Thomas Young, Sierra Club, thomas.young@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC — Today, a coalition representing thousands of members who live in communities directly impacted by coal mining sent a letter to the White House asking the Biden Administration to prioritize the appointment of a permanent director for the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE). The groups highlight three specific, unprecedented challenges facing the coal mining industry and coal mining communities.
- Coal mine operators have started abandoning their legal obligation to reclaim the lands they mine in numbers never before seen in the 40-year history of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). As demand for thermal coal — burned for electricity generation — continues its steady and permanent decline, this problem is poised to accelerate and threatens to overwhelm the entire reclamation bonding system. OSMRE oversight is critical to ensure coal mining companies reclaim the land as they mine, and that sufficient bonding is available to complete reclamation in the increasingly common event that operators are incapable.
- In addition, the OSMRE is now responsible for dispersing and overseeing the $11.3 billion for the Abandoned Mine Lands Fund that was secured in the recently-passed Infrastructure Bill to complete reclamation of mines abandoned before the passage of SMCRA in 1977. This requires tremendous organizational attention and direction from a Senate-confirmed Director.
- Lastly, the letter highlights the need to reform policies that have impeded the public’s ability to secure effective oversight from OSMRE. Among the most egregious is the Ten Day Notice Rule, pushed through at the end of the Trump Administration, that weakened rules requiring immediate action to resolve community complaints of violations of environmental protections, as prescribed by SMCRA.
The coalition of local, regional, and national organizations that signed the letter include:
- Alliance for Appalachia
- Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center
- Appalachian Voices
- Center for Coalfield Justice
- Citizens Against Longwall Mining
- Citizens Coal Council
- Clean Energy Action
- Clean Water Expected in East Tennessee (CWEET)
- Clearfork Community Institute
- Coal River Mountain Watch
- Kentuckians For The Commonwealth
- Kentucky Conservation Committee
- Kentucky Resources Council
- Kentucky Waterways Alliance
- Northern Plains Resource Council
- Ben Nuvamsa (former Chairman of the Hopi Tribe)
- Powder River Basin Resource Council
- Sierra Club
- Southern Connected Communities Project
- Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM)
- Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning
- Tó Nizhóní Ání
- Valley Watch
- West Virginia Citizen Action
- West Virginia Highlands Conservancy
- West Virginia Rivers Coalition
- Western Organization of Resource Councils
- Woodland Community Land Trust
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.