OSM FACT SHEET
U.S. Department of the Interior                                    
Office of Surface Mining                     
March 30, 1999
                                                                                                                                                
                  OSM AWARDS VIRGINIA $5, 310, 000
               FOR ABANDONED MINE LANDS PROGRAM

          The Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and

Enforcement (OSM) has awarded Virginia a $5, 310, 000 grant to assist in 

funding the state's abandoned mine lands (AML) reclamation program 

     The $5, 310, 000 grant includes $4, 724, 921 in current year money, 

plus $585, 078 in funds carried over from prior year funding.

     The grant money comes from the national Abandoned Mine 

Reclamation Fund, which receives reclamation fees from active coal 

producers at the rate of 35 cents per tons of surface mined coal and 15

cents per ton of coal mined underground.
       
                                                              -DOI-

                                
For additional information about the grant, contact Terry Bates

(540) 523-8212.