Regulation of Surface Coal Mining and Surface Effects of Underground Coal Mining

FY2024 The program funded twenty-six coal producing States and Tribes. The twenty-six coal producing States and Tribes have approved regulatory programs.

FY2025 OSMRE Regulatory Program: West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s (WVDEP) OSMRE awarded $10,199,272 as matching funds to operate its Regulatory Program. Through the support of this funding, WVDEP: 1. Conducted 99% of the inspections required by West Virginia’s approved program, which included 13,555 partial and 6,975 complete inspections on 1,852 permits, and 0 active coal exploration permits, 2. Investigated 265 citizen complaints within two days of receipt of the complaint, 3. Released Phase III bond on 2,714 acres for successful completion of reclamation, 4. Measured the rate of off-site impacts, with 94% of the inspectable units (IU) found free of off-site impacts. This is above the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) goal of 88%. 5. Issued 22 new permits and approved 201 Incidental Boundary Revisions (IBR), which removed a net 409 surface acres for mining, and 6. Approved 266 permit renewals, 33 permit transfers, 16 general permit amendments, and 21 exploration permits. The OSMRE is required by Directive REG-8 to conduct inspections and reviews to assure West Virginia is meeting the minimum standards of SMCRA. In support of this goal, OSMRE: 1. Conducted 274 oversight inspections. These inspections included complete, partial, and bond release inspections along with required document reviews, WEST VIRGINIA ANNUAL EVALUATION REPORT 5 2. Performed analyses of both OSMRE oversight inspections and WVDEP inspections to demonstrate the successful implementation of its Inspection and Enforcement Program, and 3. Identified 21 active permits with off-site impacts during all scheduled oversight inspections. WV is a standard example of the Regulatory Program that is available to all approved States and Tribes.