 The land, source of all things that make our country prosper. Food, shelter, energy, inspiration all come from the land. And so we have learned that it is in our best interests for today and tomorrow that we take care of the land. Six years ago this pastoral scene was a surface coal mine, a source of energy for our industries and homes. With careful planning before mining started, close control of the mining operation itself, and restoration of the land after the coal was removed, the area is equal to what it was before mining started, or in many cases even better. It's once again suitable for agriculture and other uses. This entire process, temporarily using the land to mine coal and then restoring it, is a result of private industries' efforts to fulfill the intent of the surface mining law on behalf of the public. It's obviously not an easy task. Coal is very important to our economy now and in the future. National coal resources are equivalent to 300 years supply at projected rates of use. Coal is the chief fuel for many of our power plants and it has numerous other uses as well. Coak for steel plants, direct heating, plastics and chemicals. Extracting coal requires that careful attention be given to the environment. Protecting the environment while using our plentiful coal resources is a demanding task. To make sure the effort is as successful as possible, the U.S. Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Office of Surface Mining for short, was created to regulate all coal surface mining operations throughout the country. Coal has been used in this country for nearly a thousand years. The Navajo and Hopi made pottery over coal fires as far back as the 11th century. The coal was easily gathered from outcroppings along bluffs. It wasn't until several hundred years later, the mid-1700s, that coal mining, as we know it today, began. It was hard and dangerous work. Miners used picks and shovels to dig shafts to coal seams. In the 1830s, the development of the steam locomotive brought with it an expansion of the railroad system. Coal could be readily shipped from rural mines to the cities. It began to replace wood as the country's fuel source. The demand for coal increased rapidly. During the 1860s, surface mining was developed. It was less hazardous and much more efficient than underground mining. Horses pulling scrapers removed the soil and rock over the coal seam. With the advent of self-propelled shovels, first steam-powered and later electric shovels in the 1930s, surface coal mining became even more productive. Beginning early in this century, long before environmental groups were organized, farmers, conservationists, and others were pointing out side effects that mining had on the land. By the 1960s, some states were enacting laws in an effort to cope with the environmental impacts of surface mining. Momentum grew for nationwide regulation, culminating in 1977 when Congress passed the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. The Act established standards for permitting, operating, and reclaiming coal mines from that point on. It also started a program to help reclaim the many thousands of acres of abandoned mine lands. That act created the Office of Surface Mining, which established surface mining regulations and a mechanism for enforcing them. During the past several years, surface mining has accounted for about 60% of total U.S. coal production. Since the Surface Mining Act was passed in 1977, environmental protection and land reclamation have become routine in mining operations. The Office of Surface Mining sets minimum standards that the states follow in regulating all surface mine operators nationwide. Enforcing the standards is, in most cases, the responsibility of the states. This is called state primacy. Because the states have the primary responsibility in regulating coal mining operations, their programs must be able to meet or exceed the provisions in the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. This includes establishing laws to regulate all aspects of surface coal mining and reclamation operations, providing penalties for violations of regulations and laws, conducting inspections of each coal mine at least once a month, providing sufficient funding as well as technical and administrative people to operate the program, conducting a permit system for all coal mining operations. These permits may take up to two years to process and may cost operators as much as half a million dollars. Establishing performance bond criteria. Bonds must be sufficient to cover the cost of reclamation. They must be posted before a permit can be granted and will not be released until revegetation of the site is successful, up to 10 years in the West. Because mining conditions and reclamation requirements can vary significantly from state to state, the individual states design their mining and enforcement programs to meet their unique climate and geology. Once the state program is approved by the Office of Surface Mining, the state has achieved primacy, and it becomes the regulatory authority for surface coal mining on all private lands within its borders. Currently, 24 states have primacy. The Office of Surface Mining has the primary responsibility for regulating mines on federal and Indian lands. It also enforces regulations in those states that do not have their own regulatory programs. Today, the Office of Surface Mining oversees the 24 state programs that are based on the performance standards of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. Though the states take the major responsibility for mining regulation and enforcement, the Office of Surface Mining continues to work closely with them, providing financial support and often giving expert technical assistance. Designed to help resolve specific technical problems, technical assistance takes many forms, such as engineering and water resource studies, evaluation