Coal Trespass in the Eastern States--More Federal Oversight Needed

The illegal mining of federal coal, particularly in Alabama, has caused recent public and congressional concern. Published estimates of potential losses to the government, based on the value of the coal, range from $135 million to over $1 billion throughout the eastern states.

Despite an awareness of coal trespass in Alabama and Maryland, and the likelihood of additional cases in other Eastern States, the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) eastern states office has not taken aggressive and timely steps to investigate and prosecute trespassers due to an initial failure to recognize the significance of the trespasses; and a lack of adequate staff, investigative procedures, and guidance from agency headquarters. Although BLM had indications of trespass in Alabama as early as 1975, the Secretary of the Interior was not informed of the problem until January 1979. As of April 1979, recovery of damages had been sought in only 1 of the 50 identified cases. GAO noted that statutory limitations may adversely affect the government's collection efforts. BLM has not completed the essential mapping of federal minerals underlying federal, state, and private lands in any of the eastern states, and it has no program for obtaining other resource data. In general, BLM lacks presence, public awareness programs, and administrative control over the surface lands in the eastern states, making management of coal reserves difficult.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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