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OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT

DOI Seal  MAKING OVERSIGHT MORE EFFECTIVE  OSM Seal

OVERSIGHT IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS

In our effort to improve oversight, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) thoroughly reviewed the statutory and regulatory requirements for oversight, our policy guidance and procedures for conducting oversight, and our oversight activities over the last two decades. In this review, we identified numerous opportunities for improving oversight effectiveness. Actions that we are taking and will take in the future are listed below. We also request comment on the potential actions listed under “Request for Comments.” Finally, we solicit suggestions for other ways of improving the effectiveness of oversight.

Immediate Actions

  • We have established two National Priority Review Topics for the current evaluation year (EY 2010):  calculation of performance bond amounts and approximate original contour.  [National Priority Review Topics]
  • We will conduct more oversight inspections.  [Oversight Inspections]
  • We will take the measures necessary to articulate OSM's authority to conduct independent oversight inspections without prior notification to the state.  [Oversight Inspections]
  • We will conduct more reviews of state-issued permits and state permitting procedures in the course of evaluating the National Priority Review Topics, as well as whenever oversight inspections or other information indicate that permits may be deficient.  [Review of Permits During Oversight]
  • We are evaluating our oversight data collection, analysis, and reporting requirements and methodologies to ensure that oversight data collected by OSM are appropriate for the purpose for which they are being collected.  The evaluation also will focus on establishing procedures to ensure data accuracy, completeness, and consistency.  [Data and Technology]
  • We are pursuing development of a national geographic information system (GIS) to store, maintain, and analyze data and to report on the status of coal mining and reclamation activities.  [Data and Technology]
  • OSM, in collaboration with other Federal agencies, is conducting a remote sensing pilot project to explore and determine the best methods for acquisition and delivery of satellite image data, products, and services that will assist our regulatory and inspection programs.  We will continue to develop our capabilities to monitor mining and reclamation operations using remote sensing technology, supplemented with selective on-site examination, as necessary, to evaluate potential compliance issues.  [Data and Technology]
  • We will ensure that each Field Office develops and implements an effective outreach plan that provides the public with opportunities to discuss the oversight process, including recommendations for additional review topics for the evaluation year and suggestions for improvements.  [Communication and Outreach]

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Policy Changes in Directive REG-8, Oversight of State Regulatory Programs

We will change our policy guidance and procedures and revise Directive REG-8, Oversight of State Regulatory Programs, to improve our oversight process.

  • Establish a methodology for determining the number and type of oversight inspections to be conducted on a state-by-state basis.  [Oversight Inspections]
  • Clarify that both random and focused methods of selecting sites to be inspected are acceptable, and to encourage use of a combination of both techniques when conducting oversight inspections.  [Oversight Inspections]
  • Establish a methodology for determining the minimum number of complete oversight inspections to be conducted annually in each state.  [Oversight Inspections]
  • Clarify our authority and responsibility to conduct reviews of state permitting procedures and state-issued permits.  [Review of Permits during Oversight]
  • Underscore the fundamental purpose of oversight, which is to ensure that states are effectively implementing, administering, maintaining, and enforcing approved state regulatory programs.  [Enhance Oversight and Corrective Actions]
  • Specify actions that we will take when we identify issues of significant scope and complexity or when a state fails to take timely action on a problem.  [Enhance Oversight and Corrective Actions]
  • Improve how we deliver information concerning oversight evaluation of state programs.  We will make the public evaluation file available online and post pertinent documents on an ongoing basis throughout the year as they are completed, rather than waiting until the end of the evaluation year.  In addition, we will update the list of documents to be included in the publicly available state evaluation files.  [Communication and Outreach]
  • Place greater emphasis on determining the causes of all off-site impacts.  We and the states will use that information to identify and initiate appropriate corrective measures to reduce the incidence of off-site impacts in the future. [Measures of State Regulatory Program Success]

New or Reinstated OSM Policy Directives

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Requests for Comments

We invite comment on the potential actions listed below.  We also solicit suggestions for other ways of improving the effectiveness of oversight.

  • Improving the citizen complaint process.  [Oversight Inspections]
  • New policy guidance for placing a condition on state regulatory program grants to require correction of issues if a state is not timely addressing and remedying problems identified during oversight.  [Enhance Oversight and Corrective Actions]
  • Mechanisms that we can employ to ensure that states correct problems in a timely fashion.  [Enhance Oversight and Corrective Actions]
  • Rulemaking to require that permittees submit an annual status report, in electronic form, to the regulatory authority.  The report would include a map, data, and narrative including, at a minimum, annual and cumulative data for:
    • the permit area;
    • the bonded area;
    • the disturbed area;
    • backfilled and graded areas;
    • areas where topsoil has been replaced;
    • areas that have been planted;
    • areas with Phase I bond release;
    • areas with Phase II bond release; and
    • areas with Phase III bond release [Data and Technology and Measures of State Regulatory Program Success]
  • Collecting data on the number of permits issued and revisions approved annually for:
    • special categories of mining, such as mountaintop removal operations and steep-slope mining (see 30 CFR Part 785 for additional detail);
    • permits incorporating variances from approximate original contour restoration requirements;
    • permits allowing mining within stream buffer zones; and
    • permits allowing mining on lands protected under section 522(e) of SMCRA, such as mining within 300 feet of an occupied dwelling or within 100 feet of a public road (see 30 CFR Part 761 for additional detail). [Data and Technology]
  • Implementing outreach enhancement tools such as:
    • providing educational opportunities to the public explaining oversight and how citizens can participate;
    • circulating draft state performance agreements or evaluation plans to the public for comment and addressing concerns in writing;
    • hosting public forums with focus groups to discuss specific concerns;
    • notifying interested parties of new information, meetings, and public participation opportunities via e-mail, face-to-face meetings, and telephone calls;
    • Sponsoring webcasts and using social networking tools. [Communication and Outreach]
  • Improving the content and format of the annual state performance agreement or evaluation plan. We seek comment on how the format and content of these reports could be improved to provide information that would be more useful and meaningful to the public and other stakeholders. [Communication and Outreach]
  • Improving the content and format of the annual state evaluation reports.  We seek comment on how these reports could be improved to provide information that would be more useful and meaningful to the public and other stakeholders.  [Communication and Outreach]
  • Providing more state program-specific information on the Internet.  We seek comment on what information should be available on our website.  [Communication and Outreach]
  • Rulemaking to improve the timeliness with which permittees apply for bond release.  Options include the following:
    • Revise 30 CFR 780.18(b) and 784.13(b) to include application for bond release as the final step in the reclamation schedule approved as part of the mining permit.
    • Revise 30 CFR 800.40 to authorize the regulatory authority to initiate bond release in lieu of the permittee.  The regulatory authority could either bill the permittee for the associated costs (advertisement, engineering, completion of forms, etc.) or retain a portion of the bond amount to cover those costs.
    • Establish an annual fee based on acres bonded under a permit. 
    • Consider shifting the administrative costs associated with conducting regulatory inspections on areas that are eligible for bond release to the permittee if the permittee does not apply for bond release in a timely manner. [Measures of State Regulatory Program Success]
  • Developing additional measures to evaluate the effectiveness of state regulatory programs. [Measures of State Regulatory Program Success]

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Comment Procedures

We are asking you to review and comment on the Oversight Improvement Actions summarized above.  The Discussion Papers provide background and more detail.

Please submit your comments by January 19, 2010. We encourage you to submit comments via email to Oversight@osmre.gov to ensure that your comments receive consideration. You also may submit written comments to:

Administrative Record (MS-252)
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
1951 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20240

Discussion Papers

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