U.S Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining For Release: March 4, 1998 Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719 jchildre@osmre.gov PUBLIC MEETINGS SET ON OSM FISCAL YEAR 2000 PLANNING Kathy Karpan, Director of the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining (OSM), today invited "maximum participation" by OSM stakeholders at a series of day-long public meetings to begin planning for the agency's Fiscal Year 2000 program activities. The series kicks off 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, March 11, 1998, beginning with a review of OSM's 1999 budget request in room 220 of the South Interior Building, 1951 Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. "Not everyone with ideas to offer will be able to go to Washington for the meeting," Karpan said, "so I have asked OSM Field Office Directors to host similar meetings at sites throughout the coalfields during the month of March. Our goal is wide-open communication, not a restricted time or exclusive locale in order to communicate." Dates and locations for the meetings are listed below, and are also shown on the OSM World Wide Web home page (http:// www.osmre.gov). "OSM intends to give each of its customers and stakeholders state regulators, coal mine operators, environmental groups, coalfield citizens, anyone with a stake in our business lines and program activities an opportunity to weigh in about how we should prioritize our programs and use our resources in Fiscal Year 2000," Karpan said. "We administer a public program and we are aiming for maximum public participation." "As part of our goal of better customer service, we are offering the public a chance to discuss how we should use our limited resources on a program by program basis, and how we should set our priorities to best serve public needs," Karpan said. Karpan pointed out that the meetings are part of OSM's continued efforts to obtain increased stakeholder input into agency planning, in accordance with the objectives of the Vice President's National Performance Review and the Government Performance and Results Act. According to Karpan, each of the meetings will begin with a briefing on the President's Fiscal Year 1999 Congressional appropriation request for OSM. "We will make available copies of our budget justifications and annual performance plan, Karpan said. Then after the briefing, we will address any questions concerning the OSM Fiscal Year 1999 budget request." "Everyone should please bear in mind, however, that the 1999 budget is the President's official request to Congress. At this point in the process only Congress can now make changes to the President's budget request for 1999," Karpan said. "After the 1999 budget review, each meeting will provide an opportunity for our stakeholders to present their views on how OSM should best use its limited resources in Fiscal Year 2000," Karpan said. "I know it's hard to picture, but even before action is completed on our Fiscal Year 1999 budget, we have to get started on the budget development process for Fiscal Year 2000." "OSM wants input and advice about current issues, problems, and priorities that our customers believe should be addressed in our Fiscal Year 2000 plans and priorities," Karpan said. "We're looking for suggestions on how such matters should be addressed, including appropriate performance measures and outcomes. Examples include rulemaking matters, technical problems or needs, acid mine drainage concerns, current problems on unreclaimed abandoned mine sites, partnership ideas, and oversight and program development initiatives. Really, we're talking about the full range of OSM programs and activities." Anyone with questions about the OSM budget process, or who wants to participate in the meetings, should contact the appropriate OSM Field Office Director, or Vic Christiansen, Chief, Office of Strategic Planning and Budget, by telephone (202-208-7837), FAX (202-219-8172), or E-Mail (vchristi@osmre.gov). Coalfield meeting sites (by state), and dates are: Alabama: March 17, 1998, 9:00 AM Shoney's Inn 226 Summit Parkway Homewood, AL Arkansas: March 12, 1998, 4:00 - 6:00 PM The Points Inn, Cherokee Room, 5711 Rogers Avenue Ft. Smith, AR Colorado: March 10, 1998, 10:00 AM Skyline Mine Canon City, CO Contact Jim Fulton (303-844-1424) or Dave Bucknam (303-866-3567.) Illinois: March, 18, 1998, 1:00 PM Dept. of Natural Resources Office of Mines and Minerals, Land Recl. Division 503 East Main Street Benton, IL Indiana: March 16, 1998, 10:00 AM Dept. of Natural Resources, Division of Reclamation Jasonville, IN Iowa: March 17, 1998, 10:00 AM Kinfolks Restaurant HGWY-5 Attica, IA Kansas: March 19, 1998, 9:00 AM Kansas Surface Mining Section Office 4033 N Parkview Dr. Frontenac, KS Kentucky: March 16, 1998, 7:00 PM Hazard Community College Hazard, KY March 23, 1998, 7:00 PM Chamber of Commerce Building Madisonville, KY Maryland: March 19, 1998, 7:00 - 9:00 PM Comfort Inn, 11100 New Georges Creek Road Frostburg, MD Missouri: March 20, 1998, 9:00 AM Ramada Inn HGWY 24 & 63 Moberly, MO Montana: March 11, 1998, 6:00 PM Bureau of Indian Affairs Forestry Building Crow Agency, Montana March 18, 1998, 1:00 PM Department of Transportation, Commission Room 2701 Prospect Avenue, Room 201 Helena, MT New Mexico: March 18, 1998, 1:00 - 7:00 PM McKinley County Courthouse, County Commission Chambers Gallup, NM North Dakota: March 10, 1998, 1:00 PM Public Service Commission hearing room, 12th floor, State Capitol Bismarck, ND Ohio: March 18, 1998, 7:00 - 9:00 PM Holiday Inn, 4645 East Pike Zanesville, OH Oklahoma: March 17, 1998, 4:00 - 6:00 PM Office of Surface Mining, Suite 470, 5100 East Skelly Drive Tulsa, OK Pennsylvania: March 16, 1998, 7:00 - 9:00 PM Genetti's Best Western Route 309 North Hazleton, PA March 17, 1998, 700 - 9:00 PM Ramada Inn (Off Exit 10, Pennsylvania Turnpike) Somerset , PA Tennessee: March 19, 1998, 7:30 PM Holiday Inn Cedar Bluff (Interstate 40 at Exit 378) 304 Cedar Bluff Road Knoxville, TN Texas: March 24, 1998, 3:30 - 5:30 PM Railroad Commission of Texas Room 11-160K 1701 N. Congress Avenue Austin, TX Utah: April 16, 10:00 AM Department of Natural Resources Building 1594 West North Temple Salt Lake City, UT Virginia: March 16, 1998, 5:00 - 7:00 PM Oxbow Center St. Paul, VA Washington: April 30, 1998, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM 711 Capitol Way (2nd floor conference room) Olympia, WA West Virginia: March 17, 1998, 3:00 - 6:00 PM Ramada Inn Morgantown, WV March 18, 1998, 3:00 - 6:00 PM Heart of Town Charleston, WV Wyoming: March 16, 1998, 4:00 PM State Oil & Gas Commission Building 777 West First Street Casper, WY -DOI-