OSM NEWS
U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of Surface Mining

For Immediate Release:  January 28, 2002          
Contact:  
Jerry Childress (202) 208-7941
Mike Gauldin (202) 208-2566

Jeffrey Jarrett Confirmed As Interior's Surface Mining Director 

(WASHINGTON)--Jeffrey D. Jarrett of Pennsylvania was confirmed by unanimous 
vote of the U.S. Senate on Friday, January 25,2002, as the 14th Director of the 
Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM).  
President Bush announced his choice of Jarrett to head OSM in July 2001.

Jarrett served as a Deputy Assistant Director for OSM's Regional Office in 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1988 to 1994 and most recently as Deputy Secretary 
for Mineral Resources Management of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP).

"Jeff Jarrett is a top notch public servant with vast experience in state and 
federal government," Norton said.  "His background, experience, and blend of 
management and resource expertise, makes him the ideal person for this job."

As Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement,
Jarrett has policy and executive responsibility for developing and enforcing 
surface coal mining regulations under the Surface Mining Control and 
Reclamation Act. The agency operates with an annual budget of 
$306.5 million and a work force of 636 employees nationwide.

"I am greatly honored by the confidence that President Bush and Secretary 
Norton have shown in me, and by the support of the Senate," Jarrett said.  
"I intend to earn that confidence by providing strong, consistent leadership 
for the Office of Surface Mining."

As Deputy Secretary for the Pennsylvania DEP, Jarrett was responsible for 
regulatory programs for surface and underground coal and industrial minerals 
mining, oil and gas exploration, deep mine safety, and abandoned mine lands
reclamation. Previously he served as Director of the DEP's Bureau of District 
Mining Operations. In that position he was responsible for the effective 
implementation of various environmental laws as they relate to the surface 
and underground coal and non-coal mining industries in Pennsylvania and 
for miner health and safety regulations at all surface mining operations. 

On the federal level, Jarrett brings to the job of director his extensive 
previous experience with OSM. He served as an OSM Deputy Assistant 
Director responsible for overseeing the effective implementation of the 
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 in the eastern states, 
the management of a number of state and area offices, administration 
of federal grants to the states for the operation of Abandoned Mine 
Land, oversight and management of regulatory programs, and technical 
assistance to the states.

Jarrett previously served as director of planning, division manager, and 
reclamation director for the Cravat Coal Company and as reclamation 
supervisor for The Drummond Company. 

A native of West Virginia, Jarrett received a B.S. degree in Human 
Resource Management from Geneva College in Pennsylvania and an A.A.S. 
degree in Land Stabilization and Reclamation from Belmont Technical College 
in St. Clairsville, Ohio.

                             -OSM-