OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING
     RECLAMATION & ENFORCEMENT

For Release February 2, 1998            Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719
EMBARGOED UNTIL 2:30 pm       jchildre@osmre.gov

       0SM'S 1999 BUDGET INCLUDES $2 MILLION INCREASE FOR
          ACID MINE DRAINAGE REMEDIATION & PREVENTION 
                                
     Kathy Karpan, Director of the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), announced today that OSM'S budget request of
$277 million for Fiscal Year (FY) 1999 includes an additional $2 million for the agency's
acid mine drainage (AMD) remediation and prevention activities   the Clean Streams
Initiative and the Western Mine Land Partnership.

     "Because pollution continues to be a major concern in this country, OSM is
participating in the national effort to improve water quality by rectifying problems caused
by acid mine drainage," Karpan said.  "OSM's 1999 request upholds President Clinton's
commitment to clean water by providing $2 million additional funding for our efforts to
control and eliminate AMD in streams throughout the nation's coal fields."

     "OSM will use these resources to provide states and local organizations with
 seed' money they can combine with other available funding sources, including other
federal funds," Karpan said.  A portion of "the funds will also be used for technology
transfer activities related to finding the  best science' solutions to AMD problems, and 
better methods to predict AMD occurrences," Karpan added.   

     "OSM's role as catalyst in the clean-up of AMD pollution in coalfield streams is
an example of our continuing commitment to cooperation with the states and all others
who value environmental restoration.  Remember, we're talking about cleaning up
resource-rich lands that previous generations relied on to build America and win two
World Wars, before the present generation's environmental standards became part of the
process."

     OSM's FY 1999 budget of $277 million reflects an increase of $3.9 million from
the FY 1998 enacted level.  The overall amount will enable OSM to fully  fund 24 state
regulatory programs as well as to provide ample funding for the abandoned mine land
(AML) reclamation programs administered by 23 states and three Indian tribes.  The
requested budget will also enable OSM to continue directly administering federal
regulatory and reclamation programs in states that do not operate their own surface
mining programs, and on federal lands and Indian lands.

     The 1999 budget request for OSM includes:  $93.5 million for the Regulation &
Technology account, plus $183.4 million for the AML account.

     Karpan lauded the efforts of OSM, the coal states, and the coal resource tribes for
their efforts over the past 20 years since the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act
(SMCRA) was enacted to ensure that coalfield citizens, lands, and streams are protected
during coal mining operations and that mined lands are reclaimed.

     "The surface mining program has accomplished a tremendous amount of
reclamation," Karpan said, "but much still remains to be done.  Although $3.7 billion has
been spent on abandoned mine reclamation efforts to date, we're facing a backlog of
more than  $2 billion in known abandoned coal mine reclamation work that needs to be
done."

     "On top of that," Karpan said, "monitoring and oversight of an industry where the
permitted acreage has increased fourfold, where production levels have increased by more
than 50 percent, and where public demands for environmental compliance have increased,
means that plenty still remains for OSM to do in the future."

     A $2 million budgetary increase is included for the Clean Streams Initiative
($1.9 million) and the Western Mine Land Partnership ($100,000) for a total of up to 
$7 million in FY 1999, Karpan said.  The funds will be devoted to addressing the
number-one water problem in streams polluted by past mining.  The increase will enable
OSM and the states to fund additional projects and provide funding for local
organizations.  The Western Mine Land Partnership, a cooperative public-private venture
involving state and local agencies, is modeled to a large extent after OSM's Clean
Streams Initiative.  The major federal participants are federal land managing agencies like
the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service
along with the Agriculture Department's U.S. Forest Service.

     Regulatory program grants to states are budgeted at $50.6 million in the FY 1999
request, about $500,000 above the FY 1998 level.  This increase reflects funds previously
provided to the Bureau of Indian Affairs that are now included in OSM's budget.  OSM
matches dollar for dollar the funds states use to operate programs for issuing coal mine
permits, inspecting surface coal mines, enforcing environmental standards, and assuring
reclamation of surface coal mines.

     State and tribal AML reclamation grants are budgeted at $143.3 million in the
FY 1999 request, a $1 million increase above the FY 1998 level.  Through AML grants,
OSM pays 100 percent of the costs for reclaiming abandoned coal mine lands that were
left unreclaimed or inadequately reclaimed before the 1977 enactment of SMCRA.

     The AML program is funded by production fees of 35 cents per ton of surface
mined coal, 15  cents per ton of coal mined underground, and 10  cents per ton of lignite,
which OSM collects from coal producers.

     OSM administers national standards requiring environmental protection during
coal mining and land reclamation afterward, and OSM reclaims abandoned mine lands. 
Fulfilling a national responsibility while maintaining local values, the agency provides
support and program evaluation for approved state programs, and directly carries out such
activities on Federal and Indian lands. 

                              DOI