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OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT

OSM Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices

How we handle information we learn about you from your visit to our website depends upon what you do when visiting our site. OSM is committed to protecting any information collected directly from you to the greatest extent possible and publishes notices about its record systems that contain personally identifiable information in the Federal Register.

To learn more about OSM's Privacy policies, you can reference the following sections:

OSM Privacy Policy

This notice provides OSM's policy regarding the nature, purpose, use and sharing of any information collected via our website. We do not obtain personally identifying information about you when you visit our site unless you choose to provide such information to us. For website management, information is collected for statistical purposes. Except as might be required by law, we do not share any information we receive with any other program, organization, or outside parties. OSM does not collect information for commercial marketing purposes.

Automatically Collected Information

If you read or download information such as brochures, reports, or press releases, we collect and store only the following information about your visit:

  • The name of the Internet domain from which you are accessing our website (for example, "xcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you are connecting from a university's domain);
  • The date and time you access our site;
  • The Internet address of the website from which you linked directly to our site; and
  • The pages you visit and the information you request.

This information does not identify you personally; it is not stored in any particular fashion, but is part of a systems log file used internally for site management purposes. This information is primarily collected to create summary statistics which are used for such purposes as assessing what information is of most and least interest, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance or problem areas. We use the information we collect to measure the number of visitors to the different sections of our site and to help us make our site more useful to visitors.

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Personal Information You Provide to OSM

You may decide to send us personally identifying information in an e-mail containing a complaint, requesting printed materials be mailed to you, or completing a Citizen Request for Inspection of an Active Coal Mine form. We use personally identifying information from you only to respond to your message and to help us get you the information or services you have requested.

Any information that we collect via a questionnaire or form may be subject to disclosure but will be handled in accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act, and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act to ensure the greatest protection of personal privacy in the face of any required disclosure.

Remember: e-mail isn't necessarily secure. You should never send sensitive or personal information like your Social Security Number in an e-mail. Instead, use postal mail or secure websites to transmit sensitive information.

We may transfer personal information to a third party only in the following cases:

  • To a bank or United States Department of the Treasury account, which must receive payment for a transaction that you initiated;
  • To a company that is contracted to assist us with specific services, including electronic commerce or donations, and which agrees not to sell or use personal information for other purposes;
  • To legal authorities if we suspect that you are attempting to change or otherwise damage this website, or you are using it in violation of Federal or local laws; or
  • To Congress or a court in response to a subpoena.

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Disclaimer on OSM Links to Other Sites

OSM may link to websites created and maintained by other Federal agencies and/or private organizations. The presence of a link is not an OSM endorsement of the website. When you follow a link to any outside website, you are leaving OSM and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the sponsor(s) of the outside website.  OSM is not responsible for the information collection practices of non-OSM websites.

Privacy Impact Assessments

For a list of approved public OSM Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs), click here.

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OSM Privacy Contacts

OSM Senior Agency Official for Privacy
Ruben Molina

OSM Privacy Act Officer
Larry Kiger
Office of Surface Mining
1951 Constitution Ave., NW
MS-142, SIB
Washington, DC 20240

Contact: 202-208-2607
E-mail: lkiger@osmre.gov

Privacy Links and References