For Release October 21, 1998            Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719
                                        jchildre@osmre.gov


      OSM RELEASES REPORT ON PHASE II OF OVERSIGHT POLICY
                            REVIEW 

     Kathy Karpan, Director of the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), today released a report on phase II of a review
of the agency's oversight policy for state regulatory programs for coal mining
operations.  Karpan initiated the review in April 1998 to get feedback from internal and
external customers about the oversight process.

     The oversight policy is contained in internal agency guidance identified as
Directive REG-8 (REG-8), "Oversight of State Regulatory Programs," which establishes
OSM policies, procedures and responsibilities for conducting oversight of state
regulatory programs.  

      As part of the initiative, the Oversight Outreach Team visited each OSM field
and area office during June to meet with all inspectors and other field office staff
involved in oversight to hear firsthand the successes and problems that the regulatory
field staff encountered with REG-8.

     "When I released the revised version of Directive REG-8 for evaluation year
1998, in November of 1997, I said that I wanted oversight review to be an ongoing
process," Karpan said.  "This initiative is part of our effort to gain continual feedback
about our oversight program in order to improve the policy and its implementation."

     The new oversight review is "only the most recent step on the oversight journey," 
Karpan said.  She added:  "It's definitely intended to be a continuously evolving and
ever-improving process.  Getting input from all of our stakeholders is one of the most
important feedback loops we can establish for continually improving the process of
state program evaluation.  Common sense tells us we should never stop looking at
ways to make further improvements."


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     "The participation and feedback provided by the OSM field staff during this
exercise are indicative of their hard work and dedication in successfully implementing
the various approaches to oversight over the past 15 to 18 years," Karpan said.  "Each
approach achieved some success in bringing State regulatory programs and industry to
the levels of implementation and compliance that we see today."  

     Karpan pointed out that with any process, "adjustments are necessary to
address the evolution that occurs both within and outside of OSM."  "Few products or
processes remain the same as they were 15 years ago."  

     "Improvements in State program implementation, limits on State and Federal
resources, changes in the mining industry, shifts in cooperative spirit, and the necessity
to improve OSM processes all require the Agency continually to consider new and more
effective ways of evaluating, assisting, and reporting on the States' implementation of
their programs," Karpan said.  

     According to Karpan, OSM oversight of the past had reached a plateau where
effectiveness in achieving program improvements had leveled off.  "The old approaches
were achieving less and, in some cases, were detrimental to furthering improvements in
State program implementation," she said.  "OSM's ability to work productively with
States had reached a point where a fresh approach was necessary.  External
influences demanded better cooperation between OSM and States to address
constructively the unresolved problems of the past, as well as, potential problems of the
future."  

     Karpan said that the current oversight should be viewed as a new opportunity for
OSM to work cooperatively to improve State program implementation.  "Based on the
responses to this outreach effort, the Team believes that acceptance of the current
oversight program is beginning to take hold," she said.  

     Requests for additional information about OSM's oversight policy, copies of the
report, or Directive REG-8 should be directed to Richard Bryson, Office of Surface
Mining, Room 211, 1951 Constitution Ave NW, Washington D.C. 20240, telephone
(202) 208-2651, fax (202) 219-3111, e-mail rbryson@osmre.gov.

                              -DOI-