Granting of Mining Permits to Operators Having Outstanding Mining Violations in Another State

Gao ID: 126493 March 21, 1985

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its work on the issuance of permits by states to coal mine operators with outstanding violations of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. Under the act, coal mining permits should be denied to any surface coal mining operation which is currently in violation of the act unless the applicant submits proof that the violation has been corrected or is in the process of being corrected. GAO selected Kentucky and West Virginia for review to determine whether individuals with unabated coal mining violations in West Virginia were being granted permits to operate mines in Kentucky. These states were selected because they share a common border and a contiguous coal field and because Kentucky maintains a computerized list of coal mining companies and their principal owners. GAO found six potential violators, five of whom were officers of one company having 17 unabated mining violations in West Virginia and were operating in Kentucky as officers of two different companies. The sixth potential violator was not able to be identified. Both Kentucky and West Virginia surface mining officials stated that their offices did not check with other state regulatory authorities to determine unabated violations. GAO found this lack of cross-checking to be prevalent in other states. The Office of Surface Mining (OSM) distributed to states in 1984 a nationwide list of companies with unabated federal violations; however, this was a one-time effort with limited information. OSM has requested $2.2 million in fiscal year 1985 to augment existing systems so that permit applicants can be matched against those that have unabated federal violations or unpaid civil penalties. GAO found that the system being developed is geared strictly to federal violations that represent only a small part of the enforcement problem, and OSM needs to consider the impact of state violations in developing its violator tracking system.



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