OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING
      RECLAMATION & ENFORCEMENT

For Release December 23, 1994                   Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719

                       URAM ANNOUNCES OSM REORGANIZATION

      Robert J. Uram, Director of the Interior Department's Office
of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), today
announced that a plan to reorganize OSM into "a leaner agency
with fewer employees and more effective output" has been approved
by Congress and Interior Department officials.

      "The plan was developed by a team of career OSM employees,
and is consistent with the streamlining goals of Vice President
Gore's National Performance Review," Uram said.  "It includes
restructuring and new ways of accomplishing OSM's mission of
working with the states and Indian tribes to effectively and
efficiently enforce the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation
Act.  Through decentralization, re-engineering of key functions
and processes, and promotion of a field-oriented, flatter
organization, OSM will be positioned to bring the program to a
higher level of success," Uram said.

      "The new organization is a big step in moving OSM toward
operating through teams of employees empowered to make changes
for the better in the way they do business," Uram said.  "I
expect this to improve both our effectiveness and our internal
and external customer service -- particularly to our primary
customers, coal field citizens, and the coal industry."

      "Promoting involvement and teamwork through a shared
commitment with states, industry, the public, and others is at
the core of improving our customer service and results," Uram
added.

      To effect the reorganization, OSM will:

--    Create an Appalachian Region Coordinating Center in
      Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; a Mid-Continent Region
      Coordinating Center in St. Louis, Missouri; and a Western
      Region Coordinating Center, in Denver, Colorado.  This
      region-based structure results in an organization focusing
      on similar environmental challenges, with similar geology
      and geography, and an ecosystem approach to identification
      and resolution of issues;

--    Create an Area Office in Grand Junction, Colorado.  This
      office will enhance the agency's field presence by providing
      inspection personnel centrally located in the Western
      Colorado and Utah mining area;

--    Redefine the Eastern and Western Support Centers in
      Pittsburgh and Denver, respectively.  Most of the functions
      and personnel in those offices will be integrated into the
      Appalachian and Western Region Coordinating Centers.  Some
      functions and personnel will be transferred to the
      Mid-Continent Region Coordinating Center;

--    Combine the Budget Office, the Planning and Analysis Office,
      and the Management Control Office into one office named the
      Office of Strategic Planning and Budget;

--    Combine the Congressional Liaison Office, the Public Affairs
      Office, and the Correspondence and Issues Management Staff
      into one office titled Office of Communication;

--    Combine the Assistant Directorate for Finance and
      Accounting, the Assistant Directorate for Information
      Systems Management, and the Assistant Directorate for
      Administrative Services into one office designated the
      Assistant Directorate for Finance and Administration;

--    Eliminate the Assistant Directorate for Human Resources
      Management.  The Personnel Office will report to the Chief,
      Division of Administration, under the Assistant Director for
      Finance and Administration;

--    Create the Assistant Directorate for Program Support by
      combining the Assistant Directorate for Field Operations,
      the Assistant Directorate for Reclamation and Regulatory
      Policy, and the Applicant Violator System Office.

--    The Equal Opportunity Office will report to the
      Director/Deputy Director.

      The remainder of the OSM structure will remain basically
unchanged, according to Uram, who called the reorganization "one
more important step in the overall development of the
comprehensive strategic plan to guide OSM for the next five
years."

      "Out of our efforts will come operational plans that put our
day-to-day operations in sync with the goals of the strategic
plan," Uram explained.  "Everything we've done so far is designed
to lay a foundation for effective and efficient operations for
years to come -- operations that will help OSM fulfill the
commitment made to the American people when the Surface Mining
Act was passed."

      "We anticipate many benefits from the reorganization now
that the appropriations subcommittees have approved our plans,"
Uram said.  "The reorganization will reduce Senior Executive
Service and supervisory positions, eliminate duplicate and
overlapping jurisdictions within OSM, and provide a platform for
moving operational decisions from Washington, D.C., to the
field."

      Uram added:  "One of the basic goals of the reorganization
is to expand the development of state programs that have a strong
independent commitment to carrying out the Surface Mining Control
and Reclamation Act.  We are working diligently with state and
other concerned parties to make the concept of shared commitment
a reality.  The new organization will facilitate that work."

      Another reorganization goal is to allow OSM to operate more
efficiently, Uram said.  OSM has made good progress in reducing
its overall employment levels and will have to do more to meet
the President's 1999 target of 893 positions.  As recently as
1989, OSM had 1,264 employees; right now the number of OSM
employees in all categories is 952.  The reorganization will help
OSM meet the President's goal without any loss in effectiveness,
Uram said.

                                     -DOI-