_views":{"count":160,"last_updated":"2026-08-25 16:15:04 -0400"},"pdf_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-07-15/pdf/2026-14245.pdf","presidential_document_number":null,"proclamation_number":null,"public_inspection_pdf_url":"https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-14245.pdf?1784033119","publication_date":"2026-07-15","raw_text_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/text/2026/07/15/2026-14245.txt","regulation_id_number_info":{},"regulation_id_numbers":[],"regulations_dot_gov_info":{"supporting_documents":[{"title":"MT-047-FOR-8-AdminRec-OFFICIALRECORD","document_id":"OSM-2025-0007-0009"}],"comments_count":0,"agency_id":"OSM","comments_url":"https://www.regulations.gov/docketBrowser?rpp=50&so=DESC&sb=postedDate&po=0&dct=PS&D=OSM-2025-0007","supporting_documents_count":1,"docket_id":"OSM-2025-0007","document_id":"OSM-2025-0007-0010","regulation_id_number":null,"title":"Montana Regulatory Program; MT-047-FOR","checked_regulationsdotgov_at":"2026-08-12T23:55:04Z"},"regulations_dot_gov_url":null,"significant":null,"signing_date":null,"start_page":43328,"subtype":null,"title":"Montana Regulatory Program","toc_doc":"Montana","toc_subject":"Regulatory Program","topics":["Intergovernmental relations","Surface mining","Underground mining"],"type":"Rule","volume":91}