of new mining technologies, and training state personnel to help them enforce regulations on such technical factors as soil compaction, revegetation, and groundwater hydrology. Inspectors determine violations of mining law and ensure that violations are corrected. Mining operations can be shut down if violations pose a danger to the environment or to the health or safety of the public. The life of a surface coal mine falls into three distinct periods. Planning and permitting, mining operations, and reclamation. Every coal mine operator must follow certain procedures before mining. They must submit an application for a mine permit which details water and geologic conditions at the mine site. Operators must file a plan showing how reclamation will take place and what the land will be used for after it's reclaimed. They must post a performance bond sufficient to pay for reclamation of the site if the operator does not restore it properly. Performance bonds are required by all state and federal programs. Once the permit is approved and mining begins, all operations must adhere to the regulations. Water resource and discharge standards apply to all coal mining sites. When the mining operation is completed, the operator must then restore the land and maintain it for a specific period of time to ensure that the vegetation has established itself. Only then is the operator's bond released. There are three major methods of surface mining. One, called area mining, is often used in the West and Midwest where the terrain is flat to moderately rolling. Here the land is mined and immediately reclaimed. First, the overgrowth is removed and timber harvested for sale or use at the mine. Some of the vegetation may be mulched for soil conditioning during later reclamation of the land. The topsoil is removed and the overburden, the layers of rock over the coal seam, is loosened, sometimes by blasting. A drag line scoops up the overburden, swings around and dumps it into a previously mined area. Area mines often cover large tracks and the equipment used at these sites is huge. The coal is taken to a plant where it is cleaned, then loaded into rail cars for delivery to electric generating plants or to seaports for export. Next, bulldozers grade the overburden, then scrapers spread the topsoil. The land is tilled and use of the surface can begin once more. In the Appalachian area of the eastern United States, contour mining is typically the method used. A cut is made in the hillside above an exposed coal seam and the overburden removed. Mining follows the coal seam around the side of the hill with successive cuts. This makes what is called a high wall at each level of mining. These high walls must be covered and stabilized after mining is completed. The overburden from a working cut is trucked to the mined out area, dumped, and rough graded to eliminate the high wall. Final grading prepares the topsoil for reseeding. One method is hydro-seeding, which makes it possible to reseed the hillside without disturbing the graded topsoil. To finish the reclamation of this contour mined site, tree seedlings and shrubs were hand planted. The third major surface mining method is mountaintop mining. Like the contour method, it is most often used at eastern mining sites. Mountaintop mining is sometimes planned to leave the top relatively flat after reclamation so it can be put to new uses once mining is completed. To provide a flat surface for the equipment to work on during mountaintop mining, a cut is made parallel to the ridge top after the vegetation and topsoil have been removed. The overburden is blasted loose and trucked to a disposal area, in this case a valley adjacent to the mining site. As in the other mining methods, the coal is then removed and delivered direct to the user or trucked to a plant for processing and cleaning. In mountaintop removal mining, the valley used for overburden disposal is first cleared of vegetation and soil. A rock drain is built down the middle of the area to act as a water runoff system. When the fill is completed, it's graded and terraced to form stable slopes. Now flat, the level mountaintop land is ready for more valuable and productive uses, such as agriculture, residential construction or recreation. Working with the states and mine operators, the Office of Surface Mining has developed numerous practices and techniques to protect the environment during mining operations and to restore the land afterward to original or pre-planned conditions. Restoration of land contour is critical to approval of reclamation plans and eventual bond release. Until they are revegetated, mined lands are susceptible to erosion and sedimentation. Sediment must be properly controlled so it does not clog streams or irrigation systems. Sediment control is required at all coal mines. Often ponds are designed to collect drainage from the mine site. The sediment falls to the bottom. Slopes are graded and sometimes terraced to slow down runoff from rain and snowmelt. Bulldozer tracks across a slope will slow or trap runoff until the slope can be revegetated. Runoff may also be diverted into drainage channels so it flows away from unvegetated areas. Culverts and ditches control runoff from haul roads. Sometimes, after mining is completed, roads that are needed for permanent access are converted to public roads designed to serve postmining uses. Hull roads no longer needed are reclaimed so they'll completely blend in with the rest of the area. Because water is such a valuable resource and particularly scarce in the dry western states, mining operations must prevent pollution and flow changes to surface and groundwater. To prevent pollution, streams may be diverted around mine sites by building new stable stream beds. Underground aquifers also receive special attention. Changes in groundwater can be detected by monitoring wells. Some mine sites contain materials