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Knoxville Field Office (KFO)

Big Stone Gap Area Office
Tennessee
Virginia

The Knoxville Field Office (KFO), serves as the Regulatory Authority in Tennessee. KFO is responsible for permitting, inspection, and enforcement actions in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia. KFO includes the Big Stone Gap Area Office in Virginia.

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) created the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) in the Department of the Interior. SMCRA provides authority to OSM to oversee the implementation of and provide Federal funding for State regulatory programs that have been approved by OSM as meeting the minimum standards specified by SMCRA. The Act also provides authority for OSM to implement a Federal regulatory program in the States without approved regulatory programs. In Tennessee, OSM implemented the Federal regulatory program in October 1984 when the State repealed its surface mining law. OSM also has regulatory authority responsibilities for surface coal mining activities in the states of Georgia and North Carolina since they never adopted an approved State program under SMCRA.

Listed below are some of the more specific responsibilities of KFO:

• Provide information and education to the public and industry
• Evaluate the TN AML Program
• Review of Land Unsuitable for Mining petitions
• Support for OSM’s Technical Information Systems (TIPS)
• Implement Federal Blaster Certification Program
• Evaluate performance bonds, bond release applications, and reclamation of forfeiture sites
• Administer civil penalty and assessment conferences
• Support and assist local watershed groups
• Coordinate with State and Federal agencies to minimize the impacts of surface coal mining operations
• Remediate acid mine drainage from abandoned mined land that adversely affects creeks and streams
• Participate in the Appalachian Reforestation Initiative and encourage permittees to use the Forestry Reclamation Approach

Published Reports (in PDF format)

The contacts for Knoxville Field Office are::

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