Federal and State Resources about Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia

Federal Resources

• U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE)
  • ​Home page
  • About the OSMRE
  • Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) and related laws, regulations and guidance
  • Mountaintop mining
  • Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative
  • Appalachian Regional Office
• NASA Earth Observatory:
  • "Coal Controversy in Appalachia" (2007 article)
  • "Mountaintop Mining, West Virginia" (1984 article)
• US Army Corps of Engineers, Directorate of Civil Works: Regulatory Program and Permits
• U.S. Energy Information Administration, Today in Energy, "Coal production using mountaintop removal mining decreases by 62% since 2008" (2015 article)

State Resources

The following links exit the site

• Alabama Surface Mining Commission

• Kentucky 
  • Department for Natural Resources, Division of Mine Permits
  • Department for Environmental Protection, Division of Water

• Maryland Bureau of Mines, Coal Division

• Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mineral Resources

• Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
  • Bureau of District Mining Operations
  • Bureau of Mining Programs

• Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation, Surface Mining Permits page

• Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy
  • Division of Mineral Mining

• West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
  • Division of Mining and Reclamation

• "A Geologic Overview of Mountaintop Removal Mining in West Virginia" (PDF) (1998 West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey article)

Find your state environmental agency