OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING
      RECLAMATION & ENFORCEMENT

For Release March 1, 1994                       Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719


        OSM REVISES COAL RECLAMATION FEE REPORT DISTRIBUTION PROCEDURE


      The Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement (OSM) today announced a change in the agency's procedure for
distributing the Coal Reclamation Fee Report, called the OSM-1, effective with
the first quarter of 1994.
      OSM officials said preprinted OSM-1 report forms will now be mailed to
companies upon issuance of coal mining permits by state surface mining
regulators.  In the past, OSM-1 forms were not sent until after the companies
notified OSM of reportable sales tonnage. 
      OSM-1 forms are used to report coal tonnage to the government for the
purpose of calculating fees owed to the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation
Fund.  Coal companies are required to file OSM-1 forms each quarter to report
coal sale tonnage, transfers, and use so that OSM can assess and collect the
fees.  Coal producers pay reclamation fees of $ 0.35 per ton of surface mined
coal, $ 0.15 per ton of coal from underground mines, and $ 0.10 per ton of 
lignite. The money pays for reclaiming coal mine lands that were abandoned 
before the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was passed in 1977.
      "Our former practice of waiting until after the companies notified us
before mailing the OSM-1 forms often caused delays in the reporting of coal
sales and the payment of AML fees -- primarily because the companies did not
have the OSM-1 report forms to fill in and send us," said OSM Acting Director
Anne Shields.
      Shields said the new procedure corrects that situation.  "This will
improve our service to the coal companies, and, in turn, enable them to
provide more timely information to us so that they can fulfill their fee
obligations promptly," Shields said.
      If a coal company has no tonnage to report for a quarter, sending in a
"zero tonnage" OSM-1 report is all that is required, according to OSM
officials.  Reporting requirements remain in effect until all tonnage under
the permit is sold, used, or transferred, including all stockpiles and
recoverable coal.  This means that a company will be required to submit OSM-1
reports quarterly from the time the permit is issued until all mining is
completed and all stockpiles are sold.


                                     -DOI-