OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING
For Release July 19, 1990
Alan Cole (202) 208-2719

O.S.M. ADOPTS SLIDING FEE SCALE FOR FEDERAL PERMITS TO MINE COAL

A sliding scale of fees for federal coal mine permits under the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act has been adopted by the
U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining (OSM).

The new fee requirement includes a schedule of fixed charges based
on typical application processing costs, plus a fee of $13.50 per
acre for the first 1,000 acres of land covered by the permit
application.  For the next 1,000 acres, the fee is $6.00 per acre. 
It drops to $4.00 per acre for the next 1,000, then to $3.00 per
acre for the remainder.  Acreage fees will be collected only for
land scheduled to be disturbed by activities proposed in the permit
application.

The fixed charges are $250 for review of administrative
completeness, $1,350 for technical review, and $2,000 for the
decision document.  There are no hourly fees and no fees for permit
renewals, revisions, transfers, assignments or sales of coal
rights, and coal exploration permits.  Fees are not reduced for
small-scale coal mines, although that option had been under
consideration.

The OSM fee requirement applies to new federal coal mine permits
only, and will not be applied retroactively.   States are not
obliged to impose similar fees for issuing state coal mine permits
under the surface mining law. (Some states already charge
comparable fees.)

In the U.S., all coal mines must have permits issued by OSM or
Interior approved state regulators.  Most coal mines operate under
state permits, but federal permits are required in states where
coal mine reclamation is federally regulated (for example,
Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Washington).

The regulation formally establishing the fee requirement was
printed in the Federal Register of July 19, 1990.  It goes into
effect August 20, 1990.

-DOI-