such as pyrite that may later produce acid. These materials must be handled properly so they do not contaminate water or soil. So before mining starts, samples are collected by drilling and then analyzed. Potential acid forming zones are identified so they can be handled in ways that minimize any threat to water quality. Some mining operations, particularly at steep slope or mountaintop removal sites, produce more overburden than is needed to reclaim the land. This excess is disposed of in the upper portions of valleys near the mine site. These fills are carefully engineered and may include terraces and diversion ditches to control runoff. A highly visible problem prior to enactment of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was high walls that were left exposed after mining was completed. Now high walls must be covered and graded to approximate original conditions and contours. Mining is only a temporary use of the land, so it is important to restore the land to its original state or to a new and perhaps more valuable use. In all cases, to ensure that post-mining use is successful, topsoil must be carefully removed as a separate layer before mining begins. It is then either spread on mined out, regraded areas or stockpiled and marked for later use. With topsoil spread and properly prepared, replanting of the land can begin. In the West, native plant species are generally used. In the East, new species are often introduced for specific post-mining uses. Reclamation techniques are often used to re-establish or improve wildlife habitat. The land can be contoured to suit desirable species of wildlife. Revegetation can include selected forage species. And ponds can be created with safe, clean water that will support wildlife and provide recreation. In regulating mining operations, sometimes it's not only our natural resources that must be protected. Historical and cultural resources sometimes may be found at proposed mine sites. Mining operations are then designed to protect those areas. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act not only established national standards for active coal mining and reclamation, it also created the Abandoned Mine Land Program. This program addresses safety and environmental problems caused by mines abandoned before passage of the Act. The Office of Surface Mining also oversees this program, reviewing and monitoring state proposals, granting funds for remedial work and responding on a priority basis to emergency conditions. Funds for Abandoned Mine Reclamation come from attacks paid by active coal producers. The reclamation of abandoned mines to this point has been a sizable effort. Throughout the country, there are still thousands of acres of former mining sites that were abandoned before the enactment of the Surface Mining Law in 1977. A common problem with abandoned mines, both coal and non-coal, are the shaft openings. People can and sometimes do fall into vertical shafts. Horizontal mine openings provide tempting access to children and adults. These openings can collapse and may contain noxious gases. To eliminate these hazards, the abandoned openings are usually filled with rock or sealed with concrete. At old abandoned sites, erosion, acid drainage and sedimentation from unreclaimed mine refuse and spoil piles can destroy wildlife habitat and pollute water unless proper precautions are taken. To prevent this, the piles are graded to establish stable slopes and proper drainage. Prior to seeding, the refuse or spoil may be treated to neutralize acidity. In cases of extreme acidity, the refuse may be covered with several feet of soil. In steep terrain, landslides from abandoned mines can pose hazards. To eliminate potential landslides, the unstable material can be removed and the mine drainage diverted to a more stable channel. Ignited by burning trash at coal outcrops, by forest fires or by spontaneous combustion, underground fires from abandoned mines can contribute to subsidence and the fumes can affect neighborhoods. Often the fires are discovered only by steam from ground fissures. Refuse piles may also catch fire. The spread of underground fires can be controlled by isolating the fire zone or the mine can be flushed and the burning material excavated. Sometimes the fire is smothered by sealing the mine. Refuse fires can also be excavated, smothered with soil or quenched with water. Abandoned high walls are steep and may present hazards. To remedy this problem, either the cut area is filled or the high wall graded to a more stable slope. The slope is then seated to prevent erosion and complete the reclamation. Pits and sags in the ground surface caused by settling of abandoned underground mines can affect structures and utility lines. This subsidence can be stabilized by filling the pits, reinforcing building foundations, or filling the mine itself. The Abandoned Mine Land Program not only eliminates hazards, sometimes it's used to the extent of creating parks, open space areas, or wildlife habitat out of abandoned mine sites. Years ago, the effects of surface mining on the environment were not fully understood. Now with the backing of the states and the federal government, the cooperation of the mining industry and the interest of the public, the environment has regained some of its balance. Interestingly, this is being achieved even with an increase in coal production. Since the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement was established in 1977, thousands of acres of mined land have been reclaimed. They're productive once more. In some cases, these lands are better than they were before mining. Streams and ponds, they're clear again. Wildlife has returned. The hay crop is better than ever. And though the mine reclamation program has been in force only a few years, it has become a major success. A key element in protecting and restoring our environment. Now and in the future.