• It prohibits mining within the boundaries of national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, trails, wild and scenic rivers, wilderness and recreation areas; in areas which will adversely affect sites listed on the National Register of historic Places; and within a restricted distance of occupied dwellings, public roads, buildings, parks, schools, churches, and cemeteries; and
• Provides a process that allows anyone whose interests may be adversely affected by proposed mining to petition to have specific lands designated unsuitable for mining.

Petition Number	Location	Decision and Date
1	Southern Utah (Alton)	Interior Secretary declared eastern portion of Alton coal field and areas by Bryce Canyon National Park as unsuitable for surface coal mining (signed 1980)
2	Tongue River, Montana	Director declined to designate petition area as unsuitable for surface coal mining (signed 1981)
3	Shavers Fork, West Virginia	Director declined to designate any part of the petition area as unsuitable for surface coal mining (signed 1981)
4	Camp Swift, Texas	Director declined to designate petition area as unsuitable for surface coal mining (signed 1982)
5	Red Rim, Wyoming	Director declined to designate all or any part of petition area as unsuitable for surface coal mining (signed 1986)
6	Front Range Airport, Colorado	Designated unsuitable for surface coal mining (signed 1984)
7	Black Diamond, Washington	Lake 12 and Green River Gorge Conservation Area designated unsuitable for surface coal mining (signed 1988)
8	Rock Creek Watershed, Tennessee	OSM designated the Sewanee coal seam within the Rock Creek Watershed and the Hall, Middle, and Rock Creek gorges as unsuitable for surface coal mining (signed 1987)
9	North Chickamauga Creek, Tennessee	OSM did not designate any part of the petition area as unsuitable for surface coal mining (signed 1988)
10	Deep River, North Carolina	The petition was returned to the petitioners because the allegations lacked serious merit and they presumed inadequate or no regulation of surface coal mining operations pursuant to the North Carolina Federal Program (decision 1988)
11	Flat Fork, Tennessee	OSM designated the entire petition area as unsuitable for surface coal mining but allowed the use of the existing haulage road through the petition area to access coal reserves outside the designated area (signed 1990)
12	Fern Lake, Tennessee	OSM designated the entire petition area as unsuitable for surface coal mining but allowed underground mining of coal reserves from outside of the designated area (signed 1996)
13	Fall Creek Falls, Tennessee	OSM designated (1) the Cane, Meadow, and Fall Creek watersheds as unsuitable for surface coal mining; (2) the Piney Creek watershed as unsuitable for surface coal mining, provided that surface coal mining operations be permitted only in the upper portions of the watershed if a portion of the proposed operation includes previously mined areas and the permit applicant demonstrates that water quality in receiving streams will not be degraded; and (3) the Dry Fork watershed as suitable for surface coal mining (signed 2000)