OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING
    RECLAMATION & ENFORCEMENT

For Release June 25, 1997          Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719
                                                                                          jchildre@osmre.gov


         OSM PROPOSES COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH KENTUCKY
    TO REGULATE SURFACE MINING , RECLAMATION ON FEDERAL LANDS

     The Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement (OSM) is proposing to adopt a cooperative agreement between the
Department of the Interior and the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the regulation and
reclamation of surface and underground coal mining operations on federal lands in the
state.

     The proposal was published in the Federal Register of June 4, 1997, for public
review and comment.

     Under the proposed agreement, Kentucky gets full regulatory and reclamation
authority over coal mining on federal lands in Kentucky, as provided for in the Surface
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA).   The proposed agreement
designates the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet to
administer the program, to include permit application and review, enforcement, bonding,
and inspections.  That agency already carries out similar functions on all non-federal
land in Kentucky.

     The agreement calls for OSM to pay 100 percent of Kentucky's costs for
regulating coal mining and reclamation on federal lands.  OSM pays 50 percent of state
costs for Kentucky's existing Interior approved regulatory program covering coal mining
and reclamation on non-federal lands.

     Written comments on the proposal, and requests for additional information,
should be directed to William J. Kovacic, Director, OSM Lexington Field Office, 2675
Regency Road, Lexington, Kentucky 40503, telephone (606) 233-2894.  Written
comments must be received by 4 p.m., E.D.T., July 7, 1997.

     If  requested a public hearing on the proposed cooperative agreement will be
held June 30, 1997.  The location and time of the hearing will be arranged with the
persons requesting the hearing.  Persons needing special accommodations in order to
participate in the hearing should contact Mr. Kovacic by the same date.

                              -DOI-