Office of Surface Mining
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| Agency overview | |
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| Headquarters | 1951 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. |
| Employees | 500 (2008) |
| Annual budget | $170 million, discretionary (2008) |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | Department of the Interior |
| Website | www.osmre.gov |
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM or OSMRE) is a branch of the United States Department of the Interior. It is the federal agency entrusted with the implementation and enforcement of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), which attached a per-ton fee to all extracted coal in order to fund an interest-accruing trust to be used for reclamation of abandoned mine lands, as well as established a set environmental standards that mines must follow while operating, and achieve when reclaiming mined land, in order to minimize environmental impact. OSM has about 500 employees, who work in either the national office in Washington, DC or of the many regional and field offices(OSM's Three Regions).
OSM has three main functions:
The OSM operates 3 regional offices:
The Appalachian region covers 12 states and is headquartered in Pittsburgh. On November 1, 1980 this office relocated into 10 Parkway West.
The Western division covers 9 states and is headquartered in Denver.
The Mid-Continent division covers 11 states and is headquartered in Alton, Illinois.
The Office of Surface Mining is responsible for the enforcement of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977; this includes setting regulatory guidelines. The actual regulation of mines is primarily done on a state level and tribal level, but OSM is charged with inspection of the state programs to meet the standard of quality. OSM regularly inspects state programs to make sure they are meeting the required standards; if they do not meet the required standards the OSM can take over. For example, when in the fiscal year of 2003 Missouri was unable to meet the federal requirements due to a lack of funding, OSM stepped in to assume partial control of the state program.
OSM took control of the following in Missouri:
OSM continued to run the above parts of Missouri's mining program until Missouri improved its program, which took place on Feb. 1, 2006. Missouri now receives federal funding.
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Wikipedia