Director

Lanny E. Erdos, Director

Lanny E. Erdos is the director of the Office of Surface Mining (OSM). Lanny has extensive experience in surface mining regulation and reclamation within both the public and private sectors. He has held leadership roles at the state and federal levels and previously served as the OSM director from December 2020 to January 2021 and as the OSM principal deputy director exercising the authority of the director from September 2019 to December 2020.

Lanny spent 31 years at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (DNR), where he held several positions including reclamation inspector, AML design specialist, permitting manager, and deputy chief. In his final role with DNR, he served as mineral resources management chief responsible for managing and regulating Ohio’s coal and aggregate resources, as well as overseeing abandoned mine land and mine safety programs.

Lanny has also worked in the mining industry as president/vice president for reclamation companies and vice president for environmental compliance, managing reclamation and remediation of mining permits in several states including Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana and Alabama.

Lanny is known for his 360-degree perspective of the challenges facing the coal industry due to his varied experience in state regulation, federal oversight, and private sector operations. He emphasizes the importance of collaboration between state and federal agencies and other stakeholders and represented Ohio for nearly a decade on the Interstate Mining Compact Commission.