Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office August 10, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On June 16, 2005, we, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), announced in the Federal Register our intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to analyze the effects of possibly revising our regulations pertaining to excess spoil generation and disposal, and stream buffer zones. We asked you to contact us if you wanted us to meet with you to discuss the scope of the proposed action, reasonable alternatives to the proposed action, and significant issues that should be examined in the course of preparing the EIS. Eighteen people contacted us to request public scoping meetings at various locations in the Appalachian coal fields. We are pleased to accommodate these requests by holding scoping meetings in Knoxville, Tennessee; Hazard, Kentucky; Charleston, West Virginia; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Details applicable to these meetings are contained in this announcement.